AN: Wow, it's almost been a month since I updated. I bet you though I forgot about this story (I know I did for awhile). I guess college is doing a good job of keeping me busy. However here I am and ready to roll again.

Rikku: About time. I want to know what happens next.

Ryu: I agree. I would like to see the conclusion to the fight.

DT: Okay, okay, you'll see the fight and someone is going to make a very surprising appearance in the story.

Rikku: Really? Who, who?

DT: If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?

Rikku: But I want to know now!

DT: You're just gonna wait and see.

Rikku: You're a meanie sometimes.

DT: Anyway, let's do the Reviewer Feedback.

Xeno: Nice try, but they are actually Sora, Riku, Cloud and Aerith's. Kids. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Blood Pixie: I'm glad the chapter put a smile on your face. This is what makes writing so worth it. I'm also glad you liked my drawing. It was fun doing it. Actually, you're one of the few people (outside my family) I have shown my drawings to. Well, enjoy the chapter!

Neko-Yuff16: Yup you got it right. Congratulations! I didn't have a prize planned, but you can have a Cloud plushie! Yes I know, not a big moment, but like I've said before I don't want Rikku to just suddenly fall in love with him.

Blu Rose: I'm glad you loved the chapter. Hehe, I wasn't actually planning to put in the part where Rikku slapped Ryu, but I decided something needed to happen. You are also right about the kids. Here's a Cloud plushie!

Ch 6 Meetings

Yuna let loose a barrage of bullets at the suit of armor. However, the bullets just bounced off. Seeing that her bullets would have no effect, she changed into her Black Mage dressphere. Rikku also decided to change and used her Warrior dressphere. Paine charged at one of the hands and used her flametongue. She connected, but was then kicked away by the feet. Then they went after her. Ryu moved to help her, but the rest of the armor blocked him. The arms swirled around the body. Ryu held up his katan to block the hit. The force of the hit caused him to be thrown into a wall.

"Ryu!" Yuna and Rikku yelled.

"I'm fine." He said as he stood up. "Help Paine!"

The girls looked to see Paine trying to dodge the stomping feet.

"I'll go help Paine. You help Ryu." Yuna said and she took off.

Rikku saw the armor try another attack on Ryu. She ran and struck one of the hands. Ryu struck the main body, however, the body spun wildly and hit both of them away.

Meanwhile, one of the feet was about to stomp on Paine, but Yuna used her Firaga attack and that gave Paine enough time to roll out of the way. Paine joined Yuna.

"Thanks."

"No problem, now lets get these guys."

Paine nodded, they were about to attack again when the feet flew over their heads and back to the rest of the armor. Once they were together, the suit of armor jumped in the air. Ryu and Rikku looked up in surprise. Then it came down.

"Oh, shit." Ryu said and pushed Rikku out of the way. The armor landed with a thud and chunks of concrete flew in all directions.

Paine and Yuna rushed to the scene to see if their friends were okay. The dust cleared. All they saw at the scene was a bunch of rubble.

"You guys better not be dead!" Yuna said.

Suddenly, a pile of rubble began to shake. Yuna and Paine ran towards it. They saw Ryu shaking off bits of concrete and dust off. He the reached down and pulled Rikku up. The two Gullwings sighed in relief.

"Okay you guys we need a plan of attack." Ryu said.

"Agreed, but what do we do?" Paine asked.

"Lets just destroy one piece at a time. It overpowers us if we split up." Yuna commented.

"Sounds good to me. Which part do we destroy." Rikku asked.

"Lets get the feet. It tried to squash me like bug." Paine said.

"Lets do it!" Yuna said.

Ryu went in first and stuck one of the feet. Then Paine and Rikku double teamed with flametongue. Yuna followed up with Blizzaga. With the one of the feet frozen, Rikku, Paine, and Ryu went in for a final strike. However, the arms began to spin again. This time though, Ryu was ready. Instead of blocking he also struck and that cause the attacks to cancel out. Rikku and Paine now had a clear shot at the foot. They jumped up and came down as hard as they could. The ice broke into many pieces as did the foot. It took them by surprise when the other foot disappeared as well.

They broke into a smile. This could play to their advantage. One of the hands was about to strike Paine, but Yuna froze it just in time. Riku and Paine were going to do the same attack like on the foot, but the rest of the body jumped into the air again.

"Get out of the way!" Ryu yelled.

The girls took cover behind some of the larger pieces of debris. Ryu however had a different plan.

"Wind Blade!" he said as he jumped in the air and aimed his attack at the ground. That sent him flying up towards the armor.

"Are you out of your mind!" Rikku yelled at him.

Ryu got to the same level as the armor and landed on one of the arms. "Flame Blade!" he yelled and stuck his katan through the hand. He then jumped off and used his Wind Blade to slow down his fall. He quickly ran towards Yuna and the other. When he got there Rikku smacked his head.

"Are you suicidal or something? That was reckless and insane!"

Ryu rubbed his head. "That was not reckless since I knew exactly what I was doing."

"Umm, how about we finish off that suit of armor first and then you can chew Ryu out?" Yuna asked them.

Rikku nodded and they jumped over the rubble. Ryu and Paine ran to strike it, but the armor's body spun again. They both hit it to cancel it out. Rikku then came in and used Ice Band. Ryu then turned to Yuna.

"I've got an idea. Yuna hit one the armor with Firaga at one spot okay?"

Yuna nodded. She concentrated and attacked. "Firaga!"

Paine and Rikku moved out of the way. They saw the spot had turned red. Ryu smirked.

"Wateraga!" Ryu then said.

Yuna, Rikku and Paine looked at him in surprise. Ryu just smirked. "What? Can't a guy know some magic? Now attack that spot!" he told Paine and Rikku. "The metal in that part should be weaker now."

They nodded and attacked the body. They stuck their swords through the spot. They jumped back to see a light engulfing the suit of armor. The head fell off and a light in the shape of a heart came out of the body. It went into the air and disappeared. They looked at each other confused. Ryu sat on the floor and sighed. This was just getting weirder and weirder.

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Yuri, Karin, Maya, and Kai were walking through the Calm Lands. Kimahri told them to head to one of the many hovers and ask for a ride to the entrance to Macalania Forest. He gave them some credits to pay for the ride. They came to a hover. There was a man and an old woman there.

"Welcome! How may we help you?"

"Uh, we'd like a ride to the entrance to Macalania Forest." Karin answered.

"Of course, please this way." The man said. Karin paid the old woman and they got on the hover. They got to their destination pretty quickly. They thanked the driver and walked up the path to the forest. They expected to see lush green forest with tall trees, however, they were surprised to find a crystal like forest. The girls stared in awe. Yuri and Kai walked over to one of the crystals. Kai tapped one.

"Wow, these crystals are pretty tough."

"Really? Let me see." Yuri said and he punched the crystal. They heard a crack. Yuri didn't move. Karin and Maya walked over to him.

"Are you okay?" Karin asked.

Maya took a look at his face. Yuri looked like he was trying his hardest not to cry. Maya rubbed her forehead.

"You can be such an idiot sometimes Yuri."

She gently took his hand and healed it. Yuri flexed it to make sure it was okay.

"Thanks Maya."

"Next time think before you hit something." Maya chided.

"Okay…." Yuri said and rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"Let's keep going. We're not getting anywhere by just standing here." Kai commented.

They followed Kai and continued their journey. They came to a lake and after much persuasion on Yuri's behalf, they explored the area. After an hour of walking they realized something very important. They were lost.

"Didn't we just pass this way?" Maya asked.

"ARG! How are we ever gonna get out of here?" Yuri said while practically pulling out his hair.

"Calm down. Besides, it was your idea to explore the area by the lake. Lets, just go back the way we came and find that lake. We should be able to find the path from there." Kai said calmly.

"Why are you so calm Kai?" Karin asked.

"It meaningless to panic. Panic will only lead us to end up scared idiots like Yuri."

"Hey what did you call me!" Yuri said.

"Umm, lets just get going shall we." Karin said trying to keep a fight from breaking out.

Yuri stomped up to Kai "You take that back!"

"No." Kai answered.

Karin could tell they were going to fight. She looked at her sister for help. Maya grabbed both their heads and smacked them against each other. Karin sweat dropped. That wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

"Will you two get a hold of yourselves. Now stop fighting and lets go already." Maya walked off without another word.

Karin and the boys followed suit. They finally found the lake again. Yuri kissed the ground in happiness. They others shook their heads and sat down to rest. Once again, they set off after they rested. They found the path and set off towards Guadosalam again. This time they did not stray from the path. They ran into some travelers and were able to confirm that they were on the right path. Along the way they encountered some fiends. It wasn't too much trouble since they had been fighting heartless for a very long time. They reached the exit only to find that they had to cross a very dangerous looking place.

"Are we really suppose to cross that?" Yuki asked pointing ahead of him.

"Kimahri said the Thunder Plains use to be dangerous, but now since the lighting rods are better we won't get struck by lightning." Karin answered.

"Oh like that makes me feel safer." Yuki grumbled.

"According to Kimahri, there's an agency we can rest at in the middle of the plains. So, I say we get to it as soon as we can. I need a good shower." Maya added.

"Then lets go." Kai said.

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Yuna, Paine, Rikku, and Ryu walked out of the stadium. They were exhausted, but not to badly injured. The people confirmed that the creatures were gone, for now at least. They checked into a hotel to rest up for the next day. Yuna got a call from Buddy. Apparently they weren't needed at Mt. Gagazet anymore. Someone took the liberty of destroying the creatures there. The Gullwings shrugged it off. At least the Ronso were safe. After a good nights rest they awoke the next morning ready to roll. They decided to walk to the Mi'ihen Highroad since it was so close to Luca. Brother cried that he wouldn't be able to see Yuna's radiant smile. Ryu found that kinda creepy since they were cousins. They arrived at the highroad and rented out some chocobos. It was a pretty uneventful ride to the travel agency. They encountered a few Flan and some haywire Machina. Along the way Yuna told him about Shinra, an ex-member of the Gullwings. He now works for Rin developing new machina. Once they arrived at the agency, Ryu took the chocobos to one of the attendants while the girls checked out their situation. Rin walked out of the agency and smiled at them.

"It is a pleasure to see you. I'm sorry you came all this way, but the problem with the shadow creatures has been solved."

"Really?" Yuna said.

"Yes, you see Shinra's bodyguard took care of it single handedly."

"Shinra has a bodyguard too?" Rikku asked surprised.

Rin nodded. "I'm afraid someone tried to kidnap him not to long ago. I was required to get one should they try again."

"Hmm, well this is interesting. The same thing happened to Rikku." Paine commented.

"Yes, I heard about the incident. It was very fortunate that nothing serious happened."

"Is it okay if we see Shinra?" Yuna asked him.

"Of course. Let me get him."

Rin walked back inside. After a few moments he came out with Shinra and another man. He had long white hair. His green eyes seemed to glow as he looked at them.

"Hello guys. It's been awhile." Shinra said running up to them. He gave Yuna a hug.

"It's nice to see you too Shinra."

"So, who's your bodyguard." Rikku asked.

Shinra turned to the man. "His name is Sephiroth. He will be my bodyguard until I finish my project."

"What project?" Yuna asked.

"A machina to harness the power of the Farplane." Rin answered. Shinra nodded. He then turned to Rikku.

"I heard you got a bodyguard too. Where is he?"

"Over there." She pointed to Ryu who was walking towards them.

"Cloud!" Sephiroth screamed.

In the blink of an eye he rushed at Ryu. The others could only look on in surprise. Ryu saw the white haired man come at him. He only had a split second to draw his katan. He block the blade that came at his neck. He could feel the cold steel against his skin. The man looked into his eyes with pure hate. A shiver ran down is spine.

"Sephiroth what are you doing?" Shinra asked as he ran towards the two warriors.

"Leave Ryu alone!" Rikku screamed at him.

Then just like that, he backed off. He sheath his long sword and looked at Ryu. This time there was no trace of hatred.

"I apologize. I though you were someone else." Then he walked back into the agency.

Ryu looked at the ground. For some reason, he was breathing really hard. 'For once in my life, someone made me scared just by looking at me. Who was that guy?'

Rikku ran up to him. "You're bleeding!"

"Huh?" he reached up to his neck and ran his hand over it. He looked at his hand to find blood. 'Had I drawn my blade a fraction of a second later he would have cut my head off. This guy is good. Really good.'

"We better go." Yuna said. They said good-bye to Shinra and Rin. She called for Brother to pick them up.

Once on the airship, Ryu cleaned his wound and healed it. Rikku was still angry that Sephiroth nearly beheaded her bodyguard. Yuna and Paine were a little worried that Shinra was being guarded by that kind of person. However, now they also were worried about the possibility of Shinra getting kidnapped. Whatever was going on, it seemed that those shadow creatures were the ones to blame. Whoever was controlling them must be behind the attempted kidnap of Rikku and Shinra.

"Why do you think they targeted Shinra?" Yuna asked her comrades.

"Maybe it's for that machina he's building." Rikku answered.

"That is a good possibility, but why were they after Rikku?" Paine questioned.

"Yes, who is doing this is and why seems to be the question, but we have no answers." Ryu said. "If we can find out where these things are coming from then we can find the culprit."

"Okay so where too?" Buddy asked.

"The last place. Guadosalam." Yuna answered. "Maybe we'll be able to find something there."

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Karin and Maya walked out of the agency fully rested and ready to go. The boys followed along not as energetic. They began their walk again.

"Think we'll find Ansem soon?" Yuri asked.

"I hope so. That way we have more time to look for my brother." Karin answered.

"Hey maybe we'll find him here. You never know." Yuri said trying to be supportive.

"Thanks." Karin said with a smile.

"Ooooh, Yuri and Karin sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Maya sang.

"Stop that!" they both said turning red.

Maya and Kai just laughed at their embarrassed friends.

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Sephiroth sat in the agency. Rin and Shinra had just finished scolding him for attacking someone for no good reason. He put up with it only because those two were the key to his plan. He was just protecting the boy so Ansem wouldn't get in the way. After all, Ansem feared him more than anything else because he was more powerful than anyone. Not even Sora was his equal. Once Shinra finished the machina, he would kill him. Then he would use the machina to harness the power of the Farplane and become invincible! Nothing was going to get in his way! Not even Cloud could stop him now!

AN: And that ends this chapter. It's getting late so I'm cutting this note short. Sorry if the end seemed rushed. Please read and review. Until next time!