Safe Haven? [FINISHED]

[Yazoo]

Yazoo was right behind Loz, the black leather of his gloves creaking painfully as he gripped his motorcycle. Down off the edge he, he whipped the tail of the bike to the side and stop for a moment. He needed a second to think, to calm down. He couldn't let this anger sit and fester, that someone would dare try and interfere with the reunion. Kicking forward after Loz had cleared the stairs, he launched up one of the railings, popping off the top, and landing back behind Loz once more.

Maybe the light wasn't a threat. It could just be something unnatural. If that were the case, he'd have nothing to worry about, and nothing to get angry about. And it wasn't like emotion would stop it if the light actually were a threat. No, no. Focus. That's what he'd need. You could kill a man with anger, but with focus you could do so much more. You could destroy a man with focus. He almost relished the possibility that someone was trying to make an enemy. He could almost taste the delight in reducing someone to nothing. He almost wanted them to be a threat. Almost.

It was with this cold determination that he relaxed, felt at ease. The reunion would happen, and nothing, no act of heaven or hell, would stop it. He smirked his nonchalant, invincible smirk. Though, in all honesty, he was still uneasy. They were so close.

[Shinn]

[Well well well more people now huh? Too bad its the same folk just different profiles. To answer your question its three areas they have to pass. So I reckon if they aren't starting in the borough as Leon and Cid are, the three brothers will have to start and pass the Ravine Trail and Castle Gate, The Restoration Site and Postern, and lastly the Corridors. You have to start them at the beginning of the Ravine Trail instead of the Castle Gate. The others have the Borough, the Bailey and Restoration Site, and the Postern and Corridors. With three new people now this raises your chances to 0.4%. Still think you guys are going to succeed? I'll let you have that kill Bilbo just because I like giving you a false sense of hope.]

With the masked creature sliced in half before it could use it's attack, Leon was now able to high jump his way to the roof top of the Bailey. As for the other one that was behind him, it discontinued its pursue for the scarred warrior and watched him get away. It turned the other direction and stared towards the town. Immediately a white portal appeared around the freaky looking creature and it vanished in the blinding light. It had more important matters to attend to now than stop Leon. Its brethren were calling to the unmasked being like a Siren to a lost sailor.

Meanwhile Cid was attempting to just pass right through the creatures in hopes that he would reach Merlin's House. He easily dodged the rather simple attacks and countered with quick strikes using his spear. The damage though would not be enough, or rather it wouldn't be anything. As Cid would soon notice his spear did nothing but go through them like a pin though silly putty. They were not harmed by his attacks at all. As Cid was nearing the third unmasked creature it opened up its mouth wide open before letting out a loud shrieking sound wave. The force from the wave spread throughout the entire area that was in front of the creature. It had a wide range that was enough to push back the Gummi mechanic quite a distance even if he was to attempt any type of maneuvering to avoid the sound wave. The mere sound itself would already immobilize Cid for a few seconds due to him being very close to the creature already. With him now immobilized and knocked back, the three creatures stood before Cid assuring him that he would never get past them.


Three new people who had been off in another part of Hollow Bastion were now racing towards the area where they had seen the beam of light. As the three brothers drove their motorcycles up the narrow Ravine Trail they would soon have to come to a complete stop as their pathway was blocked by a large thick beam of yellow light that shot out from the cloudy sky. If they were to touch it in any way they would be instantly fried right on the spot and if they tried anything tricky and maneuver around it the beam would either quickly move to block them or another beam would shoot down their direction killing them. Whichever came first. Three white portals appeared in between the brothers and the beam. Once the portals vanished they left behind three masked creatures. The creatures didn't do anything but stand there and stare blankly at the brothers. It was apparent what they were there for and if the three silver haired bikers had any chance of continuing, they would have to destroy the masked creatures first.

Four white portals appeared inside the various shops and homes that were keeping the remaining unconscious people safe. Each one appearing right in front of the bed or couch where they were resting. As the white portals vanished they left behind three masked creatures and one moderately burned unmasked creature. Paying no attention to Tifa or anyone else that might have been in each of the different rooms they walked over to each of their "victims" and began picking them up one by one. A large white portal appeared behind them which would serve as the exit for the victims to be taken to. Tifa would not be able to save them all. She would be lucky to be able to save even one. But would she really be doing any good for them if she stopped these unknown beings whose purpose for taking these specific individuals was still unknown? What if preventing them from being taken was in fact causing them harm? The same could even be said of what Leon and the others were doing as well. Who was truly doing the right thing? In the eyes of each individual, they believed to be the doing a righteous thing. But it was not up to them, and they would soon come to realize they had no say in the matter.

[Squall Leonhart]

[ Hey now. Yazoo is a new person. XD I'll cut out the OOC chatter now. ]

It seemed Leon had been allowed to proceed without a tail. That didn't bode well for what lay ahead of him, did it? Undeterred the gunblade master rushed off up the narrow path that lead to the castle Postern. It wasn't that long of a path... normally. Even with Heartless attacking every few meters it was still a quick sprint for him even when he wasn't in a rush. Right now the occasional Neoshadow that popped up barely got a chance to see the world before a sword of light sent it right back through the Door to Darkness.

Today it felt like a hundred miles.

As he ran after the trail of the brothers a thick beam of yellow light scorched down from the sky and crashed into the ravine far behind Leon's route. He didn't need to touch it to tell that it wasn't friendly fire, he was just glad that a quick glance revealed it was not in his way. Just what did it all mean though? First the beams of white light shooting down to deposit and pick up the strangely-dressed woman and now this... weapon? Was there some sort of massive Gummi Ship hovering in the Sea of Stars above the Radiant Garden? And if they could shoot this down like that then who was to say they couldn't shoot more?

Four orbs of fire appeared around Leon and followed his movements perfectly. the giant spell-casting Nobody above him aimed to blow him up and take his heart it seemed. They went off just fine... and Leon ran on just fine. Slow due to its size the creature had no choice but to simply vanish into darkness after a few seconds to trailing the much faster swordsman. Leon was begrudgingly grateful. The Heartless' futile attempt had given him the chance to absorb some energy for his fire magic.

Despite himself... Leon found he was wishing Sora were here fighting beside him. For all of Squall Leonhart's efforts to restore and protect his home, the Key Bearer of the Realm of Light was the Radiant Garden's real "hero". That was something the scarred swordsman could never forget. He had time to find the thought amusing as he ran, not yet interrupted by his opposition(The Strangers he would think of them for now... until he was "worthy" of a name for them as the woman had implied or he gleaned one from another). He could almost hear Sora's voice and enthusiasm at the matter. "All right, let's beat these guys and move on!" or something to that effect no doubt, completely sure that any barricade in his path would somehow recede either directly or indirectly from victory in each small battle. Leon found it grimly amusing that the kid would probably find a way to make just that happen anyway.

As for what Leon could make happen, right now he wanted to make setting foot on the Postern happen. It wasn't that far off now. The only thing he didn't like was... if they had stopped hounding him then who were they after now?

[Kadaj]

[OK brothers so I checked with Shinn and we're starting on the cliff side trail. The one Sora fought with Leon and then Yuffie and then Tifa and then Cloud on before the 1000 Heartless battle]

Kadaj's vehicle did indeed come to a halt when the beam shot down before him, pointed slightly off to the left rather than facing the newly-appearing beam of yellow directly. Normally the young boy would have simply kept going without hesitation and cut his way through using swordsmanship skill that a thousand times his apparent years wouldn't have been enough for most to master, but today something forestalled that action. An instinct of that very skill warning him of a greater danger perhaps? (Or maybe just his player's guess that Shinn wouldn't let the parry ability count in this situation) Whatever it was he had stopped and therefore so too would his brothers.

Three oddly-dressed people appeared before them moments later, standing as solid to their posts as those British guards with the tall hats. They made no hostile actions... but blocking his road was already hostile enough for Kadaj when Mother was involved. He didn't care who they were or what they were doing or what it meant for this world. He only cared about the one little piece of it that Mother's voice told him was just beyond his reach. A necessary part of her return.

"It seems we've been caught up in the local disputes brothers," the leader of the three said with cold calmness in his voice while this expression remained similar. Beneath those green eyes though danced the absolute desperation of an infant separated from their parent. "Shall we wait for them to finish?"

Of course they shouldn't, as Loz and Yazoo would doubtlessly agree. After a few moments Kadaj's right arm began to glow a light blue colour as he raised it up in front of his left breast. It seemed to surge with the same energy that yearned to obey the voice which guided him. If these... these imbeciles accidentally hurt Mother's return with their unimportant actions then what would become of he and his family!? She must be found! Must be restored!

"Clear the path."

Kadaj's right arm would swing an arc in front of him as he cast Matra Magic at the trio. The five shots it produced did not fly in any given path but seemed to spread and weave at random before all crashing down in the general area of the three, producing blasts to fill and attack the entire landing zone. Souba was already in Kadaj's left hand before the energy blasts had even traveled half way but the youngest sibling remained seated where he was on the motorcycle for now unless needed to aid his brothers.

For Mother...

[Yazoo]

Yazoo slowed and came to a stop with the rising cliff closest to him, Kadaj in front, and Loz on the other side near the dropoff. His unfeeling gaze alighted upon the yellow beam, and then the three creatures. "Hmph." His disapproving grunt proving his disdain for the interference of these creatures. With an unbefitting laziness he blinked and sighed, looking over to his younger brother. "Brother, do you really-" Then in a sudden, implacable burst of incredible speed he was perched atop his motorcycle, crouching. The middle brother kicked away from his motorcycle, the tails of his coat flaring gracefully. "Need to ask?"[/i]

He landed on his eldest brother's arm just as Kadaj ordered them to clear the path, and the strongest of the group would undoubtedly launch him high into the air, creating a perfect arc. Almost straight up with just barely a hint of forward tilt, so that he wasn't sent hurdling into the giant beam. He reached the peak of his arc just before the orbs of matra magic collided with their targets, and rotated his body so that his head and arms pointed downward, toes pointed skyward. Then all of a sudden Yazoo's world slowed down.

The entirety of his eye seemed to turn black, and color faded from his vision, turning everything into a world of high contrast. Soon all movement slowed to a crawl, as Yazoo began processing information at levels of mental speed that could only be matched by his own legendary physical speed. His body began to spin, and his mind picked out even the most minute movements as if they were of the utmost importance. He targeted the three cloaked figures, and his own physical speed came into the deadly game.

A hail of bullets rained down from the black blur, far more bullets than any regular weapon and any regular marksman could fire per second. The speed of his mind watched each movement of the cloaked ones, project their disappearances to their reappearances, and even still had time to differentiate their movements from the movements of his brothers. Then, utilizing the full potential of his unimaginable speed fired off shots not only quickly, but with incredible accuracy. Whenever needed Yazoo reloaded with blinding speed, leaving less than seconds of relief for the creatures.

To Yazoo it was if he was gently lowered through the air, shooting at regular speed while everything around him was moving as if weighted down. Even so, he knew that no matter how fast his reaction time, he was still in midair and vulnerable to attack; even this did not give him an ounce of nervousness, for he knew Kadaj would upset any would-be attacker. A lazy smirk clung to his lips.

For Mother...

[/size]

[Loz]

Pulling his motorcycle to a stop, Loz glared vehemently at the large beam in front of him. An obstruction…his grip tightened on his motorcycle. Beyond them, their goal awaited them. Behind them, three creatures appeared out of white portals, standing still and silent. They merely seemed to be intent on blocking the three brothers from advancing or falling back. For a second, Loz looked as if he was going to cry tears of frustration, his lips thin and pale. But then looking over at his other two brothers, the burly man snarled at Kadaj’s words, a clear arrogant grin on his face.

Play time.

In perfect timing with his brother, Loz crossed his wrists, creating a foot stand for Yazoo before launching the long haired man up and over the scene with a grunt. At the same time, he stepped off of his motorcycle, still grinning malevolently. Approaching the blast zone, which was now raining with bullets, Loz raised his fist, where his Dual Hound sat ready, slamming it into the ground in front of him with enough force to knock over a building. Angled just right, the ground did not explode, but instead, rumbled and rolled towards the three creatures like a giant wave, knocking over anything standing with ease. Raising his fist again, he was ready to pummel any of the masked creatures that had managed to avoid Yazoo’s bullets or recover from the tidal wave of earth. Not that they would be able to. Loz’s brother was moving with such speed and accuracy that it seems the bullets were curving around the elder brother, easily missing him, and the wave was about Loz’s height, encompassing the entire trail. The road lay ruined before him, not a single inch of earth had managed to avert the tremble.

Even if they had miraculously avoided both attack, or survived, Loz would pick them off one by one.

For Mother…

[High's .Valentine.]

It was strange how before, when Cid had thrust his spear into the stomach of one of the creatures, it had shrieked and dissolved like any cliché monster. Now, no matter how much he stabbed, it was like stabbing mud. Schlop. But before he could wonder any further—monster upgrades? Cousins with stronger powers?—the third one opened up its mouth. Guessing what was coming, the man slammed his spear into the ground, just a few foot away from the masked one as it shrieked right into his face. Before, he was quite a distance away from the thing, and was knocked back several feet by the attack. Now, his proximity could only mean one thing. Even his spear could not save him.

The blast hit him hard, and the man felt his grip slip from the handle of his spear. He was flung from his supposedly secure position, his goggles flying right off of his blond head. Cid tumbled back several feet before hitting one of the surrounding houses which thankfully stopped him from toppling even further from the place. Venus Gospel, miraculously pulled with him when he was thrown back, slipped from his hand as he groaned. The Pilot was numb, finding it impossible to move, his ears ringing and his head spinning from the shriek. Perhaps his ear drums had shattered from the attack, for it sure felt like it since the only thing he could hear was the painful buzzing, which further upset his equilibrium.

He remained still, his face down against the cool cobble while he tried to pull his mind together. Soon, the buzzing subsided, and though he still felt sick to the stomach, the man began to wonder why he was still breathing. He had been out of it for several rather long seconds. Why was he not dead? A weak glance to the side with his blue eyes, the pilot caught the three figure, wavering in his vision but nonetheless standing eerily still. Not attacking him, but - a surge of anger rose in his chest like bile - blocking him. It was as if they were taunting him. He wasn’t even worth killing.

Gritting his teeth, the man forced himself up, grabbing blindly for his spear. After several missed grabs, Cid finally located his spear, his eyes never averting from his target. What the f**k did they think they were doing? Did they really expect the pilot to be down after just that? The idiots would have to do far better than screaming like banshees to stop him. Standing around like witless pigs was not going to do them any good either. Not when they’re up against Cid Highwind.

Looking around, Cid spotted his goggles lying near his feet. One of the eyes had shattered from the impact of the blast wave while the other had cracked.

“She gave them to me,” he said bitterly, as if speaking to the creatures. Cid picked the goggle up and placed them back on his head where they belonged. Leaning on his spear, Cid pulled himself back up into a standing position. Though he stumbled slightly, the pilot swallowed his nausea and pointed his spear at them. If nothing else, then for her sake, he would not let the Garden fall.

“So get the hell out of my way!” If worse comes to worse, Cid has several tricks under his belt. But they were things he would rather not use.

[Heroic Bilby]

[Henry Enter]

Though he appeared in the same place as last time the Black Knight didn't see anyone around. Not wanting to just leave the girl lying on the street he started jogging into town. He didn't want to leave the monster to the other two alone for long, so he wouldn't have time to check up on his previous deliveries. Unfortunately, when he go to the area of town up ahead, a heavy sense of commotion was there to greet him.

There was a yell from a nearby shop. Henry's helmet turned and though a large glass window in the front he saw a masked man picking up a woman off a couch inside... it was a woman from the island! And the people he heard talking didn't exactly make it seem like this guy was a doctor. Panic overtaking him Henry rushed as fast he could to the door of the shop to find out what was going on.

But as has been said before, the Black Knight was not fast on his feet.

Henry arrived inside the shop no sooner than to watch the white portal inside close, the stranger and captive gone with it. Some people were talking around him, asking who he was and who the person in his arms was, but Henry couldn't answer. Not just because he didn't talk while in the suit, but out of shock. He vaguely registered voices that seemed to indicate more of the same was happening in a couple of other locations. As Henry's heart sank the Black knight armour dropped heavily to its knees.

'Why can't I... protect anyone?' he thought with self-pity. 'I... I don't care if I'm safe in here! Its not enough anymore! I want the power to protect people!'

Inside his void the child suddenly gripped at his chest. Something... something was pounding inside of him. It wasn't just the beating of his heart. No... this was something else. Something that felt... strong. Little did he know that the armour he saw as his protector did more than feed off of his darkness for its power source; It also cultivated the growth of it within him. Those outside the suit would see armour seemed to give off a faint green and blue aura for a few seconds. It wasn't darkness, for those who could sense such a thing. Rather it was... magic.

After that, and without a word from whoever was inside of it, the Black Knight vanished again, this time taking the unconscious person with him instead of leaving them behind.

[Henry Exit]

[Shinn]

The three masked creatures all looked at the three brothers not reacting to what they were saying. As Kadaj fired his magic at them they continued to stay motionless as they impacted on the ground. They would not suffer any damage from this and would continue to stand their ground. It wasn't even seconds after this that the other brother went in to attack the three masked beings using his gun and quick drawing skills to quickly take out the enemy in front of them.

His skill and his speed were indeed something that no normal human would be able to best, but compared to these things it was something that was at their level to say the least. As the bullets came at them with much accuracy and speed, the silver haired brother would soon see the masked creatures move around like elastic dancers dodging every single bullet.

But they would not be able to prevent the upcoming attack from the short haired brother as a wave of dirt and purple ground came rumbling at them. As the wave of warped earth came at them, it knocked each of the three creatures into the air. But they were quite alright and used this attack to their advantage. Each of the three masked beings were flung into the direction of the three brothers. One was headed for Kadaj, one was headed towards Yazoo, the third straight for Loz.


Leon would make it past the Restoration area with very little interference with the exceptional Heartless attack. But just as he was about to clear the area and end up in the Postern another beam of light similar to the one behind him shot down from the sky and blocked his path. He wouldn't be surprised by this, they wouldn't have let him go this far that easily. Three masked creatures appeared behind Leon each coming out of their own individual white portal. They were sent there to keep him from getting any further.

Cid had his hands full already with the three unmasked beings still alive and kicking. He seemed very pissed to say the least but his anger was not out of being hit by that attack. No it went deeper than that one that the three masked beings seemed to understand very well. They looked at the pilot who was screaming at them not really doing anything but just standing there.

[Nine turns left]

[Squall Leonhart]

Leon didn't exactly stop running when the beam crashed down in front of himself. Instead he pointed his Blade of the Heart out in front of himself and lets it pure energy part stab into the ray. He wanted to see if it could be used to deflect the worst of it. If so he could theoretically use it as an umbrella and dive through, letting his Guardian Force hold off any deadly beams that got through for just the second he would need to make it to the other side. Not likely unscathed, most likely rather burnt up even in the best case scenario, but perhaps ready to go on through force of will.

But if the weaponized light from his heart didn't help to block the beam from flowing directly below its energy then Leon would have no choice but to finally come to a halt for the first time since leaving the alley. Turning he would face the entry of three new opponents. Such an experienced warrior would understand that just because he might, in theory, be able to fight and defeat these opponents before it was too late to stop whatever they were doing, that didn't mean that those trying to stop him would have any reason to lift their energy blockade.

But in that situation he would think, why send these guys at all? Hadn't the woman before acted as if they were more than just mindless pawns like Heartless? As if they were worth something to her? Why not just block his path and leave it at that without endangering them, then? Were her words before just an act, or was there more to it than that?

Whatever the reason, this world was worth a lot to Leon too. It was the nature of conflict instigated by the heart for both sides to risk what they held dear to themselves. If these people wanted to talk they could have before, but the scantily-clad female had shown no interest in any of his attempts, which meant words were already useless. So, if he could not see any hope to manage to get through the beam and take some injury to do it but was instead forced to stand and fight, then he would have one thought before performing a swing wide enough to hit all three of the masked men if they stayed where they were.

'The kid's not here. May as well try things his way.'

[Kadaj]

Immune to magic? That was certainly an annoying trait, though Kadaj didn't exactly rely on his magic so it made little difference to him. If these things were going to harm his precious mother's healing process, intentionally or not, then this loyal child would dispose of them in whatever way possible. Nothing was more important than her well-being.

One of the things came flying at him. Head first? Arms outreaching? Stomp lead? Belly flop? Whatever method the reaction was all the same. Souba began to move in Kadaj's left hand, slashing and twisting and arcing around in ways that should have given the boy a cramp to say the least, if they were even possible. Whatever part of the creature did reach him first Kadaj's now saw-like spinning motions with his weapon, switching between hands seamlessly in necessary, would start to dice up whatever got too close. Once the main head or torso was close enough a single stroke down it would be enough for Kadja's slashing force to carry through its entire length or width and split the thing clean in half, flying pat him on either side if his attack landed. Of course his blade was also ready to parry anything the enemy might have in store for him during its approach as well.

Why did the world always try to hurt their mother so? It was enough to make a child want to cry... or to lash out violently. Both of those, however, were more Loz's specialty. Kadaj would simply continue to feed the desperation for love in his heart.

[Loz]

“Heh.”

If not for desperation, Loz would have treated this as a playground. Friends to play with, bully around. However, the beam of light blocking their path was ever persistent, and Mother was in trouble. There was no doubt about it. Her Loz would have been the first to break into tears, however, he knew this wasn’t the time to be sniveling and crying. Nevertheless, the withheld tears burned at his chest, converting into anger. What else could he do if he cannot cry? Well, Loz can throw a tantrum

It was a strange sight, seeing a grown man throw a tantrum. It was like a child’s violent temper except double, tripled, and ridiculously blown out of proportion in Loz’s case. His green eyes caught onto the masked creature flying towards his direction, and regardless of which part of its body was pointed towards him first, Loz grabbed the thing and pivoted, effectively slamming the creature into the ground behind him with a sickening crunch. All at once, he drew back his left arm, his right arm still gripping whatever part of the monster he had grabbed in order to restrain escape. With the double impact of both his surreal strength and the biting steel of Dual Hound, Loz slammed his fist into the thing’s face, anger and aggravation fueling his power. If he had hit, the crushing force would have broken mask and bone and probably smash a hole clear through the thing’s face.

Retracting his fist, Loz punched again with the same unbelievable force just in case he didn’t do it in the first time or it had managed to block his attack.

True to his bond with Mother, he would never allow anything to hurt her or hinder him from her.

[High's .Valentine.]

[Sorry for the wait. No muse. :\]

Again with the dashing. As soon as the ground under his boots seemed stable, Cid charged, wobbling slightly with the first few steps but quickly regaining his footing. It was just as expected, charge, blasted away, and charge again. Or was it? Either way, Cid was going to make it to Merlin’s house.

The muscles on Cid’s calves bulged as suddenly, the man crouched. Before the masked creatures could spring at him, or shriek their banshee cry again, Highwind was gone. Letting hyper jump carry him up at a ridiculous speed, Cid clutched onto Venus Gospel with one hand and adjusted his goggles with the other. It would have been near impossible for any masked creature to try and take him down at the speed he was moving ascending. Not to mention the sheer height of the jump, at its peak, was almost breaking through the clouds of the atmosphere.

If Leon’s presumptions had been right about something overhead shooting death lasers down on Radiant Garden, Cid would have gotten a glimpse of it, looming over his home world like a heavy death threat. Of course, that is if there is anything up there for the pilot to see. Or maybe it was even higher, out of reach and hidden in the darkness of space.

Nevertheless, if Cid had been uninterrupted in his jump, gravity would have begun to drag him back to earth at this phase. The wind whistled wildly, whipping his hair and roaring in his ear. After what seems like an eternity—thought it might have been less than a second—the Venus Gospel, with its blade pointed earthwards, flashed brilliantly as a light purple shield burst forth from the spear and enclosed Cid in a protective circle. The speed Cid was falling had activated the graviga gummi modified into Cid’s spear, creating a force field that would block any attack aimed at him while descending.

As the clouds clear, Cid spotted his target. As usual, he was right on the spot. It was not the three creatures he was targeting, but instead, Merlin’s roof.

The pilot slammed through the magician’s roof, tearing a gaping hole in the shingle and timber and landed conveniently right next to the door. When the dust cleared, Cid stumbled out of the medium sized crater he had created during landing, coughing from the blanket of dust. The structure stood strong and still despite losing its roof and door, which had been blown clear off by the gravity effect of the jump. The inside of the house was in desolation, furniture, Merlin’s favorite teapots, and magical doodads were shattered and destroyed. Debris clung to the ground, and would remain there for another while thanks to the powerful graviga gummi block in Cid’s spear. There was going to be hell to pay when Merlin catch sight of this little mess he made.

Snarling, Cid dashed towards the computer, which though dusty with a newly cracked screen, was working just fine. Jabbing at the keyboard, Highwind glanced frantically behind him at the cloud of dust and the opened doorway. No doubt they would be here any minute. If Cid had been lucky, maybe the gravity of Hyper Jump had managed to catch them too if they were standing within eight feet of his landing point. They would remain pinned there for one whole post, giving Cid enough time to find out what was going on in Ansem’s lab and maybe even hightail it out of here. If they had been caught.

The computer sputtered to life, slower than ever due to the shock of Cid’s landing. Cursing, Cid punched the machine out of instinct, as if it would give it a speed boost.

Again, he sneaked a peek past his shoulder...

[Iris|Kairi]

Tifa would not be able to save them all.

The young woman’s skin prickled as a sudden change in the atmosphere was picked up by her senses. However, upon turning around, she realized that the ominous presence was in more than one spot. Not good. Frowning, Tifa scanned over the buildings, trying to quickly rationalize the best solution. Running over to the building directly in front of her, Tifa kicked open the door without a second of hesitation. Stepping through the opened doorway, the martial artist just happened to enter the scene of a strange masked creature picking up an unconscious innocent. There was only one person in sight though, and Tifa had been told that there were more than two unconscious members placed here. Where were the others?

Whether the victim was a citizen or not, Tifa knew in her heart what her duty was. Gripping her fist, Tifa dashed towards the masked creature, not knowing that in the buildings surrounding her, others were about to be taken through the white portals. She twirled and threw a powerful roundhouse at the masked creature’s head. If it connected, the force behind her boot would have snapped the creature’s neck. If she had known what was happening in the other buildings, she would have been distraught. Nevertheless, very little could deter the woman from the one single goal in her mind— to save these people.

She would risk her life, though she knew none of them.

Tifa had a fierce determination. She wasn't one to just give up when face with the impossible. If it was a battle of resolve and will, a battle of the heart, then Tifa would once again channel all her available energy into this battle in hopes of emerging victorious, as she had before. It would just be similar to the time when she was searching for Cloud, trying to bring him back to where he belonged—beside his friends. The brunet knew she could not right all the wrongs in the world, it would be foolish to do so, not to mention, the woman was not capable of such extreme righteousness. But Tifa knew that whatever she can do, she will do it. Even if her heart and its resolve was just a tiny piece in this mass puzzle, she was not going to let go so easily. Just as she had traveled from world to world to search of her blond friend, she would pursue and take down these creatures. Tifa Lockhart would not allow these masked creatures to take them from this world. Not when she still has this light in her heart.

Behind them, the white portal the creature had stepped from seemed to pulsate, as if synchronizing with the overwhelming light inside Tifa’s heart. Did she imagine it? The woman glanced at it, and immediately, her mind was made up. If the creature dare step into the portal, she would be right after it, jumping through with it. There will be no stopping Tifa.

[Shinn]

Leon would swing and miss as all three of the masked creatures vanished right before him. They would then appear in different locations at a distance far away from his gunblades reach. An interesting tactic this time since the other times they had been on the offensive. They didn't do anything after they reappeared in their respectable spots they just stood there not moving an inch. Was it at all possible that they were planning an attack and needed to make some room? Hopefully the scarred warrior would figure out what these three were up to.

Near where the other beam was at the other three masked creatures were closing in on Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz. Kadaj had quickly prepared himself for the first one and Loz as well. They would be caught off guard though as all three masked creatures vanished before they reached the brothers. The three brothers who were unaware of the tricks these things were able to pull off would not know where they had vanished nor would they know where each would reappear. Yazoo would be the first to catch a glimpse of their reappearance as one of the masked creatures reappeared towards his back left side extending its legs frontwards connecting to the back of his head. Loz would not be able to grab his victim, instead the opposite would occur to him as the creature appeared right behind him before he had the chance to look back or anything it grabbed his short gray hair and the collar of his jacket tossing him backwards showing much strength for such a skinny creature. Kadaj would notice a sudden addition of weight placed on his bike. The third masked creature reappeared sitting on the far back of his bike with its mask slightly pulled up just enough to unmask its mouth. With it already wide open it let out a loud shrieking wave of sound straight for the Sephiroth clone.

Cids quick thinking paid off as he crashed into Merlin's house without having to worry about any interference from the masked creatures. They watched from the ground as he jumped high into the sky. He would notice real quickly as he passed the thick clouds which were thicker and just as poisonous than a chain smokers bar, (Luckily this wouldn't have any affect on Cid since he was probably just as bad of a smoker as a steamboat) a humongous black metallic ship that covered the entire sky as far as the eye could see was right above the clouds. He would quickly notice two beams of light had been shot down from different points of the ship. This was where they came from in case anyone was lost. As Cid began typing on the keyboard trying to see what exactly was going on inside Ansems study or any of the other rooms that were there, he would come up with nothing. Screens of nothing but snow would pop on each screen. The cameras that had been there before were gone, they had been previously torn off by unknown creatures not that long ago.

Tifa had arrived not a moment sooner just as one of the masked creatures was about to go into the white portal. Quickly reacting to this Tifa dashed forward performing a roundhouse kick at the masked creatures head. Now Tifa was a skilled martial artist, so it was very likely that she had perfect control of everything that she threw at her opponents should something happen while she was in mid attack. With this in mind the masked creature quickly tilted the unconscious person right in front of it using them as a shield. The kindness in Tifas heart was a great strength indeed but it was a great weakness as well. She would be forced to stop her attack should she want to NOT kill the very person she was trying to protect. Right?

[Eight turns left]