CHAPTER ONE
FUN AND GAMES
"Look at them battle points goin' up," Barret said as he and Cid watched the numbers showing Cloud's current BP rising sharply.
"Look's like Cloud's on a roll, the show off!" said Cid. "Why are we still here? You know Cloud is gonna stay here in the Battle Square 'till he runs out of GP. C'mon, Barret, let's find Vincent and go to the Speed Square. I'm itchin' to improve my aim."
"Good idea! Let's go!" Barret agreed as he and Cid left the Battle Square.
AVALANCHE had come to the Gold Saucer to relax after the task of rebuilding Midgar and fashioning a planet-friendly power plant system for the planet. That seemed relatively enjoyable after the task of defeating Sephiroth and repelling Meteor two years ago. Even so, the group found it rather strange that Cloud, still exhausted after his showdown with Sephiroth, wanted to fight at the Battle Square. But they found it as a good excuse to all go to the Gold Saucer and have some fun.
In the Chocobo Square, Tifa entered the race course on her hand-raised female Chocobo, Mariah. Tifa wanted to beat Teioh, the fastest Chocobo around. Tifa didn't think the fact that it was a rare ocean Chocobo had anything to do with it's amazing speed and agility. She had never seen anything move like Teioh did.
At the starting line, Tifa wondered, for the first time, if Teioh could even be beaten. Sure, she told herself, just remember the plan. Tifa had been working on a racing strategy that had worked in beating many racers faster than she. But none of them even came close to Teioh's abilities.
Suddenly, the race started. Tifa pulled herself out of her thoughts and urged her Chocobo to charge ahead of the rest. Mariah did, and was soon side by side with Teioh, who looked calm, because he had never lost a race. As Mariah pulled ahead of Teioh, Tifa nudged Mariah to the side, in front of Teioh. If I can make it like this to the narrow crossing, I can win! Teioh move calmly to the right, moving to pass Mariah. Mariah moved with Teioh, to block his advance. This kept up for a minute, and then Teioh charged with lightning speed. Mariah, by some gut instinct, moved in front of him just as he let loose a burst of speed. Teioh slammed into Mariah, sending her and Tifa into the air. Ahead of her, Tifa saw the finish line, and aimed Mariah's squaking, panicked body toward the end.
In the Battle Room, Cloud was beginning to tire. His opponent was Gargantudragon, a giant dragon who seemed to be immortal. Slash after slash had hit him, but seemed to do nothing. Despite Cloud's Summons and Limit Breaks, Gargantudragon still seemed as fresh as Cloud had been at the start of the battle. Cloud once again flew through the air as the dragon slapped him against the wall, but he would not give up. In his desperation to keep his perfect record of no losses, he called on the last of his strength, and used a Limit technique he'd been working on. Cloud jumped into the air above Gargantudragon, and called on the Mako in his body to fill his sword, the Ultima Weapon, with powerful energy. When he felt the power surge down his arms and into the weapon, he aimed his sword at Gargantudragon and yelled, "Mako Blast!!!" as a shot of energy-condensed Mako energy lanced outward, striking his massive opponent. Suddenly his ears were numb as an explosion ripped through the Battle Square, knocking Cloud out of the Gold Saucer.
BOOOOMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The ground shook, and the rails of the coaster of the Speed Square rocked back and forth, as the train come over a rise in the tracks. Barret and Cid gasped as they realized with awful clarity that the explosion was coming from the Battle Square, where Cloud was.
As Mariah neared the ground, Tifa heard the noise, and saw that the Battle Square had erupted in a massive fireball, and she saw a body thrown clear. She was close enough to see spikey yellow hair on the unconcious form, and she was filled with dread as she realized it was Cloud.
She gasped in horror, than drove her Chocobo to exhaustion, and crossed the finish line, ahead of Teioh. But she didn't stop. She ran Mariah to the Battle Square, which lay in ruins. Cait Sith had been first on the scene. Suddenly, she noticed Cid, Vincent, and Barret running from the Speed Square, and Yuffie and Red XIII arriving from the Wonder Square.
FUN AND GAMES
"Look at them battle points goin' up," Barret said as he and Cid watched the numbers showing Cloud's current BP rising sharply.
"Look's like Cloud's on a roll, the show off!" said Cid. "Why are we still here? You know Cloud is gonna stay here in the Battle Square 'till he runs out of GP. C'mon, Barret, let's find Vincent and go to the Speed Square. I'm itchin' to improve my aim."
"Good idea! Let's go!" Barret agreed as he and Cid left the Battle Square.
AVALANCHE had come to the Gold Saucer to relax after the task of rebuilding Midgar and fashioning a planet-friendly power plant system for the planet. That seemed relatively enjoyable after the task of defeating Sephiroth and repelling Meteor two years ago. Even so, the group found it rather strange that Cloud, still exhausted after his showdown with Sephiroth, wanted to fight at the Battle Square. But they found it as a good excuse to all go to the Gold Saucer and have some fun.
In the Chocobo Square, Tifa entered the race course on her hand-raised female Chocobo, Mariah. Tifa wanted to beat Teioh, the fastest Chocobo around. Tifa didn't think the fact that it was a rare ocean Chocobo had anything to do with it's amazing speed and agility. She had never seen anything move like Teioh did.
At the starting line, Tifa wondered, for the first time, if Teioh could even be beaten. Sure, she told herself, just remember the plan. Tifa had been working on a racing strategy that had worked in beating many racers faster than she. But none of them even came close to Teioh's abilities.
Suddenly, the race started. Tifa pulled herself out of her thoughts and urged her Chocobo to charge ahead of the rest. Mariah did, and was soon side by side with Teioh, who looked calm, because he had never lost a race. As Mariah pulled ahead of Teioh, Tifa nudged Mariah to the side, in front of Teioh. If I can make it like this to the narrow crossing, I can win! Teioh move calmly to the right, moving to pass Mariah. Mariah moved with Teioh, to block his advance. This kept up for a minute, and then Teioh charged with lightning speed. Mariah, by some gut instinct, moved in front of him just as he let loose a burst of speed. Teioh slammed into Mariah, sending her and Tifa into the air. Ahead of her, Tifa saw the finish line, and aimed Mariah's squaking, panicked body toward the end.
In the Battle Room, Cloud was beginning to tire. His opponent was Gargantudragon, a giant dragon who seemed to be immortal. Slash after slash had hit him, but seemed to do nothing. Despite Cloud's Summons and Limit Breaks, Gargantudragon still seemed as fresh as Cloud had been at the start of the battle. Cloud once again flew through the air as the dragon slapped him against the wall, but he would not give up. In his desperation to keep his perfect record of no losses, he called on the last of his strength, and used a Limit technique he'd been working on. Cloud jumped into the air above Gargantudragon, and called on the Mako in his body to fill his sword, the Ultima Weapon, with powerful energy. When he felt the power surge down his arms and into the weapon, he aimed his sword at Gargantudragon and yelled, "Mako Blast!!!" as a shot of energy-condensed Mako energy lanced outward, striking his massive opponent. Suddenly his ears were numb as an explosion ripped through the Battle Square, knocking Cloud out of the Gold Saucer.
BOOOOMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The ground shook, and the rails of the coaster of the Speed Square rocked back and forth, as the train come over a rise in the tracks. Barret and Cid gasped as they realized with awful clarity that the explosion was coming from the Battle Square, where Cloud was.
As Mariah neared the ground, Tifa heard the noise, and saw that the Battle Square had erupted in a massive fireball, and she saw a body thrown clear. She was close enough to see spikey yellow hair on the unconcious form, and she was filled with dread as she realized it was Cloud.
She gasped in horror, than drove her Chocobo to exhaustion, and crossed the finish line, ahead of Teioh. But she didn't stop. She ran Mariah to the Battle Square, which lay in ruins. Cait Sith had been first on the scene. Suddenly, she noticed Cid, Vincent, and Barret running from the Speed Square, and Yuffie and Red XIII arriving from the Wonder Square.