Ezio, Tifa, Aerith & Yuna

[Elario Luminus]

Squall nodded to Zack. 'Good luck. Be prepared for anything. And I mean anything.'
Turning to Rinoa, he gave her a swift kiss on the cheek and a squeeze of her hand.
Be careful, my Angel.
You too, Sir Leonhart.
Squall and Rinoa smiled at each other, then headed towards different portals. These portals shimmered closed after they walked through.

Squall stepped out into a large arena, gunblade in his hand. Silver eyes scanned the expanse of the moonlit field. There were rock formations everywhere around him, and he thought he could hear the crystalline clutter of several Imitations incoming. Deciding not to wait, Squall adopted a steady walking pace in what he figured would be North. After walking around a cylindrical rock formation, the SeeD Commander was set upon by half a dozen Imitations...but none of them were of him. He could see two copies of Zack, one of Yuna, one of Aerith, one of Tidus and the last of Rinoa. Laughing, they charged the SeeD.

Rinoa came out of her own portal, wings unfurled and Vanishing Star, her gunblade, in her hand. She was put into a place that was a bright, luminous green all around her, with a large platform in the centre, and then above her were streams of green, and rocks she supposed she'd be able to stand on. Without warning, a blast of pure energy roared past the Sorceress' head. Launching herself into the air, Rinoa searched for her attacker, and spotted an Imitation of Ultimecia. Growling, Rinoa set herself against her opponent.

[The Painted Lady]

((Should we play our copies too?))

[Elario Luminus]

((The copies don't really talk...they just make noises during battle, likes yells, screams, etc. etc.. In Dissidia, the only characters that talk are the playable characters. And Cosmos and Chaos.))

[The Painted Lady]

((Okie dokes, so we'll just control the actions of the copies pitted against us, yeah?))

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack watched as Rinoa and Squall parted, his heart sinking. He knew that there was NO way he was parting from Aerith.
"Come on." He murmured to her, choosing a portal and gently steering her towards it, "We fight together or not at all."

Tifa watched as the others moved off, turning to face Cloud with fear filled eyes.
"We'll meet up soon, right?" She asked, not exhibiting the same stubbornness as Zack, she realised that parting was probably necessary for them to achieve.

[Yuna Braska]

Cloud watched Zack, his best friend, move into a portal with Aerith. Even though Cloud could make an objection to the parting he knew that perhaps it will be a quicker battle if they were to separate. He gave Tifa a loving smile, unsheathing his sword before making his way to a portal.
"Definitely" he replied to her.

Yuna tightened her grip on her husbands hand, she knew she had to be strong but she was finding it hard to let go. "I don't want to separate again... i want to fight with you" Yuna asked looking up to Tidus.

[The Painted Lady]

Aerith looked up to Zack anxiously and nodded her head, kissing his cheek quickly.
"I've got your back..."

Tidus paused, squeezing Yuna's hand back tightly.
"If Aerith and Zack can do it, so can we," he agreed, despite not knowing if there would be repercussions for their actions.
"Let's go," he said quietly.

[Elario Luminus]

((That's right, Aerith. Just control what they do, and make use of any guttural screams they may or may not make. Remember, the copies will sound like a distorted version of who they're copied from.))

Cosmos watched them all depart with a smile. She knew there would be hope so long as they held fast to the fight before them.
'Good luck.'

Squall blocked the barrage of bullets the Yuna Imitation fired at him quickly, while diving and flipping away from the spells the copy of Rinoa launched at him. He saw that they were kind of transparent, which was unusual of the crystalline Imitations to be. Then, he heard a light, but at the same time rough, female voice chanting, and the SeeD turned to see the Aerith Imitation giving the others more strength. On either side of it were the Zack copies, alert eyes watching Squall. Growling in frustration, Squall kicked himself high into the air, dove down gunblade first through the following Rinoa copy and launched a minor Shockwave at the Yuna Imitation. The Rinoa copy screamed in agony before disintegrating into tiny crystal shards, while the Yuna copy was knocked flat on its back. The Zack Imitations jumped up at Squall, roaring at the Knight in unison, who was matching their battle-cry with his own. Before either could react, Squall sliced through one and blasted the other one with a Flare, before dropping like lead towards the Aerith copy. It got a chance to look up and gasp as the gunblade skewered its medsection, then slumped forward. As it died, the other Imitations, one Zack and the Yuna, regained their solid look. Two quick Flares destroyed them, and Squall headed towards another portal which had opened up.

Rinoa was frustrated in her fight with the Ultimecia Imitation; it matched her spell for spell. The Sorceress knew that, if the copy was anything like the true version, then it'd have protection spells laced all around its body. Annoyingly, this had turned out to be true, and Rinoas gunblade and pinwheel had hardly made direct contact with the skin so far. After a particularly strong attack from the Imitation, Rinoa fluttered back a few dozen meters. She muttered quietly to herself as she readied a new attack of her own.
'I call upon the Heavens...'
She flung her arms down, and a massive beam of light plummeted from the sky into the Imitation, instantly destroying it. The beam dissipated, and Rinoa placed her hands on her hips. She saw the small crater she'd created and nodded, satisfied with her work. A portal opened up nearby, and she went on through, ready for whatever was on the other side.

[Tifa Lockhart]

As Zack emerged from the portal he turned to make sure he still lead Aerith, re-strengthening his grip on her hand. Their surroundings were intimidating to say the least. The ground beneath their feet seemed to be made of orange crystal, and the sky overhead was dark and angry.
"Come on." He whispered to Aerith, beginning to follow the winding crystal path that stretched out before them.

They'd not walked long when a splash of pale blue caught Zack's eye and he was forced to release Aerith's hand and dodge as a large crystalline sword sliced through the air where he'd been standing a moment before. When he was back on his feet again he saw the replica advancing towards him, seemingly ignoring Aerith at this point. It was Cloud, or at least it looked like him.
"Oh so you're first huh? Figures." Zack taunted, pulling out the Buster Sword and readying himself to match blade with blade.

[Yuna Braska]

Cloud emerged from the portal to walk into a large field, the short cut grass carrying on endlessly towards the clouded horizon. There were a few tree's but most of the landscape was layered with emerging rocks from the ground below. To the east was a large row of cliffs as the ground got more undulating.
Cloud still had his hand tight on his buster sword as he scooped the area. A slight sound of what seemed like footsteps began to arise, and cloud turned around to swing his sword swiftly at the imitation. It was like the figures that had appeared back on Gaia but this one was different. This one look exactly like his friend Tidus. The Imitation did not talk, just swing his brotherhood copy at Cloud, moving positions in which to fight from, just like Tidus would do. Cloud deflected each hit though having to keep his eye on the gold imitation was rather difficult. Cloud deflected it's attack again but this time pushing it back away from his for the time being. Cloud readied himself and sprinted towards it dodging it's attacks once again before striking three times, the fourth cutting right through the middle of the copy's chest and shattering it into tiny pieces. Cloud only could rel;ax a second before another copy though this time it was a near white crystal of Rinoa. It had a light blue tinge though. Cloud blocked her spell attacks and tried to draw closer through each set. Eventually he maneuvered to reflect one of it's own spells back and shatter the copy.

Yuna let go of Tidus's hand when they entered a arena, it looked familiar to a blizball stadium but it had a platform walking out to the middle of a round bowl and large pillars spaced randomly, rising from the ground. Yuna walked towards the middle of the platform, her boots making loud taps.
"Do you think anything is here?" Yuna asked

[The Painted Lady]

Tidus frowned.
"One way to find out..."
He had barely unsheathed Brotherhood before they were surrounded by a ring of purple Squalls.
"Let's do this," he grinned to Yuna, squeezing her hand, before letting it go.

Aerith concealed the original panic she felt when she saw Zack moving to attack Cloud's form. She bit her lip, tightening her grip on her staff. She turned away. Just in time too; a fire spell flew past, singeing her cheek. She gasped quietly as the looked up to the green crystalline form that descended before her. It was Yuna's face, but she wore an elegant kimono that Aerith had never seen, and she carried a staff instead of dual pistols. With a quiet noise of surprise, Aerith darted sideways to dodge a bolt of lightning that came from another direction. Now there were two. And she would already see their strategy - separate her from Zack. Taking in a deep breath, she cast a Protect spell over herself. Best to get out of this mostly unscathed...
For Zack's sake.

[Elario Luminus]

Rinoa stepped out of her portal, right into a conflict already in motion. In the distance she could see what looked like Zack fighting a light blue copy of Cloud, and Aerith even further away. There was a shimmer of magic sweeping over the Ancient, and through her Sorceress' eyes, Rinoa could see the workings of a Shell. Frowning slightly, she magically unfurled her wings and silently took to the skies, above the combat. She gave a slight flicker of light at Aerith to signal her presence.

Squall came out of the portal opening, gunblade at the ready. He heard a soft, confident chuckle, but not like one from an Imitation. Next thing he knew, a lightning-fast blade flashed toward him. SeeD training kicking in, the Knight dodged the slash artistically, landing softly on his feet. Turning around, he saw a man in black...long silver hair...even longer silver katana. Squall staggered a little bit as he realised who he was looking at.
'Sephiroth? But you died! Cloud, Zack and I killed you!'
Sephiroth shook his head slowly, turning to face Squall.
'Chaos works in mysterious ways, Squall. It seems he thinks I'm still Cloud's largest threat.'
'And what do you think?'
'Well...I think he's right.'
The ex-SOLDIER lunged forward quickly to strike Squall, but was blocked before Masamune made contact. Squall glared daggers into his opponents eyes.
'That depends on whether or not you can get to him. What damage can a washed-up hero do, anyway?'
That dug deep into Sephiroth, who smirked and pushed Squall away, then pointed his katana at him. 'Your death will be the message I send to Cloud, my little kitten.'
Squall yelled in defiance and lunged at Sephiroth, and their blades connected in a shower of sparks.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack clashed blade for blade with the Cloud replica, cursing their twisted fate that meant his and the blonde's fighting styles were nearly identical.
Time to get creative! He thought, quickly checking over his shoulder to make sure Aerith was OK before he stepped back and swept his sword from the ground up in an unexpected maneuver. The Cloud replica narrowly dodged, sending a flame spell Zack's way. The SOLDIER raised his hand and cast Drain, sucking away the power of the spell and reducing the fireball to a puff of smoke just before it incinerated him.
"Nice try!" He yelled, jumping back from a slash, 'But i'm the genuine article!" He fired off his own firaga spell, watching it impact with the replica and turn it to ash.
Instant sweat broke out across Zack's face as he watched the fake Cloud burn, I... don't think i'll be able to handle doing that too often... it looks too much like him. He then turned, eyes seeking out Aerith again. She'd been drawn a fair way away, but the SOLIDIER moved quickly to try and catch back up to her.

Tifa was in an empty room, its dark crystal pillars rising high above her head.
"Hello?" She called, moving forward anxiously, but there was no one to be seen. strange... She thought as she continued through the barren halls, completely on alert for an attack.

[Yuna Braska]

Yuna smiled at Tidus' confidence. " I'll be right behind you" She called before quickly pulling out her pistols and shooting one of the Squall imitations in the knee cap, making it fumble to the ground. She made sure that some of the copies stayed beck by using a powerful single shot to propel them further away. Yuna ran up behind Tidus and whistled to his. "Give me a lift?" She asked preparing herself.

Through the next portal, Cloud found himself in another area by himself. There was no one around as far as he could see, no imitations and none of his friends. Cloud gave a sigh and continued to walk through the unusually built building.

[The Painted Lady]

((Is that the real Sephy, Ezio? Cos I thought I was Sephy xD ))

Tidus slashed around in a circle, taking out three Imitation Squalls at once with his sword as he heard Yuna whistle. He grinned, sheathing Brotherhood and dropping to one knee with his hands held together to give her a leg-up.

Aerith gave a quiet cry of alarm and surprise. She watched one of Yuna's green forms shatter in front of her, but simultaneously, she felt her magical barrier break and a jolt of electricity enter her body near her spine. The other Imitation had taken advantage of her distracted focus. She dropped to her knees, her staff clattering on the ground beside her. She didn't allow the creature to take advantage of the situation though. She forced herself to her feet again and turned, moving her arm in a sweeping motion. Her staff followed the direction on its own, catching the Imitation in the stomach. It gave Aerith just enough time to follow up the attack with a Firaga spell. Dark magic had never been her speciality, but it seemed to be enough this time. The second Yuna smouldered into a pile of ash at her feet. Aerith gasped to catch her breath, a hand resting over her heart, wincing as she felt the effects of the thunder spell take hold as her adrenaline wore off.