(I think this is an interesting chapter. In the game you see the battle start and run through the middle of it in a cinematic, but you never actually get to fight in it, or see the other characters fighting. Well, in this chapter you will.)
Chapter 30:
Galbadia Garden’s gigantic courtyard screamed with the sounds of clashing weapons and battle cries of students and soldiers alike. Explosions caused by motors erupted from time to time as the battle raged on. Tylor and the others were leading the attack, fighting for their home. Tylor had a policy during battle not to kill another human being, but he had to let it slide just this once. This was war, and during war it was either you or them.
Tylor and Irvine stood back-to-back in the midst of battle. Irvine shot down oncoming enemies with his gun while Tylor did the same with his magic. Irvine shouted over his shoulder. “How ya doin’ back there, Tylor?”
“Just fine! The count is 23!”
Irvine smiled as he shot another soldier. “25!” Irvine and Tylor had made a competition out of the battle to see who could kill the most enemies.
Tylor yelled, “Blizzaga!” A giant crystal of ice appeared in the middle of a group of soldiers, knocking a few of them away. He pointed his hand at the ice and shouted, “Thundaga!” A massive bolt of lightning struck the giant crystal of ice, blowing it to pieces. It made a good explosion that killed a few of the soldiers from the impact, and piercing the rest with large shards of ice. Tylor smiled and shouted over his shoulder, “28!”
“Hey, that’s cheating!”
“You’re the one with the gun, stop your complaining.” Tylor laughed as he cast a few Fira spells into the mass of enemy soldiers.
Tylor saw Selphie fighting among the chaos. She used her nunchaku to fight the wave of enemies flooding around her. She swung her weapon around with perfection and grace. The enemies were closing in, and Tylor knew she wasn’t good enough to fight off that many soldiers at once.
Tylor shouted over his shoulder, “Cover me!” Irvine nodded.
Tylor had kept both hands free to cast spells out of each. He grabbed Apocalypse from it strap and held out his other hand at the soldiers in front of him. “Aero!” An updraft of wind appeared and flung Galbadian soldiers into the air, creating a path for him.
Tylor began to run down the clearing he had made to help Selphie. The remaining soldiers tried to stop him, but Irvine shot them as they came, keeping the path open for Tylor.
Tylor lunged at the soldier that was about to strike Selphie from behind and slashed his arm. The soldier fell limply to the ground. He kept his back to Selphie’s as they fought off the soldiers.
“Thought you could use some help.” Tylor said.
Selphie looked over her shoulder and said, “Thanks.”
Tylor saw an enemy running up to Selphie as she looked at him. A look passed along her face at the same time but he didn’t have enough time to worry about it. Tylor grabbed Selphie’s arm and swung her behind him so he could get between her and the soldier.
He slashed the soldier across the chest, effectively killing him. Tylor heard a loud crack from behind. He looked over his shoulder and saw a soldier lying at Selphie’s feet. His helmet had a very large dent in the side. Selphie must have seen an enemy coming at Tylor when he was looking the other way and did the same thing he did.
Tylor was about to thank her when a battle cry tore him away. A soldier was rushing him. He lifted his sword and brought it down on the enemy before he could react. Another enemy was coming from his right. He shouted over his shoulder at Selphie. “Nunchaku!” Selphie swung her weapon over her shoulder. Tylor caught it and flung it into the soldier’s head while Selphie blasted another with a Fira spell.
Tylor swung the nunchaku over his shoulder and into Selphie’s hand and said, “Go help Irvine. I’m going to go check on the others. When you get the chance, get into the building.”
“Got it!”
Tylor grabbed Armageddon from its strap and ran into the mass of enemy soldier, slashing and hacking his way through the chaos. He saw Quistis amongst the ocean of soldiers. She swayed elegantly with every attack, her whip ripping through the enemies’ armour like paper.
A sword swung at him from his side. Tylor parried it with one sword and countered with the other. He took his place behind Quistis like he had with Selphie and Irvine.
Quistis shouted, “Having fun?” She whipped another enemy as she said it.
Tylor slashed both his swords in a criss-cross motion at another enemy as he said, “You bet!”
They heard a very familiar “BOOYA, BABY!!!” in the distance. Tylor and Quistis looked at each other and nodded. They both knew it had to be Zell, and he was enjoying himself, too.
One of the soldiers that were facing Tylor had begun to cast a spell while he was distracted. Quistis caught on and moved in front of Tylor. She held out her arms and yelled, “Reflect!” A green barrier appeared in front of them as a bolt of lightning shot out of the soldier’s hand. The attack bounced off and struck the enemy in the chest.
“Thanks,” Tylor said. “Now let’s go help Zell!”
As they fought their way through Tylor saw something flying over the battlefield. It was one of those metal suit things that they saw during their first visit to Galbadia Garden after the incident in Timber. These suits had also been used when the enemy had broken through the windows into the classroom in Balamb Garden.
A line hung from the bottom of the suit as two figures struggled to knock each other off and stay on themselves. One of the figures was a Galbadian soldier, the other was Squall.
Quistis noticed it, too. She yelped, “Squall!”
A soldier had moved up to attack her. Tylor pushed her aside and parried the enemy’s sword, knocking it aside and striking down his chest. Tylor told Quistis, “He can handle himself, let’s focus on the battle!” She nodded and together they continued to fight through the sea of screams and explosions.
They found Zell literally tossing around enemy soldiers like rag dolls. One would attack, he would hit the enemy, then grab him and throw him into somebody else. He fought like a well-oiled machine, one that ran on hyper-activity.
Tylor and Quistis both cast a Thundara spell and struck down an enemy on either side of Zell before they all put their backs to each other. Zell yelled over his shoulder, “This is some party, huh!?”
Tylor struck down two more enemies before saying, “You can say that again!”
Zell held out his arm to Tylor. “Give me a lift!”
Tylor plunged one of his swords into the ground to free his hand. He grabbed Zell’s and flung him as hard as he could into the air. Zell landed in a pile of soldiers, hitting one enemy on his way down. He exploded into a flurry of punches and kicks, throwing enemy soldiers one way and another.
Movement from above brought Tylor to look up at the sky. The flying suit was back, this time Squall was holding on to the suit itself and Rinoa was hanging from the line. When the suit was close enough to the ground they jumped off and disappeared into the chaos of battle.
An explosion erupted to their right. A mass of rubble and bodies flew in all directions. Once the smoke cleared they could see a clear path to the building. Through the path he could see Irvine and Selphie already heading for the doors.
Tylor said to Quistis, “Time to go!” She nodded and dashed through the clearing. Tylor yelled at Zell, who had been doing a good job at reducing the number of enemies to fight. “Zell! Let’s go!” Zell finished off the enemy he was fighting with one powerful punch to the jaw before joining Tylor. They followed Quistis into the building.
They all met up in one of the main halls of Galbadia Garden. The only sound that echoed through these quiet halls were the muffled sounds of battle coming from outside.
Irvine came up to Tylor, rubbing the end of his sawn-off shotgun with his thumb. “And the final count… 48.” He had a rather pleased look on his face.
Tylor smiled back. “50.” That wiped the smile off Irvine’s face, it made him laugh.
Zell stepped in. “50? You guys suck!”
Tylor and Irvine gave him an unpleasant look. “How many did you get?” Irvine asked.
Zell smiled and rubbed his nose. “83.”
Quistis sighed. “Leave it to men to turn everything into a competition.”
“You said it.” Selphie said.
Squall and Rinoa came in a few minutes later. Selphie yelped in surprised, “Rinoa!” They all came up to her.
“You’re here!” Zell exclaimed.
Quistis asked, “Are you alright?”
She nodded. “I’m just fine. Squall saved me.”
“Well, it’s good to see you’re both OK.” Tylor said.
Irvine said, “The sorceress should be here somewhere.”
Squall walked to the front of the group. “Forget about the past! She’s our enemy now! Don’t think twice for a second. There’s no way we can fight her like that. I, for one, can’t. She chose to fight and became our enemy. We choose to fight back. We have no choice. At least I’d like to think so. We’ve come this far. I guess there’s no need for me to say anything.”
Rinoa walked up to him. “We’re still listening. Squall, we want to know how you feel.”
Squall sighed and said, “I’ll tell you later… After we all get out of this. Let’s go.”
