Regrouping "Fujin...." Quistis whispered as Fujin fell silently through a plume of smoke rising up from below. A blast of hot air erupted around as the smoke overtook her also, nearly blinding her. She didn’t care, nothing mattered, Fujin was gone, and the cold reality weakened her causing her grip to loosen. Rising through the smoke with a low roar, the Ragnarok hovered and settled itself under Quistis. It was terribly scorched and, fire still burned along parts of its hull. "Quistis!" Selphie screamed over the ships external speakers. Quistis looked at the smoldering ship dully then gasped in shock as she spotted Fujin laying sprawled across it's back. Abruptly Balamb jerked to life and pulled up from its dive. The sudden movement was too much for Quistis’ precarious grip and she was tossed free. With a scream that was short lived, she landed hard atop the Ragnarok’s cockpit. Selphie stared up at her while franticly trying to keep the ship steady while avoiding getting rammed as Balamb resumed its flight. Not able to wait any longer Irvine unlocked an overhead hatch just behind the cockpit. The seal hissed as it began to slowly decompress and he locked a safety line in place as he prepared to exit the craft. "Keep her steady." He shouted as he started the short climb out onto the hull. "Just be careful!" Selphie shouted, as the wake from Balamb's passage buffeted them. Quistis was stunned but was struggling to rise. She could see Fujin laying several feet away, pawing feebly at the spikes that had impaled her. "No...." Quistis moaned, lurching forward, despite the combined forces of the roiling ship and gale force winds. She only made it a few steps before she was forced to her knees. She tried to rise again when a hand grabbed her arm, startling her. "Easy boss." Irvine shouted. She turned to face him and a look hurried panic broke across her face. "Help me!" She screamed, clutching at him while pointing towards Fujin. "I’ll get her, you get inside!" He ordered, tying a spare safety line around her waist. "I’m going too!" Quistis shouted defiantly. "You can barely stand!" Irvine frowned and pointed towards the waiting hatch. "I’ll take care of her, trust me." He smiled, his eyes soft and understanding. Quistis expression melted into one of tortured anguish. Having to bite her lip to stop it from trembling, she looked to Irvine with tears in her eyes. "Bring her back to me..." She mouthed weakly. "Get inside." He winked then began trudging towards where Fujin lay. Quistis made her way to the hatch and all but fell inside. She slumped against the wall heavily, sobs shaking her battered form. "You okay Quisty?!" Selphie called over her shoulder. "Quistis?!" Quistis didn’t answer as her mind accosted her with horrible thoughts. Outside, Irvine had reached Fujin and knelt by her side. She looked up at him with a glazed, detached, expression. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything as he realized the severity of Fujin's wounds and was thankful that Quistis wasn't present to see her in such a state. The spikes that impaled her were barbed, meaning pulling them free would only cause her more harm. "There’s no easy way to do this." He said with a tight frown. She was too far-gone to argue and merely nodded before closing her eyes. "Okay..." He sighed, gripping the spike in her chest with one hand and holding her down with the other. Wincing, he gave one firm yank and the thorny spike tore free. Fujin cried out through gritted teeth and a spray of blood. Irvine tried not to think and quickly yanked the one in her abdomen free. This time Fujin didn't move and he feared he'd killed her. She gasped slightly and he sighed in relief as he brought the last of his healing spells to mind. It wasn’t much but he hoped it would be enough stabilize her until she could get proper help. The spell prepared, he put a hand firmly against her chest causing her to look at him sourly. "Cheap thrill..." She chuckled hollowly. "You know me." He smiled softly as the spell washed over her. The spell was less effective than he hoped, though it did slow the bleeding. Scooping her up, he lumbered back towards the hatch. Quistis heard him coming and leapt up to aid him. "She needs help fast!" He said, lowering Fujin down into Quistis’ waiting arms. "Fujin..." Quistis called softly, resting her on the deck. He voice fell upon deaf ears, as Fujin had lost consciousness. "Oh no..." Quistis whimpered, caressing her cheek as she called forth a series of healing spells. "Get Nida..." She called to Irvine, who was sticking down through the hatch to make sure everything was okay. He nodded and shouted to Selphie. "Catch up to Balamb and bring us closer to the bridge!" "Hold on!" She called back to him and launched the Ragnarok towards Balamb. "I see him!" Irvine shouted, waiting for Selphie to settle the craft before moving again. The young pilot stood at the shattered window of Balamb's bridge gesturing madly. "Get us closer!" Irvine shouted. "Closer he says.... Like it’s easy or something." Selphie grumbled as the ship veered dangerously close to Balamb's hull. Irvine poked his head through the hatch again. "That’s good hold it there!" He shouted before making his was across the top of the craft once more. "We have to take out the controls!!!" Nida shouted wildly. "What?" Irvine called, somewhat confused. "Blow up the bridge, blow up the bridge!!!!" Nida screamed. "Shit..." Irvine blanched, looking around helplessly. "Boy, get over here!" He blurted, calling for Nida to jump the small gap between Balamb and The Ragnarok. "You want me to jump that!? Are you crazy, I can barely walk!?" Nida gawked, gesturing to the wound he had received from the monster that had impaled Fujin. "She can’t get any closer than that! Now hurry up!" Irvine roared. Nida looked torn briefly then shrugged as he took several staggering steps back. Irvine nodded and leaned out to catch him. "You better catch me." Nida mumbled to himself as he started into a hobbling run. It was an ugly attempt, more of a trip than a jump and he fell face first into the gap. "Oh no you don't!" Irvine blurted, grabbing the nearly doomed pilot by the ankle. "Pull me up, pull me up!" Nida screamed wildly, flailing about upside-down. "Stop kicking, damn it!" Irvine growled, dragging the smaller man to safety. Nida didn't even take the time to thank him as he crawled towards the waiting hatch. "We have to hurry!!" He babbled tossing himself inside. Irvine followed him and sealed the hatch behind him before checking on Fujin. "How is she?" He asked Quistis quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "She'll be okay I think, she's resting..." Quistis whispered, never taking her eyes off her. "Good." He smiled and started to move on but Quistis grabbed his hand. "Thank you..." She said shakily, fresh tears in her eyes. Irvine rubbed his bald head and blushed slightly. "Aw don’t cry, you’re liable to get me started..." He said awkwardly "For the love of HYNE!" Nida shouted, causing Selphie to jump. "What the hell is wrong with you!" She screamed at him. "Did you all forget the plan or what!?" Nida blurted in a near panic. "What are you talking about, and don't yell at me like a madman!" Selphie shouted back. "Would someone blow up the damned bridge or all of this is for nothing!" Nida hollered, pointing out the window. "Fine!" Selphie shouted in aggravation before, veering off. She brought the Ragnarok around to face Balamb and slammed her hand into the fire control. Twin high-powered machine guns swung out from their compartments in the Ragnarok’s belly and locked onto the target. The weapons whirred a second as they came up to speed before roaring into action, explosive shells tore into the interior of what used to be Balamb’s Gardens nerve center destroying everything in their path. The gunfire was immediately followed by a shot by the massive energy cannon mounted in the Ragnarok's chest. The blast slammed into Balamb's bridge causing it to explode into a hellish ball of smoke of and fire. The blast shook both the Ragnarok and Balamb to their core. "HOLY!" Irvine flinched, shielding his eyes from the flash. "Oh my..." Selphie squeaked, putting a hand to her mouth in wide-eyed shock. Quistis made her way forward to survey the damage. "Hyne..." Quistis frowned. The entire top of the dome where the bridge used to be, had been replaced with a sparking, smoldering crater. "Sorry." Selphie whimpered. "You blew it all up." Nida mumbled, mouth agape. "Look..." Quistis frowned, pointing to the edges of the crater. All along the ruined section, ashy gray tendrils slithered and transformed into various structures, slowly repairing the damage caused by the explosion. "It’s regenerating!?" Selphie frowned. "If it can restore the bridge it’ll be able to regain control." Quistis frowned. "This keeps getting better and better." Irvine grumbled. "At least it’s going slow." Nida said optimistically, noting the somewhat sluggish speed of the repair work. "This is getting ridiculous." Quistis growled as she moved to one of the side hatches. "Selphie bring us level with one of the lower access hatches, try to get as close to the core as possible." She ordered. "Got it!" Selphie said eagerly, pushing forward on the controls. The Ragnarok dipped and circled under the rotating rings that comprised Balamb's semi magical engines. After a moment, she found a likely entryway and used the ship’s talons to rip the hatch off. "Ta Da!" She sang brightly. "So what now...?" "Plan doesn’t change." Quistis said sternly, preparing to exit the ship, while glancing smilingly at Fujin. "Fujin said it sounded like Norg. Irvine, you think it could be him?" Irvine nodded grimly. "That was him alright," He said with a sigh. "And here I thought we killed that bastard." "Well he's obviously alive, and he's getting stronger." Quistis growled in annoyance. "I wasn't here when you guys fought him last. What can you tell me that will be of use." "Nothing that would apply anymore from what I've seen. He used magic, and was well defended against it. The chamber he was hooked into did most of the fighting." Irvine shrugged helplessly. "Great, so I'm in the dark, well we know he hates the cold, that much is obvious. So the plan stays, if I can't stop him, I should at least be able to stall him long enough to crash Balamb into the ice. "Judging from Balamb's speed, you've got a about two hours till it reaches the North Sea." Nida pointed out glumly. "Hey, what's with the I stuff." Selphie said worriedly. "I'm going alone." Quistis said quietly as she opened the hatch. "Yeah boss, there's no way I'm letting you go down there alone!" Irvine shouted. "Ditto!" Selphie shouted. "Sorry, Selphie, I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you or you're baby." "That’s Bullshit!" Selphie shouted. "She's right." Irvine frowned. "I'll go." "No way cowboy." Quistis smiled. "She's going to need you and there's no way I'm risking it." "But!" Irvine scowled. "No, and that’s an order." Quistis scowled. Irvine twitched but kept quiet. "Quistis." Nida frowned. "Nida..." Quistis frowned softly. "I know, I'd only slow you down." He mumbled sourly. "Sorry hon, you've done you're part." She smiled, hugging him. She then looked at them for a long quiet moment. "Go, get help, tell everyone what happened." She finally sighed then looked to Fujin who lay nearby. "Take care of her." "Don't talk like that, you sound like you're not coming back." Selphie whimpered. "Just in case." Quistis smiled apologetically then moved to leap across to the waiting darkness. "WAIT." Fujin coughed, rising shakily to her feet. She moved past Irvine to stand face to face with Quistis. "GOING." She said firmly, her features strained and tired. Quistis caressed her cheek and smiled sadly. "No, you're not." She sighed then nodded to Irvine. Knowing what to do, Irvine moved behind Fujin and grabbed her firmly. "Thanks." Quistis said quietly then leapt out of the Ragnarok and into the dark corridor leading into Balamb's core. Fujin screamed in outrage and struggled in Irvine grip. "LET GO!" She roared loudly. "QUISTIS!" "Let her go, she knows what she...." Irvine started, Fujin cut him off by slamming her elbow into his nose with all her might, shattering it. "Shit!" Irvine cursed, as the pain sent white flashed in his eyes. His grip loosened momentarily. "RELEASE!" Fujin shouted again, prying his arm loose. "Selphie get us out of here!" Nida shouted as he moved to help subdue her. "QUISTIS!" Fujin screamed again as Irvine started to recover. Still holding his arm she twisted it and brought her free hand up to slam into his elbow breaking it with a sickening snap. Irvine screamed and staggered away from the mad woman. "What the hell!" Selphie shouted. "Get us out of here!" Nida shouted again as he tried to head off Fujin, who was making a mad dash for the exit. With a calculated but restrained blow, she punched him in the throat causing him to fall to his knees gasping and coughing but relatively uninjured. Wasting no time, she leapt for the exit just as Selphie started to veer off. Wounded and tired as she was she halfway didn't expect to make the leap. Surprisingly thought she made it with inches to spare and hit the ground in a run as she searched for Quistis. "Irvine, Nida! What happened!" Selphie screamed, setting the Ragnarok into a hover as she moved from her seat to see what happened. "Crazy fool went and broke my damned arm!" Irvine hissed, holding his broken appendage tenderly. Nida nodded with tears in his eyes then threw up. "Hyne." Selphie winced. "What do we do now." Nida croaked. "We go in and get her!" Irvine hissed. Selphie looked grimly as Balamb moved into the distance. "It's to late for that, no telling where she's run off too. Besides, Quistis ordered us to get help." She sighed. "I can't believe she attacked us!" Irvine complained sourly. "You'd do the same in her position babe." Selphie smiled, inspecting his arm carefully.
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