Raid #18 [Plot]

[Larxene]

Archipelago has been attacked by Darkness.

Dark Being | Attacking:

Seifer [Leader]

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The Light has ten days to get a team together to counter this attack or the Dark will have a claim on the world! Dark, feel free to post here. Another post will be added when the Light gets a Raid Group, or if the Dark has won the world! Keep an eye out!

[Larxene]

A Light Group of Three has Countered the Attack!

Light Group | Defending:

Rinoa [Leader]
Tidus
Cecil

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Posting Order: Cecil, Seifer, Rinoa, then Tidus

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If no winner has been decided by January 21st, then a staff member will review and decide the winner!

Remember the Rules!! - [RULES HERE]

Let the Battle Begin!!

[ch]

A black portal opened up and Cecil Harvey the Knight and King of his home world stepped out. He had been called to this world to help protect it. Lately, that is what he has only been doing. His white armor shined from the radiant light of the sun. His eyes noticed a blue arrow saying In. As he walked in he saw a sign that said "Welcome to Galbadia". Cecil had never herd of this place before.

There seemed to be no people around as well. What could be going on? The King had no idea at all. However, he was just going to wait for the person who had summoned him here. This place seemed so peaceful yet it was so empty at the same time. His whitish light blond hair swayed to the left from a gentle breeze. What could be going on with the people here?

[blue]"Dear Rosa I will find you soon enough; but I must help protected these unprotected worlds."[/blue] He let out a sigh and too a few steps forward. Then he suddenly stopped as he felt people coming. Who are what it was they were coming. Cecil did not know who, but he could feel the first presence felt somewhat dark. Could it be the creature or person that threatens this world be coming this way?

[radianttwilight]

Galbadia - what a fitting place to start. Seifer walked through the now abandoned streets with a deliberate pace, his arrogance and confidence showing both in his smug expression, and in his casual posture. Hyperion rested comfortably slung over his shoulder, and he occasionally tapped it against his skin absently to the beat of an unheard melody - one that he could already hear playing his own victory theme, even if for the moment, it only existed in his head. Yes, he was going to prove that he was not a failure like everyone was certain to think that he was. Last time, perhaps things had not ended as well as he would have liked them to - but he had been in over his head, and had lost total control of himself. The gunblader now told himself that that loss of control was exactly where things went wrong...if he was left to handle himself, to make his own actions and decisions, then nothing could go wrong.

Or, so thought that arrogant mind of his, at any rate.

And now that his memories were returning more and more each day, including his connections to Twilight Town, Seifer believed he was seeing the bigger picture. There was more to the universe than simply Archipelago, his home world - and more worlds meant more power that called out to him, beckoned him to take for his own. However, there was no better place to start for him in this full-out war of darkness versus light, a battle that had been fought for millennia but had finally reached proportions across worlds like it never had before, than starting in his old home. The blonde felt he had something to prove here, almost like conquering Archipelago would be a personal achievement that would erase all the past failures he would rather pretend had never happened, and would pave the way for the future he had always wanted.

Of course, there was still the Sorceress. Ultimecia had restored his memories as well as his weapon, and he had obediently returned to her side. She was the only one in existence that Seifer could ever imagine himself listening to about anything, but....well, even that would have to end at a point. However, that point was not yet, and she had ordered him to destroy the SeeDs for her once more. Failure was no longer an option. And though she had told him that he needed to have more allies this time to ensure victory....well, the blonde was certain they would only slow him down. The only two others he had ever trusted were Raijin and Fujin, and he was pretty sure both of them were still stuck in Twilight Town. He could trust no one else to not screw things up, or risk them not obeying his every order - and thus, he was doing this alone.

And he would prove to Ultimecia that he was strong enough to not need to be babied by others. If anyone could handle themselves...it was Seifer Almasy - or so he told himself.

Seifer suddenly stopped, his eyes narrowed as he glanced down the street towards the main entrance to the city. The citizens were all hiding from the impending darkness, and that was certainly in their best interest, but....cyan eyes locked on a lone figure down the street from himself. Did someone dare to defy his leadership? Did someone actually think they could stand up to Seifer's decision that Archipelago would belong to the darkness? The young man felt anger build up within his chest, all concentrated on the figure before him. If he was going to prove his point, he could not let anyone defy him.

"Hey you - chicken wuss!" Seifer called out to the other figure - it was a man, heavily laden in armour, which meant he was obviously a warrior of some type or another, perhaps even one of the very SeeDs that Seifer wanted to specifically target - "Better just give up now!" His strong voice also betrayed his confidence, and it was not falsely there - he really did feel like he could handle this, despite his slightly rocky past and young age. Seifer flipped Hyperion from his shoulder and into its attacking position, extended from his arm and pointed directly at the other man who was still several meters away - but a gunblade could do ranged damage just as easily as melee damage. The gunblader fully intended to show that he meant business.

[lalax]

"No matter what happens, even if you become the world's enemy, I'll be your knight..."

These words ran through the mind of the newly born Sorceress. He...would be her knight. He...would be there to protect her. And...what if something were to happen when he wasn't around? Was she just going to fall victim and lose the battle? Would she ever build up the courage to fight in a battle? Find out if her powers of a Sorceress had been a blessing or a curse. So far she was too afraid to even try. She had seen the insanity of some of the Sorceresses. The hunger for power consumed them to a pure streak of evil. And that was the last thing that she wanted to do. Become like those she had fought against. That was probably the worst fear that Rinoa Heartilly possessed.

But what would happen when she was on her own? Like right now. She had been on her own for awhile now. After he left Archipelago...things started to change. And now he wasn't here to make it better. To defend her. And serve as her savior. Was it possible that for once she could be the savior? The one doing the saving as opposed to being saved. Could she come to the reality of the true ability of her powers? Or would she just hide from the darkness like all of the others? No...she had to protect the world. This was her homeworld. And she wouldn't let the darkness come and ruin things. She was going to be the savior in this situation. She had to fight. Fight until the bitter end. Another thought came to her mind. What if...she didn't make it? What if this would be her last battle? Would she be strong enough to fight against the darkness? It was all so complicated.

Rinoa was running. She was running down to where the attacker was. Many of the citizens had gone into hiding. And it seemed like no one was going to step up and fight. Aside from her. She looked quite nervous. "Squall...where are you? I'm...I'm scared! What if this is my end? I need you here Squall. I've been waiting and... Rinoa stopped this train of thought. Maybe...waiting wasn't good enough. Maybe she had to take action. With or without Squall here beside her. If he was here...she was certain that he would defend the world. And her. She had to be strong like him. Squall was always so strong and cool. He never seemed to be afraid of anything. Why was it that she was trembling with fear all around her then? Was she not meant to be a fighter? She was in too deep now. She wasn't going to turn around and go into hiding. She was going to fight.

Rinoa stopped when she saw a figure off in the distance. It was a man in armour. Rinoa had never seen someone like him around before. Maybe he was here to fight. She felt a strong aura of light around him. Quickly, she ran over to him and cleared her throat. "Excuse me? Are you here to fight against the darkness as well?" Rinoa asked him. She hoped that he was. Knowing that she wouldn't be going at it alone was a good feeling. She would still put in just as much effort as she would have if she was alone. Rinoa turned her gaze away from the man when she heard a voice. The voice was so distinct. The young Sorceress would have recognized it anywhere. Such an arrogant and overconfident voice. She knew who it was immediately.

Seifer. He was the one threatening Archipelago with the darkness? Rinoa felt twice as worried now. Sure the last time she had encountered him, he had know idea who she was. But for some reason he seemed to be back to himself. His true self. Probably trying to gain all of the memories of his former life back. Piece by piece. Maybe this was a step in it. Rinoa recalled fighting Seifer alongside her friends. When he had become the knight to Sorceress Ultimecia. Rinoa and her friends had managed to won that time. But she had still been nervous about fighting Seifer that time. Seifer was the first man that she ever loved. And he was the first man to break her heart. It just brought back such painful memories.

She listened to him as he called out the man beside her. Why was she letting her emotions get in the way? She wouldn't get anywhere if she was just emotional and worried the whole time. She was going to be a fighter. Not a worrier. Without even giving a word to him, she raised her Shooting Star weapon, ready to begin.

[shogun]

Well this place was just...different. The air breathed salty, and it reminded the man who now walked down a paved road all too much of his home in Besaid. Salty air usually meant beaches, however all Tidus could see as he continued his walk were buildings, streets and people in evening wear. His boots clicked the steel threshold as he entered a bar not far down the street from where the other warriors had congregated, however he was oblivious to their presence for the time being. The Blitz Ace was more concerned with where he was than the impending aura of darkness that seemed to be looming about the area. Usually the case was, people of the light show up because for some unexplained reason they knew that beings of the dark were here attempting to do something to convert the world to darkness.

Well what exactly were the beings of darkness doing that could convert the world to a darker version of itself and remain under the control of the Horsemen Heartless. No dark tower of impending doom, or super weapon that could generate blutz waves to control the population of said world. So what in the world could Seifer had been doing that would draw warriors of the light to his presence? Absolutely nothing, he was just standing there talking smack. Back to Tidus in the bar now. People were looking at the blond strangely, as if he didn't belong in their finely designed hotel filled with luxury and etiquette. He could sense their eyes on him, and the only thing he thought to do was smile and wave to the whole room. "Uh, hey everybody. Do any of you know exactly where I am?" he pronounced to the whole room.

There was an abrupt silence, followed by an eruption of laughter. A few people couldn't help but point at him while they laughed, and a few others fell off of their stools near the bar itself. The star of the Zanarkand Abes just stood there, bewildered at what he had just endured then turned to leave the bar. Tidus had to duck as someone threw a pitcher of beer towards him, and it just barely missed his head, colliding with the door instead. "F-forget this!" he yelled out loud to himself as he ran outside to the street once more. What was wrong with these people? Did they normally treat visitors like this in this world? Tidus was about to turn to leave when he saw a familiar clad of armor just down the street, accompanied by two others who he didn't know. "Cecil?" he asked to himself.

[ch]

Cecil slowly turned around with grace. Soon his eyes were seeing just a boy who called him a chicken wuss? He seemed no younger than about seventeen or eighteen. "Go home." How could a child turn to darkness? The boy was most likely not even that experienced as a swordsman. Cecil was a Knight for half of his life. Even when he became a King, he still trained and pushed himself to many limits.

He could just not get over the fact the boy was not going to leave without a fight. So if that is the case the fight shall begin. The Blade of Legend then appeared in his right hand. The swords handle is a dark orange color which extends to a gold hilt. On the sides of the hilt seem to be two horns. The blade itself is a dark orange color with a golden streak going through it.

Next a very pretty girl appeared to asking him if he was here for the light. "I am indeed a warrior of light." Cecil said with a kind yet gentle smile. Right as he was about to look back over to Seifer, he herd a voice. The person was not too far away. So he could see what he was wearing. Cecil could even see the boys face. "Tidus! There is no time to talk now." He said with somewhat of a depressed tone.

His eyes then drifted to meet the eyes of Seifer. It was time to end this nonsense and bring the light to this place. Quickly, Cecil ran over to Seifer at a fast pace. He looked so eloquent while running. Now he was in the range, so he made a single downward slash."Both light and darkness give me the guidance I need. Thus I can turn darkness into hallowed light!" On the spot a shroud of darkness completely covered Cecil. Since he was the closest to Seifer, he would be the only one to feel Cecils demonic darkness.

During his younger years, his dark powers grew more and more as he used the darkness. As the shroud vanished Cecil was in his Dark Knight form. Now he stood before Seifer looking like a black metallic demon. He took a slight pause and stared down Seifer with the up most of hatred yet sorrow. The poor boy does not even know what he had gotten himself into. With that Cecil jumped in the air and slammed his blade down on Seifer.

Except this slash was a fatal hit. Since it is his Nightfall attack in this form. While in Paladin mode he was very fast. Along with any attacks he would attempt. In the Dark Knight form he was brutally strong.

Upon entering his Dark Knight form his sword transformed into the Death Bringer. It was the same as the Sword of legend. Except its blade was a purplish black color, and it had treacherous dark feeling about it.

He just had a feeling the girl may not like him in this form. As in she might be afraid or think he lied. However, just as long as Tidus was here to back him up that's all he needs. Tidus has been there for him all the time.

[radianttwilight]

No sooner has Seifer spoken then two more figures suddenly showed up at the stranger's side - one familiar, and one not. The unfamiliar one was a fellow blonde, though his hair was a bit darker than Seifer's own, and his clothes were....well, rather distasteful, and showed that he was more than obviously not from Archipelago. Seifer frowned at the man's appearance in general - just what did he think he was doing here? Did he think that he could actually stand up and just defend a world that was not his own? In the gunblader's mind, it seemed like a waste of perfectly good time, but then, if the man and the strange solider - or possible SeeD - wanted to get their butts kicked, then so be it. Seifer was up for the job.

The third presence, however, was one that was slightly unsettling even if Seifer was unwilling to admit that. Rinoa Heartilly...for a moment, a cold feeling crept up within the blonde's body that resulted in a lump in his throat that he promptly swallowed, unwilling to give the situation more thought than necessary. Rinoa - the two of them had been together in the past, though he had broken it off after a summer spent together...they were just too different. Or...something like that. But she was the one that had been the start of his memories all returning to him - she had been the first person from his past that he had encountered. And she had used that word....the one word he had doubted he would ever hear, and was pretty certain he would never hear again. Love.

Wait, what was he even thinking about that for? A cold sneer appeared on the man's features once more as cyan eyes surveyed the three before him. He had Raijin and Fujin. He had the sorceress. And he had himself, most importantly - he didn't need anyone else, let alone someone like Rinoa. And beating her would only be more satisfying, considering she had been in the group that had dealt him cold defeat previously - and Seifer refused to let fate simply repeat itself. His sneer only widened at the armoured man's words telling him to 'go home.' How ironic. "I already am home, old man," he spat back, his tone still confident, any traces of his moment of slight personal failure dealing with thoughts of Rinoa wiped away. "You're the one that needs to get out of here."

However, despite his own threat, Seifer was more than ready for a fight - and that was exactly what happened next. The armoured man suddenly made a quick dash towards him, closing the distance between them. Seifer watched as he seemed to change appearance before his very eyes, becoming something that looked like a dark demon or...something like that. However, though he was momentarily startled by the unexpected change, he did not let it bother him - after all, he had seen things even more amazing during the last battle for Archipelago. He had been at the side of a powerful sorceress, after all, and that was not something to be taken lightly.

Hyperion was held at the ready as the man attacked from above, attempting to bring a devastating blow down on Seifer. The cold steel of the gunblade locked with the man's strange sword, and though the weight of the impact almost brought Seifer to his knees, he was able to withstand the hit with a grunt. "You're gonna need more than just cheap tricks to beat me - I've seen 'em all already!" Seifer then spat at the man, half-lying - of course he had not seen EVERYTHING, but who cared about that sort of detail? - before thrusting his own weapon forward to push the man away from him.

For the moment, Seifer ignored both Rinoa and the other blonde man he believed he had heard addressed as 'Tidus' or something and focused on his attacker. After sucking in a quick, deep breath to recover from the attack, it was his own turn to rush forward, attempting a slash low across the man's thighs just above his knees in an attempt at crippling him, finger ready on the trigger of the gunblade to release a devastating shot at the same time of impact.

[lalax]

Rinoa walked onto the scene when she heard the warrior call out for Seifer to go home. Rinoa knew Seifer all too well. He would not respond well to this. Due to his overconfidence. Even when she was with him, Seifer was overconfident and self-centered. He would probably always be like that. Rinoa hadn't even seen it when she was dating him. She had been younger. And a bit more foolish. She was just infatuated with him back then. So much that...she thought she was actually in love with him. But she didn't know what love was back then. They hadn't been through enough for her to love him. It was just a summer romance, that she could have had with anyone. It wasn't like what she now had with Squall. Squall had saved her. Squall had been there for her. And she knew that she loved Squall. Thast was what she was most certain of in her life. Squall showed her what love truely was. Not Seifer.

After he broke things off, her eyes opened a bit more. She was beginning to realize who exactly he was. This was only the first step to her knowing the truth. She was very heartbroken at that point though, so she was mainly sad. As opposed to being angry. More of her anger came back as things progressed. After all that happened with Seifer and the Sorceress Knight situation. She really learned just who he was and what his aim was. He wasn't a good guy anymore. He was mean, cruel and maybe even...evil. Yes...he was evil. Which is exactly why he was here today. He was trying to bring Archipelago to a bad state. Bring the Darkness along and just ruin things piece by piece. He had already taken her heart once and just smashed it. She wasn't going to let him take something else from her. Especially her heart. It already belonged to someone else anyway.

Rinoa listened as Cecil said he was for the light and smiled at her. She gave him a small smile back and nodded. She turned her head when she heard someone else. He was calling out to the man that was beside her. Cecil was his name, it seemed. Rinoa listened as he addressed the new man as Tidus. These two must have known eachother. Either way, it made her feel a bit more comfortable knowing that these two did know eachother. Tidus was probably for the light also. And it made her feel better to know that three were for the light. And only one was for the darkness. The numbers were in her favor. But then again it wasn't about the numbers. It was the strength. And she knew that Seifer was strong. He was strong enough to put up a great fight against her and her allies.

Rinoa turned her attention back to Cecil and was amazed at what she saw. This...was not the same man that she saw a moment ago. That she was witnessing some sort of monster taking him over. This must be some sort of form that made him stronger. Like her Angel Wing form. It made her awaken as a Sorceress. Something that she was growing a bit more afraid of doing. Her magic was improving rapidly as she was growing as a stronger Sorceress. Seifer knew the abilities of the Sorceresses. She wondered if he thought of her as strong like them. If her magic was just as good. She would have to use it later in the battle. It was going to be used. She wasn't going to be afraid of using them anymore. If Cecil was able to go into this form, couldn't she just be able to use some of her Sorceress powers? Why did she have to be so afraid? Maybe thats why she was weaker then the other Sorceresses. She was so afraid of becoming evil like them.

Rinoa watched as Cecil came down on Seifer and he was able to push it off. Cecil had probably underestimated him, since he was so young. But Rinoa knew how strong Seifer was. Rinoa watched as he was getting ready to shoot. She had to do something. Be able to attack him back. She raised her Shooting Star weapon above and aimed it. She shot it at him and got ready to catch it back. She hoped that her aim had been right and she had been able to hit him. She wanted to prove her true strength and not be viewed as weak in his eyes. She had a feeling that he thought that she was weak. She didn't want to be viewed like that. Especially by someone like Seifer.

[shogun]

Tidus understood exactly what Cecil had said, as he had heard it several times when the two had fought against Chaos and his minions. He ran forward as fast as he could, with the Brotherhood sword flashing to his grip with a bright aqua blue light. Already Cecil and the man in white began to duel, and just as Rinoa fired off her weapon Tidus sped past her in an all out sprint for the other two. He leaped into the air, and began to twirl and spin rapidly as he was lining up his Spiral Cut overdrive. As time seemed to slow around him, Tidus could see the skies above him as he turned in a spiral, noticing how blue they were. Heh, cool.

Then he came back to reality with a hard landing, aiming a vicious slash at Seifer and trying not to hit Cecil as well. "Get some!" he yelled out at the man in white, bringing his ocean blue sword up to defend himself. The Dark Knight of Baron was a formidable opponent, and Tidus was glad to have his friend fighting alongside him. The girl, who's name he didn't know yet, was also helping them out as well. Maybe this was her home and she was defending it from the man in white? He had also stated he was home, so these two had without a doubt met at some point. Perhaps the girl was fighting for someone she loved as well as her own world? If that was the case then he would have to pull out all the stops here, as Tidus wasn't going to let that happen to someone else. He had lost Yuna so many times already, abut now he was fighting to see her again, fighting to save Spira from the war that had spilled everywhere.

He would show his father that he was just as good as he was, if not better. He had to show everyone that he wasn't incompetent and useless, which was actually quite the opposite of him to begin with. He was here to fight for peace and harmony, love and justice, and above all else: his friends.

[Sorry, felt like I was rambling a bit in there XD hope it's alright]

[ch]

As he was coming down on Seifer his blade clashed with the Gunblade. However, the boy proved himself moderately strong. Next Seifer made his own few attacks. As the Gundblade came closer Cecil used the Oblivion to block. Once both his Oblivion and the Hyperion clashed sparks went flying in all directions. That's when Cecil herd a loud bang and a bullet hit him in the chest. It sent him back less than a foot.

Cecil's feet caused little dust to kick up from himself being slightly pushed back. Right then and there the Knight knew Seifer lacked in swordsmanship. It showed in his first attack. He had planned this from the beginning really. He wanted to see how much power and skill the boy had. Seifers's strength was impressive for his age. His skill, however, is a totally different story.

"I can feel it."

After saying that Cecil used his left hand to cause one of his powerful gravity balls to shoot upwards from underneath Seifer. Whether the attack hits or not depends on how fast the boy is. A moment later Cecil vanished. In that short period of time Tidus had made his first attack. Once more, Cecil reappeared. This time he was in the air, and he was in his Paladin form once more. His sword back to being the Sword of Legend.

A magic seal then appeared above Seifer. The seal was very bright and was just sitting there in the sky. To most people, it would look like a angel or something peaceful would come out of it. As Cecil landed on his feet the magic seal launched seven searing spheres of light right for Seifer. The Knight was not quite done with his chain attack. Once more, he ran up to Seifer making a downwards slash.

Quickly, he made a flip in the air. "Darkness be with me."

After saying that he was in his Dark Knight form once again. In addition, wielding the Oblivion once more. This time he landed on his feet and stabbed his sword in the ground. Which made a soft noise.

"Burn."

Then a demonic yet powerful black flame started to cover the area at a rapid rate. This was a powerful darkness fire. First it would aim for Seifer. Hopefully, his partners could dodge it. Gently, he pulled his Oblivion out of the ground.

(I hope my detail is getting better for you guys.. x.x)

[radianttwilight]

The confident smirk on Seifer's face flickered for a moment when he suddenly felt a searing pain in his side - one that felt oddly familiar, like he had suffered from the same sort of weapon before....well, that could only mean that one person had delivered the blow. Rinoa. Seifer had been concentrating so whole-heartedly on attacking the armoured man that he had all but forgotten the blonde man and his ex-girlfriend, and the latter of the two had taken advantage of that. Well, it seemed they weren't there to just watch, after all - if it was a fight they wanted, then it was a fight they were going to get. Seifer had been against bad odds before, and he had a lot to prove right now...and he was not about to simply kneel and let these losers take Archipelago for the light. He had just as much of a right to the planet as they did, after all - it was his home, too.

With his free hand, Seifer grasped his side where Rinoa's ranged weapon had made contact, right at the bottom of his ribs. Luckily, the thick material of his coat had softened the blow ever so slightly, but it was a small bit of protection that the gunblader was thankful for. However, the wound still hurt, and he was certain it was going to leave a nasty bruise if it wasn't bleeding already....and that just ticked him off even more than the fact that these three had showed up to defy his leadership in the first place. And the fact that the blow had come from Rinoa of all people did NOT make the situation any more bearable. "You just got lucky, Rinoa!" Seifer then spat at the girl, her first name slipping out before he could really stop it - somehow, it felt almost inappropriate, but it was too late for that now.

Unwilling to let his guard down so easily again, Seifer noticed the sudden change in colour beneath his feet, and his quick mind instantly associated this change with the armoured man's upraised hand. He only just had a chance to jump out of the way before some sort of gravity magic came up from the ground where he had just been standing. Rolling to the side to avoid the hit, Seifer quickly jumped back to his feet, taking the opportunity to take a quick ranged shot with Hyperion towards the only female in the vicinity - if only as a challenge in response to her attack on him. However, he was only able to manage one shot before he heard the blonde man's cry, and saw him spiralling towards the air towards him. Again, Seifer only barely managed to move out of the way before he was struck - and only had that opportunity because this Tidus guy had felt the need to say something, which had grabbed his attention. It was a small mistake the gunblader was thankful for.

Things were moving so quickly, Seifer barely had time to attack. He fired another quick shot with Hyperion in the short time he had, this time at Tidus in response to his attack, before he noticed the light above his head. "Great, what now..." he muttered under his breath, before he was suddenly stuck with some kind of light magic that blew him off his feet. The young man landed hard, but he was used to being outnumbered, and knew better than to let his guard down....attacks like this were rarely over after simply a magic attack, and this one was no different. Even as he landed, he was raising Hyperion to fend off the armoured man's physical attack, and was able to keep the man's blade at bay before it made contact with his skin, and pushed him away once more.

Seifer scrambled back to his feet, brushing a bit of dirt from his coat as he glared rather angrily at his attacker. This man wasn't going to give it a rest, was he? He was hard to keep track of, too, what with his changing forms and lame little challenges or cat calls or personal monologues or whatever they were. Mostly, he was just starting to get annoying more than anything else, and that was not something Seifer appreciated. When the dark fire was suddenly racing towards him, he was ready - the man was firing off one attack after another, and though it left Seifer little time to attack himself, it made the man's moves fairly predictable. Only one of the lines of fire managed to hit him, and though the pain in his legs was searing, he gritted his teeth against it - no giving up now. Not when he had come this far....

"Take it easy, old man - you don't wanna burn yourself all up right at the beginning of the battle. You shouldn't show all the cards in your hand on your first move," Seifer then stated though his gritted teeth, and though the fact that the three attacks that had hit him were paining him and it showed in his tone slightly, the same arrogant, overconfidence was still present as well. After so many attacks, the rage within Seifer was also beginning to build, and he knew a powerful attack was on its way...but until then, he simply smirked once more before launching a powerful fire chi-based attack at the armoured man, and then used the small opportunity it gave him to rush forward to bring another physical assault on the man, this time aiming for across his chest.

[lalax]

Rinoa watched as her aim had been right. The shot had hit Seifer. He hadn't been expecting it, obviously. He had probably been too focused with the other attacks. The attacks that had been given off by Tidus and Cecil seemed much stronger then hers. She was just using her simple shooting style weapon. No one would really think that Shooting Star was the top weapon. But Rinoa was able to make it work for her. Sometimes, a simple attack could go over just as well. And she had been able to, make it work for her. She was waiting for a good moment to use some of her magic though. She was much more hesitant about using that. But it would have to come out eventually. She was just waiting for the right moment to use it.

Rinoa caught the ring when it came back, after hitting Seifer. She stumbled back a bit after catching it, which was usual for her. It was coming at her so fast. She watched Seifer. He looked...surprised. And also angry. He probably hadn't been expecting for such a strong attack to come from Rinoa. She watched as he spat at her. And much to her surprise, he used her name. She hadn't remembered the last time he called her by her name. Especially during the last time she encountered him. He didn't even know who she was. Or believe anything that she was telling him. That he did in fact know her. And they did have something more then a friendship at one point. It was even hard for her to believe that sometimes.

Rinoa had heard Seifer use her name in many different ways. She recalled when they first met. He had spoken to her in a way to try and impress her. The cocky and arrogant side. And then when they becamse something more. She had seen the very slight loving side of Seifer in the way he said her name. And then when all that happened with him being the Sorceress Knight, he had started to say it in complete hate and disgust. And now that was how she was hearing it right now. But...if she were to say his name, it would be in the same sort of fashion. Rinoa didn't harbor any more feelings for Seifer, aside from hate. He had caused her pain. Another reason why she wanted to defeat him again today. Not only to save her homeworld, but to prove herself once again to Seifer. So far, she was doing a pretty good job at it.

Rinoa watched as Seifer aimed an attack at Tidus, as he was coming back for him. And then she watched Cecil. He had very strong attacks from what she could tell. Rinoa watched the orbs of light go around Seifer. This must be some sort of magic. Although it was aimed for Seifer, she had a feeling that it would come around toward them. Rinoa watched as the flames were spreading around the area. It was spreading so quickly. This must be part of his plan. Rinoa watched some coming in her general direction. She dodged out of the way quickly, and she was alright. Rinoa looked over in the direction that she had last seen Seifer in. She watched as he was charging right at Cecil. Rinoa wanted to do something more. Maybe if she could try her aim again, she could get him. She had gotten him once. But Seifer believed that it was just luck. And Rinoa wasn't too sure if he was right, or if she was really handy with her weapon.

Rinoa looked down to the Shooting Star weapon in her hand, and she was ready. She had to do something. Cecil had been working so hard on all of his attacks. And he was helping all of them out. She wanted to be able to help him too. Rinoa raised her weapon again and she aimed at the same spot she had hit before. She knew that it was still a bit weak. If she got him there, then it would be good. She shot it, hoping for the best.

[shogun]

A sharp ping rang out into the open air, and Tidus had to roll backwards as the shot knocked him off balance. Sure it had been barely deflected off his blade, but the shot itself had been redirected to nick his shoulder. Tattered pieces of clothing flew away from Tidus as they became seperated by the shot from him. As he rolled with the attack, literally, Tidus became crouched on his knees with the sword gripped firmly in his right hand. He charged forward at Seifer, and barely just missed the shadow flames that had begun to rapidly spread around the area by leaping over them into what had now begun to form into a circle. That's when he could hear the familiar whizzing sound, as if Tidus had heard it before.

Indeed he had heard it when Rinoa first fired her projectile at the enemy, so it was natural of him to presume it was the same thing. He lowered his shoulders as he neared Seifer, just in time to see Rinoa's weapon sail for the man in white over him. Maybe this would be a decisive factor in the battle, but he wouldn't know unless he tried. He brought the Brotherhood to his left side, and as he continued to run at Seifer he swung up and to the right, hoping to hit the man in the open if he deflected Rinoa's attack first. He spun around in a three sixty, bringing the sword up to again strike Seifer diagonally from the left up to his right shoulder.

This battle had just started but already it was getting intense, mostly thanks to Cecil and his consistent battering of the gunblader. Good thing Rinoa and Tidus were there to help, because against the Sorceress' Knight, he was definitely going to need it.

[Aaaand another fail post XD]

[ch]

Cecil watched the boy make attack after attack. Finally, a bullet was shot for Cecil. It moved very fast. The Knight did not know how to dodge such a bullet. That is when Riona used her own weapon to block the attack. Now Seifer charged in for a slashing attack. It was useless Cecil could read all his sword movements. Quickly, Cecil made his sword take a horizontal position. Thus having both blades' clash together. Sparks went flying everywhere.

How could the young lad not see that this is how he fights? Cecils mainly switches from both forms rapidly. To keep up the pressure on his opponent. "Do you truly understand nothing?" The Knight was not going to lose this battle. He needed to win for all of his loved ones. Even his partners now needed him to help them. "Certainly my strength comes from everyone. From when they encourage me and worry about me."

"I will not let them down. I will never give up."

Cecil held out both his hands and a black sphere started to grow. Larger and larger. The bigger it grew the more power it had. Once the giant darkness sphere was launched it split up into four mid sized spheres. All four spheres looked like they were headed for Seifer. Except they went right passed him. The spheres stopped moving once they were about fifty feet away from Seifer.

Static move all around each sphere showing its power. Now the four mid sized spheres were aimed for Seifer's back. Each one moved fast and had a ferocious attack. Cecil couldn't let up his attacks. Mainly, because Cecil did not want to take another bullet shot from earlier. His demonic armor protected him from it entering him. However, he still can feel the pain from the force of impact.

Now it was time to end his turn with yet another powerful attack. A black energy ball appeared above Seifer. This was his gravity ball. Right away it moved downwards in an Arc formation.

"Come get me."

Cecil shouted while running at Seifer ; attempting a powerful downwards slash on the boy.