To fight or not to fight? That is the new question

[Gideon]

Gideon barreled out of the portal and slammed into some sort of large crystal couch lookin mass. Rubbing his head he got up and looked around. "Were the hell..." he stopped as he saw a gorgeous blonde haired woman looking at him from the couch thing. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive my rudeness, I wasn't aware there was a lady present," he said shifting his eyes. She simply smiled then with a more saddened expression pointed toward her right. "What is it?" he looked to find a figure rushing forward at great speed.

Instinct told him to quickly cast haste, shell, and protect while he had the time. He obliged. The figure continued rushing toward them,"you may want to stand back ma'am," he looked toward the women but she was gone. "Right then, that's not creepy at all..."
the figure, who was now close enough to observe, appeared to be covered, or rather made of.... crystal? "The hell?"Gideon saw that whoever his opponent was they wielded a blade resembling what he had known to be called a zanbato...a name suddenly appeared in his head",Garland?.... copy?" What in the name of
Gaia was going on. The figure, this Garland copy, finally drew near enough and swung his enormous blade horizontally at Gideon, quickly, without hesitation he flipped into the air over the man's head and behind him swinging a crescent kick hard into the man's would be base of the skull. The man didn't fall... he didn't move... He friggin turned around and laughed at him!!

"Oof!!" Gideon flew backward rolling across the ground which he now realized had a liquidiness to it. This man had landed a hit on him only three people had ever achieved that... It was time to be serious, this man was not by any means an ally, restraint was not going to be an option. He drew his blade and stood, the protect spell along with his armor had proved their worth and no damage, beyond that to his pride, had been delivered. He shot forward and slammed his blade into the man's Zanbato like sword and made him stagger, he followed up by swinging full circle while dropping down low to sweep the man's legs.

As he prepared for a finishing blow that would cut the Crystal man's body in half if not come very close, a gunshot rang out and another crystalline figure dropped from the sky and pointed a revolver model gunblade at his face, "Ah shi-" he managed to get the blade up in time to block the shot, though the the force sent him skidding backward,"Tch son of a-" another shot, another block. This time he retaliated, " BURN!!"

A fireball shot toward the man, hitting him full in the face and engulfing both him and crystal Garland's body in flames. The creature screamed a loud, screeching cry and ran toward him firing of shots. Gideon dodged and weaved in close and swung his gauntlet-clad arm into the man's midsection; the crystalline body shattered, one down. He jumped high into the air and somersaulted several times while diving back down to gain momentum, slamming into crystal Garland's massive sword with enough force to shatter his sword arm. He then spun in a crescent strike to the midsection cutting him in half, the creature fell an stayed down.

"Gah so friggin annoying!! What the hell is up with this place?" He saw movement in the distance four more crystalline figures headed his way. Gideon slumped his shoulders rolling his eyes,"that's just friggin dandy, this is gonna be a long day."

[Rinoa Heartilly]

"Hello?...Hello!? Is anyone out there?!"


Rinoa slowly traveled through the shallow water land, eyes looking around her surroundings for any sign of life. Though in truth, she hadn't any idea where she was, only that it wasn't Balamb Garden. The area was foreign, fuzzy clouds in a dark sky. Nothing here seemed familiar to her, which made her want to get out all the more. Any time she felt out of place, she was reminded of Ultimecia.

But this can't be from her....Could it?

Brushing her hand through her long raven hair, she stopped for a moment as she heard the sound of metal clashing. Could it be? Maybe there was someone else here other than herself. If so, then maybe they could tell her out to get back home. Running towards the location of the noise, Rinoa slide to a stop as she saw a large man land upon the ground with a crash. At first, she was worried, but then she realized that his body was made of pure crystal.

Men made of diamond? What kind of place is this?

Time didn't allow her many moments to figure out her question, for in the distance appeared four more crystal figures, each looking more grim then the next. But, there also appeared to be someone else not too far from her. Since he looked normal enough, perhaps he could tell her what was going on.

"Hey! You!"

Rinoa ran up to Gideon's side, kneeling over to catch her breath.

[Gideon]

Gideon started to ready himself for the next wave. He had a few supplies if needed, but he had to save them; he didn't know what to expect from these things or if they'd keep comin from nowhere. He prepared to charge them when suddenly a voice called out to him. "hey you!" He whipped around saw a dark haired girl kneeling over panting. Oh crap.... this made things slightly more complicated. Right then, he still had some time,"Ima cast haste on you ok?" she nodded in reply and he gave her the whole package haste, protect, and shell. He'd have to let himself rest at least through this fight before casting them again.

"I don't know your combat skills love, but hang back on this ok? I can probably slow them down enough for you to either run or analyze them till you feel you've got a hold on their style." Damascus half ordered this, he didn't want to sound patronizing but he knew his own skills and knew he couldn't allow those creatures to harm his newfound companion. He shot toward the group that by now had come into the estimated two hundred yard threshold he had really not wanted them to cross. He shot forward drwaing his blade again. A purple sphere shot toward him he shot to the left and avoided this attack only to find a female type crystal being that for some reason inspired the name Ultimecia. No time to think he shot into the air above her, his mako energy was starting to kick in and his eyes began to glow.

"I'll crush you all!" Gideon shouted the Emporer or so the name that came to mind seemed to say,tilted his head back and started his eirie, crystalline cackling at this, and before he got to bring his head back down Gideon had torn it off. He rose from the kneeling position he had been forced to take, the mako rising from his body in small whisp-like tendrils. He heard the names Tidus and Jecht in his head. " You're friend needs to see a doctor," Gideon said without turning around," Said he was having some neck pains." With that he tossed the crystal Emperor's head over his shoulder as his body shattered. turning around he saw crystal Jecht catch the head analyze it for a second and then screamed that atrocious crystal wail. Jecht ran forward with admitted agility for his size and sword and took a swing.

Again Gideon leaped over him and Tidus. He somersaulted down toward crystal Tidus's head with a crushing Deathblow. Had it not been for the boy's amazing agility he would have ended him there. He only managed to sever a crystalline leg however, this was enough of a blow to follow up with flinging his blade in the boy's direction and pinning the quickly deteriorating crystal body to one of the, what he assumed to be, crystal trees. He was quickly attacked by the crystal Jecht. He barely dodged a what was sure to be armor rending blow and readied Crush punch, as he readied his limit break he shot toward the tree and retrieved his blade, and backflipped over another shot from crystalline Jecht. Guarding his his blade he braced himself for the next blow. He never saw any change in Crystal Ultimecia's position but suddenly, she was directly behind him. Oh this was gonna hurt.

Suddenly two shots rang out, he saw the second bullet pass through a space in his sword and the charging Jecht copy fell forward without his head. He realized that Ultimecia had also quickly repositioned herself to another loacation. "Thank Gaia," He turned to see a white haired young man firing away at the crystalline sorceress.

[Rinoa Heartilly]

Wow.....

There wasn't much else she could really say at this point, as the man seemed to be quite capable of handling himself, almost as well as some else she knew. Of course, these figures weren't just standing around and waiting to be attacked. Oddly enough, they seemed to possess abilities and attacks unique to their own style. But how did Rinoa know this? Her answer was simple, because one of them was already displaying an attack pattern that she knew all to well.

"Ultimecia....."

There she was, the witch herself. No...some kind of crystal version of her. But it didn't matter, she didn't appear to be any less dangerous than the original and the stranger appeared to be having trouble with her. Though just when she prepared to throw her Blaster Edge, two shots range out and caused the clone to disappear. So while Gideon seemed to rest in his relief, Rinoa scanned the area for where the crystal figure might have gone. Sadly, she could really see her anywhere near by.

"This is just weird....crystal fighters? What is this all about?"

The young female waiting for an answer, unsure of who would be the one to speak first. For now there appeared to be two people in her general area.

[Blint Basael]

Blint woke up and for a second he a vision of himself falling into blackness. He took a deep breath and just thought is was his usual dream. That changed quickly though when he realized he was in water. On second look it wasn't water he was in, but something very similar.

Wondering if he was still dreaming he looked as him arm, instead of it being real like he expected it was his mechanical arm. He sighed cause he now knew that this wasn't a dream. Whenever he dreamed his had his old body back. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what he was doing before he wound up in this weird world. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clashing metal and shattering glass.

They sounded like they weren't to far away, so he drew his pistols and started to walk towards them. On the way he looked at his surroundings. The first thing he noticed were the trees. They were made out of crystal and were easily one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. The next thing he noticed were people coming and going. A man came out of no where but before he could say anything he disappeared.

He had no idea why he was here and he didn't want to stay here for to much longer. This time his thoughts were interrupted by a piercing wail that made him flinch. Thinking someone was in trouble he started to run. He wished he didn't make so much noise, splashing through the water but it couldn't be helped.

It didn't take him long before he came across a girl with long dark hair. He then noticed a man fighting a little bit farther on and it didn't look so good for him. It didn't help that he was in the way of his shots, and there was nothing around for him to use his ricochet shot. So he raised his mech arm and fired on shot and each of the crystal attackers. The first was aimed at the women but she had already moved. The second went right through the strangers sword and into the second crystals head.

"What's going on here?" He didn't care who answered, he just wanted to know that he wasn't going insane.

[Gideon]

Seeing that the crystal witch had disappeared Gideon grabbed his sword slung it onto his back and headed back to the girl and the newcomer he had heard both of them ask what was going on. He had made his way back to the two and they both looked at him. " I don't know much more then you to be honest," he said before they had gotten a chance to repeat the question. I apologize for being so pushy back there i just really didn't want to see you get hurt and i hadn't fought those types before. the two i killed before them were different. I can say that they are diverse I've never encountered that witches kind before she moved as if i was standing still..."

His ears perked he thought he had heard someone in the distance, it wouldn't surprise him at all. He started to walk the opposite way. " Forgive my rudeness but i believe we should begin to move.... thank you by the way, that aim of yours is very impressive. And you," he looked at the girl, "you didn't run as i expected, so i assume you've had at least a decent background in combat...My name is Gideon Ex- Soldier for Shinra on my home world of gaia... and you are he asked the two of them.

[Rinoa Heartilly]

Rinoa crossed her arms over her chest, eying Gideon as he stated his opinion of her. It wasn't the best interpretation of herself, but he wasn't too far off either. After all, she really didn't have much combat training. But then, that hadn't stopped her before and likely wouldn't any time soon. But for now, it wasn't the time to get into an argument,. From what it looked like, none of them knew exactly where they were or what was happening.

But still, at least now they had bigger numbers than previously. At first she had been wandering alone, now she was with two people that were very good at defending themselves. Somehow, she felt a lot safer in groups. Though what now? Gideon seemed to believe that they should move on, but to where? It wasn't as if they had a map or even a location in mind. So where were they off to?

"Im Rinoa Heartilly of the Tim....I mean..SeeD branch in Balamb Gardens..."

Could she really use that title? It wasn't as though she were an official member of their ranks. Though before she thought on it further, she smiled to herself as she remember Selphie saying that she was one of them. Everyone...she wondered if they were looking for her? Or if they even knew she was gone?

"So...where exactly are we going to move to? I don't think any of us have a map?"

Looking towards the white haired man and then back towards the Former Soldier, the young girl rested her hands at her sides while once again looking around her. There really didn't appear to be any exit in this place either.

[Blint Basael]

Blint walked up to the other two as he put his weapons away. This seemed like it was going to be an interesting, if dangerous, place. He was glad that he found a couple other people. One said he was an ex SOLDIER like it was a great title but to him it meant nothing. And the girl mentioned SeeD which was something else he didn't know. "My name is Blint Basael, I'm from Cocoon and I'm just your average mechanic."

They were all already taking in a lot so he would wait to reveal his prosthesis. Instead he scanned the area to make sure that they were still alone. He didn't know anything about this place and no matter how beautiful is was it had already proved that it was dangerous. He turned his attention back to the other two as Rinoa spoke. "I don't even know how I got here. let alone have a map. The last thing I remember was falling, and then I woke up here" Again he tried to think of how he got here and again he saw himself falling in between buildings and somebody shouting.

It then hit him that it was his brother shouting. He had agreed to go on a run with James. As he jumped he was distracted by a black mass below and had hit the landing wrong. He then tumbled backwards and fell into it. Great, this was a mess and he hoped that his brother didn't follow him in. "So I guess we should probably try to find a way out of here, what do you guys have in mind?"

[Gideon]

He didn't know if he should say anything or not....."alright i saw this woman when i got here...Cosmos is the name that keeps coming to mind, she just pointed to the first two attackers i faced when i got here then disappeared, every time i have something like the names or differences in these crystal creatures pop into my head i get the same feeling i had when i was in her presence... it feels that way when i try walking this way...I think i can trust it."

Beyond that he had no inkling of an idea were he was; But this young mechanic and the Rinoa as well, were officially as far as he was concerned his responsibility. He knew just by looking at them that he was at least 5-7 years older, he was fairly certain that though the boy had an excellent aim he would not fair well against a close range pair such as his first two opponents if they reached him. he stopped and cleared his mind this wasn't the time for assumptions concerning the two of them. "What kind of combat training do the two of you have? regardless i will do my best to make sure you expend as little energy as possible as we know not how long we'll be here."

His energy had recovered almost fully by now... his haste, shell and protect was gone though, which meant Rinoa's was as well. he Stopped and let his mind clear and listened looked and tried to feel if there were any enemies oddly though he was pulled toward the direction he had been heading something told him to be careful. He decided that if his companions obliged he would continue this way nonetheless, the enemies were certainly dangerous but the seemed fairly fragile as well.

He had one more question left for these two at the moment, "Are either of you practiced in magic?" I've learned to use Haste, Shell Protect, Curaga, and Fira, i just need to know what we've got to work with here... again i apologize if i sound patronizing, this place gives me a horrible feeling aside from that...Cosmos"

[Rinoa Heartilly]

"Gee...I feel so much at ease knowing you will be doing all the work..."

Rinoa rolled her eyes as she listened to Gideon. He seemed to want to be in command of this operation, which was fine with her to a degree. After all, he did have experience and while she wasn't completely sure about Blint, she had to believe that the soldier had leadership skills too. Of course, she wouldn't let him look down on her just because he was older and perhaps even somewhat more capable in combat. She had seen his magic and she knew she could do better.

"I happen to be skilled at magic to a..degree....So I guess that be left to me for now. .."

That wasn't the complete truth. The fact that she was a sorceress wasn't something she was completely proud. This was due to the fact that she wasn't completely able to control her magical abilities once she went into her Angel Mode. But outside of that, she believed herself to be well able to handle most of her spells. Still, she wished that Angelo was here to back her up. Heck, she wished all her friends were here.

"So then we need to find this Cosmo person. She'll likely know how to get us back to our homes, and maybe explain whats going on...I hope..."

[Blint Basael]

Blint listened with a calm smile on his face. He was fine with letting the man take control. After all he was just a kid from the city, with no real combat experience. He didn't like being looked down upon, even if it was unintentional but it was something he was use to. "Well I'm good with guns as you saw and I'm trained at hand-to-hand probably not to your degree though. Very little magic but I promise you haven't seen anyone move as fast as me." He hesitated for a few moments wondering if he should reveal his arm, but decided against it just in case. "That pretty much it aside from the fact that I can fix anything you want."

He wasn't to happy with the fact that they were following this man's feeling but so far they had nothing better to go off of so he didn't say anything. He bent down and picked up a shard of crystal and put it in his pocket. He wasn't use to anything like this so he had no idea how useful he would be, but he hoped that he didn't let these people down. He gave a quick smile to Rinoa then looked at Gideon "After you."

[Gideon]

....Hey Blint," Gideon said after a moment, "what can you do with this?" he removed his chest plate leaving the gauntlet on for now Garland's blow had dented the chest plate which would be useless in it's current state." And i do apologize i can see that you two are capable of defending yourselves... i ... just can't let anyone else suffer anymore then they have to."

He looked up thinking about Seria, he wasn't going to have a repeat of that...never again. Shaking the thoughts from his head and handed the armor to Blint, Gideon couldn't help but smile as the kid instantly had half the damage analyzed before it ever touched his hands. His ears perked he knew he had heard something this time. Three crystalline figures appeared out of nowhere, " The hell?" he saw that the witch was with them, two others one seemed to almost say Gabranth, the other... Gideon instantly hit a sky high adrenaline... that sword even as a crystal there was no mistaking it, "Sephiroth...BASTARD!"

He almost shot toward him there. Blade was drawn and he was seething with mako and anger. "I'm trusting you two in this the other two are yours, but the one on the left with the long sword is mine." he casted hastega protect and shell the second two were for himself as his armor was gone, he left the rest to Rinoa.

Even though he knew this crystal wouldn't be half as powerful as the true Sephiroth he was anxious to test how far he'd come. Gideon shot forward with the elevated speed while his armor was gone, the swords clashed and the battle began.

[Rinoa Heartilly]

" I wonder if he always jumps into battle like that? Seems kinda dangerous..."

Rinoa looked towards Blint with a calm expression before then returning her attention to the two remaining figures. While there really shouldn't have been a pick in her mind, her eyes were set upon the one with the face that haunted her dreams. Holding her electronic projectile to the level of her eyes, she breathed out before turning once more to the young mechanic.

"I don't know much about the knight, but I can recognize that witch from anywhere. I'll take care of her while you handle him...Just be care not to get too close to him..I don't think your guns will work against those swords..."

Smiling kindly towards her new team mate, the young girl made a dash towards the crystal Ultimecia, closing the distance between them as she attempted to deliver a kick towards her side. Though before she could reach her, the figure had moved swiftly to the left. This caused Rinoa to jump back as she launched her Blaster Edge toward the villian, only to hit nothing but air.

The crystal woman smiled as she fired an barrage of purple spikes towards the young girl, flying higher into the air to get her distance from her. Rinoa quickly blocked the attack with both arms, landing onto the ground and sliding along the shallow water ground around her. This would be tough, but she had no intention of giving up. Not yet.

"Clone or not...your going down..."

With that, she raised up one hand and fired an orb of white light towards the Ultimecia double, continuing her fight with the replica of her mortal enemy.

[Blint Basael]

He took the armor and automatically thought of ways to improve it. First it could be layered and given micro suspension system to absorb blows and he almost removed his gloves so his tool could come out, but he remember he wasn’t going to reveal his fake arm quite yet. “Once I can get my tools I can fix this no problem, and if I get access to some materials I’m sure I could improve this." He chuckled as the big man apologized. "Don't worry about it."

Blint followed Gideon’s gaze and saw the three crystal figures approaching. He knew they couldn’t be here as guides. This time he was going to have to truly fight. He hoped his father’s lessons were up to par. One he remember from the time before, but the other two he had no idea. Before any sort of plan was mentioned it seemed anger washed over Gideon’s face and he charge saying he had that one. He looked at Rinoa as she started to speak, then nodded in agreement. “It seems as if he’s got some history with that one.”

He nodded as she explained not to get to close, he didn’t have the heart to tell her that he could handle himself in close combat too, she was just trying to help after all. He smiled back at her then was left holding the chest plate as she rushed off. He looked at the large crystal he was assigned to and then looked at the chest plate. He hated to do this but whatever damage he did he was sure he could repair.

Instead of rushing head first like the other two did Blint tossed the chest plate up using his fake arm then quickly drew one of his pistols and shot it three times. All three shots ricocheted in the right direction but only one hit. He still wasn’t use to bouncing bullets off of moving objects. The chest plate the landed with a splash, right next to where Blint would have been but he was already rushing towards his target. So much for not acting like the others.

As he charged he noticed the crystal man make a slash and suddenly there was a shockwave coming right at him. On his next step he jumped and kick his leg up, doing a gainer. As he flipped he saw the shockwave pass beneath him. Turns out all those hours practice free running with his brother was more helpful then he thought. Thanks to haste he was able to reach the man before he was able to send out another wave. Closer now Blint realized he had two swords. Next version he had to remember to build into his arm for times like this. The crystal swung and Blint deflected the blow with his arm then brought it back in a did a quick punch. The crystal cracked but nothing else happened.

He noticed a rising swing out of the corner of his eye. He crouched then spun opposite the swing, the man spun also and followed with a downward swing with his second sword. If Blint hadn’t jumped backward his skull would’ve split apart. He took a deep breath a prepared himself for round two. He also wondered how the other two were fairing.

[Gideon]

Gideon crossed blades with his opponent ,he hated this man with every fiber of his being. It was just a crystal but it still resembled him in every way. "Gah die you son of a- oof!" he flew backward with a cut on his chest. this just fueled his anger, the crystal smirked, "on your knees," it said. The mako seeping from his body almost began to seem more solid from the emotions racing through his head. He shot forward into the attack took the blows and forced himself through it. He punched the crystal square in it's mouth sending it flying.

Gideon hit his knees the cuts were everywhere, gasping he slammed his fist into the watery ground, a copy, just a lousy frigging copy had him bested. How how could this happen from a copy, *Dammit!* he thought. The creature attacked he looked up in time to see the charge and jumped to the side, just in time to avoid being impaled. He struggled to his feet and cast curaga on himself his cuts were healed and he was back in the fight. The mako started to fade back into a mist like substance as he realized his problem.

Gideon was normally based on counters and strategy, he had been doing neither since he had seen this man. He breathed in deep focusing himself. It was time to end this. He grabbed his blade and readied himself, "C'mon you friggin scum, let's try once more."
the currently mouth less crystal stood seemed to laugh even without a lower jaw. Suddenly it shot toward him striking almost to fast to see, almost. It was a stab at his midsection, the second best option he could have. Gideon turned his blade ever so slightly but it was just as far as he needed.

The crystalline Sephiroth's blade slid right into the space in Gideon's sword. Gideon quickly slid it down to the hilt chopped with his gauntlet clad arm at his opponents wrist. The fake Sephiroth's arm shattered, using haste to its fullest Gideon tossed both blades into the air, kicked out the crystals knee, jumped, and caught the two blades that had separated. He threw the longer thinner masamune and impaled the crystals chest just well enough to hold him in place.

Gideon somersaulted downward cutting completely through the crystal. He stood panting and was about to turn around when the crystal stabbed through his pant leg holding him in place, then unexpectedly blew up peppering Gideon's body with shards. the protect took most of the damage but it was still enough pain to make Gideon's eyes roll back,his blade hit the ground and his body followed his breathing slowed to that of a deep slumber. All was quiet