My Legacy lives on...

[Sai]

Sai nodded a bit, then turned to face the door that Beatrix was checking. As he spoke, he pulled his wand from his pocket, but with his off-hand. "We will speak on this matter further..." he said calmly, uneffected by the voices beyond, or Beatrix's worried tone.

"Stand back..." he muttered, then pointed his wand at the door. "I do not know my own strength, when I use my off-hand. Less control means less accuracy, and you may suffer friendly fire if you are not behind me..."

Sai didn't care if they were innocent or not, the ones on their way to their door. All that mattered was their immediate and hasty escape. Without a heart, he couldn't really show mercy or concern. So, when a small Moogle comes pushing that door... is it really so suprising that Sai would immediately unleash a devastating blast of lightning that made his usual sparks look like static cling?

***Lightning 2 has been unlocked***

Sai held his wand, the tip smoking from the force of the spell. "Our path is clear. Someone retrieve the white mage and we will be on our way..." he spoke in that all-too-calm voice of his despite the fact that there was now a small, blackened catlike creature fused to the floor...

[Ellin Destroix]

As if on cue, a black mist would swirl between Sai's pointed wand and the door, and from it would come a familiar figure etching from the opera house. At the sight of the wand, "Cosmos!" she squeaked and jumped out of the way with a loud ka-klank of her armor.

"Wh-what where you point such things...!" she would gasp, looking to the others who seemed rather sneaky. She sat up and watched them a moment...where they hiding? She stood finally and dusted a little at her armor before resting her hands on her hips in a Heroic fashion, "What's going on here?" she decided to whisper-- apparently they wanted to hide from something. It was then that her eyes fell on the unconscious Abigail, and she shrieked, seeing a trail of dried blood that paved a path down her face.

"Miss Abigail!" she gasped, walking over to her-- a look of concern on her expression, "Sweet Cosmos, what happened??" she grew a bit loud again, kneeling next to the girl to examine her wound. She noticed it was recently cured, and she sighed in relief. She looked into her many metallic pockets- looking for something given to her long ago....

"How long has she been unconscious?"

[General Beatrix]

When Sai told her to move, who was she to ignore it? Backing away she took a firm grip of Save the Queen, readying herself for whatever may accompany the Moogle. However, when the squat creature toddled into the room he was given only a momentary glance of the intruders and a slight gasp before burnt to a crisp and fused into the marble floor; the smoke what rose gave Beatrix' stomach a revolting lurch, and she covered her mouth to keep from vomiting.

"...my goodness, Sai," she said. "Once we are clear, remind me to hea--"

And then Ellin appeared, and the general was both relieved to see her alive and yet suspicious of her arrival.

"Lady Destroix," she said plainly, ushering Oeilvert and Wall-E through the door and moving over to assist Abby. "She's been unconscious for however long we've been here; I just finished healing her with whatever power I could, and I sure hope it'll be sufficient...but I'd advise you to assist me before we're caught by whatever beings lurk in this strange pl--"

*ALARM SOUNDED*

"Firaga...Sai, go see what's happened to the mage and his tinker toy...they may have set off a trap."

The yelp of the Oz-born sorcerer could be heard only slightly before a metallic 'bam' seemed to clamp over his mouth.

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When Oeilvert pushed through to the hallway with Wall-E in his arms and the crow Locke perched on his shoulders, he tried to be as stealthy as he could, but for some reason large, armored creatures were difficult to hide from. They prowled the halls in every manner; there were small, hovering sentries, others decorated to look like hallway suits of armor, and others were spider-like contraptions hiding in the shadows while skirmishing.

"Ahh!" cried the sorcerer, as he was grabbed tight by one of the "suits of armor" and pulled into the wall, his mouth covered by the clamp-like hand. The alarm had sounded directly afterwards.

Damn...

[glow=Green,2,300]"Squawk! Now you've done it, Your Highness! Squawk!"[/glow]

[The Brass Duke]

"You wish to give up your own life to save that of the Pride Lands?" asked the Duke with a comical note in his voice. He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing, and when he tried to suppress the snort he failed miserably.

"Why would one life affect my decision for building this fortress of mine? What do you offer? Are you the god of this location? Will you give me power unfathomable in my years to come? Hahahahaha! I don't thi--"

"Sir!" cried a guard, bursting through the leather curtain what served as the tent's door. The metallic voice made Brass' ears hurt, but instead of destroying the golem he decided to listen, as the creature sounded very determined to have his word heard. "Intruder alert aboard Colossus!"

For a moment his blank stare just permeated his whole face, but then it changed to a grin and very confusing in-between of smile and angry frown. "WHAT!?" he roared, throwing out his hand to the golem and pulling it into a fist; the golem of his creation imploded, looking as if it had just been compacted in a garbage truck.

"Cobalt! Cerium! Barium! To Colossus, this instant!" he ordered, running through the tent's opening before the others, and making headyway up the ramp leading to the grand foyer. He was met by several leaping moogles and golems, who were addressing to him that the palace had been breached in one of the engine rooms.

"Blast these minor inconveniences!" he screamed, and turned outward to the tent where the Ronso still stood.

"If you wish for me to levy my reasoning, I'd suggest you assist in my pest problem, and I might change my mind!"

[Culaki]

Culaki frowned slightly as Brass snorted, then seemed to keep himself from erupting in raucous laughter. He was not one to be taken lightly, but it seemed as though the Duke was hell-bent on showing him how much more resolute and uppity he could be. Very well. Culaki crossed his arms and took all of his insults with a grain of salt, simply exuding patience and an air of calmness.

Then the hectic golem burst into the room, mentioning intruders. Culaki simply observed as it was obliterated by Brass, then he screamed orders for the intruders to be eliminated. Culaki's ears twitched at the Duke's proposal to him, and he was immediately on his feet, Lion's Pride in hand. He bowed low to Brass, speaking.

"Show Culaki where these intruders are, and he will crush them underneath his heel without a second glance..."

[Ellin Destroix]

Ellin would nod as Beatrix began to explain their predicament. Apparently, Abigail had been out since the beginning, and she frowned a little that of everyone, she was the one to be hurt. She found what she had looked for, an elixir, and she unbolted it while the General continued to explain. She placed a few drops of it on the white mage's lips, letting them trickle through the smooth cracks and into their mouth.

The dark knight held the girl lightly in her arms, making sure not to pierce her with her armor; she was very careful. She looked up to the General when asked to assist, and she gasped-- an opportunity to work with a holy knight?? Her eyes sparkled.

"You... You would like me to assist y--??" and this is also when the alarm sounded, but she continued to talk as if deaf by it, " You really want me to help you out?? As in join you in your quest??" she squeaked a little, resting Abigail down soundly before getting up, and doing an Alexandrian salute, "It will be a pleasure General! I will do my best! How shall I help??"

Finally... was this her calling? Was her existence with reason? -- had Cosmos planned this?

[Abigail Crescentlight]

The white mage felt as though she had been floating in darkness for the longest time... lost in a haze of dulled sensation and silence. How long had she been there? She didn't know... it was so far away from everything... detatched... and solitary.

But then... a wave of healing magicks. She felt herself being tugged back to the world of the living. She could hear the alarms, the voices, and she was aware of where she was... at least in that she knew she was on a cold, metal floor. She groaned lightly, unable to speak.

Then, she was lifted lightly... into someone's arms. Strange... she felt so wonderful here, even though she was only semi-conscious. There was a warmth here... a caring she didn't get from others. But that voice... wasn't that...

Her lips were moistened by a strange tasting liquid, and instantly her eyes began to flitter open. Her vision was blurred, but it was enough. She looked up, then blushed lightly as she looked into the eyes of Ellin... and yet, a different name came to mind...

"C..cosmos...?" she whispered, trying to wake up...

[Secondary Characters]

Wall-E had been busy trying to figure out where they were. This wasn't the Opera House, so how'd they get here?? He looked around with wide, binocular-shaped eyes as they all landed, and found himself being lifted by Oeilvert once more. His little treads roved lightly on their own as he quickly glanced this way and that.

"Woah..." he muttered, then boxed up insecurely. Admitedly, all this sudden changing of scenery was getting to him. However, he did find himself somewhat at home in this strange, all-metal location. So, when it was left to Oeilvert and Wall-E to go explore, he really had no problem with it whatsoever.

He was carried by Oeilvert out into the halls, but suddenly they were grabbed and held to the walls. Because Wall-E was in Oeilvert's arms, he was able to pry himself free, spinning around frantically as the alarms went off. "WOOOOAAAH!" he cried out, waving his arms in a mild panic. Looking to the other robots, he'd wave his hands in a "please don't" sort of way, but that didn't exactly hault their advance.

Little Wall-E looked to Oeilvert, then looked to the others, a determined look in his expression and roved forward a bit. His head split lightly open, and in the center, a red dot began to glow. It wasn't much... but Wall-E shot a laser from his face, literally cutting a nearby mechanical creature in half. He roved backward a bit, as he was outnumbered, but continued to fight. When he was again at Oeilvert's level, he turned his head to cut off the machine's arms to free his companion.

Now... for a real fight...

[Ellin Destroix]

The knight in question looked down once the name of her Goddess was mentioned by a familiar voice. The white mage had awaken! What a joyous day this was turning out to be! Ellin knell down, her eyes bright at meeting those blue hues, and she smiled, "Miss Abigail! You are alright, thank goodness." she sighed, giving the others around them a thumbs up: something she had seen normal humans do in her travels as a good sign.

She held up a menacing looking gauntlet, her hand covered by dark, pointy metal extending over the fingers as well, "...can you stand? We have to be going soon... " she whispered, removing a shield that hung from her back, underneath the cape. It appeared to be a pointy buckler. "... this is Kaiser, my trusty shield... please keep it with you... it will keep you safe." she assured, giving her a soft grin, "I am to help Miss Beatrix in getting us out of here I think...so... lets work together, yes?"

After helping Abigail to her feet she held a fist to her heart. What a strange feeling when it came to being around this particular mage... it was strange, but pleasant. She, out of everyone here, wanted to make sure that Abigail was safe. This was... important-- I mean, this new feeling must be an extension of friendship, yes?

She looked over to the General, resting her hands on her hips and looking heroic, "What are we to do first, General?" It was funny how she was ignoring the BLARING alarms-- could she not hear it, or see the flashing red lights? ... So calm-- could she possibly believe of this as a game?

[Sai]

Sai nodded to Beatrix's command, though he was still unsure if her heart was in the right place due to that little trip of theirs. His suspicions woudl have to be set aside for now, as the more pressing matter of the alarms needed attending to. Without so much as a moment's hesitation, Sai walked casually out into the hallway as though he owned the place, unintimidated and unafraid of the things flying about.

He spotted Oeilvert being freed by Wall-E and the small automaton busily fighting off assailants, but calculated attention to detail would alert Sai to the fact that even the boxbot couldn't do it all himself. Also, he took note of the metallergy applied to the area itself, careful to take notice of the markings which tended to protect machinery from mana-generated damage. Sai would have to get... scientific.

With a little effort, Sai forced his shoulder into place with a nasty, wet snap. A grunt later, he was able to use his right arm again. Now able to use both hands, Sai walked over to a nearby instrument panel and opened it up. By applying pressure at just the right spots, it was an easy matter to pry open the faceplate and begin removing a length of insulated copper wiring behind. Once Sai had a decent enough length, he took the amount in hand and walked toward the fray.

He would need a larger one, the automatons that is, to do what he intended. Lucky for him, one was coming out of the wall, probably to kill him. After tying the end of the copper into a rudimentary lasso, Sai threw the loop through the air and captured the large "suit of armor". A few flicks of the wrist later, he wrapped the rest of the wire around the machine several times, to ensure it did not struggle TOO much. That completed, Sai pointed the end of his wand into the wire.

Closing his eyes, Sai concentrated his energies into it, forcing Lightning 2 down the copper and around the metal construct. This would require a full minute of constant use of Lightning 2, and effectively drain Sai's MP to 0, but for that full minute (a long time if you ever try it yourself), he had effectively turned his victim into a massive, and very powerful, electromagnet which would pull all the other machines toward itself... and compact them. What existed of their electronics would be wiped clean due to electromagnetic waves passing through the newly created supermagnet.

One full minute... and anything metal that didn't have some means of escape from that invisible grip was going to get severely messed up. Science, ain't it great?

[General Beatrix]

An eruption of Hell, Beatrix thought with a slight grin.

"Back to your earlier question," she said between kicking down a spear-wielding Moogle upon entry into another hallway. "Yes, you've been recruited, Miss Ellin. Prove your worth and we'll see what we can do about turning over your former application."

Dropping her blade to the Moogle's throat she knelt close.

"It is now time to silence your alarms, Moogle. We are not enemies here, but prisoners for some odd reason. You will do as I say and do it quickly, before your armored men meet the fate of turning back into scrap. Sai!"

She tilted her head back slightly. "Keep it up for as long as you're able, but make a break for it over here the moment you get overwhelmed."

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

"The Brass Duke allows no unauthorized entry into Colossus, especially when it appears in the engine rooms!" cried the zealous Mog-Knight. Beatrix' sword simply inched closer to its neck.

"Your fates are all sealed, kupo!"

A moment later the moogle was decapitated, as a group of four golems came barreling down a narrow rampway, electric spears in hand.

"For the Duke!" they bellowed in their metallic unison, and the general swore under her breath.

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

When Wall-E freed the sorcerer, he was really pleased with the automaton's haste.

"I give you my thanks, my friend!" he yelled, taking out his wand and casting a flaming spell in the direction of the golems coming their way.

The fire did nothing to the metal creatures save for causing strange runes to begin glowing all over their metal bodies.

"These beasts are immune to magic?" he yelped, only to leap back in utter surprise a moment later when between their visors the golems breathed noxious fumes of poisonous gas.

What is this madness!?

[Ellin Destroix]

One moogle, two moogles, three moogles, four... one by one, Ellin would knock them unconscious by punching them over the head, but she would not take their life. BOP, she would pound the small creatures just above their pom-pom stringed craniums, and down they could go with swirling eyes. There were several trying to attack her and beat at her armor, but their weapons were too weak to pierce her dark metal.


Every now and then, she would look over to see that Abigail was alright before moving on. Suddenly, Sai had done something rather unexpected. He made a magnet out of their surroundings...and Ellin was wearing metal!

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Ellin would gasp, levitating in place-- her armor deciding which way the magnetic pull was stronger before darting OFF to one of the walls. -Ka-KLINK!- her armor would sound, gluing itself to the steel walls, her body squeezed against it, "U-ugh!!" she would try to wiggle, but wearing all metal wasn't helping! "I-I'm stuck!"

Thankfully, the metal giants around them where having the same effects, and the moogles where being unarmed because of it; their weapons would fly all around, until latching themselves to the walls, "EEK!!" Ellin was almost decapitated by a small Axe. The dark knight stared at it from the corner of the eye, sighing in relief at her luck!

"Get meee doooooowwwn!" she would whine, wiggling within her armor.

[The Brass Duke]

From a belt-side pouch Cobalt withdrew a digital notepad-like mechanism, as well as a brass-coated pen; punching in several points on the pad's screen and tracing down the ball-point, he scouted the palace interior's map.

"It appears that the intruders appeared in Engine Room Seven; none of the Gummi Blocks have been molested, so there's nothing to worry about there. Now they're leaving, heading down Hall Pi--wait, it appears Delta, Gamma and Sigma are reacting to some magnetic force...what's this? Their souls are attempting to break free; I think the iron bodies are being damaged to critical levels...Lothar..?"

"Grrr! You heard the boy, Ronso! Go down to the engine level--Cobalt, give him the map--and destroy them! No prisoners! Search and destroy! If you want even a portion of your natural land to continue to thrive, you'll do as I say and do it now! Go!"

[Sai]

45 seconds...
Sai's magic was at 25% of its full capacity, and he was getting tired. Such a drain all at once was dangerous, even critically so. Still, his companions were not free of the madness just yet. Make matters worse, quite a few of them either wore or kept metal on their person. That... was a slight problem, but nothing that would prove fatal in the long run. The golems would be broken by the time he was done, and they could collect themselves afterwards.

50 seconds...
10% capacity, and Sai's vision was blurring. He forced himself to concentrate on the coursing electricity in his hands. There had to be a constant flow for the electromagnet to work, and for all digital information to be thoroughly erased. Anything electronic would begin to shut down permenantly within this frame of time, including security cameras, sensors, everything. The golems MIGHT survive, if they did not rely on any form of electronic synapse delivery system, but chances were likely they did. Shy of gears and cogs, every machine should be on the verge of destruction here. And within the next ten seconds, even that would be crushed under others growing stuck to the walls.

55 seconds...
5% remaining. Sai had to go down to one knee, unable to hold himself up. The strain was quite taxing, and his body was beginning to shut down. It'd have to recover for quite some time after this, or make use of either an ether or elixir, if he was to continue to live. Of course, that was the only option for him, as the notes had not yet been fully gathered and a keyblade had yet to be forged. After that... he really didn't care if he got his heart back or not. Someone had to stop Atticus. Even if it wasn't him.

59 seconds...
1% in reserve, Sai was barely aware of his surroundings. He could hear the cacaphony of metal flying, of machines dying, and of Ellin crying. Apparently, she had fallen victim early, and well... she only had one more second to ride this out. Then, she'd be free and able to act, but as for Sai...

60 seconds, 0% MP.
Sai dropped his arms and fell backward onto the floor. His wand lay beside his hand, fizzling from the constant stream of Lightning 2. He was breathing, but his eyes were closed, and his hat had fallen free, revealling the stringy mess of light blue hair that hid the parts of his face that the crimson scarf did not. The devastation of his science demonstration was obvious, between the still semi-charged golem still sticking to one another, and those that were wearing off their electrons topping off the layers of wall decoration one at a time. Moogles were totally unarmed, but chances were likely so were the heroes. Still, this was their best chance to escape and Sai's mission was complete. They could easily leave him behind at this point, as he would simply corridor away once he regained consciousness.

However... there was an X factor Sai hadn't accounted for, the distant sounds of an approaching Ronso...

[Culaki]

Culaki nodded once, grabbing the map from Cobalt and looking at it for a moment before taking off out of the tent. It only took a few moments to locate the small ladder for him to ascend the Colossus. Thank goodness that the electric fields weren't active at this point in time; still, he hastened his descent, for who knew when the Brass Duke could change his mind?

Culaki knew that Brass still regarded him as a primitive low-life. He'd have to show him that he could be trusted. He knew himself that he could be a powerful ally, and if he'd had his way, he simply would have crushed Brass inside the tent. But that would have gotten him nowhere, as the boy and his servants would most likely destroy him.

Nearing the top of the ladder, he glanced at the map again, charging into a door and running down a hallway. The distant sounds of some sort of cacophony became clear, and his ears picked up a female voice, the sounds of metal slamming on metal, heavy impacts, and even...the burst of some sort of weapon.

He tucked the map into the pouch at his side, his route memorized. He blazed across corridors and chambers, passing giant, whirring cogs the same shiny color as the suit Brass wore. Steam valves, releasing their contents with a sharp hissssssssssssss! sound, wheels, levers, gauges, and the like all flew past him as he neared his destination.

The sounds of metal clanging and the female voice crying out for help became more apparent, and Culaki burst into the aperture, his eyes taking in everything in a moment. The scene was utter chaos, or so it seemed. A small man (small in comparison to Culaki) lay on the floor, a small wand-like device still fizzling next to his hand.

His face was calm and smooth, as though he had just fainted. Blue hair poked out in tufts on his head, and his hat lay on the ground just out of reach. There were strange, grunt-like creatures running about and complaining, and a woman in a suit of...something was disentangling herself from a wall. How she got there, Culaki could not know.

There was also a man in green, buckles and various adornments, including a small, black crow perched upon his shoulder. He wore a similar hat to the fainted man on the floor. Culaki regarded him strangely, but even stranger was the small box-like robot scurrying around in circles, wailing. It was slightly rusty, with huge, binocular-like eyes and small waving arms, complete with treads for navigation, he supposed.

Also accompanying them was a medium-height woman, obviously of some importance or rank, with a large broadsword. That could be a problem for Culaki, in the event of combat. The woman was standing next to another woman, shorter than she, with black hair. She seemed to be suffering a trauma of some sort.

Culaki blinked for a few moments, unsure of what to make of this situation. Brass wanted him to destroy them, but they didn't have the look of people who were evil, or those who would destroy and burn. He regarded each one of them for a few seconds, then simply stood his ground, waiting for a reaction...