"Regal! Try to get that wood over here faster, would ya!" Yuan scolded as Regal seemed to take his sweet time bringing over a heavy log that they were going to use for constructing the superweapon that Yuan had planned.
"Yuan, do you have to be so aggressive?" Lloyd asked. "I'm sure he's doing his best."
Yuan smirked at that remark as he continued ordering everyone around. Despite the fact that he had given the title to Lloyd of "co-supervisor", Yuan seemed to be the one directing everyone the most about what it was that needed to be done. Lloyd pretty much sat back and watched and didn't do a bit of work. That was the way he liked it.
The hours wore on. There were several mishaps along the way, such as Colette deciding to become clumsy at the least appropriate times, (at one point she tripped over a rope that was holding up a part of the weapon and the entire thing came down and needed to be rebuilt), Zelos complaining that the work was too hard and that someone as handsome as him shouldn't have to go through that kind of work, and several other things that overall slowed the production rate.
"Come on, move it!" Yuan continued screaming as everyone did their best to construct the weapon that he had blueprinted. "This weapon isn't going to build itself, you know! We need to finish this weapon as quickly as we can so we can blow open that door to the headquarters!"
"But Yuan," Zelos whined, "this work is too hard! I'm sweating up a storm! Ya know, losing all my strength isn't going to be too helpful when we're in a fight, you know."
"Kratos is not here, so allow me to speak for him," Yuan calmly said. "Every drop of sweat in training is one less drop of blood in battle. Now get back to work and keep sweating!"
With a moan, Zelos walked back, and Lloyd was becoming equally concerned that Yuan may have been overworking all of them. But he didn't talk to Yuan about it, because he knew Yuan wouldn't listen anyway.
Several hours later, the weapon was finally finished. The weapon part of it looked like a long cannon that was capable of firing a devastating blast of mana that had the potential to kill staggering amounts of people at once. It was being carried on two thick and heavy strips of wood that had wheels on the bottom for easy maneuvering. On the sides of the weapon there were two buttons, one on each side. Yuan explained the button was to only be hit an emergency. When pressed, the button would eject the cannon like a giant battering ram.
"Nice work, everyone," Yuan said, saying the first half-decent thing to anyone ever since they started working on the weapon. "We should all find an inn for the night now and get some rest. Tomorrow promises to be a big and decisive day."
"Why don't we go to that inn that was built in Iselia?" Lloyd asked. "I don't think Zyn destroyed it when he led an attack there a little while ago."
"All right," Yuan said without asking anyone else's opinions. "Let's get to Iselia now."
The band of comrades made their way into the small town that Lloyd grew up in. They all went into the inn and were given their beds for the night. All of them got to sleep very easily, except for Lloyd. He was too busy thinking about the operation that was going to be completed tomorrow and how it held the fate of the entire world in his hands.
Lloyd was nowhere near drifting off to sleep when a loud clash a sudden storm of footsteps was heard outside. He shot up out of his bed and went over to a window and looked out it, horrified with what he saw.
There were several troops that were wearing dark blue coats and all seemed fairly new to the military. But when one pulled out a boomerang, there was no doubt in Lloyd's mind that the invaders were Tiberians.
"Dammit!" Lloyd yelled when he realized who Iselia's unwanted visitors are. "Don't those guys ever give up!"
Lloyd went over to all his allies and very loudly started waking them up. When he told them that Tiberians were marching into Iselia, they all got out of bed without a word and got ready to fight.
When all of them stormed out of the inn, they turned a corner only to be facing Zyn and his troops.
"Heh. I see you brought your friends with you this time," Zyn commented to Lloyd.
"This time, you're not going to get away!" Lloyd threatened as he pulled out his material blades.
"Lloyd, how many times must I tell you?" Zyn asked in a sympathetic tone. "I don't want to hurt you, I just want you to come with me so you don't have to put yourself through this any longer."
"Quit acting like you care!" Lloyd yelled as he put his material blades into an attack position.
The caring look on Zyn's face dropped, and his dark yellow suit seemed to start wrinkling on its own. "Have it your way," he said coldly. "Men, attack!"
The squad of Tiberian soldiers that Zyn brought with him pulled out their weapons and started charging at Lloyd and the gang.
Instantly, a brawl was going on in Iselia during the pitch black night. Yuan had pulled out his giant sword as was savagely swinging it at anyone who got close to him. Regal was kicking the tar out of anyone who tried to do harm to him or any of his allies, Collete and Genis tried their best to cast the best magic without hurting any of their allies, while Zelos and Presea started swinging their weapons around like crazy. Sheena didn't have a lot of time to summon a summon spirit, so she had to make do with her cards. Raine was just standing on the side and trying her best to heal anyone who she thought got hurt.
Lloyd tried fighting off several Tiberians, but he soon saw he was outnumbered. Plus, he didn't think he should be fighting his hardest against the Tiberian soldiers; instead, he tried focusing all his attention on a more deadly opponent.
Lloyd ran over to Zyn and got his Vorpal Sword ready to strike him down, but Zyn pulled out his long and fairly damaging sword and blocked Lloyd's slash.
Now Zyn and Lloyd were fighting their decisive battle. If Lloyd won, then it would do considerable damage to Zyn's side; if Zyn won, then it would seriously hinder Lloyd's group. The scariest part was that both of them realized that.
Lloyd took his Flamberge and swung it right at Zyn's head, and Zyn ducked, but not without feeling the hot air created by the sword swoop past his head.
Zyn stuck out his long sword and tried stabbing Lloyd directly in the stomach with it. Lloyd had to make frequent dodges to his left and to his right to avoid getting killed.
Lloyd finally got the upper hand when he tried sliding into Zyn's shin, like a desperate baseball player trying to steal to another base. The plan worked and Zyn fell to the ground, his sword falling at his side.
Lloyd got up as quickly as he could and got ready to drive his material blades through Zyn and finish him, but Zyn was able to roll out of the way just in time. He picked up his giant sword when he was back on his two feet and started charging at Lloyd again.
Lloyd started running as quickly as he could over to a tree. Just as Zyn was swinging his sword at him, Lloyd ducked, causing Zyn's sword to completely miss him and lodge itself in a tree.
While Zyn struggled to release his sword from being lodged in the tree, Lloyd ran over and gave Zyn a hard kick in the side, knocking him onto the ground. But since he had kept a strong grip on his sword the whole, getting knocked onto the ground actually allowed Zyn to have his sword pulled out from the tree.
With Zyn armed again, Lloyd had to be extra careful. Letting his guard down for a split second could possibly be the decisive moment in the battle and indirectly cost him and his friends the battle to save Aselia.
The battle went on for a long time as Lloyd and Zyn did nothing except clash blades over and over, doing their best to knock the other off their guard.
Lloyd ran over to the same tree that Zyn had accidentally got his sword stuck in and sheathed his Vorpal Sword. He then grabbed onto a branch a few inches above his head and pulled himself up with his free hand. He started dangling from the tree like a little kid trying to hold on without falling, and he started swinging himself forward.
Doing so, he kicked Zyn in the face while he was swinging and knocked Zyn backwards. Lloyd let go of the tree when momentum was pushing him forward and he started flying towards Zyn as gravity pulled him downwards. Lloyd prepared the last bit of his planned attack by pointing his flamberge right for Zyn's heart.
But Zyn stuck his sword up to block Lloyd's causing Lloyd's sword to stop in motion while Lloyd continued getting pushed forward by momentum. The result: his abdomen got pushed right into the handle of his sword.
Feeling like the impact had punctured part of his upper body, Lloyd crumpled onto the ground as Zyn started walking towards him with his sword in position, ready to strike.
Just as Zyn was about to thrust the sword through Lloyd and kill him, Zyn was caught off guard when a giant fireball came charging at his head. It hit him in his temple, stunning him for a moment that Lloyd desperately needed.
Lloyd looked at where the fireball came from and saw Genis was standing there, holding his Kendama rather proudly. Lloyd just nodded quickly to Genis, hoping that would serve as a satisfactory "thank you".
With Lloyd slowly starting to recover from an unintentional self-inflicted injury he had given himself, he started charging towards Zyn, who was still on the ground after being knocked there by Genis's surprise fireball attack.
But Lloyd's attack and finishing blow was cut short when he was hit over the back of his head with something heavy. He turned around and saw a Tiberian soldier catch the boomerang in his hand that he had just thrown at Lloyd's head. Lloyd made quick work of the soldier by giving him a quick, but painful, stab into his stomach.
While it cost the Tiberian soldier his life, throwing the boomerang at Lloyd's head saved Zyn's. Zyn was now back on his feet and ready to attack again, but Lloyd was furious now. He released the inner animal within him and started lashing out at Zyn. He didn't use any self-taught fighting techniques or any strategy; he just started attacking as savagely as possible.
This sudden burst in aggression apparently caught Zyn off guard, because he actually let out a small gasping sound as Lloyd started attacking. Finally, he received one hard blow to his wrist, causing a large amount of blood to start pouring out from it.
Zyn moaned in pain as he fell on to the ground. Lloyd was about to impale Zyn into the ground before a hand came up from behind and held him back.
"Lloyd, that's enough!" said a voice. It was Yuan.
Lloyd tried his best to break his hand free from Yuan's hard grasp, but it didn't work. Finally, Lloyd started calming down. With his heavy breathing, he finally became aware of what was going on around him. He looked down at Zyn, who was obviously beat in front of him.
"Lloyd, answer this question," Yuan said calmly. All of Lloyd's friends came up from behind, and Lloyd turned towards them. He was surprised to see that in just the time he and Zyn had been dueling, his friends had taken out all the other Tiberian soldiers.
"Lloyd, do you honestly want to kill him?" Yuan asked.
Lloyd looked around at all his friends and tried to read their expressions. They all seemed concerned about how violent he had just become, and Lloyd took in a deep breath. He saw that Zyn was obviously scared and wasn't ready to die.
Lloyd took one more deep breath in and closed his eyes. He then sorrowfully turned to his allies and said to them, "Guys, I think we got ourselves a prisoner."