Well, three chapters in almost the same number of days! I've had quite the bit of inspiration to write this story. Anyway, on to the replies!
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Oh, you'll see just WHY it happened this chapter. It won't surprise you.
Iron Reaver: ...Am not.
Auron's Fan: Well, you get to see the 'true' Songstress for Ben this chapter.
XxCougarxX: If it was that funny to you, imagine how I felt. I was writing the scene, and picturing it as I typed. Oo Anyhow...translator? Try searching google, as doesn't like linking.
OCAdam: Homestar Runner! (cough) You reviewed after I had put the second chapter up, that's why. Reviews that I get after I post the next chapter usually don't get answered until the chapter after. Like this. The fayth still exist, they just aren't confined to the temples. Now, for the most part, they've gone on to the Farplane. Or that's what I believe, anyway. I already have my Special Dressphere planned out completely, too, but the idea is interesting.
Fallen-Angel-2009: Welcome to Eternal Requiem, FA! Glad to see another reviewer.
desert-tiger: The only person coming to my mind is Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing, but I'm not sure if that's who you're referring to. But as for insanity? More insanity than you can reasonably shake a stick at. And plot twists.
SS5Matt: It's fine. Hope you enjoy the sequel!
And now, on to the mission!
Chapter 3—Bittersweet Rivalry
As we approach the door that will lead us inside another part of the ruins, Logos suddenly steps out, accompanied by 2 goons.
"You look a tad flushed. Why not stop to catch your breath?" he asks, drawing his revolvers.
Drawing my pistols, I quickly aim at the goon on my left, Yuna aiming for the one on the right, as Rikku and Paine ready themselves to attack Logos. Yuna and I both use Trigger Happy on the goons, forcing them back, as Rikku and Paine use a combination attack on Logos. Rikku slashes across Logos' waist, as Paine's sword moves over Rikku's head, cutting into his chest. Logos quickly fires off a burst of shots, his Hail of Bullets attack, forcing Rikku and Paine back. Both kneel to the ground, the bullets having injured them quite a bit due to being so close.
"Big mistake..." I mutter, crossing my pistols, before dropping them, the light surrounding me again as I spherechange to my Warrior dressphere. Grabbing the sword, I dash towards Logos, roaring as I go.
"Power Break!"
The attack cuts upwards across Logos' chest, and he stumbles, allowing Yuna to get off another Trigger Happy attack on him. Rikku and Paine have now recovered, and Paine runs in with a diagonal slash, throwing Logos to the ground. As he lies there, groaning, I sheathe my sword, running into the open doorway. Everyone follows behind me, but taking a quick look back, I notice Logos get up and run away, obviously to meet up with Leblanc. Wherever she is, that is.
The part of the ruins we're in now is filled with pits, causing us to either jump in and climb out of them, or jump over them. Most of the time, we jump clear over, but sometimes they're too wide to leap. As we approach the exit to the curving tunnel, we're confronted by Ormi, accompanied by two male goons and a female.
"Let's show the ladies a nice warm welcome!" Ormi says, and I growl.
"Just who are you calling a lady?" I ask, eyes narrowed. Ormi just chuckles, grabbing his shield, and I unsheathe my sword, turning to Yuna.
"You guys take the goons. This jerk's mine."
"Come and get me!" Ormi yells, and I move into melee range, starting with an overhead chop that clangs off the shield, before Ormi smashes me with it. Tumbling back to the ground, I roll out of the way of a stomp from one goon, right before Paine hurls him away with a quick sword slash. Standing back up, I focus again, and call up the Songstress dressphere once again. This time, however, things are different. As the light clears, I smile as I examine myself. I'm now dressed in a pair of long,black pants, with a white belt. A blue, short sleeved shirt adorns my chest, with white ruffles around the ends of the sleeves and the collar.My right hand holds a microphone stand similar to the ones used by Yuna and the others, and a pair of white shoes cover my feet.
"Keep your eyes on me!" I yell, beginning to dance, and I smile at the sight of a black cloud, covering Ormi's eyes. As he stumbles around, I smirk. Normally, the Songstress dressphere isn't really used for offensive attacks, but I'm going to change that. Running up to Ormi, I bury my foot in his gut, causing him to double over. As the wind flies from his lungs, I bring my knee upwards, connecting squarely with his face. As his upper body snaps back up, his vision coming back due to me stopping the dance, I spin into a kick, launching him off his feet as my foot connects with his chest.
Turning, I see Yuna, Rikku, and Paine staring at me, having quickly and easily dispatched the goons. Shrugging, I stare at them for a moment, before spherechanging back to Warrior.
"What? Never seen a dancing guy fight before?" I ask, smirking.
"Not with the Songstress dressphere..." Yuna says, and I chuckle.
"Hey, I have a violent streak. It's what I do. Now, let's go stop Leblanc from finding our sphere!" I say, running along the circular path towards the next part of the ruins. Ormi got away while we were talking, but there's little we could've done about it anyway.
As we circle around the platform, we come across a staircase, at the top of a bunch of broken rocks. Shrugging, I begin to climb the rocks, everyone else following after a moment. As we reach the top, we take a quick look around, before climbing the staircase. A funny sight greets us when we arrive. Leblanc is hanging off of a piece of rock, Logos and Ormi hanging on to her in a chain formation in order to keep from falling.
"Would-would you stop staring!" Leblanc sputters, and we just shake our heads, walking along the short path into a large, open room made of stone. On a pedestal in front of us is a glowing, orange sphere. Looking around, I stare at the ceiling, and Yuna, Rikku, and Paine follow my gaze. A large, spider-type creature is standing on the ceiling, and suddenly drops down in front of us.
(Play Ben's Theme, Sandstorm - Darude)
Drawing my sword, I prepare for a fight, as Yuna takes the first move. Firing rapidly at the creature, Rikku also spherechanges to Gunner and begins firing, apparently thinking her blades won't have much effect.
"Power Break!" Paine yells, running in and slashing at the creature, which grunts, before slapping Paine away with a leg.
"Come on, you overgrown spider!" I yell, slashing away at a leg, Yuna and Rikku firing at the creature's face. The creature, Boris, growls, smashing a leg into the ground between Yuna and Rikku, causing them to stop firing and dodge. Paine runs in again, jumping and slashing at the creature's face. The sword cuts deeply, and Boris screeches in pain, knocking Paine and myself away before launching an attack on me. A leg comes down at me, and I roll out of the way, just in time to get hit with another leg swipe from Boris, sending me back into a wall.
"Ben!" Rikku exclaims, firing madly at Boris' face, the creature staggering with the hits. Yuna joins in again then, shooting at the joints in the legs of the fiend. Boris' legs start to weaken, the creature beginning to limp, its attacks becoming slower and less powerful, as Paine suddenly slices right through a leg. The fiend falls, and I slowly stand up, gulping down a Potion and running over. Paine and I stab our swords into the creature's head, finally killing it, as Yuna and Rikku walk towards the pedestal.
(End Ben's Theme, Sandstorm)
"Found it!" Yuna exclaims, grabbing the sphere and examining it. As she does, Leblanc and her gang walks in, Leblanc folding her arms over her chest.
"It's obvious to the trained eye. That sphere's just a dud. Perfect for the Dullwings," Leblanc says, an air of superiority in her voice, as Logos and Ormi laugh.
"You know, why don't you guys just get out of here? Before I decide to take some anger out on you, that is..." I say, letting the threat hang as I point my sword at them. Leblanc simply snorts, as the trio walks out.
"Youth wins again!" Rikku says, giggling, as Yuna holds the sphere up.
"Well, I guess we'll be taking this!" she says, turning and leading us all out of the room.
"Brother! Mission complete!" Rikku says over the comlink, as the Celsius descends, hovering next to the path.
"Brother? He's not with you?" Buddy's voice replies, as the Celsius lowers a ladder for us to climb back on board with.
As we re-enter the bridge, we find Brother, lying in the middle of the floor and holding his stomach. Shaking my head, I walk over to the computer, Shinra looking at Brother from his chair.
"He said something about Yuna being in trouble, then he just jumped ship," Buddy explains, standing over the downed Brother.
"And here he is," Shinra adds, causing me to chuckle.
"He's alive, right? Just leave him there," Rikku says, causing me to laugh. Paine walks over to Shinra, and hands him the sphere.
"Can you analyze the sphere we found?" she asks, and Shinra spins, inserting the sphere into his computer.
"I'm on it."
"Thank you, Brother," Yuna tells him, kneeling down beside him.
"It was...it's nothing!" he replies, groaning a little.
"Don't strain yourself," Yuna says, and Brother shakes his head.
"A leader must be tough," he tells her, reaching up as if to hug her. As Yuna stands up, Rikku runs over and kicks Brother in the leg.
"Sicko!" she yells, causing me to laugh again.
"Geez, Rikku, go easy on the guy!" I say, not really meaning it, though. Shinra stands up then, looking over all of us.
"Analysis complete. Wanna watch the sphere?" All of us nod, and walk over to Shinra's computer, a panel beginning to show the sphere.The sphere fades in on a view of Zanarkand, a thousand years ago. A man is using the sphere as a camera, much like Jecht did on Braska's pilgrimage.
"I can't believe I actually got a ticket!" the man exclaims, apparently overjoyed by his luck. "What a thrill, to be able to shake her hand like that!" The scene continues for a moment, before the sphere fades out.
"Think it's worth anything?" Yuna asks, folding her hands behind her back.
"It's not very exciting," Rikku adds.
"Junk," Paine states bluntly, as Shinra turns around.
"But we can use it as a dressphere," he says, and I look at Shinra, Yuna, and Rikku.
"Speaking of dresspheres...did you guys mess with my Songstress dressphere earlier?" I ask, a slight grin creeping over Yuna and Rikku's faces.
"Maybe..." Rikku replies, grinning.
"Come on. Out with it," I say, shaking my head.
"Alright, we did. As a joke. It was Rikku's idea!" Yuna says, obviously trying to get herself out of it.
"Yep...I'm going to have to watch myself here...I'm going to find myself a room," I mutter, smiling and walking away. Leaving the bridge, I enter the elevator, heading to the part of the Celsius where the rooms are located. A barracks of sorts, I suppose. Walking past Yuna, Rikku, and Paine's room, I come to a door opposite Paine's, and open it, walking inside. It's a simple room, reminding me of a college dormitory room. Small enough for me, yet big enough to hold my things.
"This will do nicely," I say, sitting on the bed and looking around.
'I wonder why I have Shuyin's sword? There must be a reason for it, a logical explanation...but I have this feeling that the explanation is anything but logical...'
"Can I come in?" A voice at the door knocks me out of my thoughts, and I turn to see Rikku standing at the door, grinning.
"Sure," I tell her, causing her to sit on the bed next to me. "Nice little prank you pulled on me. Remind me to kill Leblanc and her two stooges for laughing at me," I say, Rikku laughing.
"Oh, lighten up!" she says, my face going from a normal expression to another indistinguishable one, somewhere in between an annoyed look and exasperation.
"Lighten up? I found myself in a skirt. I'm gonna say that's plenty of cause to be annoyed," I reply, causing her to laugh harder.
"You said you expected it!"
"Doesn't mean I liked it."
"Oh, come on!" Rikku says, grabbing me by the arm. "Let's get back to the bridge! I think Buddy has something to tell us!" Sighing, I let myself be led back to the bridge by Rikku.
"There you are!" Yuna says, looking at us as we enter. "Check this out!" she tells us, pointing to Buddy.
"Seems like there's a treasure sphere on the beach at Besaid. Want to check it out?"
"Sure, I guess," I reply, looking around. "Alone?"
"If you want," Yuna replies. Thinking for a moment, I nod.
"Alright. I need some time to think anyway," I reply, walking towards the exit of the Celsius.
Stepping off onto the sandy expanse of the Besaid beach, I look around, not seeing anything immediately.
"Well, this place is big, but there has to be a semi-obvious place for a sphere to be...where, though..." I mutter, looking around. My eyes are drawn to a cliff, a small one with a ruined building on top. Smiling, I head towards it. "Bingo. Sphere, here I come."
As I climb up the ledge, I'm surprised to see someone else standing on the cliff, in front of the building. Obviously hearing me, the person turns to face me as I drag myself up to the top. It's a young boy, about 15 years old, wearing a brown overcoat, left unbuttoned. A dark gray muscle shirt covers his chest, apparently having some kind of mesh armor sown in, from the sounds of it. A pair of navy blue pants cover his legs, a pair of pistol holsters attached to either side as well.
"So...someone else is trying to claim this sphere. Too bad you won't get it," he says, smirking.
"And you are?" I ask, not taking a liking to this new person at all.
"The name's Darius DeValle," he says, the cocky smirk never leaving his face. "And I take it you're with the...Gullwings? Did you think up such a stupid name?"
"No...I didn't..." I say, trying to keep myself calm. "My name's Benji. And you might want to quit insulting my friends now."
"Oh...yes...the High Summoner...such a shame. I thought you'd be more impressive."
"You haven't even seen me fight, you jerk! Don't go making assumptions just yet! And you're not taking that sphere, either," I say, finally losing my temper. This guy is getting on my nerves.
"Oh, really? Then why don't you try to stop me?" he says, motioning for me to come and fight.
"With pleasure," I say, drawing my sword and pointing it at him. Running up to him quickly, I bring my sword down in an arcing diagonal slash, which is quickly sidestepped by Darius. Aiming a pistol at me, he snaps off a pair of shots, and instantly I can feel my vision clouding over. Now blinded, I quickly switch to using my other senses, when a powerful blow to the head staggers me.
"What's the matter, High Summoner? Done already?" he taunts, and I growl.
"You wish," I mutter, taking out a Remedy and using it, before aiming my sword at his chest. "Power Break!" Moving a little faster than he can evade, I manage to cut him with the attack, the chain mail preventing serious injury, before spherechanging to Gunner quickly.
"Draw," he says simply, before unleashing a hail of shots at me. The shots all connect, forcing me back towards the ledge's end, and I steel myself, rolling to the side as I'm Silenced by a shot. Drawing both my pistols, I unleash a Trigger Happy attack of my own, forcing him to move back some, before I run at him. Jumping off of a piece of rock, I leap over his head, landing on a piece of the destroyed building, before firing at him again. The shots connect, and he ducks behind a piece of rock to cover himself. As he does, I use an Echo Screen to cure the Silence, before jumping down and inside the building.
"Oh, no you don't!" Darius yells, running towards me. Unfortunately, my position from inside the building gives me a perfect angle to shower him with bullets, keeping him away. Reluctantly, Darius moves towards the ledge, giving a final shout to me. "This isn't over!" he yells, before holstering his pistols and leaping off.
"Why does everyone say that..." I mutter, looking around. To my dismay, there is no sphere anywhere in the building. Sighing, I walk out, and climb back down the ledge. "All that...for nothing. Just my luck." Signaling the Celsius, the massive ship lands in the water, and I swim out, climbing back inside and heading to the bridge.
"Well, that could've gone better," I say as I walk inside.
"What happened? Where's the sphere?" Yuna asks.
"There was no sphere. Nothing at all. Except some kid named Darius trying to kill me, that is."
"Someone trying to kill you?" Rikku exclaims, and I sigh.
"Well, I'm exaggerating, but he did attack me. Said his name was Darius DeValle, then tried to keep me from getting the sphere. I got inside the building on the ledge there, and drove him off, only to find that the sphere wasn't there."
"So, you didn't find anything?" Paine says, sighing. "Figures."
"Indeed," I say, walking over and sitting down in one of the chairs in the bridge.
Well, well, well, what's this? Someone that Ben doesn't recognize? Things might just not be as normal as he thinks after all...as always, please review!