Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 3:

The Iron Giant charged at the group, it's enormous sword raised above it's head. Haseo picked Celena up and jumped away while Vidina pushed Masurao and then dove down to the ground. The Iron Giant's foot landed an inch away from Masurao's face as it charged past them, it's weight and speed too much to let it stop yet. It stumbled forward and slowly turned to the group. It's yellow eyes glowed, it's hand clenched around it's sword.

"This is not going to be easy." Masurao muttered as he jumped up and got into a battle stance.

"Looks like those other guys were the small fry ya? This one is the boss." Vidina agreed as he picked his blitzball up. "Come on then, we'll show you what happens to fiends that attack our village!"

The Iron Giant roared, somehow, as it charged at the group. Vidina smirked as he pulled back and threw the blitzball with great force. The ball smacked the knight's face, making his head pull back a bit. Vidina jumped forward and caught the ball and focused on it. The ball ignited into bright flames as he threw it into the giant, knocking it backwards.

"Wow Vidina, I didn't know you learned magic from your mom too!" Masurao cried.

"Of course, blitzball and magic are in my blood!" Vidina answered. He turned and heaved the ball at the giant as it stood up but this time the giant was ready. It swung it's sword up from the ground and knocked the ball away. "Of course I'm useless with either unless I have my ball." Vidina added as the giant ran towards them again.

"You get the ball, we'll distract him." Celena said as she ran up to Vidina.

"No way, you don't have your weapon!" Vidina protested. Haseo appeared in front pf the two of them and stabbed his speared into the ground. He walked towards the charging knight and gathered blue energy into his hand. He surged it forward, creating a blue of translucent energy that knocked the knight off course. It charged past the group, but quickly corrected itself and watched the group.

"I think he realized we're more trouble than he thought." Masurao said worriedly.

"Yeah it'll take more then just blind charges to beat us ya?" Vidina agreed.

Haseo was silent as he stopped in front of Celena. "Take the spear." He ordered harshly. Celena complied and picked the long weapon out of the ground. She stepped further behind the boys, worried for each of them.

"Why did my weapon have to break?" she muttered.

"Here it comes!" Masurao cried. Rather than charging the giant bent down and leaped up into the air. Even Haseo had a look of shock, albeit less than the other boys', as he watched the large giant leap into the air and swing it's sword down. The group scattered out of the way, but the force from the blade landing was enough to knock Masurao down to the ground. He picked his sword up and charged back at the giant. He cried as he swung his hooked sword down and struck the armor of the giant. His blade bounced off but he charged again, striking as hard as he could.

The giant kicked his foot out and knocked Masurao back, the sword strikes doing little more than just scratching his armor. Vidina picked up his blitzball and threw it forward but the giant knocked it away again. Haseo stayed behind, his hands glowing blue. "Heaven's Cataract." He said calmly as he unleashed another blue wave of energy. The giant pulled back slightly, it's armor growing dull.

"His defense is down." Haseo said. The two boys nodded to each other as they attacked again. This time Vidina covered his blitzball in magic ice and kicked it towards the giant. The giant was knocked back and lost it's balance. Masurao charged forward and put all of his strength into striking the giant's leg. The giant fell back, creating a small quake that shook the group a bit.

"Alright, we did it!" Masurao cheered.

"Not yet we didn't." Vidina replied as the giant stood up. "Man this thing is annoying."

The giant grabbed it's sword as it stood up. It glared at the group, but Haseo didn't plan on giving it another chance it attack. He unleashed another blue wave of energy at the giant, knocking him back again. Haseo bent over, his hands resting on his knees. The third Heaven's Cataract seemed to be taxing on him.

"Don't over do it Haseo!" Celena warned her friend. He gave her a brief reassuring smile as he walked towards the giant. The giant got up even quicker this time, clearly angry that it's armor was being weakened by Haseo. It leapt up again and struck at the group. Haseo was knocked over by the enormous energy the giant had s it landed. Masurao jumped in front of his friend and struck the knight, it's armor breaking under the blade.

The giant roared as it kicked Masurao away. Masurao was knocked aside like a rag doll, completely unconscious before he even landed. Vidina threw his blitzball at the giant, knocking it to the side. It roared as it pulled back and retaliated by throwing it's sword at Vidina. Vidina cried as the sword's blunt side knocked into him, a sick crack being heard.

Celena couldn't take seeing her brother and friend being knocked around anymore. She charged at the giant and struck at his heal, making him roar in pain. He turned around and glared down at Celena's determined eyes. He raised both of his fists to crush Celena, but was knocked to the side by another wave of energy from Haseo. Celena looked over at Haseo worriedly, only to see him wearily fall to his side.

"You idiot, you can't use moves like that too much! You know the kind of strain it puts on your body." Celena scolded as she ran over to her friend. She knelt down beside him and he weakly smiled back.

"I had to protect you." He answered as he tried standing up. "I promised."

"No you idiot, just say down and leave this to me!" Celena ordered, trying to push Haseo down. Haseo shook his head weakly, his eyes closing as Celena lied him down. The giant loomed over them, casting a large shadow. Celena stood up and readied the spear, trying to mimic the position Haseo normally took. The giant laughed, obviously able to tell that Celena was inadequate at handling a weapon like a spear. "Shut up and bring it!" she snapped. The giant roared a sit raised it's fists and slammed them down onto the girl.

BANG!

The giant stumbled to the side as something hit. Celena looked over and saw the machina boy glaring at the giant. His body was covered in bandages, his tunic still removed. His broken arm was set in a sling but his other arm seemed to be working fairly well. He smirked at Celena before waking towards the giant. It stood up and charged at the boy but he was prepared. He pulled something from his pocket and threw it at the giant. The small metallic ball exploded in front of the giant, tearing through it's severely weakened armor. The giant fell back as it's body slowly disintegrated into pyreflies.

"Grenades aren't my favorite but they get the job done." The boy said before suddenly falling to his knees and then completely down.

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"Oh no, I wish we had gotten there sooner." Yuna said as she worked on healing Vidina's wounds. Luckily the boys weren't too injured. Masurao only had a bump on his head, Haseo had merely fainted from exhaustion, and Vidina had a minor rib fracture that Yuna could heal with her white magic easily. "We were busy dealing with our own problem though."

"The Iron Giant had a friend. Two to be exact." Lulu answered.

"Geminis? But those aren't native to Besaid." Celena said in confusion.

"Exactly. And they've never attacked the village from the outside before either." Lulu answered.

"This is so confusing. I wish Dad and Wakka were here." Celena said, looking over at Haseo's spear resting by the sleeping boy. "I was useless for this fight, I can't believe it."

"Relax, you've proven yourself plenty of times before." Yuna consoled her daughter.

"I guess." Celena answered. She looked over at the still unnamed machina boy. "Still, if he hadn't appeared when he did then we'd be dead. It was a good thing he had those extra grenades tucked away."

"It's a good thing Vidina was too worried about his injuries to realize he had them." Lulu agreed in her own way.

"There, Vidina should be good as new when he wakes up." Yuna said cheerfully.

"Wow mom you're great at that white magic stuff. It's been a while since you've really had to use it for anything serious. Nice job." Celena said proudly.

"Not at all Celena." Yuna said, shaking her head. "People get hurt all the time on this island and it's my responsibility to help those who do. Just like it's their job to help protect the village."

"Well they did a pretty good job today. These boys deserve a quiet rest." Lulu said as she left the small house.

I agree. Are you going to watch over Haseo Celena?" Yuna asked, a knowing smile on her face.

"Yeah, I suppose." Celena answered but then looked at her mother. "Why did you only say Haseo's name?" she asked.

"No reason." Her mother chuckled as she left the tent. Celena watched her go, a small frown on her face. She turned back to her sibling, savior, and friends as they slept. She shrugged as she sat down next to them and enjoyed the quiet calm after such a dangerous battle.

It was night by the time everyone woke up. The last to do so was the machina boy who looked around the moonlight house in confusion. He felt his nearly severed arm and grimaced slightly, worried about what it would take to repair it. He sleepily looked around, still tired from everything that had happened before. He slowly stood up from the soft bed he had been on and carefully put on his tunic.

He walked out of the hut and looked out at the village. Several people were gathered around a small fire, a dull roar of talking coming from it. They all seemed relatively happy, though some seemed to have injuries. The boy looked around, noticing that some of the buildings were broken down a bit. "Right, those fiends attacked." He muttered. "I wonder where that girl I saved is."

"Hey!" someone called over to him. He looked over and saw a familiar looking boy running over to him. "I'm glad you're finally uo. Thanks for saving my sister earlier." The boy said gratefully.

"Your sister?" the machina boy asked.

"Yeah, you saved her from that Iron Giant." The boy answered with a smile. "I'm Masurao, nice to meet you and thanks again." Masurao held his hand out to the boy but he seemed to be ignoring him. He looked over at the people, a curious frown on his face.

"Why are people celebrating?" he asked quietly.

"Because nobody was hurt." Masurao answered cheerfully. "Even though so many fiends attacked we all managed to keep the people safe from any serious harm. Some of the buildings could be doing better but nothing too bad happened overall. So before worrying about repairing the village we're having a small celebration."

"I see." The boy said. Masurao stared at him confusedly as he watched the people talk and laugh. "Masato." He said quietly.

"I'm sorry?" Masurao asked.

"My name is Masato." He repeated.

"Oh, well it's nice to finally know who the mystery machina guy is." Masurao chuckled. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my friends." Masurao walked towards the people, leaving Masato behind. He shrugged before following after the other boy. Masurao walked up to his friends and turned back to show them Masato.

"Masato, this is my sister Celena, my friend Haseo, and my coach Vidina." Masurao said proudly.

"Coach? Oh no brudda, don't go saying that I'm the one that taught you those mediocre moves." Vidina laughed.

"Vidina are you drunk?" Celena asked.

"A little bit." The older boy answered before taking a long drink from a cup.

Haseo remained silent as he scanned the newcomer with cold, hard eyes. Masato felt himself squirm a bit under his cold gaze, suddenly feeling as if he were being stalked by a dangerous animal. He put on a weak smile and held his hand out to the sitting boy, but Haseo only stared at him in return.

"Oh Haseo stop that." Celena scolded him. Haseo looked away from Masato, his eyes drifting bovver to Celena. "I'm sorry about him. He's not very good around new people." Celena apologized for her friend. Haseo let out an indignant grunt and looked away from the group entirely. Celena rolled her eyes and puched Haseo's arm playfully, but the boy ignored her.

"Come on Haseo, this was the guy who saved us!" Masurao cheered. "We should all be thanking him and stuff."

"Ah come on brudda, you know how Haseo gets with new people." Vidina laughed.

Masurao subconsciously touched his right hand and chuckled nervously. "Well don't worry, Haseo will warm up to you eventually. In the mean time tell us about yourself. You're half machina, there's got to be a story behind that!"

"Masurao stop it." His older sister scolded. "If he wants to tell us then he will, but if not don't push him. It's up to him what to tell us and what not to tell us."

"Yeah alright." Masurao grumbled. "Well at least tell us what happened to you."

"I was attacked by fiends and they really did a number on me." Masato answered. He looked down at his useless arm worriedly. "How can I fix my arm from something like this? If it just had a few wires damaged then it wouldn't be too hard, but my arm is almost completely torn off."

"Don't worry, our mom called in a machina specialist. There's nothing she can't fix." Masurao said proudly. "And if it isn't broken, she'll fix it until it is and then fix whatever she did to it so it is fixed again."

"That actually made me a little worried." Masato said.

"So what are you doing on the island? Nobodies ever seen you around ya?" Vidina asked.

"I'm here on some minor business. I'd rather not go into details right now." Masato answered. Haseo grunted, clearly not satisfied with Masato's mysterious answer. Masato glared at the back of the boy's white haired head. Haseo seemed to notice the gesture, and turned his head enough to look back at him and glare with his visible right eye.

"Oh boy." Celena sighed. "I get the feeling these two are going to be a problem."