“Dam Blast!”
     One door in his path cracked and shattered, opening a passageway to a deeper recess of the base. From the dust came some of the mechs which had attacked the SeeDs in the first place.
     “Burst Rondo! Bomb Split! Mega Brando!”
     A hail of fireballs was followed by a hail of more powerful fireballs, which was joined by a large explosion to strike the mechs. Added to the destructive power of the caster was her anger towards the people inside of the base.
     ‘I’m losing strength fast from maintaining my chaos transformation,’ ran through Alex’s mind as he sailed through the dust before him, an energy bubble forming around him as more energy from the chaos emeralds and power rings filled his body. Two people in mechanical armor awaited him on the other side, trapping him.
     “We’ve got you now,” one said, grinning evilly as his weapons locked on target, “Commander Brandon will have some things to discuss with you about some certain items in his possession.”
     “I don’t have any time for this,” Alex growled, fire flashing in his eyes, “Tell Brandon I’ll be up to whoop his ass as soon as I rescue my friend.”
     “You’re not going anywhere,” the other soldier said, also locking his weapons on the armor clad person before him.
     “You have no right to tell me what to do,” Alex growled again, the fire in his eyes flashing brighter as the temperature in the room began to increase. He raised his right hand above his head and made a motion with his fingers. “Hell’s Fury.”
     Searing flames filled the room, melting the mech suits and sealing the pilots within. With this momentary distraction he added an ice spell to the mix, shattering the door and wall behind him. He ran through this opening, taking a quick moment to check his status and distance to Seifer’s cell. When he realized he was two floors above it he decided it was time to go in with all guns blazing.
     “Time to open the door,” he said, leaping into the air. He flipped off of a nearby wall, rebounded off of the opposing wall, and vaulted towards the ceiling, channeling chaos power into his fists as he sailed. He flipped, using his momentum to give him an added push. Upon shoving off he dove at the floor, rearing his right hand back before punching forward, effectively drilling through the floor he was on and the floor below him, breaking into Seifer’s cell moments before his friend was to get obliterated.
     “Alex?" Seifer said in disbelief, shielding himself from falling debris.
     “Honey, I’m home,” Alex said moments before getting blasted in the back. He wheeled around, an energy bow forming in his hand. A sneer crossed his lips. “All right, who shot me?!”
     “I did,” three of the guards said, stepping forward.
     “Thanks,” Alex said, training the energy bow on them. He drew back the bowstring, an arrow of fire forming. “Flare Arrow!”
     He released the arrow, which split into multiple arrows that struck the soldiers and roasted them to a cinder. The other soldiers saw how angry the spell caster was, making a mental note of how hard he was squeezing the energy bow in his hand, before turning tail and running. With the soldiers gone Alex breathed a sigh of relief, dropping to one knee due to energy drain and pain induced from the blast. Seifer and Kirinis were instantly at his side.
     “How are you doing?” Kirinis asked, resting a hand on Alex’s back as they eased him onto the bed. She felt something hot and sticky and pulled her hand back to find it covered in blood. ‘Oh dear lord. He’s bleeding.’ She turned away, wiped her hand on her pant leg, and walked back across the room to get Seifer’s boots and the blanket.
     ‘You should tell them,’ Alexander’s voice said in her mind, ‘that way you can heal his wounds.’
     ‘She couldn’t do that,’ Ridley’s voice said, ‘Alex isn’t supposed to get wounded like this in his Warrior form. His armor is supposed to protect him. His system couldn’t handle a recovery spell.’
     Kirinis’ head snapped back to reality when she heard Seifer’s voice calling Alex’s name. There was something about how Seifer spoke which gave her an inclination as to what was happening before she turned to look. When she turned she saw the mage pitched over on his side, Seifer shaking him and calling, nay, crying his name in fear. Seifer looked up at her and asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
     “He’s been wounded pretty badly,” Kirinis said as she set the boots and blanket down, “and that blast pierced his armor and transformation, which Ridley tells me shouldn’t be possible.”
     “Can’t you do something to help him? You fixed me up pretty good.”
     “You were strong enough to handle a recovery spell. What he needs is a resurrection spell, which I don’t know how to cast.”
     Seifer went pale, his lower lip quivering as if he were about to burst into tears. In a single motion he had Alex on his back and was reaching beneath his armor.
     “What in the world are you doing?”
     “There’s a cache.... of power rings.... under his armor,” Seifer said between gasps of air, “if I could... just... find it... there it is. Now if it’ll just... stop being stubborn... and release... then maybe we can do something.”
     “What the heck is a power ring?”
     An audible click came from inside Alex’s armor moments before Seifer fell backwards and fell on his ass against the wall. In his hand were several golden rings, each glowing and pulsing with power. He held these up and said, “These, my dear Kirinis, are power rings.”
     “And just what do they do?”
     “Supposedly they increase your natural talents, or enhance them, or something like that,” he said, looping two over his right hand, the rings shrinking inward around his wrist. “Alex used them in conjunction with the chaos emeralds in his bracers to enhance his magical abilities.”
     “And how are they going to help us now?”
     She got her answer as Seifer took her hand and looped two around her right wrist. As they shrank inward she felt a great surge of magical power fill her body. He then said, “We’re going to maintain his vitals until the others get here. Now start casting with me.”

     Not too far from the compound a rather large and heavily armored vehicle rumbled across the land. Within sat Anassa and Karna, Fujin and Rajin, and Irvine, Quistis, and Squall. Talking to them over the radio was Rinoa and the others back at Balamb Garden.
     “You’re getting really close to the installation,” Rinoa said, “meaning we’ll more or less be in radio blackout...”
     “Except for my earrings,” Irvine said, touching one. The sound of feedback filled the air a moment later, causing everyone to shudder and hunch, including Squall, who was driving.
     “Yes.... except for the earrings that you shouldn’t be playing with IN THE SPROCKING CAR!” Tenal said, taking over the radio.
     “Five seconds to radio blackout,” Selphie said, snagging the radio from Tenal, “good luck and come back soon.”
     The radio went dead a moment later, signaling their entrance into blackout zone. From Irvine’s earring came, “Come back in one piece as well. Selphie and Balamb over and out.”
     “So now what?” Karna asked, fidgeting in his seat.
     “We keep monitoring for any signs of our people,” Anassa replied, checking all the latest data from her uplink with Balamb.
     “Out window,” Fujin said, pointing to the landscape. Anassa looked up from her PDA to see a landscape littered with bits and pieces of mechanics and other debris, all in a conveniently cut swath of a tornado. She blinked at it and was speechless.
     “I think we found where Alex went,” Quistis said, a little stunned, “and I would have to say he is a tad upset about something.”
     The vehicle pulled to a stop, several people giving her a look that said ‘what the hell are you thinking?!’. She sighed and held her hand to her temples. “I’m sorry. I haven’t had much sleep since this whole thing started, so I’m not really with it.”
     “It’s not that,” Squall said, “well, some of it’s not that. But look before you.”
     Quistis looked up out of the front window to see a large blast crater in the ground which led to the underground complex. She arched an eyebrow before saying, “Oh my.”
     “Seifer’s vitals are coming from fifteen levels down,” Anassa said, “so are Alex’s, only his aren’t doing so well.”
     “Then onward we shall go,” Irvine said as he slid the passenger door open. A hand on his shoulder told him to slow down.
     “Are you sure you want to do this?” Fujin whispered in his ear. He nodded. “Well, just so you know, Rajin and I are here for you if you need anything.”
     “Fujin?” Rajin said in awe as he picked out a word here and there from her conversation with Irvine.
     “Go. Now.” Fujin said as she turned from Irvine to grab her chakram. Rajin shrugged and grabbed his twin headed lance before disembarking from the vehicle. From a nearby elevator stepped several robots, all opening fire upon the unsuspecting group. A quickly erected defensive barrier by Fujin saved them from the initial volley, but began to crumble under continual fire.
     “Get past them,” she said as a set of jeweled bracelets which she wore began to glow silver.
     “Not without you,” Rajin said, “we’re the posse. We need to stick together.”
     “Just hurry up,” Anassa said as she drew back her bowstring, the arrowhead of the notched arrow bursting into flames. She then released the arrow, a drill of fire forming before the arrowhead, drilling through two of the robots, dropping them instantly. From the smoke came four more to replace the two. “Awww... hell.”
     “Fujin, move!” Squall shouted, blocking an incoming missile with his gunblade, a section of which was cracked and broken by the explosion.
     “... Come forth and deliver your divine justice,” Fujin chanted under her breath, the jewels glowing brilliantly as she touched them together, “Ithica!”
     A tornado formed before them, and from that came a woman with ankle length silver hair tied back in a long braid and silver blue eyes. She wore a Chinese style silk dress of silver with ice blue trim, silver ankle high boots, silver gloves, and a ton of silver bracelets. In one hand she held a tall silver scythe with a golden blade. She spun the scythe around above her head, a tornado funnel forming. She brought this down before her body, the winds and blown sand decimating the robots instantly, clearing their path to the elevator. With the attack over Ithica vanished, leaving all the SeeDs to wonder how Fujin could summon something.
     “Fujin?” Rajin said after a moment.
     “Don’t even ask,” Fujin said as she headed toward the elevator, “I’ll explain later. Right now our friends need us.”

     “Commander, we’re under heavy fire right now.”
     “As if I don’t know. But I don’t care.”
     “Sir?”
     “I’ve almost figured out the power of these talismans and this ring and how they work in unison.”
     “Sir, they’ve broken past primary defensive lines and are inside the base.”
     Dead silence was followed by maniacal laughter and a brilliant flash of light. Those in the control room turned to see Brandon bathed in a bubble of light, black armor with blue runic symbols and golden trim forming on his body, spikes forming on the shoulders, wrist, and elbows. In his hand formed a glaive not unlike Alex’s, except it was silver with a golden blade and archaic runes inscribed on the blade.
     “I’ve done it! I have unlocked the powers within the crystal!” Brandon cackled, “I have the power! I’m unstoppable!!”
     Lightning crackled through the air, striking him. A blinding flash of light filled the room, and when those within the command center could see again Commander Brandon was gone.

     In the cell where Seifer and Kirinis were trying to keep Alex stabilized things were more or less touch and go. The darkest corners of the cell were bathed in a blinding white light from the healing spells the two were casting on the third. Sweat poured down their faces as they pooled their powers, the golden rings around their wrists glowing brilliantly.
     ‘The rings could go critical at any moment,’ ran through Seifer’s mind as he gritted his teeth to keep his mind focused.
     “I don’t know if we’re helping him or hurting him by doing this,” Kirinis said, “I don’t even know if the spell is getting through the armor to the wound.”
     “I hope it’s helping him,” Seifer said, “I’d hate to lose him.”
     Kirinis felt a pressure on her hand, and looked down to see Seifer’s hand grasping hers. She squeezed it back reassuringly in hopes of alleviating some of his anxiety.
     ‘He’s crashing,’ sounded in her mind from Ridley, ‘that wound must have been too much for his system.’
     “Shit,” she said under her breath, “now what? I can’t cast a Resurrection spell since I don’t know everything about it.”
     “And we don’t have the time for you to learn it,” Seifer said as he ceased casting his healing spell, the glow from his power rings fading. He clasped Alex’s hand in his, a glow forming around their hands. “I just tapped my life force to his, so he should stay with us a while longer.”
     ‘Still not enough time to learn and cast Resurrection,’ Alexander said in her mind, ‘so we’ll have to wing it.’
     “What do you mean by ‘Wing it’?!”
     ‘Trust in your power,’ Ridley said, ‘Call to your esper, find strength within, and she’ll guide you.’
     “Trust in my power?”
     “Kirinis, we all trust in you,” Seifer said, “I more than anyone. You’ve come to see the light and join our side. Now you need to trust in yourself.”
     ‘Trust in myself,’ she said mentally, ‘Tidis is water in elemental nature. what is water, aside from a mix of hydrogen and oxygen? Water is calm; water is pure; water is the basic composition of all life, and needed for all life to subsist. Water can also be turbulent and stormy.’
     ‘Goddess of the turbulent deep...’
     “Goddess of the turbulent deep...”
     ‘As thy word of pledge as my bond of trust...’
     “As thy word of pledge as my bond of trust...”
     ‘Come before me and grant me your strength.’
     “Come before me and grant me your strength."
     “Life Water!”
     A ghostly chalice formed in the air above them, tipping to release a couple of drops of liquid, which splashed onto Alex’s chest, glowing as it sank in. Seifer was the first to notice a change in the mage’s condition, since Alex’s fingers twitched and the pressure on his hand increased. A moment later the mage’s eyes fluttered open, slowly focusing upon the two who were giving him attention.
     “Seifer,” he said weakly, his tongue feeling like it weighed a ton, his throat like sandpaper, “Seifer, what the hell happened?”
     “You got hit pretty bad,” Seifer replied, embracing him and squeezing the life out of him.
     “Easy there big fella,” Kirinis said, trying to separate the two, “give the poor kid some time to rest.”
     “He may not get the time he needs,” a familiar voice said from the door. The three looked up to see Irvine standing there, a pair of coats slung over the arm that was missing the hand. He gave a thumbs up to the people and said, “Did you miss me?”
     “Irvine?” Alex said weakly as he struggled to sit up, “You got my glaive there?”
     “I should,” Irvine replied as he walked across the room, “though I don’t have any of your power items.”
     “Why did you say he might not get the time to rest?” Kirinis asked. Irvine looked her over, arching an eyebrow at her.
     “And you are?”
     “Major Kirinis MaCall, your newest allay in the fight against evil,” Seifer said, “Kirinis, this is Irvine Kinneas.”
     “And we can save the introductions for later,” Irvine said, “not to be rude or anything. That Brandon guy managed to unlock the power within Alex’s star crystal and the other talismans, gained armor, and massive electrical power.”
     “Crud,” Alex said as he sat up, “he unlocked one of the crests I gained in my time in the arena.”
     “Which means?” Seifer asked as he pulled his coat on, finding his gunblade had been replaced inside.
     “Which means he can access any and all attacks associated with that armor, and with lightning power like that than anything that gets in his way gets cooked to a crisp.”
     “You get all of that Balamb?” Irvine asked, touching his earring.
     “We got all that cowboy,” Tenal’s voice said over the radio, “we’re tracking his location and he’s still inside the compound.”
     “Then we still have time to go and defeat him before he moves on to Balamb,” Alex said as he stood, his transformation reversing. He took his jacket and slung it on, reaching into an inside pocket to draw forth a silvery crystal, “Good, they didn’t find my hidden cache.”
     “So now what?” Kirinis asked, shifting her weight from foot to foot as the entire compound shook.
     “Now is the time to armor up,” Alex replied as he took a couple of pens from one of his other pockets and tossed them to Seifer and Irvine. The transformations were almost instantaneous and similar in nature to those they experienced in the dreamscape of limbo. Irvine’s was somewhat extended, since his severed hand was magically regrown, as good as new. As the other two gained their armor Alex quickly transformed into his warrior form, the chaos transformation instantly following the completion of the first.
     “Now  we’re ready to go and fight,” Alex said once they finished changing into appropriate battle gear, his glaive forming in his hand.
     “Onward to battle,” Irvine said, drawing his shotgun from his cloak, “the others may need our help.

     On a higher level of the compound the other SeeDs were struggling with problems of their own, such as high velocity ammo and increasingly powerful spells from one group of enemies to another. Fujin and Anassa stood near the front of the group, casting defensive spells and providing cover for their friends. Squall and Quistis were on the offensive, their limit skills unlocking time and again from Aura spells cast by Karna and Rajin. The deeper they went into the base, the stronger their enemies became until at last they came head to head with a mechanical dragon.
     “Awww.... hell,” Rajin said when he saw their new enemy, “Fujin, can you do that summoning trick again?”
     “Esper’s been used for a while,” Karna said, replying before Fujin could answer, “Ithica will need time to recharge before she can be called again.”
     “And nobody else knows how to summon anything, right?”
     “Not that I’m aware of,” Anassa said, “and unless we think of something soon we’re going to get fried.”
     “Too late,” Fujin said, pointing toward the dragon, “look.”
     The SeeDs turned their gazes toward their opponent, which was in the process of spreading a set of large and quite colorful wings, the membranes glowing. The dragon craned its neck skyward, releasing a blood curdling cry as an energy globe formed in its mouth. It glared at the people standing in its path, belching an energy beam at them a moment later.
     “Oh man, we’re barbecue,” Karna said as he struggled to set up a barrier.
     “No we’re not,” Anassa said, running some quick calculations, “Fujin, I need you to reverse the direction of your barrier.”
     “Will this work?” Fujin asked as she did as instructed, the energy half bubble before them reversing direction so that it had the appearance of a bowl or a dish.
     “Wait for it...” Anassa said, her muscles tensing, “Karna, add your barrier to hers. Rajin, prepare a healing spell since this could burn these two out with the backwash.”
     “You never said it would be this dangerous,” Karna said as he added his barrier to Fujin’s, making the dish shape twice as large.
     “You knew the job was dangerous when you took it,” Squall said as he and Quistis leapt behind the barrier.
     The dragon’s beam struck the lowest point of the barrier dish, reflecting around to strike the dragon with enough force to instantly shear its wings off and blind it.
     “Now’s the time to strike,” Quistis said as the younger SeeDs leapt from behind the barrier to attack.
     “Blaze Arrow!”
     “Tornado Strike!”
     “Magna Quake!”
     “Rising Nova!”
     The four attacks struck the dragon, erasing it from the plane of existence instantly. As the four were celebrating their victory a bolt of lightning struck near them, and from it stepped Commander Brandon, clad in his new armor.
     “Well, well, well,” he said, looking at the intruders, “looks like I have some new playmates to test the power of this armor upon.”
     “Blizzard!” Karna shouted as snowflakes began to fall around him, his katana blade glowing ice blue. He lunged at Brandon, swinging as a kanji symbol of ice blue formed in the air a split second before ice spikes erupted around his target.
     “Was that supposed to hurt?” Brandon asked, electricity from his armor destroying the ice around him. Karna felt a shiver run down his spine as Brandon glared at him. “Let me demonstrate something that hurts. Thunder Strike!”
     The spikes on his shoulders and arms glowed as electrical energy was channeled through his arms into his hands, where a pair of globes formed. He smashed these together, sending a massive bolt of electricity screaming at Karna, who was struck by the bolt and sent across the room and into a wall, his hair frizzed beyond belief.
     “Karna!” Anassa cried, running to his side, “Karna, speak to me.”
     When she didn’t get a response she turned toward Brandon, flames in her eyes. She drew her bow and notched a pair of golden arrows, which burst into flames as she drew back the bowstring. “Fire Whirl!”
     The two arrows sailed through the air and struck the ground on either side of Brandon, the flames dispersing to form a circle of fire around him. The circle quickly exploded into a power tornado of fire and heat, which blackened the ground and walls and filled the air with smoke. A moment later the tornado died away, leaving a massive amount of chaos in its wake.
     “Did I get him?” Anassa asked as she folded her bow and clipped it to her back.
     “Not bleeding likely,” Brandon said as he sailed from the smoke, the elbow blades on his armor glowing as he executed a lightning fast barrage of punches and kicks, sending Anassa into a wall, where he executed most of his attack. The right blade glowed moments before he whirled around and implanted it in the wall above her head, blood trickling down from a small cut in her scalp. A moment later the energy within the blade was released, electrocuting her.
     “You people are pathetic,” Brandon said as he surveyed the other four, “I doubt you’ll be worth my time.”
     A small fireball descended in the midst of the area, touching down on the floor before exploding. In the shadows and flickering fire stood four figures, three men, one woman, all clad to some degree in armor.  One held up what looked like a gun, the barrel glowing blue moments before a beam of highly charged energy tore through the air, the smell of burning ozone very apparent as it struck a wall near Brandon and burned into it.
     “From the silent star, Saturn, a warrior to protect the light,” was spoken by a figure holding a large glaive.
     “Granted holy power by the symbol of the fire cross, a warrior from Balamb also sent to protect the light,” was spoken by a figure holding a large sword.
     “It... it can’t be,” Brandon said in awe, “shouldn’t you all be dead?”
     “Summoned by the tides of change, a daring angel who runs freely,” came from the lone female in the group.
     “Enfused with the flame of righteousness that burns in the heart of all,” was spoken by the final figure of the group.
     “Prepare to feel the wrath of those who you wished to destroy,” the glaive wielding person said as the flames increased in intensity, revealing who they were.
     “You,” Brandon said in shock when he saw who his assailants were, “how could you?! One of my own people a traitor.”
     “One that is too strong to be destroyed by normal means,” Kirinis said, “and you’re heading for a fall.”
     “My dear Kirinis, it is you and your friends who will be taking that fall,” Brandon said as he touched a nearby wall, which glowed like circuity from his touch. A moment later he was gone and the base was rumbling as if an earthquake was occurring.
     “Shit, where did that turdsack go?!” Alex exclaimed as he looked around.
     “Balamb calling Windhammer, do you guys copy?!” Selphie’s voice said over the communicator.
     “Windhammer here,” Squall said, touching his own earring, “what’s the emergency?”
     “The base where you guys are just launched five... ten... twenty... oh mother of the first sorceress, we have multiple incoming missiles. ETA is less than five minutes.”
     ‘Tidis is on one of those missiles,’ Alexander said in Alex’s and Kirinis’ minds, ‘We need to hurry.’
     “What about Brandon?” Kirinis asked, fishing the necklace out of her uniform.
     “We’ll worry about him later,” Alex said, “I need that red gem back pronto, if you don’t mind.”
     Kirinis unclipped the necklace and handed it to Alex, who held the red materia aloft and shouted the incantation for summoning.

<music: ‘Ai No Senshi - Soldiers of Love’ from SailorMoon S>
     “Dragon of Darkness who sleeps in the inferno! Come forth and burn my enemy to ashes! RIDLEY!”
     A circle of fire formed above them, and from that came Ridley, who descended to the floor in preparation of taking on passengers. Alex bounded up Ridley’s outstretched arm, taking a comfortable seat on the upper back.
     “That’s Ridley?!” Kirinis said in shock.
     ‘What? You expected something small, cute, and furry?’ Ridley said in her mind.
     “Not exactly, but I wasn’t expecting a relative of Bahamut’s people,” Kirinis replied as she hopped onto Ridley’s arm and climbed onto his back behind Alex.
     “Ridley, let’s GO!” Alex cried as Ridley leapt into the air, vanishing into the circle of flames in one of his leaps between. Those still inside the compound arched eyebrows at this latest turn of events. Several shots sailed over their heads, and they turned tired eyes toward their adversaries. In unison they exclaimed, “Will you just give it a rest?!”

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