FFXIII: ROB's Wheel c83

“Shoot! Shoot!”

The leading PSICOM officer motioned to shoot the moment the sealed steel doors dropped inwards.

A swarm of bullets rushed towards the invaders, but all of them froze in a crystal wall!

“Damn, that l’Cie!”

“How about… no?” The crystal wall shattered, and all of the crystal glass-like shards rushed towards the soldiers.

“Ugh…”

“Aghh!!!”

“N-No!!! SPARE ME! Ugh!!!”

All of them dropped on the floor in a bloody mess. Seconds later, Alex walked in, followed by vigilant Lightning, who was looking around for any more threats.

“Relax. There is only one person in the front. From his rapid heartbeat, I can tell that he was terrified.”

The Virus Progenitor pointed at the front.

“...You can feel heartbeats?” She looked surprised for a second.

“Electricity.” He lifted his hand and showed white lightning crackling around his hand.

“It can create a magnetic field. I can sense things inside the field.” He explained to her. 

“...Is that something a l’Cie can do?” She asked after looking around.

She did see a tattoo on the back of his hand. So she considers him a l’Cie.

“Electrokinesis. My brain produces electricity, which I can manipulate.”

One of her eyebrows perked up when she heard that. She looked at him strangely.

“Yes, I know. My tattoo is not a brand. It's what allows me to extract souls and use them as void weapons.

The name of this power is called ‘Power of the Kings’ or, as the people call it ‘Guilty Crown’.”

“...Right, for now, we should focus on taking over the train.” She ignored the magic mumbo jumbo and walked towards the front of the train.

Alex snorted in amusement. This was so like her. That ignore is cute enough for him to forget her rudeness. 

Lightning opened the doors, and more bullets came her way. She swiftly went to the side to cover.

“Leave that to me.” 

He ignored the bullets coming his way.

The pinkette lifted her hand to stop him, but to her surprise, caught the bullets coming his way!

His hands moved so fast that he could capture incoming rounds!

‘...T-That’s…’

She is certain that even l’Cie can’t do that!

Eventually, she saw him walk to the driver, who was pale like paper.

“How about continuing to drive to Hanging Edge for us? I am pretty certain that was your original job.” Alex asked him while showing him his palm full of bullets. He dropped them on the floor.

The driver looked at the floor before looking at the black-haired monster standing before him.

Eventually, he stiffly nodded at the ‘request’ after dropping his pistol on the ground.

“That’s my buddy!” Alex patted his shoulder. A bit of static electricity entered the driver, who paled, realising what could happen to him if he didn’t agree!

After ‘persuading’ the driver, the White Dragon Emperor host left the driver's cabin and saw Lightning leaning against the wall, twirling a survival knife in her hand.

“Well? Did you persuade him?” 

She asked him after seeing that he left the cabin.

“Yep. Though, I don’t think our arrival will be a smooth one.” 

“That is given the garrison in Hanging Edge most likely already waiting for this train. I can guarantee they will try to blow us off the tracks the moment we arrive in the area.” She said with a snort before pocketing her knife.

“Yes, I can see that happen.” He shrugged before beginning to walk towards the doors.

Lightning looked at him for a second. All that firepower he has would be a valuable asset to her in the quest to save her sister.

However, she has no idea who he is or even his name!

“Are you coming?” He stopped walking and looked at her.

“...I do have an objective in Hanging Edge.” She sighed while beginning to open up about herself.

“So does everyone on this train.” He rolled his eyes at her.

“My objective is Pulse Fal’Cie.” 

“Great, so is mine.” 

Her eyes perked up when she heard that.

“...Are you Cocoon’s l’Cie? No… if you were, then PSICOM wouldn’t have opened fire on you.” The pinkette pondered out loud.

“Yeah, I am not l’Cie. I am a traveller from outside Cocoon. You could say I- we ended up at the wrong time and place in Bodhum.” He clarified that he wasn’t the only one from outside the floating ‘paradise’.

His explanation stopped her train of thought. She looked at him weirdly.

“...You are from Pulse!?” 

“Even further than that.” He pointed at the weapon she was holding.

“The power to make these is something impossible in this world.

While the magic of l’Cie is versatile, it’s nothing like this. What you are holding is a creation of bioengineering.”

Her gaze went to the weapon she was holding.

“This is crafted through bio-engineering?” She didn’t believe it at all.

“Indeed. Gene manipulation via studying a virus. I picked it up in a world before arriving at this one.” He explained with a small smile.

“...Another world…”

She pondered what this could mean. 

‘If he truly is a traveller like that…’ 

Lightning quickly realised what this could mean. However, she promptly brushed that idea aside. She needs to save Serah first!

“Then what is your objective in this place?” Since he is an outsider, his goals and understanding of the world differ from hers, so she needs a general idea of what he wants from her world.

“We arrived here to test out our new powers. There are quite a few animals and things to fight here. But before that could happen, we had this situation.” He motioned at his surroundings, telling her his original ‘plan’ derailed thanks to this purge thing.

“I see.” She slowly nodded before suggesting.

“In that case, you can follow me if you are looking for opponents. My sister has been branded the enemy of Cocoon in its entirety.

And I am going to rescue her. What do you say? Not getting cold feet?” She asked with a small smirk, goading him to follow her.

“You jest. Those odds are just right.” He chuckled at the odds.

“A boastful one. We will see how long that will last.” She snorted before leaving the carriage.

Alex’s smirked behind her. He can sense that the pinkette in front of him slightly calmed down. 

Gaining some allies helped her with her mental state.

~~~

“Alex, the back of the train is secured.” Julis and Inori walked over. They saw Alex with another pinkette. The princess quickly noticed that this new girl had a Void Weapon.

She looked at her boyfriend for a second before sighting.

“I can assume that you are joining us on this trip.” 

“...you can say that. Think of me as your tour guide.” Lightning sarcastically joked.

“Good enough because this place is confusing for me.” Julis slightly nodded, ignoring sarcasm as the situation was dire enough for that.

“We should be arriving there soon,” Alex commented from the side as he looked away from them and towards the front. There were no windows since it was a military train, but he could sense the surroundings.

“... we will fight again?” Inori asked him.

“Yes, you can let loose once we are there.” 

The silent girl slowly nodded as she looked at her hands, transforming into blades.

‘Do they all wield crystals?’ Lightning wondered if this was some sort of ability of their species.

Moments later, the train shook as they just slammed into something.

“Like I said… they are waiting for us.” Lightning clenched her new weapon.

She quickly walked to the doors. With her new weapon, she destroyed the control mechanism and opened them wide. 

The girl looked around. The first thing she saw was a bunch of bridges all over the place. They were at the top of Cocoon, which means that the fall down is…very long. 

But what got her attention was fighting happening all over the place.

The people of Bodhum were fighting against PSICOM troops.

However, it was a losing fight against much better-equipped forces.

Then… some aerial units noticed the train and rushed towards them.

Lightning pulled back and looked at Alex.

“...rocket launcher!”

The Virus Progenitor summoned his phone and quickly got the weapon out for her.

The ex-military girl pointed at incoming enemies and shot, taking out one of the fighters.

However, there were more on their way.

“I need another one. There are quite a bit of them coming our way.” 

Before Alex could give another rocket, Julis looked at Alex.

“Use your Balance Breaker to take the heat off the train. From what the place looks like, we are in a very high location. If the bridge is destroyed, the whole thing will tumble down.” The pink princess suggested a different solution to the current issue.

“...Yeah, great idea.”

Alex took a couple of steps and got in front, confused Lightning.

“I will take the heat off the train while you, girls, figure out the best position to stop it.”

As he said that, he motioned for the confused girl to get out of his way.

In the next second, with a burst of white light, a pair of white wings appeared on his back.

[BALANCE BREAKER!!!]

White armour encased him, making him much taller. He jumped out of the train with a simple kick and rushed towards the approaching futuristic fighters.

“...” 

Lightning swiftly looked at what was happening. She saw him dismantle those fighter crafts like they were made from paper!

‘With his speed and those sword hands, he is a menace!’ 

She realised that with the ability to fly… this guy was unstoppable! 

“Right, we need to stop—”

TREMBLE

The train abruptly began to shake and then derail!

“The emergency stop! They forced the train to stop with the magnetic fields on the tracks!” Lightning exclaimed as she needed to hold herself.

The other pinkettes simply used their crystals to do that.

The train began to slip off the track.

“Inori, how is your crystal manipulation?” Julis suggested an idea as she was thinking of a means of rescuing the train from its doom.

“...If we work together, we could lift it…” The younger girl replied as she knew what the fellow ‘Eve’ had in mind.

“Good then, let’s do it.”

As she moved towards the train doors, a pair of burning crystal wings manifested on Julis' back.

“It would be easier if we could synchronise with Alex…” Inori remembered that they could link with Alex for a massive power boost.

“We will need to do it without him, " the team's Fire user replied with a grimace. Yes, she saw what they could do when they worked in synchronisation. She is certain that the entire Tokyo saw that light show.

Inori slowly nodded instead of using wings. She cast a thin glass-like layer on which she could stand. 

It was a move Julis watched with interest! It looked like this girl could run on air!

As the pair left the carriage, they rushed towards the bridge. Lightning followed them, but she used more conventional means to get there.

‘I wonder if other people can learn the stuff they are wielding…’

The Ex-Military pinkette wondered as she watched how these three guys have the power to do incredible things.

As Julis and Inori landed on the bridge, they ‘changed.’ Julis' hair turned lighter as she got several strands of white hair, and her pupils turned rhombus-shaped. The same was true for Inori. Soon enough, crystals emerged from the bridge; even the air crystalised, capturing the train and then pushing it up.

“Tell people to leave the train as soon as possible. We will crystalise as much as possible. It should get enough time for them to evacuate!” Julis' voice sent chills down Lightning’s back as she got goosebumps just from listening to her speak. Whatever was this ‘power-up’, it was… inhuman.

“On it.” 

Lightning swiftly went to the closest door and used her new weapon to open it.

She quickly slipped inside and began to order the people to leave.