Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy X-3 : Lost Summoners ❯ Stray Machina ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A vivid churning in the fine sand alarmed both Kaioh and Cid, making them stumble backwards. Cid brushed a hand through his golden locks of hair, to move them away from his goggle-shielded eyes. "What the hell is THAT?!" he exclaimed quizzically, crab walking backwards, over to Kaioh. The machina that had drawn itself from the beach sands stood at a standard, 4' height for a machina, its form looking that of an over grown crab with giant, vice pincers.

Kaioh sighed and muttered very lightly under her breath, looking to Cid. "It's the stray machina some guy named... eto... Shinra, I think? Yeah, he was creating some machina for the island... But this one went rogue, I suppose." Cid piffed, and stood to his feet, placing a hand on his equipped belt. "Feh. Shinra?? The loser probably screwed up in creating it. Now it's probably a vagrant AI..." he said, drawing a raised brow from Kaioh. Shaking his head, he just looking away, gripping a grenade in his hand. "Anyways... Step back, girl. I'll take care of it."

Scowling, Kaioh stood next to Cid, dragging her right foot behind her. In a loose stance, she faced him. "I can help too, y'know." she said firmly, drawing two daggers from the obi of her yukata. [Where they’d originated from, Kaioh would never say.] Shaking his head, Cid pulled the tab from the grenade off with his teeth. "Whatever." he said through clenched jaws, chucking the grenade at the crab-like machina. An explosion of fire, and a mechanical hiss rose from the crab, its attention drawn to the two. Eyebrows raised, Cid held another grenade. "It didn't go down?" Kaioh piffed in a mock fashion. "Of course it didn't." with that, she set loose to her obi, letting it slip down her body. Underneath, she wore a pair of shorts, and a sleeveless, stomach baring, holster top, and a pair of sandals. The little outfit was classified as a definite FFantasy design, with multiple chords and embroidery embracing her youthfully toned limbs. A few belts and buckles were strapped here and there... It almost makes you wonder how on earth she wore the yukata over it all. And comfortably...

Dashing over to the machina, Kaioh conjured a spell, sparks of electricity forming around her arms and daggers. Both daggers brought up to the left side of her head, Kaioh spun to launch a spinning, crescent slash across the machina's front.

Staggering, the machina took a few rickety steps backwards, sand brushing off its mechanical armor. Two gashes in its front exposed loose wires and what-not. An angry hiss came from the crab. Launching itself high in the air with powerful legs, the crab landed right in front of...Cid, and brought up a giant pincer to slash at him. Cid's mouth opened wide in a gasp, but he was too late to react-- A thin slash across his chest, and he fell over, yelling in alarmed pain. Kaioh, looking back, gasped, and ran past the machina, over to Cid. "Hey, you okay?!" She asked, kneeling by him.
Cid nodded, and panted, clutching one hand over his chest wound. "Y-yeah, I'm fine... Here, use this-- Plant it inside the machina." he said, handing Kaioh a lightning gem. Kaioh nodded, taking the gem. [Note: Since lightning is a machina's weakness, this would've done major damage... o.O] Tucking her daggers away, Kaioh rolled over to one side of the crab, then behind it. Racing her way up the machina's slick back, Kaioh grabbed a hold around one of its pincer joints, jamming the lightning gem into the gash she'd made earlier. A loud hiss came from the crab machina again, and it grabbed a hold of Kaioh from behind, and flung her. With a cry, she hit the sands hard, lying still for a moment.

A wave of static electricity filled the air of the beach, causing Cid to tumble over as well. Running over to Kaioh, he covered her with his arms and chest, using one of his forearms to shield his head. At that moment, the machina exploded. Cid grunted slightly when a piece of scrap metal thumped against his back, feeling the heat of the exploding pieces whirl past him. Kaioh fluttered her eyes open, looking up at Cid's face. She couldn't see much with those great goggles in the way, but she knew he was in pain. "Eiyah!!" she cried, trying to wiggle away from under him. Cid placed his forearm in front of her so that she couldn't move, and just shook his head.

At that point, others had come, in reaction to all the noise. A faint shout of Cid and Kaioh's names could be heard, and they grew louder as the others approached more quickly. Looking to the side, Cid saw a woman he slightly recognized-- His mother's friend, Lulu. The dark haired woman ran to them, 3, long braids trailing behind her. "Kaioh!!!" she cried, stepping in front of the two, despite the flying pieces of debris. Glancing over her shoulder, Lulu saw the electrifying machina, bolts of lightning reaching its core. With a wave of her hand, an erupting flame was summoned by the black magess. With an almost intensifying roar, the fire created a shield around them, devouring any debris that threatened to hurt Kaioh or Cid. Never in his life did Cid think that fire alone could make such noise.

A man, with light blonde hair, took a few timid steps back when he caught up with Lulu, along with the red/orange haired islander next to him. "Whoa!! Hey, Wakka!! We gotta do something with that machina!!" he said, running a hand through his hair. The other man, Wakka, stood there, arms crossed. "No, just let Lu handle it. We can't touch that thing without getting fried, yah?" he said in his islander's accent, waving a hand in front of his face absent mindedly.

The blonde haired guy, Tidus, nodded. "Alright. Hope they'll be o-- Gweh!!" Tidus fell over quite soundly into the sand, as the force of a bullet train hit him. "CID!!" came the frantic shouts of Rikku, as she charged over to her son. Yuna didn't fall too far behind, but she stopped to kneel down next to Tidus. "Oh!! Are you alright?" Tidus nodded, spitting out some sand. "Gross..." he said simply, almost child-like.

Rikku slid on her knees to crouch next to Cid, wrapping her arms around him. "Cid!! Oh my God, Cid!!! Are you alright?!" she asked frantically, gaining a muffled "Yeh" from Cid. Looking to Kaioh, Rikku ran a hand through her hair. "Kaioh, are you ok??" she asked as Kaioh slowly sat up. "Nnn... I'm... I'm fine..." she said, brushing the sand off herself. The warmed looks of the young mother made her cheeks flush.

Looking to Cid, her eyes widened. "Cid!! Your chest!" she exclaimed. Cid winced slightly, and leaned back. "I'm fine... No, mom, don't touch it!!!" he cried, as Rikku took a cloth and pressed it tightly against him. "Don't be silly. We have to make sure the blood doesn't keep flowing." She insisted, her eye brows furrowed into her deep, emerald eyes. Slowly, Lulu's fire devoured any debris that threatened. When that was all settled, everyone ran to the youths. "Kaioh! Kaioh!! You're gonna be okay, yah!" Wakka shouted, scooping her up in his arms. The thirteen year old coughed a dry cough, rubbing her eyes with one hand. Looking up at her foster father, she sighed, letting her cheek hit his broad chest.