All Along the Watchtower [Fal'Cie Plot]

[Celes Chere]

Why could she seemingly not settle down to live life in its strained normalcy?

Celes asked herself that question for the first time, finding it popping into her mind as she finished the purchase of a new sheath for her sword. It distracted her enough that she almost forgot to take the item from the storekeeper, nearly taking a step away without it before catching herself and reaching her hand back to take it from the outstretched arms of the merchant. She pursed her lips at herself once she was finally exiting. How intelligent she must have looked in that instance, though she didn't dwell on it as she re-entered the merchant's district of Edgar's fine city and made her slow way back towards the castle, able to let her mind actually wander back to the question she'd asked herself.

Why couldn't she be still more than a day or two?

Her newest distraction dealt with the fal'Cie. Mere weeks ago, Celes hadn't known what a fal'Cie was, nor that they were the responsible party for the creation of those creatures she, Sabin and Relm had fought in Narshe. Celes had never even seen one of them up-close, these fal'Cie, but she despised them. She knew enough for them to have earned her hate. They were god-like creatures - not like the esper or the abomination Kefka had turned into, but mechanical, like magitek - who preyed on those they thought lesser, typically human beings, and turned them into what were essentially slaves and eventually, those crystalline creatures lumbering in Narshe. Celes cringed to herself, gripping the sheath more tightly. No, they weren't creatures. They were humans, trapped in some uncontrollable form due to the fal'Cie providing a time limit for their servitude. Celes knew far too much about the way one being could control another. Too many scars from the lashings she'd taken later in her career as a general, when she'd begun to think for herself, and the occasional headaches from recent memories of a slave crown remained to make her aware of what hopeless servitude felt like. It was miserable.

Her plan, hastily-conceived, was to go out and seek these fal'Cie and hopefully find a way to remove them from the world. Her initial goal had been world, at least. Two individuals had been discovered who could help her in her task. One was a scientist who knew of high technology by the name of Kazusa. The other was a younger man, around Celes' age, who had been on his own journey in relation to fal'Cie. They simply called him Hero. The interesting part of their presence was the fact that they were from different worlds and had come to the World of Ruin through portals the fal'Cie themselves had created. Edgar had made her aware of them and she'd been more than willing to let them assist, especially since, being from a world with higher technology, Kazusa could probably understand the fal'Cie better than even Edger or the other brilliant machinist minds that dotted this world; Hero had experience with fal'Cie already. The plan was that they would set out to seek one, fight it if necessary and bring it back to let Kazusa study it. It was not a particularly elaborate plan, but the point still remained - Celes was starting to see that the nature of her life so far left it so that she could not take world events lying down...nor would she really want to.

And, she decided as she continued her slow gait through the castle streets, she could not decide if it was a good or bad thing.

Edgar had offered them rooms and a location to work and organize, which meant Celes had spent the past four days walking the halls of his palace or the surrounding area, evading his constant lewd comments and ensuring she was fully dressed at all times, even the nighttime hours. She was already plotting a way, as she reached the palace steps and started to ascend, to evade the king and get to her quarters to correct the fit of her sheath for her waist. The thought made her huff lightly to herself in amusement. Sometimes she wondered if Edgar's free-eyed tendencies weren't what had convinced him to provide her with her room to work...

Brought out of her solitary thoughts by the clinking armor of a guard rushing past her up the stairs, Celes stopped short and watched his pace. He seemed...disturbed by something, to say the least. Judging by the armor, he was one of the guards that remained on - or in, when the castle went underground - the castle walls. He must have seen something that bothered him. Military instincts taking hold of her, Celes picked up her pace, taking the steps quickly as she pursued the guard, who thankfully stopped at the front doors where a lieutenant was standing. Celes reached the top of the stairs, approaching the pair, just in time to hear the meat of the discussion.

"- it seems to be magitek, but it's larger than any I have ever seen." "How large?" "I've seen fully-grown trees that are shorter. It's also strangely humanoid in appearance from the waist up, but the rear seems...almost centaur-like. If it's magitek, it probably has a multi-man crew." Celes, standing a few feet back from the two and looking between them, finally approached and put herself into the conversation. The lieutenant looked only lightly offended that she was butting in - he knew she was here as Edgar's guest, though, so he couldn't say much. The younger guard simply looked at her in complete surprise. "Did it seem sentient?", she asked, and with a few blinks to recall what the word sentient meant, the man nodded uncertainly. "Yes, miss...we watched it for a few minutes, and it seemed...not really mechanical. More...organic."

She rubbed lightly on her own arm, scrunching her face up in thought. Jumping to conclusions here was pointless, but Celes didn't think any sort of magitek that large could seem organic in any way. The description fit too much with what she knew so far... "I'll return to the walls with you. Point the machine out to me. I need to see it."

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Celes wasn't entirely sure at what point the younger guard had figured out exactly who she was, but she did notice he became more uncomfortable with their walk suddenly as they continued along towards the walls. He kept his eyes turned strictly to the side of the street opposite Celes, as if looking at her would constitute a crime. She'd given up trying to discuss the machine with him further, too. At every question she asked, or even piece of droll conversation she tried to make, he stammered over everything he was saying. And here Celes thought all men of the castle were somewhat like Edgar...

"Here." was all he allowed once they reached a staircase that led up to the wall, and the pair turned up it and made the ascent to the wall's top. By the time they were nearly there, a light yelling had begun at the top, drawing Celes' eyes to a burst of activity from the troops above them. "How close was it to the wall?", she asked instinctively. Apparently, he could get over his odd reactions in a potentially stressful situation. That seemed to be the opposite of the obvious... "It didn't seem all that interested in the wall, but it was definitely getting closer." That was concerning. "Come on," she said, leaving him behind as she shot up to the top of the wall and immediately brushed her hair back, scanning what lied out beyond them. It wasn't an expanse her eyes were filled with.

Instead, the...machine - it was undoubtedly a machine in appearance, if not nature - drew itself straight no more than two hundred yards out beyond the wall, taking up an aggressive stance. It was fearsome. It stood essentially as tall as the wall itself, its head possibly a little higher, and it was as the guard had described. It had arms like a human, a head that possessed clear eyes and a neck that stretched out abnormally long in width, reaching both shoulders. The chest was short and thick, giving way to a lower portion of its body that resembled...some four-legged creature. It was rather horrendous to see, but it seemed...grand, in a way. Celes would have likely found herself in awe of it and the way it moved if its large hand hadn't been coming to crash down on the wall almost where she was standing.

"Run!", she yelled to the guards, some of whom had already started obeying, before she herself started to double back down the stairs to provide herself come cover. She didn't make it there, though, before the hand slapped down to an immense rumble, the crashing of the fingers sending her off to the side and rolling down a couple of steps before she gripped at a step and stopped herself from rolling off. The guard who'd been with her had disappeared under the largest of the fingers, along with at least two or three more. They were easily revealed, at least, what was left of them, when Celes had rolled herself onto her back and the hand started to draw back. She knew she was lucky not to have been crushed as they had.

She was back up on her feet, just in time to have the opposite hand smack into a section a little further up the wall, almost sending her over again. She caught on her hand though and steadied herself as the continued rattling continued. It apparently planned to crush the wall by simple effort of ramming its fists into it multiple times. Knowing she was doing absolutely no good with no weapon and on an unstable wall, Celes waited for the palm to return and, taking the time for the machine to pull back for another shot, she started down the stairs, hopping over the bodies and the cracks that had formed. The power of this creature...

If they were not dealing with a fal'Cie here, she feared to know what this monstrosity could be.

Tagged - Kazusa, Hero, Gippal, Kylie, Cloud, any order
Words - 1829
Muse - ^ >>
Place - Figaro Castle
Outfit - Gold-and-navy attire
Notes - For the appearance, imagine those Juggernaut things from XIII...but bigger and thicker.[/size]

[kebbo]

Gippal was sure he was lost by now. A distinct frown had officially formed on his face as he had been wandering around for about…oh…two hours by now. He had traveled from Spira through a portal with his gun-saw in tow, but he was expected to head back to Gaia, he’d wanted to check up on things there with he and Rikku’s newfound allies…but being naive and thinking this portal would lead him back to Gaia exactly. Boy had he been wrong. Never before had he seen a world like this…so…full of nothing interesting. With a deep sigh, the machina expert adjusted the saw-gun he was carrying over his shoulder and just huffed out a breath, staring at the path that led to somewhere, but it really did seem like it was leading to nowhere right about now. It was dark out anyways, he was simply ready to sit down and give up, wait for some form of light, life, or a portal. Whichever came first.

Something on the inside of his gut told him to keep going though. Sitting down here in the middle of nowhere wasn’t wise, and it of course would lead to something bad…it always did, didn’t it? Trudging along, practically dragging his feet as he continued his walk, he let his eyes – eye I suppose, due to an eye patch – keep scanning the area, looking for some village, a building…some form of refuge, but unfortunately nothing was in his vision right now. His eyes were tired, as were all the muscles in his body, he just needed to keep going and eventually he’d come across something. Unless this was one of those worlds where it was completely void of all human life or civilization…then he’d have a problem. Another deep sigh escaped his lips as he lowered his eyes, looking at the ground, the tips of his shoes as he was walking forward. This path seemed endless, just as this walk seemed…whatever. It was going to get better…

…that’s simply what he needed to remind himself.


“Fryd y cdibet etay. ‘Oayr Kebbym, ku drnuikr dra bundym! Ed'c y knayd etay!’ ...knayd.” Gippal mumbled to himself in the native Al Bhed language as his gaze rose and in the distance he swore he saw something. It looked…like the silhouette of a castle, a large building or sorts or something. There was another form also by the walls of the castle…a large towering figure that looked almost robotic in Gippal’s eyes. Stopping in his tracks and staring forward at the figure, he watched it swing it’s hand and arm and start knocking down a wall. Was that…machina?! His feet suddenly started walking again, quicker than before, disregarding his aching muscles and just wanting to see what this was and what the commotion was all about. Naturally he was curious, which was what was driving him forward at a much faster pace than he’d been walking before. Soon, even with a heavy weight in one arm and resting on his shoulder, Gippal started running. This mechanical thing was trying to tear down that wall…and thus far it was doing a pretty damn good job in his eyes. What if there were people….

…no he couldn’t think about that! But…seriously! What if people were on the other side and were now getting crushed to death by this brute of a form? Feeling a sense of anger run through his veins, Gippal really started to pick up the pace. Running at full speed ahead – he’d never realized when he wanted to be a hero, but now was a good time to show that aspiration – he’d moved his gun-saw so that he could fire off bullets easily while running. It was time for action, and if he got a good enough view of this metal thing, he could easily find a way to disable it, to break it down or deactivate it somehow. It may not have been his type of machina, but machines were all the same to him, they could be put together and disabled by the right engineer. He was of course the right engineer for any job that involved machines. Call it his cocky attitude, but hey, if you’re good at something aren’t you supposed to flaunt that? Clicking at the trigger of his gun-saw, he hefted it up in his arms and aimed well towards the head of the brute. “Bring it!” he grinned cheekily as he kept firing off bullets, wanting to get the creature’s attention from the back side, whatever he could do to keep it from attacking the wall any further.

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Words:[/color] 887
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Dem People!
Wearing:[/color] His usual!
Listening To:[/color] The radio?
Notes:[/color] *What a stupid idea. "Yeah Gippal, go through the portal! It's a great idea!" ...great.

[Kazusa Futahito]

All things considered, this situation could’ve been so much worse than it was. With his ankles crossed and his arms stretched behind his neck, Kazusa yawned a little before rolling onto his side to be more comfortable. After having gotten too close to a portal during one of his experiments and ending up in some medieval setting world, Rubrum’s lead scientist had felt devastated. How was he supposed to get home? Was there even a way to get back to Oriense, or was he stuck here forever? People had given him funny looks that screamed ‘witch hunt in 5…4…3…’ and a few random children had run up and tried to steal his items because apparently all children in this ye olde world were scumbags with no respect for private property. Imagine his joy when a soldier had decided to escort him to the king’s palace. Initially he’d been wary of the soldier, because he just casually strolled up and asked whether he was from a different world. Kazusa knew people were tricksters by nature, and he’d been convinced that the soldier would pull out his sword and slice him into a million pieces if he so much as hinted about being from another world, but at that point, he’d been desperate enough to think that death was a better alternative to having to live here for the rest of his life. Thankfully, he’d betted correctly, because as soon as he’d given the man a fearful yes, he’d taken him to the castle to go meet with the king. And by Etro, was this an amazing king. He didn’t seem like a guy with a stick up his ass like Oriense Class Zero King, and while Kazusa could appreciate Edgar’s personality, the fact that he’d given him a luxurious room to relax in during his stay definitely helped a lot in making him feel more welcomed and at home in this strange world.

The king was currently working on paperwork in his office while Kazusa hung around doing nothing all day. Edgar had told him his friend would be needing his futuristic scientific knowledge to deal with fal’cie, and Kazusa had gladly accepted that task, because what scientist didn’t like to be involved with things like this? Of course, the project hadn’t actually started yet, and Kazusa had nothing to research at the time, so he could just lie back and relax for the time being. Closing his eyes, the scientist slowly felt himself drift from the conscious world into the unconscious dreamland he so adored. In his dreams, nobody whined about ethics and how you couldn’t use people for experiments even though they were never even harmed. In his dreams, children didn’t exist period. People were born out of seeds and they were born fully mature. They also didn’t whine or complain, which was always nice. A serene smile formed on his lips as he drifted off, and though he vaguely felt the ground below his sofa shake slightly, he was already too far gone to even realize that the floor shaking was an ill omen of things to come. Though the shaking didn’t wake him, the door suddenly slamming open and hearing the king of Figaro yell his name before actually kicking his freaking shoulder sure did the trick. “What the-?!“ he growled as he sat up straight and glared at the king, “WHAT?”
Edgar for his part just rolled his eyes, “By the gods, how can you sleep when the city is under attack?” he demanded before grasping Kazusa’s arm and dragging him along down the hallways before he even had a chance to answer the question. “I have just been informed that the wall is under attack by a large and fierce creature,” the king explained as he lead them down the stairs and out of the main doors leading outside. “Perhaps this is the fal’cie Celes spoke of…” he muttered as he gazed over into the distance, where the giant was already wreaking havoc. There was no time to waste. His expecting eyes didn’t sit well with Kazusa, and though he initially tried to ignore them, he couldn’t exactly stay silent when Edgar nodded his head towards the wall as though he expected him to run up to the damn thing and fight it himself. Was this man insane? Kazusa was a scientist, not a fighter! Sure, he could fire a gun just fine, but thing didn’t seem like it would be phased by a few bullets from a handgun. It probably wouldn’t even notice it was being shot at at all.

“I can’t fight that thing! That wasn’t part of the deal!” Kazusa shrieked as he backed away from the king before he could drag him along again.
“The deal was that I provide you with a comfortable place to stay, away from the ‘plebs’ as you so nicely put it, and in exchange you would do as I say!” Edgar replied, “Fight the thing, help the citizens evacuate, I care not about how you make yourself useful, so long as you make yourself useful! Now go! I must rally the troops, and I cannot use a distraction like this at present!” with that said, the man took off towards the barracks to go do just that, leaving Kazusa to stand there like a stubborn child who had just been told off. Dammit! He’d only made that deal because he was tired and desperate, Edgar had totally taken advantage of his fragile state of mind. What was next? Indecent favors? …actually, that wasn’t too bad. Edgar had an incredible body and- well fine, maybe he could snatch a child up, dump it at the castle and be done with it. So long as he saved one person, he would’ve done his part here. It was more than could be expected of him anyway, like he said, Kazusa was no fighter.
With a huff of disagreement, the scientist took off towards the wall in a light jog. Hopefully by the time he made it over there, someone else would be taking care of the monster, leaving Kazusa to help get people to safety or something – anything – that didn’t involve actually fighting it. This was going to be a long, long night.

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Words: 1045
Tagged: People!
Location: Edgar's Castle
Outfit: Usual minus the lab coat
Notes: I love serious Edgar! =D Kazusa doesn't.

[Hero]

Its been a few weeks after the Avatar attack in Moblitz. It seems that the person responsible for it has been gone and the magical beasts returned to their homes peacefully. After the battle against the Avatars, Hero journeyed this world looking for any sign of Fal'Cie that lead this place to ruins. Townspeople either suffer from amnesia, are too frightened to talk about it or were placed seven feet under the ground... lifeless. It was a long journey and very difficult, specially when not so many survivors dare to go out their homes or travel by boat in a world overwhelmed by chaos and demons. For hero, this was painful... this world looked exactly like Abyssea, with a sky stained with crimson red colors that reflects on an bloody colored ocean. Vegetation that stands in the middle of wastelands in the brink of death and homes that looked nothing more than ruins.

Hero wondered if there was any kind of person in this world that will stand against such a decay, a servant of light just like he is. After seeking for a long time, he met a young man who was born with blue blood under the skirts of royalty. Edgar Roni Figaro, the rightful king of the Figaro Regions. All this happened while Hero had a couple of drinks in a bar inside South Figaro. The noble king addressed to him and thanks to that, Hero now sits on a queen sized comfortable bed in his property.

Carbuncle rested his paws in the fluffy rug that decorates the castle tiles. Hero looked across the window staring at the world in decay while thinking what shall be done to protect these people from their condemn. As he turned, he could hear so many noises, screaming and stomping all over the place. The stomps were so strong that the earth shook and Carbuncle jumped into his fits startled by the powerful earthen energy. "The only demon that can move the earth with a single stomp, used to be the Shadow Lord... heaven save us if this monster was resurrected." Hero told his companion while trying to spot the monster by looking outside.

Hero turned to his friend and nodded to him, Carbuncle smiled and used its magical powers to over Hero. Soothing light covered the heroic man, it then turned its normal clothes into a strongly made armored lorica that made him look like an actual warrior. Hero extended his hands to receive a powerful looking Great Ax and let the power of the Job of Warrior connect with his soul. Now, ready to battle, Hero slammed the door of the room he was assigned in and prepared to battle whatever monster is to attack the castle.

Outside, she saw a beautiful maiden looking upon the darkness that emerged in front of her. She looked tough, strong and powerful but the huge thing standing in front of the castle was even larger than the Shadow Lord. It was a huge titan, with bulky stoned fists and impregnable body. Hero sheathed his ax on the back of his armor with his mouth wide open and backing up just like the lovely warrior did. Carbuncle what is the meaning of this!? Such a monster, such a being, this is... lord! Hero turned his back to the monster and returned to inside the castle to reunite with the other warriors who were recruited to come up with a plan and slay down the huge monster.

Hero dashed all the way down to meet the others while the terrestrial avatar followed his lead. Once there, he met once again the female knight from before. Hero stared at her, still startled by the powerful being and when carbuncle caught up, he saw the others joining them. "Such a monster, never seen anything like that... not even Shinryu the Twilight God. Hero said pointing out the situation they are in. His heart raced like a chocobo in stress as drops of sweat fell across his cheek.

Hero expected a reaction as he started to think of ways to deal with such a being. Carbuncle stood up front to speak on Hero's behalf and provide words of light to encourage everyone into fighting for this thing. "It is one, we are many... let us use the power of each individual here to overwhelm the golem" It said in a calm voice. Hero then remembered the allianced he formed with other adventurers to fight back the evil that threated Vana'Diel... if they were to fight all together there was a chance to defeat the horrendous creature.

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Count: 785!!!
Muse: Sexy
Next: Next person
Wearing: >>This<<

[Kylie (Gun)]

Damn.

How was it that lately she seemed to be getting herself into the worst situations? Kylie swallowed hard a few times and glanced ahead, rubbing at her arms to ward off the slight chill. It was amazing how hours before the heat had been deadly, and now that the night had fallen, it was almost chilly. Trudging forward, Kylie concentrated on the next step in the shifting ground. There seemed to be a never ending sea of sand. Which was just great. She had stopped what seemed to be a million times to rid her shoes of the sand that infiltrated, and each time she took the time to cuss out the sand. Of course she would have to be thrown into a world of pure sand. Of course that was her luck. Or perhaps it was what she got for thinking of going through a portal in hopes to bring her friend back. Kylie had seen Reno’s suffering and had been determined that she was going to bring Cissnei back somehow. After studying everything she knew about portals, l’cie, and fal’cie, Kylie had started on her mission. And the first place that had landed her was here, wherever ‘here’ was. In her eyes, it was just another word for Godforsaken nowhere. So she continued on, starting to look at the sand in front of her feet rather then the distance.

A time later, Kylie thought she heard a noise that didn’t belong there. Lifting her head and turning it to look over her shoulder, she ran smack dab into something hard. Stumbling back, Kylie bit back a curse and got her balance, eyes turning in front of her. She was met with some sort of wall. Blinking stupidly, Kylie fished out her phone and tapped a button to activate the screen. Turning it around, she inspected the wall, before tipping her light upward, surprised to see what appeared to be the wall of a castle. What was a castle doing out in the middle of a desert anyway? Pressing her hands against the side, Kylie then scanned right and left to see if she could find some sort of an entryway. At least she had found somewhere that hopefully had humans living inside. She would have to tread lightly of course, but she could probably gain some assistan-

There was that noise again, followed by the ground rumbling. Thrown off balance, Kylie pressed a hand against the wall to regain that and peered toward where the sounds had come from. As she turned around, she saw the big-ass form making its way toward where she was currently located. Blinking, Kylie took a step back in surprise, only stopping because she had backed against the wall she had just been inspecting. “Oh shit,” she muttered out, before pressing her hands behind her, flat against the wall. This couldn’t be good. At all. Why her? Trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible, Kylie shifted to try and sneak away from the-…well, whatever it was, that was coming toward her. At this point, everything and everyone was an enemy until branded otherwise. One step, two…three. She could breathe easier the more room she would put between it and her. Until noise from above alerted her. The shouts of soldiers seemed to prod it to react, and soon the lumbering form was attacking the walls. “Crap crap crap,” she muttered out, throwing her hands above her head to protect herself from the falling debris as she tried to get away. Bits of wall, which were a lot bigger than ‘bits’ had come falling down. Kylie jumped and scrambled over them, dodging them until she was a short distance away. And of course, curiosity won out and she turned to see just what it was that was attacking this wall.

And instantly thought she should have kept going. Uttering another curse, Kylie was about to turn and run again, before shots starting ringing out. Without batting an eye, Kylie had her gun in her hand and centered on the figure running at them. Quickly however, she could see that his firing was centered on the monstrosity that was trying to level the wall. Oh great. Flipping open her handgun, Kylie squeezed off a few rounds at the ‘head’ of the thing, before shifting to the left, scanning down the length of her gun. This was just a great night. Even with the chaos and shouts, she could hear the female voice telling someone to run. Well that seemed like a great idea, although it really did seem hell bent on destroying the place. Shaking her head, Kylie found herself near to the man that was shooting with his odd gun as he yelled for it to 'bring it.' Moron. “Perfect,” she muttered out, not understanding what kept her rooted to the spot and shooting. She was surrounded by idiots who thought they could actually beat this thing.

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Words:; 1000
Muse:; Great!
Location:; Figaro castle
Outfit:; Turk uniform
Tagged:;Those people :3
Notes:; Notta!
Listening To:; Wherever you will Go - The Calling
Setting SOMETHING?!

[Cloud Strife]

It had only been a matter of hours ago that he was in his own world. Well, that was Cloud's guess. In all honesty, he didn’t know how long it had been, or where he was for that matter, town or world! He just knew it was a bit of a strange place. Nothing at all what he was really used to. But, that was just from his view. He didn’t actually know anything about this place. It was…. Different, that was for sure. He didn’t really know what to think of it entirely, at that moment. There was a reason Cloud didn’t overly like change. It made you feel a little… out in the open. Like anything could pounce at you. That’s why he wasn’t so sure about this world, or any world he would visit, to be honest. You never knew what was hiding around the corner. But, then again, he had been there a short while. And nothing had attacked him.

Yet.

He could have turned around, and tried to find the portal he went through. But that was just it! He almost couldn’t. He felt rather curious about this place. Cloud had heard about people going through portals - heck! Some of the people he knew had been through! - and he was rather curious about everything. And so far the place didn’t seem hostile, or anything of the sort, to be fair. But, that was all he had seen, so far. He didn’t know every corner, nor had he turned every stone. There was still lots of things he didn’t know of, and he still had every right to act cautious. Cloud couldn’t make any brash decisions after all. He didn’t know what to expect at all. But, what was life without a little risk, eh? You only live once, after all. However, that still wasn’t an invitation to go be reckless.

Cloud was just… walking. He wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. He was just deep in thought, occasionally stopping to stare into space for a moment or two. What he was thinking about… was just everyday things, and the odd memory. Maybe it would be when he hijacked that train, met Tifa again and became a part of AVALANCE. Or maybe when he went to the Golden Saucer with everybody. Just little memories, like that. However, he stopped for a second, hearing a noise. Cloud could see a building, which resembled a castle an awful lot. And then, he saw a large figure towering over the wall. Was it going to smash the wall? To get inside? His eyes narrowed slightly. Just when he was starting to get used to the peace and quiet. His hands reached back to fell the sheath of his fusion swords. Yup, still there. And he could just tell things were going to get a little… ugly.

Watching as the wall crumbled and fell apart, Cloud gripped the handles of two swords, and brought them together. Holding the now-one sword, he glared slightly. Yeah, definitely going to get ugly. Well, at least there were more than one of them, and only one machine. That meant the odds were on his side, right? Well, he hoped so, anyway. That, and probably some people had more experience at fighting than others. He didn’t know, but by the way some of them were cussing, he just guessed that the situation they were in was not a good one. Running forward slightly, Cloud swiped at the machina.

[/size]

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Words;; 763
Muse;; Good
Tagged;; All those people who posted before meh :3
Location:; Figaro Castle
Outfit;; Advent Children stuffs
Listening To;; Hunger Games :3
Notes;; Eh, wanted to throw this out before my Cloud muse goes forever xD Hope it's better than I think it is xD

[Celes Chere]

If not for the machine, Celes would have, as unused to them as she was, been concerned by the sounds of gunshots ringing throughout the area. Her concerns were solely direction to the massive...thing knocking down the wall, however, and especially at getting down the stairs to ground level before it renewed its attack and crushed her along with the stone and metal that composed Figaro's outer defense. She focused on putting one foot below the other until she was at a safe distance to jump off, which she did, landing smoothly on both feet in the midst of a group of troops from the inner city who had rushed out to meet with the new threat to their kingdom, their weapons - pikes, spears and some of Edgar's crossbows - at the ready.Down the street, she could see a pair of ballistae being prepared. "Sword!", Celes called, triggering a soldier a few feet away to remove his from his belt and toss it her way. She caught it, quickly removing it from its sheath and gripping it in her hand a few times, wishing it wasn't more clumsy than her own. Of course, a sword wouldn't do much good against a machine, or creature, of this size, but immediately she felt more comfortable with the weapon in her hands. It was the idea of feeling as if she could defend herself with the blade that counted.

Her comfort would not last, however.

With the next effort from the machine, a large portion of wall came crumbling down, letting loose a cloud of dust that consumed Celes, the soldiers and all of the buildings that surrounded them. She squinted against the irritable cloud as it tried to get in her eyes, angling her head down and stepping backwards briskly to free herself from it, occasionally backing into soldiers who were trying to do the same. So that was it...a few strong blows and this machine had almost nonchalantly brought a wall down, and surely killed a dozen people. Perhaps more considering the screams coming from the civilians who were still trying to get themselves at a safe distance from the machine plowing its way inwards towards their homes and businesses. Her shoulders drooped. At this rate, it would surely make it through those places...and perhaps all the way to Edgar's palace. Hopefully, Edgar had gotten off top of whatever woman he was currently wooing and was formulating a plan...

But she'd have to have one of her own for the current situation. She eventually emerged from the dust cloud to see the machine starting to wedge itself through the hole it had created...and along with it, she thought she saw some smaller figures around its legs, attacking. They were that close to the machine and were still intact? Celes narrowed her eyes slightly at them, fidgeting with the hilt of the foreign sword. They must have found some sort of blind spot...

"Charge it men!", she heard one of the men nearby yell, and immediately she turned and brought a hand up at them to stop them. "No!", she called, happy that they all actually did remain in place when she said it despite the good chance that only a few knew who she was. She stared impassively at the one who'd yelled it before looking back to the machine, which had retreated slightly and was now resuming its "punching" on the wall to apparently give it more room to come into the city. "If you attack it directly, you'll end up in worse shape than the wall," she told them, before directing a pointed finger at the gate. "Move around it through the gate and watchtower to reach its sides and the space underneath it."

All of them looked hesitant now that they were being asked to do more than rush forward with all of their aggression, but even the one who'd yelled out the charge to begin with seemed to understand. They did not seem to want to move, though. Celes quirked an eyebrow at them, before scrunching her face up slightly. "Go!", she added with urgency, before the men snapped to attention, made an orderly division of their unit and started off running towards the gate. Celes watched them leaving for a few seconds before her eyes turned back up to the machine, which had just knocked aside another large chunk of wall and taken a building down with it. She brought a hand up to shield from splintered wood that never came her way, before turning to briefly search for the form of Edgar or of anyone of importance. No one. Taking in a nervous breath, she returned the sword she'd been given to its sheath and worked to get it around her waist as she followed behind the men who had disappeared, calming at least one or two fearful civilians as she passed them.

Words - 882
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - So those soldiers are coming outside towards Gippal, Kylie and Cloud, and she'll be at or in the gatehouse.[/size]

[kebbo]

As tired and ready to lay down as Gippal was, he wasn’t going to just let this kingdom…or whatever it was get laid to waste! He was no hero, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t lend a helping hand every now and then? As he hefted his gun-saw and charged towards the machine of sorts, Gippal had slowed and fired off some shots, trying to eye the creature through the darkness of the night and find a weak spot. If there was anything he knew, it was machines. Once he found a weak spot, if it even had one, he could shoot for that area, maybe even get a little closer and find some sort of way to shut it down without getting whacked halfway across this world alone. But it seemed he wasn’t the only one stupid enough to go at attacking this thing. Looking around he spotted some short haired blonde lady with a simple pistol. He’d spotted another blonde, big sword, going towards the machine. At least they had guts…and it’d be nice not to get smashed by this thing, at least not alone.

With slow steps as he moved closer towards the machine, he watched it start to wedge itself through the wall, taking part of it out as it did so. He grit his teeth and felt a scowl form on his lips. Eyes still searching. Usually with machines like this, the more vulnerable spots were like…the hinges of the limbs. Where it’s arm formations were, you hit where an elbow would be, same with a knee cap. That’s what he was going to aim for, to try and get those limbs to malfunction, to become unable to work, that would be a first step for Gippal and anyone who could see what it was he was trying to do. It wouldn’t be easy though, this thing kept moving this way and that, wanting to get into that kingdom and past the wall, but it wasn’t making very good timing on its part. Looking towards the blonde with the gun, he called over the chaos towards her. “Aim for the arms and legs, preferably where the elbows and knees should be.” He said before focusing his attention on the man ahead with the sword. If they worked together and weakened it all at once…that would…be good, right?

Maybe if they got the thing to its knees, then he could really disable it for good. That was a nice thought, but for right now, Gippal simply kept his mind focused on weakening the limbs for thinking about finishing off the machine altogether. That was definitely leaping before looking, no sense in getting killed by being too eager to end this thing. He could only imagine how many people were scrambling around on the other side…how many men had gotten crushed under that fallen wall? It was a depressing thought, and it was that thought that kept him pressing forward. Shooting off bullets towards the upper arms first, if that sword wielder man could get the legs, then the two gun shooters would be well on their way to getting the top taken care of, that is…if the little lady had listened to him. Shaking his head slightly, Gippal started shifting himself to get a better view of the creature from an angle. “Keep it going…” he said quietly to himself, but really, he was meaning the other people taking on this metal contraption. No more lives could be lost…

Hearing the sound of other people coming, Gippal had to assume that forces from this town were coming to their aid. Well, the more help the merrier, unless they got in the way and didn’t take a smart tactic to take down this thing.

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Words:[/color] 725
Muse:[/color] Goodish!
Tagged:[/color] All dem peeps!
Wearing:[/color] His usual.
Listening To:[/color] Bat Country: Avenged Sevenfold
Notes:[/color] Bad post is bad. Enjoy it though!

[Kazusa Futahito]

This was just freaking great, Kazusa bitterly thought to himself as he hurried over towards the very thing he should be staying away from. Damn that Edgar douche for making him join in on this fight. It was either that or rescue civilians, and for some reason, the scientist felt he had a better chance of fighting the monstrosity than calming down the masses enough to lead them away from the scene and towards the castle. They were all panicky and dirty, and Kazusa was hardly the type of person to inspire peace and tranquility. They’d sooner trample him to death before actually listening to them, so off to fight the huge monster tearing down the wall and crushing people left and right it was! Of course, the Suzaku scientist would’ve much preferred to stay in his room and wait it out, but the king of aforementioned castle had been quite clear on his feelings about that one. And here he’d thought the king was a decent enough guy that he could get along with rather easily, NOT! He would never forgive that stupid blonde for this, if he lived long enough to hold a grudge, that was. He wasn’t a fighter! How was he even supposed to pull this off? The reason he’d gone to study science over warcraft was because he wanted to avoid crap like this! Ugh, screw it all. This was why he hated blondes.

By now, he’d already neared the wall, and of course the closer he got to the monster, the bigger it seemed to get. “Oh for the love of-“ he cursed quietly to himself, kicking at some rocks that lay near his feet. Should he just skip away and hide somewhere? That was probably a sensible thing to do in this scenario, just run and hide. Yeah! It was the heroic suckers that always died in movies, while the cowardly soldiers all lived. They lived in shame, but they still lived, so who was laughing last heroes? And besides, he wasn’t even from this world, so who cared if these plebs frowned upon the very mention of his name? No one, that’s who! His mind had been made up, flee for the hills it was! A somewhat pleasant smile managed to make its way onto his face as he started to walk away from the scene, but it was wiped away fast enough when he realized he’d wandered just the slightest bit too close to the giant robot thing, and he had to literally jump out of the way to avoid being crushed by an enormous foot. “Holy shit!” he exclaimed as he rolled away and ran underneath the thing in an attempt to get away, “Screw thiiiiis,” he chuckled uncomfortably as he dodged the thing’s parts left and right in his escape attempt. At some point, he ran past two guys – one of them a blonde – who seemed to have the bright idea to attack the damned thing with their puny weapons. Ah, yes, good luck with that heroes! Kazusa would be sure to tell someone to build you a memorial later, if he remembered!

After a little while of running though, something suddenly came to mind. Wait a sec… if that castle was destroyed, then where was he going to sleep? If he slept out in the open by himself, surely some of these plebian children would steal his shoes and torture him or whatever awful things they could come up with. They seemed shady and evil enough to do such a thing. Maybe he could run and find another king, but would that king allow him to stay in his castle? The only reason Edgar let him stay was because he was a funny drunk, and because he’d promised to help his lady friend with a problem she was having or something, but mostly because he was amusing. Kazusa stopped in his tracks for a moment, which was probably not the brightest idea, considering he was still standing near the legs of the enormous enemy that was attacking the wall. So it was either fight and quite possibly die, or run and be mugged by dirty children. If he got lucky, he’d run into a portal that lead him back home before they got to him, but luck had never really been on his side so far, so was he really willing to risk it? “Blast it…” he muttered as he reached into his holster and pulled out his handgun, which looked far less intimidating than it really was. He’d made some modifications to this baby to fire more than one bullet at a time, and a barrel he’d placed on it granted it a significant amount of extra fire power.

Assessing the situation, and remembering the blonde (those damn blondes) words, Kazusa looked for a limb to shoot at. The sword wielder seemed to have the leg covered, so shooting that way would probably end badly for the lad. And the blonde with the oversized gun was firing at the arms. Alrighty then, he’d take care of the last leg. He probably couldn’t destroy the thing by himself, but he could at least weaken it enough that when others joined in on the carnage, the leg would break down with relative ease. Taking a few steps further away from the monster, Kazusa aimed his fun at the unoccupied ‘knee-cap’ and starting shooting, keeping his eyes open for idiots that could potentially get themselves killed by running into his line of fire.
This was going to be a long night, wasn’t it?

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Words: 933
Tagged: People!
Location: Near the wall
Outfit: Usual minus the lab coat
Notes: Kazusa hates blondes for a moment, all but one of his teammates are blondes. Trololol.

[Hero]

So many people lend their sword to the battle that ensued in Figaro Castle. Of course, King Edgar himself must be in charge of the crowd while the other heroes that gathered within the walls of this royal building must be leading the battle. Hero quicly turned himself into a mighty warrior holding his two handed axe and ready to cut a huge giant that threatened this place. Trying to keep his pace, Hero quickly ran upstairs avoiding the brick crumbles that fell from the smashing attacks of the beast. To his side, Carbuncle, almost floated keeping up with the heroic warrior using his ruby protective light to avoid the damage of the falling debris.

Hero was able to get to the top of one of the castle towers and stared a the massive crowd launching their attacks without a thought. Hero, on the other hand. Let a scream sail out of his chest embodying a berserk status that increased his strength at the cost of his defensive skills. It didn't matter, since one hit from this monstrous thing will destroy him in the blink of an eye.

Hero leaped from the tower recklessly landing on the monster's shoulder. The huge Fal'Cie started to move randomly trying to get rid of the ant that tried to keep itself attached to the monster. Hero grabbed his two handed axe and swung an attack that barley harmed the monster due to the hardened undying skin it had... it was like pieces of unbreakable diamond. Bothered and berserked, Hero leaped once again avoiding being squashed by humongous monster using his axe to cut one of the fingers. The stone-like piece fell on the ground almost breaking through it as Hero landed on his back taking a huge amount of pain. If he didn't rolled over, the beast would have stepped on the frail hume body. Hero sat back trying to contain the necessity of screaming from the painful fall before he noticed the upcoming fist of the monster. Before the monster could squish Hero, Carbuncle stood in the middle using his ruby light to blind the giant for a few moments whilst missing the attack. Hero then turned to see the others doing their battle and thought playing as a warrior was reckless... he needed to employ magic abilities he didn't had now. Maybe that blondie general that seems to be a magic user can unlock help him unlock the Black Mage job that will come handy in such mess.

[Kylie (Gun)]

Kylie backed up slightly even while she fired her shots at the beast. When her gun emptied, she snapped it open to swiftly and reloaded, before continuing her assault on the lumbering giant that seemed so hell-bent on destroying the castle. Though her eyes were continuously scanning the beast to try and find some sort of a weak spot, in the dark and the chaos, she hadn’t found any so far, and was simply concentrating on what she referred to as its head, because honestly, she wasn’t sure that’s what it even was, but it was the best calculated guess she had. Kylie pulled up her firearm when another blonde ran past them and toward the machine. He looked…familiar, and stupid. Wasn’t the first rule of dealing with a monstrosity like this that you didn’t get too close? Obviously not. But to each their own she supposed. At least the other blonde, who she still thought might be a bit of a moron himself, had held back and was firing his odd looking contraction instead of running up and potentially being flattened. And why did that blonde she had only gotten a glimpse of look so familiar?

The blondes words caused her to pull up slightly in her attacks. Quickly skimming the beast, she decided to try his advice and found herself firing at the target he had told her to do. She could see the logic in it really, hopefully this blonde knew what the hell he was talking about. She didn’t really see how a few people could take this down, but at least they could try. While she started to shoot at the beast that was attempting to rip open the castle wall, she noticed yet another figure jump off the wall and onto the shoulder of the beast. “Idiot,” she muttered out, shifting her position so she would have easier access to the kneecaps that she was firing toward. What kind of an idiot just jumped on the back of a beast that was attempting to destroy an entire castle? If he lived through this initial stupidity, Kylie was going to make sure he didn’t live through another episode of it.

It was at that moment that she heard the sound of footsteps. Even while she yet again reloaded, Kylie glanced over her shoulder to see who was coming. Hopefully people that had a brain, unlike the men she was surrounded by. From the looks of them, they were soldiers. Oh good, hopefully they were from this world and had dealt with something like this before. Snapping her gun back into place, Kylie watched as the soldiers start to rush past her, obviously wanting to attack it from this angle. “Don’t get too close,” she warned them, hoping that they would actually have a brain and use it. Would that be too much to ask?

Oh great, here came another moron. Kylie’s gaze snapped to the oddly…feminine looking man that had shown himself. Perhaps feminine wasn’t the right word. Fabulous? Well whatever it was, she didn’t have high hopes for this candidate either. At least he was attempting to help, and so she resumed her own firing on the knee of the beast, focusing on the same limb as the other blonde with the odd gun was doing. Her own gun was higher powered than most handguns, but it was still only a handgun, while his looked to be some miniature canon of sorts…or something, after this was over, she would have to take a look at it.

Until then, she had morons to handle and a large beast to help take down.

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Words:; 788
Muse:; Good!
Location:; Taking a bubble bath somewhere
Outfit:; Turk Uniform
Tagged:; Gippal, Celes, Hero, Cloud, and Kazusa!
Notes:; Kylie doesn't hate blondes. She hates stupid men ;D
Listening To:; Decode - Paramore