(Sorry for the half-ass job on the boss battle. But hey, if any of you have any suggestions on how to make a fight between two giant squids more exciting be my guest. Also, for those of you who actually read this story, chapter 1 somehow disappeared from the archieve. For this reason I post all my work in my blog so it's easier to find and safer from being deleted.)

Chapter 23:

An hour later they arrived at Balamb Garden’s front gate. Everything seemed peaceful so far. The missiles hadn’t arrived yet.

“Hey, looks like everything’s alright!” Rinoa said.

“Don’t be fooled, Rinoa.” Tylor told her. “Just because everything looks OK doesn’t mean we’re not all in danger.”

“Tylor’s right.” Squall said, “We have to report to the headmaster.”

“Lead the way, Squall.”

In the courtyard the saw many students running around in a panic. A Garden faculty member was shouting at them. “Don’t stop until you find him! Seize him! Kill him if you have to!”

“Tylor, what’s going on?” Quistis asked.

“What makes you think I know?”

“Well, you keep telling everyone you’re psychic.”

“Oh yeah.” Tylor explained the situation as they headed further into Balamb Garden. “Garden has split into two factions. One faction is commanding the students to find and kill Cid. The other is made up of SeeD and is trying to protect him.”

“But, why do they want to kill Cid? And who’s commanding that faction?” Rinoa asked.

“I can’t tell you just yet. But, we’ll find out soon enough.”

A faculty member spotted them and approached them. “You four, which side are you on?” Squall stayed silent for a moment. “Answer the question! Are you with the Garden Master, or are you with Cid!?”

Tylor brought out Apocalypse and said, “We’re on the side that’s about to kick your ass!”

“What!? You’re with Cid, aren’t you?” He blew a whistle and called forth two monsters. “NORG is the true ruler of the Garden!” He ran off and left them to deal with the monsters.

Tylor and Squall attacked at the same time, cutting down each monster. As quickly as the fight started, it was over.

“What was that all about?” Squall asked as he put away his gunblade.

“There’s no time to explain, he have to find Cid!” Together they made their way to the lobby.

They found Fujin and Raijin standing at the Garden’s map. “Hey, you’re back!”

“What’s going on here?” Squall asked.

“I dunno.” Raijin told them, “At first, they were sayin’ somethin’ ‘bout roundin’ up the SeeDs, ya know!? Now, everyone’s either sidin’ with the Garden Master or the headmaster and fightin’ everywhere, ya know!?”

“Disturbing.”

“Disappointin’ for the disciplinary committee. All our work for nothin’, ya know!?”

“Why are SeeDs being targeted? And where’s the headmaster? Is he safe?”

“We got no clue.”

“We need to see him right away. It’s important.”

“Galbadian missiles are heading this way.” Tylor told them.

“WHAT!? We gotta get outta here!” Fujin kicked Raijin in the shin. “OUCH! Geez, alright! We’ll warn everyone about the missiles! Man, this is no time to be fightin’, ya know!?”

“We’ll go look for the headmaster.” Squall told them.

“Caution!”

“Yeah, the fightin’ is intense everywhere! And watch out for those Garden Master goons, ya know!”

“Hey, who do you support?” Rinoa asked.

Quistis added, “Are you with the headmaster or the Garden Master?”

“Hey, jus’ like Fujin said, ya know!? We’re with Seifer. Always have, always will.” They ran off to help spread the word of the oncoming missile attack.

“We have to find Xu, she’ll know where Cid is.” Tylor told them. “But, if we look together it’ll take too long. We have to split up.”

“Agreed.” Squall looked at Quistis and Rinoa. “You two, look for Xu on the main floor. Help as many people as you can on the way. Tylor and I will look on the second floor.”

Quistis looked at Tylor. “Are you going to be OK? Maybe you shouldn’t fight, Tylor.”

“I only need one arm to hold a sword. I’ll be fine.”

They went their separate ways. Quistis and Rinoa ran through the lobby toward the Infirmary while Squall and Tylor got into the elevator. Once they were on the second floor they began searching for Xu. It didn’t take too long to find her. She was helping to protect junior students in one of the classrooms.

She saw them approaching. “Whose side are you on!?”

“Neither.” Squall told her. “We have urgent news. We need to see the headmaster now. Where is he?”

Tylor assured her, “There isn’t much time left. You can trust us, Xu.”

She eased down. “OK, I’m listening.”

“Galbadian missiles are heading this way.”

“Here!?”

“You have to take us to Cid.” Tylor told her.

“Alright. I’ll inform him right away.”

“Where is he?” Squall asked.

“In his office. We made it look like he’s hiding, but he’s been there all along. Follow me.” They followed her to the elevator and rode it up to Cid’s office. Xu stopped them before they entered. “I have to tell him, wait here.” She went into Cid’s office. A few moments later she came out and said, “He’s waiting for you. I’ll go tell everyone to evacuate.” She rode the elevator down to the lobby.

Tylor and Squall entered Cid’s office. As soon as they entered they saluted. “Sir.”

“Xu has told me about the missiles.” Cid told them. “The intercom is down so we can’t announce the order to evacuate.”

“Quistis, Rinoa, Xu, Raijin, and Fujin are taking care of that.” Squall told him.

“I want you to assist them and then evacuate.”

“But I have a lot to report.” Squall insisted.

“You can tell me later. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Sir, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to stay here and see this to the end. After all, this place is like my home.”

Tylor interrupted, “Sir, you do realize that would be suicide, don’t you?”

“You can rest assured. I am just going to try something. There still may be a way to save the Garden.” Cid fell weakly to his knees.

Tylor grabbed his arm and helped him back up. “Sir, are you OK?”

“Heh heh… I’m too old for this.”

“Sir, I’d like to handle whatever it is that you’re planning.” Squall announced.

“And why is that?”

“My feelings have nothing to do with it, sir.”

“Heh heh, Quistis was right. You do have a hard time expressing your feelings.”

“Sir! Please tell me your plan!”

“This building used to be a shelter, long before it was remodelled into the Garden as we know it.” Cid tossed him a key. “Use that key to open the lock on the elevator. Opening the lock will give you access to the MD level. Rumour has it that further below the MD level, there is some kind of a control system. It was used when this place was still a shelter, so I’ve never seen it, and I have no idea what it does. All I know is that it was used for the shelter, so it might prove effective against the missiles. That’s what I’m betting on.”

Squall saluted. “I understand. I’ll find the control system and check it out.”

“Squall, I’m coming with you.”

“Your arm is broken, you should stay here and protect the headmaster.”

Tylor smiled. “Hey, you can’t get rid of me that easily. I’m coming with you whether you like it or not.”

“Good luck to both of you.”

Squall and Tylor left the office and got into the elevator. Squall put the key in a slot on the control panel and turned it. Before long they were on their way into the MD level.

The elevator suddenly shook and the lights went out. A few moments later an emergency light turned on. Squall started pressing the down button on the elevator, but it made no response.

“The elevator’s stuck, Tylor. We’ll have to find another way down.” He turned to see Tylor already lifting up the elevator’s escape hatch.

“You coming or what?”

One after another they climbed down the elevator shaft on a service ladder. It was difficult for Tylor to climb with only one arm, but he managed. As they climbed, Squall said, “Tylor?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you really think the control system we’re looking for will save Balamb Garden from the missiles?”

“Without a doubt.”

“Do you know what it does?”

“Yes, but you’ll have to wait and see for yourself.”

They were almost at a large air duct when the elevator jerked violently above. They hurried into the air duct just in time to avoid being crushed by the elevator.

Lights flickered on and off in the duct. They saw a hatch with a large handle on the floor. It hadn’t been used for decades so they had to work together to open it. Once it was open they jumped down into the pipeline below.

“An oil stratum…”

“If this pipeline is used for oil, logic would denote that the monsters down here would be weak against fire.”

“Right, but we should still be careful. We don’t want to set this whole place on fire by accident.”

“Right.”

As they went further into the stratum they found a ladder leading to the lower levels. They reached a dead end.

“Now what do we do?”

Tylor looked at the floor. It seemed as though the floor was built as a giant hatch. He pointed to a nearby door. “In there, there’s a valve that opens the floor. We need to turn it if we want to go any further.”

They entered the room. Sure enough, there was a large valve inside. Tylor grabbed it with his one arm and tried to turn it, but it was stuck in place. “Squall, I need some help.”

Together they pulled on the valve with all their might. Pretty soon it gave in and began to turn. As they turned the valve they could here something moving just outside the room.

Once they left the room the large hatch in the floor had opened, revealing another ladder into the passage below.

The ladder led them to a catwalk in a gigantic room with large turbines lining the walls. As they got to the bottom they noticed they had stumbled onto another dead end. The catwalk had led them to a circular floor with a large pillar in the middle.

As they looked around they found a ladder attached to the central pillar. “Where does this ladder go?” Squall asked. They followed it with their eyes and saw that it led to a small room above the turbines.

“Well, looks like we have some more climbing to do.”

Squall looked at the ladder. “This ladder doesn’t look very stable. Only one of us should go.”

“I’ll go, you wait here.”

Tylor began climbing the ladder. As he climbed he noticed a considerable amount of rust rubbing off of the ladder and onto his hand. As he approached the catwalk about the ladder suddenly broke and began to fall. Tylor turned and jumped through the room’s window. The ladder landed against the window. As he brushed the glass from his body he noticed the catwalk falling apart. “Well, that was close.”

He looked around and found a glowing monitor. He went up to his and examined the consul. There were no buttons, instead there was a switch. Tylor turned the switch and waited as another passage opened below.

When Tylor came back down Squall asked, “Are you OK?”

“Just peachy. Now let’s go, we don’t have much time left.”

They looked around and saw a small gate at the edge of the platform. Squall unlocked it and moved it aside. Together they climbed down another ladder. A lake of oil surrounded the platform they now stood on. At the end of the platform they saw a closed gate, which they needed to open in order to get through. Tylor saw a nearby switch. When he pulled it to one side the gate opened.

“Be careful, this isn’t over yet.” Tylor cautioned.

Together they walked across the bridge leading to the gate. They oil around the platform splashed as two squid-like creatures jumped out and blocked their path. Squall brought out his gunblade and Tylor retrieved Armageddon from its strap.

“We don’t have time for this!” Squall yelled.

“We can’t get through until we kill them. Let’s finish this quickly!” One of the creatures started to make strange sounds as it shot a stream of oil at them. “Look out!” They jumped out of the way just in time.

Tylor went after the creature on the left. He rushed up to the monster and slashed his sword along the side of its body. It screeched in pain as it started bleeding oil.

Tylor jumped back to get some distance before casting a spell. He plunged Armageddon into the ground and held out his hand. “Firaga!”

A ball of fire shot out of his hand and hit the creature, exploding on impact. It screeched and flailed about as the fire, fuelled by the oil, burnt its flesh away.

Squall had caught on and used a Fire spell to take out the other creature. Once the monsters were dead, Squall said, “We have to hurry. They might be coming any minute now.”

“The control system is in the next room.” Tylor said.

“How do you know?”

“I just do, now come on!”

Using a ladder they climbed down to the room with the control system. It was dark and dust covered everything. A giant turbine stood in the middle of the room. It was unlike any of the other turbines they saw on their way down.

“Looks like we’re here…” Squall stated.

“Yup. Now all that’s left is to turn it on.”

“And how do we do that?”

“Start pressing random buttons until it does something?” Squall’s eyes narrowed at his suggestion. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. What else can we do? Now step aside.”

Tylor went up to the control panel and did exactly what he said, pressing random buttons. He noticed a switch in the centre of the consul. He turned it, but nothing happened. He turned it again, but still nothing happened.

“Do you know what you’re doing, Tylor?”

Tylor started switching it over and over again. It was a wonder it didn’t break right there in his hand.

The ground began to shake violently as the gears in the turbine started to turn. Electricity sparked here and there on the machine as the shaking worsened. All of a sudden, they were lifted up into the air. The platform moved faster and faster after each second. In a flash of light they were lifted through the ceiling and above the headmaster’s office.

When the platform locked into place Tylor looked around. Headmaster Cid was sitting on the floor next to him. The platform must have picked him up on its way up. Through the giant windows in Cid’s office they could see Balamb Garden starting to change. The giant ring that hung above the Garden began to rotate and go down. As it did the Garden’s structure morphed. The whole school emitted a blinding flash of blue light when the ring reached the bottom, completing the transformation. Balamb Garden was now a floating fortress.

Squall pointed ahead. “The missiles!” Twelve missiles approached from the sea at an alarming rate.

The Garden began to move on its own, just barely avoiding the missiles. A few of the missiles passed by the cockpit as they made contact with their intended target location.

A giant explosion erupted behind them, veiling the entire school in a cloud of dust. The Garden drove out of the dust and across the surrounding landscape. As it moved it floated just above the treetops of the forests below.

“We’re moving!?” Squall exclaimed.

Tylor started jumping around in excitement. “Alright! That was awesome! Let’s do it again!”

Headmaster Cid got to his feet. “I see… So this is the secret… I wonder what’s going on outside?”

Tylor started tugging on Squall’s arm. “Come on, Squall! Let’s get a better look!”

He pulled him to the cockpit’s elevator and rode it down to Cid’s office. Rinoa and Quistis were waiting for them. “What is going on!?” Quistis asked.

Rinoa added, “It feels like we’re moving.”

“I’ll show you, follow me!” Tylor ran out of the room and into the elevator. The others followed and together they went to the second floor. He had never been so exhilarated about anything in his life. He couldn’t wait to see what it was like outside.

Tylor was out of the elevator as soon as the door open. The others tried to keep up with him but it was hard. “What’s gotten into him?” Rinoa asked.

“I don’t know…”

“It seems a little odd to be excited over almost being blown up.” Quistis added.

“I’ve stopped caring about what’s odd ever since the Garden started moving on its own.” Squall said.

They went to the balcony at the end of the hall. The door was marked with a red light. Tylor stopped to see the others straggling behind. “Hurry up!” Without waiting for them he climbed the stairs to the balcony above.

Quistis said, “What I’d like to know is how he can run so fast with those swords on his back!”

The outside was beautiful. The sky was clear and seagulls flew beside the balcony. The wind blew gently against their skin as they listened to the soft hum of the engine moving Balamb Garden.

“Wow,” Tylor thought. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before. If weren’t on a collision course for the town of Balamb I’d stay here all day. Wait, we’re on a collision course for the town of Balamb!!!”

Tylor ran back into the Garden. As he left Quistis said, “There he goes again.”

He ran as fast as he could down the hall, almost smashing into a few panic stricken students along the way. He ran past Xu on his way back to the headmaster’s office. “Tylor!” He stopped and faced her. “Tylor, it’s the headmaster!”

“I know! Squall and the others are on their way, you need to tell them too.”

“Right!”

Tylor was already hard at work pounding on the control system to make it respond when Squall and the others arrived.

Cid told him, “Squall! The controls aren’t responding! I don’t know what to do!”

Tylor looked over his shoulder. “If we don’t turn this baby around we’ll run right through town!”

“No way! Can’t we do something!?” Rinoa asked.

“I’ve been pounding on this piece of junk until you guys came, and it’s not doing a goddam thing!”

Squall pushed Tylor out of the way and started pressing random buttons on the consul. The Garden suddenly shook, causing Tylor to trip and fall on the floor.

“Now what!?” Quistis shouted.

Tylor used the consul to pull himself up. “We’re turning! Way to go, Squall!”

Rinoa shouted, “Oh my gosh! We’re gonna crash into the sea!”

“Everybody, hold onto something!” Cid yelled.

The Garden jerk forward as it drove into the water. The force of the movement almost sent Tylor over the front of the consul. Everyone held onto something and waited for it all to stop.

A few moments later they were floating gently through the ocean. It was over, Balamb Garden was in one piece and everybody inside was OK.

“…Phew. Squall, everyone, a job well done. I think the worst is behind us for now.” Cid told them.

“…Where are we heading?” Squall asked.

“We’ll drift along for the time being… until we figure out how to manoeuvre the Garden.”

Tylor looked at the control system. “Good luck trying to get this rusty old piece of scrap metal to work.”

“So, it looks like we can finally relax for a while and spend some time considering what to do next.” Cid laughed. “So much for my room, now where am I going to sleep?”

Everyone laughed with him.