Cloud was ready. He had to be. That's what he kept telling himself. But it looked like Garland wasn't going to make it easy for them. They'd have to start this off on defense. He shot Nanami a nod of approval as she started gathering a familiar feeling energy. Despite coming to this fight for offense instead of defense he moved to step between her and their foe.

With a flick of his left arm the armlet he was wearing unfolded and fanned out into a kite shield. He'd approached both MarKus and Albel about this a while ago and it was done just in time, a shield that worked similarly to the sword he had from his future self. That sword too had been modified in preparation for this fight but he kept it on his back, one hand on the hilt as he braced himself in front of Nanami and focused on readying Runic just in case.