Dissidia Final Fantasy : Chaos Wins

[AnsemTheWise 1,114]

It was a stretch, and he knew it. But the Estheim boy didn't seem to question her. He also had overestimated the boy's memory. He didn't remember who his friends were: a powerful weapon and a crippling wound at the same time. 'I will have to watch my steps more carefully.' Barthandalus thought to himself, walking beside Hope.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Lightning, meanwhile, had found her way to the Crystal World. It was so beautiful, but at the same time disturbing. Everything reminded her of Serah, and her own fate...

 

She shook the thoughts, turning instead to address another presence. A bird sat atop one of the crytals, watching her. Lightning stepped forward, eyeing the creature. Again, familiarity swept over her as it took off. She wasn't sure why, but that bird meant something bad was coming. Suddenly, she remembered something: an airship... five other people with her... and a large creature in the guise of a man. What were these memories? Would she find her answers with these orbs Cosmos had told them about? Determined, she set out once again, hoping to find someone who could help.

[OblivionRider 50]

Hope and the girl arrived at Crystal World. As a crystal materialized next to them, Hope shuddered, but he couldn't remember why.

 

"Isn't everythin so beautiful?" the girl said in amazement.

 

"Yeah, but there's something about them that's unnerving."

 

Another crystal materialized next to the duo. But on it were two Manakins. One was the shape of the Warrior of Light, while the other was a girl wielding a gun, or was it a sword?

 

"Eep, save me Hope!" the girl shrieked.

 

Hope was pushed forward. The Manakins stared at him; their lifeless eyes seemed to question his loyalty. With a cry of "THUNDAGA!" Hope electrocuted both Manakins, shattering them into crystals.

 

"Wow Hope, you've gotten so strong," the girl said.

 

"Well," said Hope, "I'm not all flowers and sunshine." The line for some reason stung in his head. He had heard someone say it. Was it that girl? Then why would she hide behind him. 'Something must be off,' Hope pondered. 'Either my memory is playing tricks on me, or she is. Her name's on the tip of my tongue. Fan... no, Van... Van... Vanilite? No, it's something else...'

 

"Look, Hope, there's Lightning!" said the girl.

 

Hope instinctively turned around and drew his Knife.

 

It's Serah's present for Lighting.

 

Snow's voice rung in his head.

[Axtwyt 500]

Johnny sat down at the edge of the Dream's End. 'Who's Snow? And why did that boy call him a traitor?' he thought to himself. 'I have to get to the bottom of this.'

Johnny got up and began to walk away when he saw the man in purple.

"Lionel?" Johnny summoned his Keyblade. He suddenly became serious, "What are you doing here?"

Lionel summoned his Claymore as well, "What, do you pull out your sword whenever someone from your past comes around?"

Johnny pointed his Keyblade at Lionel, "Only when I know that they're out for blood."

Lionel lowered his sword and walked toward Johnny, "So you think that you can stop Chaos once more?"

Johnny turned as the man walked past, "I killed him and his messenger before. What makes you think I can't do it again?"

Lionel disappeared in a dark cloud, "The fact that your allies fight each other, and the fact that you yourself doubt them."

 

Johnny wandered through Pandemonium, lost in thought. 'I... doubt my friends? Since when did I...'

[AnsemTheWise 1,114]

OOC: Vanilite sounds delicious, but vanilla makes me sick.

 

Lightning turned when she heard the voice. There were two people behind her. One was a boy, a girl standing behind him. She was pointing at Lightning, the boy drawing a knife from his pocket. Lightning scoffed as the feeling of familiarity returned. She knew these people, so why didn't she know their names?! The boy didn't seem in a talking mood, however...

 

She carefully made her way forward, avoiding any offensive behavior. "Hey." This was bad. "Are you with Cosmos?"

 

The boy gave no reply, only lunging forward with his blade. Lightning sidestepped, the knife coming within inches of her. She reached for her gunblade's hilt, removing her hand instantly. She didn't want a fight. Not with him. The boy turned around, anger carved into his face. "Where's Snow?!"

 

The name hit Lightning like an Adamantoise. Snow. That man in the trenchcoat. He was one of the people in her memories. And these two...

 

The boy attacked again, Lightning grabbing his wrist. "What do you want with Snow? What's eating you?" The words dug deep.

 

What's eating you? Okay, I can tell you're hung up on something. Is it the l'Cie thing?

 

Hope stepped back. the voice was... hers?

 

"Hope, watch out!" The girl ('Vanette? Vanat?') shouted. When he looked back up, Lightning had drawn her gunblade, the edge inches from his nose.

 

That was it. Hope, the boy in her memories. From Palompolom. And that knife...

 

"Where'd you get that?" She gestured to the knife with her head, her eyes razor sharp.

[Emo/Yami 37]

OOC: Random character introduction time.

 

Kadaj walked around Castle Pandemonium. He had been well informed about the battle between the deities Cosmos and Chaos and who was on who's side. Kadaj was getting bored very quickly and decided that perhaps it would be best to search more diligently for enemies. "I wonder if Mother is here..." Kadaj whispered to himself.

[Oblivion 22 162]

Back at sanctuary a light formed infront of Cosmos and Tidus came falling through a portal. "What? Where am I?" "Tidus, welcome back." "Huh?" Tidus turned around to find Cosmos. "Cosmos, what is it? I thought the conflict was over" "Not yet, chaos has returned and I have gathered some of you'r allies from you'r last journey such as Zidane and

the warrior of light." "Ok, I guess I had better catch up to them. Can you point me in the right direction?" She pointed her finger towards the exit, Tidus sighed. "Ok, I get it. I have to do this on my own, see ya later Cosmos." Tidus then hurried out of sanctuary and headed out, not knowing where he was going at all.

[OblivionRider 50]

OOC: Vanilite is a new Pokemon! Unless I misspelled it...

 

Hope faltered for a moment. This woman had him at gunpoint swordpoint gunbladepoint was was asking about his Knife? Sensing its importance, he decided to lie.

 

"This piece of junk, it's mine," he replied cooly. In his head thought, 'FAITH.'

 

Lightning shuddered in rage. "Don't call it junk, it's a gift from Serah!"

 

It was a gift from Serah.

 

Snow's voice echoed in Hope's head. With a cry of agony, Hope fell to the ground. Concerned, Lighting dropped her gunblade and bent over to Hope.

 

In a motion that was so fast it could almost be an illusion, the Pulsian (for that was what the girl with a V name was) seized her own weapon, a fishing rod sort of contraption, and tied Lightning up, holding her in the air as if by magic.

 

"Let me go!" Lighting struggled.

 

"Come on Hope, finish her off!" the girl shouted.

 

"No," said Hope. "If she is Snow's fiancee, then I'd ransom her for his death. Thanks for the info."

 

Lightning stopped her futile struggling. "What, Hope, something's wrong! She's not that violent! I'm not Snow's fiancee! She's been crystalized! That's not Vanille!"

 

Hope's head was throbbing. Vanille's name brought back so many memories. Was everything he knew a lie? Hope felt anger and confusion brewing up inside of him.

 

"ARGH!" Hope screamed, and as he did, he accedentally created a magical explosion of light. Both Vanille and Lightning fell over the ledge of Crystal World.

 

Panicing, Hope ran to the end of the stadium. Vanille's rod had somehow tangled in a way that both women were tied up together and dangling from the edge. Should he try to save them both, they would surely fall into the dark and unending fog. Should he cut one loose he'd save her, but the other would fall. Hope grabbed his Knife, his heart racing, and walked back over to the edge.

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

Dr Cid had been discreetly following and observing the other warriors of Chaos for a while now. He had figured a few out. Others, he still had no idea. The boy, Hope, he understood. An angry young man who was being used by others to complete their goals. And that was exactly what Dr. Cid needed.

Dr. Cid had been watching Barthandalus's manipulation of Hope, waiting for an opportunity to gain Hope's trust and remove a possible hindrance in Barthandalus. As Hope moved to help one of the two women dangling from the edge, Dr Cid prepared for action. Completing some last minute business, Dr Cid appeared between Hope and the ledge.

With one hand behind his back, and the other stroking his chin, Dr. Cid tsks.

"My dear boy. You seem to be blind to what your 'friends' are."

Dr Cid points at the two woman.

"One is a close friend of your enemy, Snow. The other is merrily a puppet, pretending to be a friend."

He turns with a smile on his face.

"Is that not right, Barthandalus?"

 

...................................................................................

 

{To Balthier}

Balthier helps Snow retrieve the tear.

"Your lady friend?" Balthier asks softly.

Snow nods.

Balthier turns to give Snow a minute. He feels his phone buzz again.

-Need more to complete work. Am heading out to collect what we need.-

"Damn you." Balthier thinks. "We agreed you's stay put for this."

But it was to late to send a reminder of the agreement.

"Already gone." Balthier says aloud.

[OblivionRider 50]

"Barthandelus!" Hope said.

 

Dr. Cid nodded with a smirk.

 

Hope took another look at the girls. Lightning appeared to be searching for something in her pocket. Vanille seemed to be listening intently, frowning.

 

"I'll kill whoever doesn't tell me about Snow!" Hope shouted.

 

Vanille jumped to answer. "He's with that Balthier creep near the Crystal Tower!" she said in a panicky voice.

 

Lightning stopped her rummaging and looked at Hope seriously.

"Hope, I cannot reveal to you the location of Snow, so you may send me plummeting to my death. But before you do, just know this. You and Snow are great friends. Snow has apologized to you and your father, and you look up to him now. Please, don't kill him. I'd break Serah's heart."

 

Hope froze.

 

"Hope, Operation Nora is over," said Lightning.

 

Hope advanced toward the edge and help the knife up in the air. With a quick stab, he released Lightning from the rope's ensnaring grip, and both he and Dr. Cid caught Lightning's hands.

 

Vanille plummeted into the fog, screaming. The sound pained both Lightning and Hope.

 

"Thank you, Dr." said Hope.

 

"Yeah, thanks," said Lightning coldly. He had just helped save her life, but her sixth sense of danger was acting up. Something wasn't right.

 

"Look!" she exclaimed.

 

The Owl had flown into the fog, snatching Lightning's Survival Knife out of Hope's hands as it passed. It rose out with Vanille holding onto it. Her young, girlish image faded to give way to a creepy looking old man with a look that could kill. Lightning shot several rounds of bullets at them, but they had flown too fast.

 

Lightning put her hand on Hope's shoulder. "Call me Light, and tell me if there's anything you need."

 

Hope looked into Lightning's eyes.

 

"I want you to lead me to the Crystal Tower."

[Hige Unari 5]

Vaan slowly awoke to a numb tingling throughout his body. He found himself facedown on the ground and slowly got up to look around. He was.....on the Top Floor of the Emperor's Castle Pandemonium. "How did I get here? But I thought.....Cosmos?" He shook his head and began to walk down to the main section of Pandemonium. He had to find a way back to the Sanctuary to figure out what the heck was going on!

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

{Dr. Cid}

Dr. Cid smiles at Lightning and Hope.

"Your are welcome."

He bows.

"If you need my aid again, don't hesitate to call."

Saying that, he turns and walks away from Lightning and Hope.

Dr Cid thinks about what just happened. He had hoped for Hope to kill both Barthandelus and Lightning, but the lad seemed loyal to Lightning form some reason.

"Oh well." Dr. Cid says to himself when he is alone. "I have sown seeds of gratitude in both their hearts. Perhaps saving Lightning will be a good turn after all."

His smile turns more menacing.

"She could be very useful to my plans."

Dr Cid then turns his attention in the direction that Barthandelus had fled in.

"The puppet could be trouble." Dr Cid says coldly. "He should be removed."

[OblivionRider 50]

"Already gone?" Snow mocks. He smiles an oafish, but friendly smile. "Let me guess, girlfriend troubles? Tell me about it. At least yours probably isn't a ticking-time-bomb that when time runs out will crystalize or turn into a monster!"

 

Snow laughed, but it was a hollow laugh. He knew that Serah was safe, her tear still felt warm, but he was uneasy about the whole turn of events. He only knew one man who was evil enough to manipulate people's emotions. No, he wasn't a guy, he was a fal'cie.

 

"Hey pirate-guy," he said. "If you've got a damsel in distress, go for her! I'll be fine. I've got a score to settle with Dysley, who I'm sure was behind the illusions I saw. Unless you wanna tag along?" he said tauntingly.

 

Balthier gave a smug smile and...

[Axtwyt 500]

Johnny continued to trek World B, defeating manikins left and right. He hadn't seen any warriors around for a while, just the boy called Hope.

'Where is everyone? Did something happen?'

He saw a moogle in the distance and ran towards it. He asked it about the other warriors, but the moogle sadly said that no one had been around for a while.

Johnny sighed and sat down by the lake, tossing a rock before dozing off.

[OblivionRider 50]

Hope and Lightning traveled together across World B in general silence. Lightning was thinking over Hope's situation and was starting to feel suspicious. Hope had been thinking about Lightning's comment about his and Snow's friendship. He spared her because he heard the sincerity in her voice, and could detect Barthandelus' lies, not because of her message.

 

Lightning said, "We need to replenish our Potion bags, there's a moogle."

 

Hope looked up. Sure enough, a moogle charged at them and tried to sell them everything from Midgar Flowers, to Delicious Fish Scales, to Summonstones. But Hope wasn't looking at the moogle, he was staring at Johnny who lay sleeping nearby.

 

Lightning had caught his glance and proceeded to proceed towards Johnny.

 

"No!" Hope said. "We can't wake him."

 

"But he might be able to help us," Lightning argued.

 

"No, we can't wake him, because, because he's sick and has begun spurting out nonsense!" Hope improvised. "I left him here to rest, but he may still be delirious, Light."

 

Lightning looked at the boy. "Fine then, I'll just help heal him." And she splashed a potion into Johnny's face.

 

Johnny woke up and inquired about Hope's leg, but Hope pretended that he was crazy because his leg had been fine. Before Lightning could interrogate him, Hope tugged at her arm.

 

"The Crystal Tower's that-a-way Light! Let's go!"

[Hige Unari 5]

Vaan kept running until he found himself cornered by the crystalline manikins. He fought them all the while running across World B making his way to Cosmos' tower in the Sanctuary. He stopped to take a breather when a Warrior of Antiquity manikin jumped towards him viciously. "I honestly didn't miss you guys, I mean you kinda killed me and to top that your him. This really isn't a good day!" He yelled as he pulled out his Greatsword and shattered the manikin.

 

That was probably his 30th since he'd been here abd they weren't letting up. He had to find some shelter and fast! In the distance he could make out a lake but there was a group of Manikins between them. He sighed and dashed forward pulling out his crossbow and letting loose a good amount of arrows and then quickly shoved it in his pack and pulled out a pair of swords and spun around as the Manikins were about to jump on him.

 

About half of their ranks shattered but there were too many! "Man where is Laguna when you need him?" He dodged an attack by flipping over the attacking manikin but an Ephemeral Vision Manikin threw a blitzball that flew threw the air and connected with Vaan's chest sending him flying backwards into the lake.

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

{Balthier}

Balthier gave a smug smile and...

 

...shakes his head.

"That was not my lady friend."

Balthier looks down at his phone.

"It was from my partner." He says in a dark voice.

Balthier puts his phone away and looks at Snow.

"Yes, let's deal with 'Dysley.' I could use someone to vent on."

He pulls his gun off his back, checks it, then rests it on his shoulder.

"Lead the way."

[Axtwyt 500]

Before Johnny could berate Hope about faking the leg thing, he looked over to see a boy in a vest fly into the lake. Johnny summoned his Keyblade and threw it at the manikin shaped like Tidus. The manikin reacted, but too slowly. The Keyblade took off the manikin's left arm and leg, sending the rest of into the ground, shattered. Johnny went out into the lake to check on the boy.

"Are you all right?" Johnny asked the boy after bringing him to shore with Light and Hope.

 

-----------------------------

 

Vicente was reclining on a bench in the Phantom Train when he heard the sound of armor approaching. The man clad in Archadian armor glanced at Vicente and chuckled in disgust.

"Yo Gabranth, why so serious?" Vicente sat up in his chair.

"The better question is, why you prefer to fool with the mind when you can break the body," Gabranth replied as he sat opposite of Vicente.

"Johnny can beat me in combat, no doubt," Vicente lay back down. "But there's one thing I know that Johnny can't handle and it's mind games."

"Are you completly serious?"

"The dude jumped in a hole when someone else said he was 'Jonathan Thaddeus Madman'. I'd like to think that he's slighty gullible."

"You refer to the boy Hope?"

Vicente chuckled, "Precisely. The boy's a dead ringer for an inside-man."

"And we are not? You forget the trickery of the Emperor and Dysley."

"Do I? I'm not one to be snared in a trap."

Gabranth left his chair and walked towards the door, "You forget your place. Your former 'master of discord' is no longer around to be your fortress. You stand alone."

Vicente sat up and looked at the magister, "Oh, you don't want to help break the Keyblade Knight?"

Gabranth stopped dead in his tracks, "I have nothing against that warrior. A man like that only comes around so often."

Vicente turned back and lay back down, angry at Johnny once more. 'Great, even my allies don't want to kill him. That little a**, being a little-goody-two-shoes. He'll get what's coming.'

[AnsemTheWise 1,114]

OOC: Who knew my sister's graduation would take so long? Thanks for keeping things going, Oblivion. And yeah, I think Vanilite is a new Pokemon...

 

Lightning looked down at the boy. "Vaan?" She remembered him, but it wasn't like Snow and Hope. Vaan's memory came in clearly from their previous war. Maybe that was why...

 

She knelt down, her hand on his forehead. "Hey, Vaan. You there?" She could see him stirring under her touch. He would be fine.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

"Damnation." Dysley sat in the Old Chaos Shrine, fingering the knife on his hand. It seemed to hold some importance not only to Hope, but Lightning. He looked up as Minrva swooped throught a hole in the ceiling, landing beside him. He could tell: Snow had caught on as well. He was losing pawns too early in the game. At this rate, he would have to straight up start eliminating those who opposed him. The thought of doing such menial labor himself was revolting, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

 

That doctor, Cid. He seemed as interesting a place to start as any. He also seemed to be hatching plans of his own. Minrva took flight as Barthandalus stewed, his plans laid out before him.

[Hige Unari 5]

(OoC Does this stand for out of context? Also everyone has a villian except me G_G

Who could I take to oppose a warrior of Cosmos?)

 

Vaan began to cough and slowly rolled to the side so his rescuers wouldn't see him lightly vommit to get the lake water out of

his system. When he rolled back over he saw two unfamiliar faces and Lighting!

 

"Light?!" He jumped up and grabbed her by the hand. "I've missed you so much! But why are here I thought that after that Manikin Rift buisness we were goners and couldn't return again." He shrugged and backed away and turned towards the Sanctuary and pointed as he said, "I was heading to the Sanctuary to ask Cosmos why we were here but did you guys just come from there?"

[Axtwyt 500]

Johnny stood up and chuckled, "Vaan never was one for small talk." Johnny looked at his three allies and thought, 'At least I'm running into friends instead of strangers.'

Before Hope could think of escaping Johnny, Johnny grabbed him by the shirt and asked, "OK, kid. Something's fishy with you, and I want you to spill it. Why'd you fake injuring your leg? Who's Snow, and why did you call him a traitor?"

[AnsemTheWise 1,114]

OOC: (Out of Character) We used to use it on my old forums. Habit.

 

Lightning took a hold of Johnny's arm gently, shaking her head. "It's complicated. Just leave it." She turned to Vaan, a light smile on her face. "I know, I thought we were done too." She went serious again. "Cosmos said we need to find something called 'Ultima'. Any ideas?"

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Barthandalus stood in Orphan's Cradle, the Nascent Throne before him. It was only a fascimilie, but he felt a strong connection to his own world here. The power of Orphan...

 

His new plan was foolproof. Fitting, considering the fools it would require. He already had a lead on Ultima. The war would soon turn in his favor. And when it did, salvation would be his...

[OblivionRider 50]

OOC: Poor Hope! Everyone wants to use him! No complaints though! Keep it coming!

 

Hope gritted his teeth and tollerated the conversation of his "allies."

 

Johnny had been catching on to his ruse, but luckily for Hope, Light seemed to have felt sorry for him. Now there was this Vaan guy. He seemed as naive as, as, Snow? Hope shuddered just thinking that name.

 

Johnny gave a quick glance to Hope, sensing something ammiss.

 

Hope wondered if any of them had any clue that he was a warrior of Chaos. Johnny might, but Light and Vaan were oblivious. Luckily, Light's aquantence with Johnny worked to his advantage now; Johnny'd probably not want to betray her trust. But Hope didn't feel like picking sides; he wanted revenge on Snow, and now, Barthandelus too.

 

'...Ultima.' Any ideas?"

 

"I have one!" Hope said.

 

The four (moogle included) looked at him.

 

"I overheard somewhere that there was a gate to the Rift inside the Crystal Tower," Hope lied. "Barthandelus mentioned it, plus he seemed as focused to get there as... anyone." Hope caught himself.

 

"Nice detective work little bro!" Vaan exclaimed. "But your name is?"

 

"Hope, Hope Estheim."

 

"HOPE? YOU'RE NAME'S HOPE KUPO?"

 

"Uh, yeah, why?" Hope questioned.

 

"I've got a delivery for you Kupo!" The moogle suddenly handed Hope a parcel.

 

"Where'd you pull that from?"

"Shut up, Vaan!"

"Ow, Light, don't hit me!"

 

Hope opened the package. In it was a glistening boomerang. 'Nue.'

 

"Who gave this to you," he inquired.

 

"I'm not sure kupo. Some short-stack talking in rhyme said it was from an important lady in a white robe."

[AnsemTheWise 1,114]

"Ultima..." Lightning said, to herself more than anyone. "Cosmos said something about orbs. Maybe we have to find them first?" She stopped. "But then that brings the issue of finding the orbs." She scoffed. "Leave it to gods to give you an absurd task without instructions."

 

'Almost like... a Focus... What is my Focus?' She looked to Hope, who was examining his new weapon. Did he know? Vaan and Johnny certainly wouldn't.

 

"We should stick together. That way we don't have a repeat of what happened with Barthandalus." She turnined to Hope. "You know where the Crystal Tower is?"

[Hige Unari 5]

(Many thanks oblivion!)

At Lightning's words Vaan shook his head and cleared his throat getting their attention. He then put his arms up over his head and entered his thinking pose. Hope gave him a crazy look but Light and Johnny stared intently at him. He was thinking hard and blankly suggested "But mabye on the way we can peek in the Emphyreal Paradox, mabye something important is in there like with the Manikin Rift? I bet Lightning doesn't strike twice though..."

 

"Thats it!" Vaan swung his arms down and clapped his hands, "We should journey together up until Planet's Core and then split up into two groups Light and Johnny and then me and Hope! Any objections?"

[OblivionRider 50]

OOC: I sent a message to Hige Unari, so go ahead with what I'm writing and we'll fix up his post.

 

'Any objections? Of course I'm gonna object! I need to get to the Crystal Tower, but I can't buddy around with Vaan! Then again, I am a Warrior of Chaos. He's my enemy. I'll eliminate him, and rejoin Light and tell her a manakin go to him!'

 

All this Hope thought to himself.

 

"Light, I think I'll go with him. Maybe a little laughter will be good for me. He's sorta like Cid Raines."

 

Lightning looked at him oddly. He had remembered Raines, but used him completely out of context. Snow and Sazh and even Vanille would have been more fitting. But he did have a point.

 

Johnny and Lightning looked at each other to decide their path...