Biggs was having a rough day. He'd lost a bet with his friend Jessie, he'd skipped breakfast, he was late for work, his partner Wedge was absent, and now the Commander wanted to see him. Could this day get any worse?
Biggs scratched his head, messing up his spiky mud brown hair. Why, oh why, did I have to join AVALANCHE? He thought as he walked down the metallic corridor that lead to the Commander's office. Maybe I wanted to become a hero, or something. He guessed to himself as he pressed onward, Maybe it just pays good munny. He looked up and sighed at the faulty automatic doors that never opened by themselves like they should. Maybe I was roped into it by Jessie.
He shut his dark blue eyes preparedly and pushed open the double doors.
"'Bout time you showed up, boy." A deep brutish voice sounded. Before Biggs was a huge computer with several reports and random things flying all over the screen. Standing at the bottom of the computer was a large, dark skinned, muscular man that was clad in a camouflage combat suit with a white vest over his torso. Most notably though was the man's right arm, or lack thereof. In its place was a gatling gun with snubbed barrels. The man turned slowly around to reveal a gruff, bearded face, with a large and obviously broken nose. "If you'd taken any longer I'd've sent Cid an' Red XIII to retrieve your sorry hide."
"Um, which Cid, sir? There's like, a million Cid's in our group." Biggs asked, a snarky grin across his face. His grin was quickly put away when he was grabbed by the brim of his green tank top and pulled inches away from his Commander's face. "Don't get smart with me, Boy. Any Cid'll do if it means I get to crack some skulls!" Barret barked, shoving the teen back. Biggs landed on his butt, sending a shock up his tailbone. "Alright, alright! What is it you called me for, sir?
Barret took a deep breath... "Somethin' ain't right with the worlds." He said, stress riddling every word.
"Huh?" Biggs asked dumbly.
"I said the Worlds are goin' to hell, boy!" Barret yelled, some spit getting on Biggs, much to his annoyance. Biggs righted himself to his feet. "I don't get it, the worlds have been fine-" Biggs was cut off quickly by another spout from his Commander, "The stars are goin' out, son! The Heartless are screwing up the Worlds and now the King over at Disney Castle's gone missin' again!"
Biggs took a moment to let that settle in. "I- But-" He stuttered, "But what, boy?" Barret questioned. Biggs was caught up in a huge inner conflict. "This is insane! What are we supposed to care!?" He cracked, receiving a hard, comical slap to the face. "Son, do you know what I founded AVALANCHE for?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at the teenager before him. Biggs answered without thinking, "To protect the World of Midgar and her citizens-" Cut off by another slap. "Wrong, boy! That's the cover story for the citizens to see." Barret puffed out his chest and stood proudly, "AVALANCHE is a company of soldiers formed by Barret Wallace, to keep them worlds in order an' make sure that the Darkness is kept on the down low!"
Biggs and Barret stood there silently, Barret still in his puffed up leader pose, Biggs with his shoulders slumped in exasperation.
"So, what'a we do?" Biggs asked simply, "Or more accurately, wha' do YOU do, boy." Barret said, pointing his gun arm at the teen with no intent to fire. "Excuse me?" Biggs replied, "You heard me, boy. You got ya'self a mission on your hands."
Biggs stood there with his jaw on the floor. He couldn't believe this, he'd only joined five months ago and now he's got a mission?
"That's right. I got somethin' for you to occupy yourself with durin' this here crisis." Barret repeated. Biggs simply nodded, a pained and fearful scream erupting throughout his head. "What do I... What do I need to do, sir?" He responded in a soldier-like manner, bracing for what would come next. Barret smirked, then typed in a series of codes into the large computer behind him.
On screen came footage of the King's right and left hand men, Donald and Goofy. They were discussing the absence of their King and their mission to find...
"The Key?" Biggs asked curiously. "Yep," Barret replied, "And guess who's gonna be lookin' for it?" Biggs scratched his chin, "Donald and Goofy?" Barret's nostrils flared at Biggs' stupidity, "No, ya' idiot! You're gonna be out there, after it!" Biggs nodded solemnly, I was afraid he was gonna say that...
"Commander Barret, why do we need a 'key'?" Biggs found himself asking. Barret grumbled a bit, then turned to the teen, letting out a sigh. "A while back, there was this kid who'd race around the stars, goin' from World to World..." The Commander began to explain, "He traveled wit' Donald and Goofy from Disney Castle, and they saved the known universe time an' time again," Biggs found himself listening very intently, his back straight and his eyes focused, "That boy had the Key, the key to save ev'rything and ev'ryone. But sadly, the boy went missin'..."
It all started to click in Biggs' head. He needed to find this boy, or at least someone who had the Key. Without the Key, things would only get worse.
So, after further explanation of his mission, Biggs was assigned two partners. Oh god... It HAD to be them... He thought as he heard the names: "Jessie an' Wedge." Barret finished. Before Biggs could protest, he found himself being shoved out the door. "I don't want you comin' back, boy, until the Worlds are safe!"
With that, Biggs had a new mission. It was dumped on him, really. He had no say in accepting or rejecting it, no say in who he'd be working with, and pretty much no say in anything at all.
An hour or so later, Biggs was walking to the Gummi Ship hangar with one of his partners, Wedge. Wedge was a little on the chubbier side of the spectrum, and he wasn't the tallest of soldiers either. He had fuzzy black hair that he hid under a scarlet beanie, and dark green eyes as well. On his arms were two blocky metal gloves, designed to reinforce the punches he throws. Despite his being overweight, he could throw a nasty punch
"So, we're gonna finally head out?" Wedge asked excitedly. Biggs sighed, "Yeah, for the last time, we're headed out." Wedge pumped his armored fist happily, "Aw, sweet! Now we're finally gonna get to do something!" he cheered, raising both fists ecstatically into the air, much to Biggs' annoyance.
As they walked, Biggs explained the mission to his partner, who listened quite intently, much to Biggs' surprise.
"So, we're out there looking for some kind of 'Key'?" Wedge asked. Biggs simply nodded, "Yep," He clarified, "That's what Commander Barret said we're after." Wedge's arms drooped down, "Really? I thought we'd get to do something awesome; like storming a world full of Heartless." He whimpered sadly.
The two of them entered the hangar. The place was huge, filled with all kinds of different Gummi Ships, Gummi blocks, machines designed for building, and a huge open space for the ships to fly out of. Gears and cogs grind and turn, powering different machines and such.
Standing next to a blue medium sized Gummi Ship was a girl about Biggs' and Wedge's age, tinkering with a device in her hands. Her auburn hair was tied into a tail, bangs divided into two streams by a scarlet bandana, identical to the one around Biggs' forehead.
"Uh, hey Jessie." Biggs said, readying himself for whatever odd and hyperactive interaction he'd have with his friend.
The girl, revealed to be Jessie, turned around to face the two boys, revealing her vibrant amber eyes and a huge grin. "Hey guys! I just got the notification from Commander Barret!" Jessie informed, "We're gonna save the freaking universe!" She exclaimed, hopping up from her squatting position and pumping a gloved fist into the air.
"Uh, I don't think so, Jessie." Biggs said, "We're just out there to find a key or something."
Jessie's happy demeanor turned to an annoyed one, "God, Biggs. You have to suck the fun out of everything."
Jessie turned away from the two boys, then picked up the device she was working on. It looked to be made out of both metal and Gummi, with a screen and a few antennae. "Biggs," She said to the boy, "I made this for you to use while we're out." She handed the device to her friend.
"Oh, uh, cool... What is it?" He asked dumbly.
Jessie's face transitioned between both annoyed and excited, "I'm glad you asked, Biggs." She stepped back and placed her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest.
"This device is called a Conduit. It's a thing I made so that you could use spells and such. Since you lack a weapon, and there's definitely going to be Heartless out there on our mission, I decided to fashion you this contraption." Jessie nodded proudly after explaining that spell of necessary exposition.
"Uh, cool... How does it work?" Biggs asked dumbly, opting a sigh, then another speech from Jessie.
"The conduit takes the latent magic and light energy within the user and allows it to be utilized through advanced Gummi technology." She explained. "Observe."
Then without warning, Jessie slapped the conduit onto Biggs' back, spikes painfully jabbing into him and attaching to his body. "Gah!" He cried, feeling the needles settle into him, "The heck, Jessie!?" He demanded, receiving a shrug from the girl and a laugh from Wedge.
"Now, think about a spell you wanna do, point your hands in that direction, then shout the name of the spell."
Biggs' eyebrow twitched, then he pointed his opened right hand at Jessie, "Thundara!" He cried, lightning zapping the girl and frying her black. Jessie simply blinked.
"What a shocking thing to do, Biggs." Wedge quipped, opting both his partners to give him a glare.
"Blizzard!" Biggs cried, sending chunks of ice flying at the chubby boy and freezing him solid. Biggs moved to his friend, pointing a threatening finger at his face, "No puns..." He said in a low threatening voice.
How cold of you. Was all Wedge could think.
After thawing Wedge out with some Fira spells, the three of them boarded Jessie's favorite Gummi ship; The Shera. She was a medium sized ship, made from mostly dark blue and white Gummi blocks. She was equipped with two gatling cannons, a Dark-seeking missile launcher, and Light flares to evade incoming fire. She was pushed forward by a pair of large boosters, probably the largest booster of all the ships in the hangar. Her design was sleeker than most Gummi ships, utilizing many round and spherical Gummi blocks, in place of the usually angular and polygonal shape of most Gummi ships.
The ship was Jessie's pride and joy, and she spent day in and day out working on it. Now she could finally put it to use.
The interior of The Shera was not nearly as impressive as her exterior. she had dull blue walls and white tile about the floor. At the bottom of the ship was the supply deck, filled with excess ammunition, food, changes of clothes, and other necessities. The lower middle deck was filled with five rooms; a captain's, and four crew. The upper middle deck housed a kitchen, a training room, and a small mess hall. The top deck was the cockpit, where you could see in all directions from the ovular bubble of glass that worked as a 360 degree windshield. Five seats were positioned to look forward, but they could all swivel to look in different directions. The forward most seat was placed just before a control yoke, white like the tile and covered in many buttons that neither of the boys understood.
"So, how ya' like the ship, boys?" Jessie asked, a proud grin across her face. The two had to pick their jaws up off of the floor before sprinting all over the interior of the vessel, touching everything, minds incapable of believing that one girl could build a Gummi Ship so amazing.
"It's awesome!" Wedge cheered, coming down the ladder from the kitchen, arms overflowing with food.
"Wedge! I told you to keep out of the fridge, dang it!" Jessie yelled as the chubby boy's feet hit the floor.
"Privilege!" He exclaimed, shoving a biscuit into his mouth defiantly.
A few minutes later and the three of them were sitting in the cockpit, Jessie at the helm, Biggs to her right, and Wedge spinning in his chair to her left.
"Seriously Wedge, quit spinning, it's getting annoying." Biggs ordered, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to ignore the squeaking of the chair's swivel.
"Privilege!" Wedge exclaimed once more, pumping a fist into the air and kicking his feet out as he span.
While those two bickered, Jessie checked to make sure all her systems were acting correctly. She flipped a few switches, receiving a low hum throughout the ship. "Generator's fine." She said to herself, then punched a code into the terminal to the right of the control yoke, a roar sounding from the rear of the ship and shaking the core of the crew. "Engines are a go." She finally settled on a big red button, labelled 'Launch'.
Jessie turned around to face the two bickering boys, "All hands, prepare for take off!" She cheered, her male counterparts paying her no attention as they continued arguing. Jessie scowled, then jammed the button in.
To say that the boys were startled by the take off was an understatement. Instead of flying off through the wide opening, they were dropped through a large gap opened just beneath their ship.
"Aaaaah!" The three screamed as they fell, mad laughter mixed into Jessie's screams. They finally fell out a hole in the bottom of the world, then Jessie gripped the controls, pushing them forcefully forward, the boosters in the back letting loose their roar as they blasted of into Gummi Space.
The two boys were pasted to the back of the cockpit, stuck there as the ship jetted off at ridiculous speeds. Jessie's knuckles were white around the controls, laughing like a madwoman as she flew through the empty space.
"Gahk!" was all Biggs could say as he tried to move.
The team had no leads on where they should go first but they knew of one world that seemed to have all sorts of weird people, or so they've heard.
Midnight City...
