I got the idea for this chapter when I played the submarine scene with Yuffie and Vincent in my party. I liked the idea, so here it is! And sorry for the long wait on my other stories: Lately I'm either writing my own story, making my own game or play FF7… I'm afraid that the likelihood of me writing some more chapters for those anytime soon is very low, but that doesn't mean they'll never come!
Vincent let out a sigh as he realized he was going to have to start the submarine alone. After having the (still breathing) personnel surrender, Cloud had suddenly remembered he suffered from motion sickness. Given the fact that Yuffie had nearly keeled over the moment they'd set foot inside the submarine, it had only been a matter of time, really. Still, this might prove a challenge, even for an ex-Turk.
He glanced at the three men who stood in the corner of the room, their hands bound with some rope Yuffie had had on her (Vincent and Cloud had agreed not to ask why she carried rope with her everywhere she went). They undoubtedly knew how to use the controls… But no, letting them control (drive? Steer? Captain? Vincent was unfamiliar with the term used to describe controlling a submarine) meant risking them sending out some sort of signal to Shinra. Since that wasn't an option, he'd have to do it himself. And he'd have to do so quickly, before Shinra got away with the huge materia.
Without really knowing what he was doing, Vincent pressed a random, important-looking button. And it worked. The action had been beyond reckless, especially since he could remember the strange tendency almost every Shinra engineer had to place some manner of self-destruct switch inside their vehicles, but Vincent decided it must have been Yuffie's bad influence. Had she not been looking greener than the seaweed he could see through a porthole, she might've even commented on it.
Luckily for him, Cloud seemed to feel a little better once the submarine actually started moving, and so he made his way to the captain's chair. He briefly looked inside the manual -so briefly Vincent was convinced he hadn't actually been able to read anything longer than three words- before grabbing the controls and giving chase. Vincent took a seat in a chair to the side, having recognized some of the instruments: they were used to show pressure and the like, something Vincent was familiar with after spending most of his career as a Turk guarding scientists (for some reason he'd always had a knack for getting those kinds of assignments; they usually ended with him chasing down some kind of mad scientist trying to blow up/ take over the world, which -given why he and his two companions had stolen the submarine in the first place- wasn't dissimilar to their current goal).
In any case, after a short chase spent mostly with Cloud trying to not get them all blown up by torpedoes while simultaneously trying to blow up another submarine, they finally sunk the red machine they'd been chasing. And since all of the other submarines around it had been blown up (courtesy of Cloud not being patient enough to keep trying to dodge their projectiles), they were in no real hurry to pick up the materia. And so, the party (minus Yuffie, who had 'discreetly' excused herself to go barf in the hallway) had agreed to first head up to the surface to let the others on the submarine.
Glad with the prospect of soon getting some fresh air, Cloud grabbed the manual and started looking for any specific instructions on how to safely resurface. Meanwhile Vincent told Yuffie –who'd only just staggered back onto the bridge- of their plan. While incapable of showing just how overjoyed she was at the news, she did give him a thumbs up to show her approval. They were both startled, however, by a thunk and a groan. They turned to see Cloud had slipped out of the chair, the manual still in his hand.
"Him too?" Vincent ignored Yuffie's groaned question, not understanding it anyway, and instead focused on their downed leader who appeared to be in pain. Just when he was about to put his hand on the younger man's shoulder to turn him over, Cloud mumbled: "I really shouldn't read in a vehicle…" Had it not been for his enhanced hearing, Vincent would not have been informed of the cause of the young man's 'sudden' illness. He resisted the urge to try out some of the curses he'd picked up from Cid (all of them had picked up a few from the man, after all. Even Barret). He instead focused on moving the ill youth out of the way. Yuffie –clearly getting used to the submarine's movement since she was a lighter shade of green than before- took it upon herself to comfort her fellow sufferer by rubbing his back and muttering comforting words. Vincent noted that dealing with motion sickness was one of the few things that made the girl turn calm (and not only because she was too sick to be her usual wild self), and that it was one of the even fewer things that made her seem like an older, almost motherly figure trying to comfort others. Knowing she'd turn back to normal the moment Cloud was cured of his motion sickness (which meant setting foot on land), Vincent took advantage of the situation by enjoying the relative silence on the bridge (if you could call a man's pained groans and the nervous shuffling of three others as silence). Speaking of the submarine's original crew…
Vincent turned around to the three prisoners, giving them a glare to make clear that him being the only one in good shape didn't mean they should try anything. Just to make this clear he made a show of moving his hand to his gun. The captain threw his still-bound hands up (apparently Yuffie could make a good knot), shouting: "We're not going to try anything, honest!" Content with the genuine terror he could see in the three men, Vincent let his hand move away from his gun. Still, simply leaving them there was too much of a risk. So he gestured for them to follow him as he left the bridge. He ordered them to get into the small barracks he'd seen as the group of 'terrorists' had invaded the ship, and closed the door from the outside. Since the design was almost exactly the same as it had been thirty years earlier, he had no difficulties with it.
He returned to the bridge to find Yuffie still comforting Cloud. He let out a small sigh as he turned to the controls of the submarine. He walked over to them and picked up the manual which had slipped from Cloud's hands while he'd been dragged away, and quickly skimmed through it. With yet another sigh he closed it, coming to the conclusion that Shinra's technology had evolved a bit too much during the time he'd been asleep: he had barely understood a word in the book. Despite this, he was the only one physically capable of controlling the submarine. Besides, he'd seen Cloud use the controls earlier: if a young, ex-Shinra grunt could steer a submarine without any formal training, surely an experienced former Turk could do at least as well, right…?
Ignoring the sense of dread in his gut at this uncharacteristically positive thought, he sat down in the captain's chair and took the controls.
"So, let me get this straight: we need to go back to Junon for another submarine? What the ! %$&? happened!?" Instead of answering Cid's question, Vincent simply stared back at the grumpy pilot. It certainly was an unusual sight, Tifa mused, seeing a waterlogged Vincent with the equally waterlogged Cloud and Yuffie behind him.
"I'd actually like to know that too; I must've passed out at some point after we crashed with that giant squid." It was a good thing Cloud had muttered this question, for Cid would've grown even grumpier upon hearing the chocobo-haired one's remark (seriously, even drenched that spike remained razor sharp and kept sticking out). An elbow between his ribs by Yuffie later, and Cloud knew not to bring their underseas 'adventure' up again. Tifa glanced at the three Shinra employees the others of their rag-tag band of self-proclaimed world saviors were guarding, briefly wondering where they were going to drop them off, before turning her gaze back to the other group of three.
Eventually she let out small sigh.
"Let's just go get another submarine while the security is still low, alright Cid?" With a huff and a puff from his cigarette, Cid reluctantly agreed.
"Before that…" Tifa and Cid looked at Vincent, who had for once spoken without someone else spurring him on.
"Yes? What is it, Vincent?"
"Perhaps it's best if the next group going to pick up the submarine doesn't contain two people suffering from motion sickness: I'm sure that'll make the process far easier." Cid let out a snort, and Tifa tried her best not to make a similar sound as she saw the two (former) submarine-acquiring-party members glaring holes in the back of the crimson-caped man.
It was, after all, not their fault that the guy had acted like someone's grandfather would when confronted with the newest gadgets, was it?
I'm not sure if this is really as funny as what I imagined it'd be, but as long as you enjoy it, it's fine! Until next time!