Sorry for the delay, here is the next chapter. From now on I may be only able to post one chapter a week, two tops. The reason behind this being that I started college at De Anza this week. I'll probably update on the weekend since those days I don't have classes. I do not own Final Fantasy or Dissidia.
It took Zidane, Tidus, Luneth, and Vanille some time to recover from their shock before Cloud proceeded with showing them around the manor. Lightning herself had been shocked as well, but just managed to conceal his surprise easier. Their first stop was an indoor tennis court being occupied by two girls. One was practicing her backhand swing while the other monitored her progress while regulating the machine serving tennis balls.
"C'mon Kadaj! You have to put more effort into it!" The instructor yelled.
"Yuna, you're so strict! Can't you go easy on me for once?" Kadaj whined.
"No." Kadaj sighed at her instructors reply, though perked up when she saw Cloud and friends watching them.
"Hi Onii-chan!" she called over to Cloud, who waved in response. Tidus, Zidane, Vanille, and Luneth looked away, still feeling awkward around the 'girl.' Kadaj soon paid for her lack of focus when the machine spat a tennis ball into her stomach, causing her to double over. "Oof!"
"You have to maintain your focus when playing tennis, or else-" Her voice faltered when she noticed the group, or more importantly, the blonde Blitzball player.
"Tidus?" Tidus's eyes widened in recognition of his crush from school.
"Yuna?"
Kadaj looked between the two. "You know each other?" The two looked shyly at each other
"Well, yeah, sort of, we go to the same school" Yuna replied.
"So this was your part time job?" Tidus asked, the group walking over to them.
"Well, yeah, They hired me after one of my-HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Yuna yelled after seeing Kadaj try to sneak away. "I'm sorry, but I have to finish her lessons." Yuna looked apologetically at Tidus as she dragged Kadaj back by her ear. "Nice to see you again Cloud" she nodded towards Cloud, who merely nodded back.
"Owowowowow! Bu-But I want to spend time with Onii-chan!" Kadaj whined.
"You can spend time with Cloud AFTER you finish your lessons." Yuna countered.
"We'd best be leaving then" cloud stated before walking off, with the rest of the group following. Everyone noticed how Tidus and Yuna looked at each other.
"So, Yuna huh?" Snow teased, elbowing Tidus in the ribs. The rest of the group chuckled.
"It's not like that!" Tidus yelled out, flustered. "Besides, she probably has her eyes on someone else." He muttered. The rest of the group contemplated this. True, Yuna did have many admirers, but she wasn't with anybody as far as anyone knew.
"She does talk about you a lot" Cloud said, not bothering to look back. Tidus perked up immediately and began pestering Cloud wit countless questions.
"Really! What does she say?"
"Does she mention me often?"
"Does she think I'm charming?"
Cloud sighed as he led them on. "You really are like a little puppy, just like she says" He muttered.
Cloud was bringing them to the next room, which according to him was a training room of sorts. Snow, Luneth and Lightning's interest sparked up at this bit of information. Maybe here I'll find the reason for his ridiculous strength..Lightning mused to herself. Though just as the group neared the door, A man in a formal robe burst through the doors flying towards Cloud with an arm raised over his head holding bokuto. Cloud caught the bokuto in mid swing with both arms.
"Dammit Auron" Cloud grunted. Only after a few moments did Auron ease back, drawing his baokuto to his side. The rest of the group just stood back and gaped, It's like a scene from a manga! They all thought.
"Still sharp I see." Was all the man said, before walking back into the room. Cloud followed him in. After much hesitation, and expecting a second similar situation to happen, Lightning and company followed. The room seemed to be a mix match of a gym, boxing arena, and stadium. To the left of the room were several punching bags, dumb bells, and other exercising equipment. Towards the far wall was a boxing ring, which Loz was currently in engaged in a boxing match with a blonde haired man with a tattoo over the left side of his face. Beside it was a cleared area that was designated for Kendo, Lightning presumed from the fact that a rack of Kendo equipment adorned the wall. Auron was there currently watching over Sephiroth as he performed basic routines.
"Big brother!" Loz yelled, though unlike Kadaj, didn't tear his eyes away from the fight. The blonde man simply nodded in the group's direction, "Hey Cloud, long time no see."
"Hi Zell, hey Loz" Cloud merely replied while the two proceeded to beat the holy crap out of each other. The girls sighed as they saw Snow, Tidus, Luneth, and Lightning rushed over to see all the training equipment.
"Holy shit! Cloud, is this what I think it is?" Snow yelled, running over to a group of manikin like robots in the corner. He looked like a little kid walking into his favorite toy store. Boys will be boys…thought Lightning smugly.
"That's the Sparring Bot 6000, wanna try it out?" Zell said, gesturing over to the robot. Loz and Zell had stopped their match a few seconds ago, both looking exhausted and drenched with sweat. The group thought the two likely to collapse in exhaustion any second now, astounded to see them converse as if nothing happened.
"You bet!" Snow looked ecstatic as Zell went to turn on the machine. When it turned to life it looked around the room, oddly resembling a person just waking up. It then zeroed in on Snow, who was in a ready stance in front, and proceeded with its training routine. After a few Jabs and hits, everyone noticed the smile plastered on Snow's face. He was obviously enjoying himself.
"Is this all it has? They said it could give champs a run for their money, guess I'm good enough to beat a champ!" Snow could have sworn right then he could hear Lightning's eyeballs rolling in their sockets.
"Wanna try?" Cloud asked, sidestepping Snow to get behind the machine, flicking an indiscriminant switch. The robot paused for a brief moment, then unleashed blind fury on Snow. Snow was pressed into the defensive, waiting for an opening. Though he never got the chance, as the robot found a chink in his defense and continued to pummel the boxer, finishing him with a right uppercut that literally sent him up into the air and onto his back.
"Snow!" a frightened Serah yelled, before rushing over to her boyfriend, cradling his head in her lap. "Are you okay?" Snow blinked a few times, his eyes going back into focus. He smiled his stupid grin.
"Did I win?" Zell was laughing at the show, clutching his sides. Serah gave a glare his way but he seemed unaffected by it.
"Cloud, what setting did you put it on!" Zell managed to wheeze between laughs.
"Suicidal." Lightning and the others joined in on the laughing while Serah glared at them. After they had all calmed down, Sephiroth and Auron joined them. Zell got up from the floor, still clutching his sides from laughing.
"Well, that's all for today, thanks for the show big guy!" Zell waved as he departed with Auron. Serah stuck out her tongue at the blonde.
"Well, Kadaj should be done right about now too-" Sephiroth commented as the laughter died out. Sure enough, they could see Kadaj dragging a flustered Yuna into the room.
"C'mon!"
"Nononono! I shouldn't impose!"
"Mother said its fine! Besides, you know you want to!" Kadaj teased. Yuna looked at the Tidus and immediately both turned away, a blush creeping up on their cheeks. Strangely enough, Cloud was the one to break the tension.
"Sephiroth, what are Jenova's plans for dinner?" Sephiroth had been busy for the better part of his sister's entrance with reading a text he received.
"Mother has arranged for our dinner in the entertainment room. She is busy with company matters with father. If you will follow me" he said, waiting near the door motioning for them to follow him.
When they arrived at the entertainment room, Serah was still by Snow's side, asking him if everything was alright, and Snow just smiling his stupid grin saying everything was alright. Lightning had had enough of Serah's coddling and was about to scold her when the room's doors opened.
The pool tables had been pushed to the sides, making room for the centerpiece tables. Pizzas straight from the oven, along with hamburgers, snacks and whatnot adorned its surface. There were several buckets filled with ice and root beer bottles. The aroma of the food wafted through the opening, producing a growl from each stomach. Sephiroth made an over elaborate bow towards the party.
"Enjoy"
The group hurried in, each pilling food onto their plates. Lightning was a little disappointed. After seeing the lavish mansion, she half expected to be treated to a five star cuisine. This was just normal party food. Though as soon as she took a bite, her mouth melted with pleasure. This wasn't some cheap ass fast food pizza. It literally melted in her mouth. Guessing from the content looks from all the others, Lightning could tell they were experiencing the same thing. Yazoo looked smugly at the group.
"Our chef made these, no comparison to others, huh?" The group, to busy enjoying the food, just nodded. After the group had finished stuffing their faces, they laid there, in bliss. Lightning looked at her watch, and swore. Shit! It's almost 11! I have to take Serah home and I don't even know how the hell we got here from school! As Lightning mentally scolded herself, Jenova walked in.
"Mrs. Shinra, It has been a great pleasure, but I'm afraid me and my sister have to go."
"At this time of the night? No, I won't allow it."
"But, we can't impose any further on you, and-"
"Don't worry dear" Jenova waved her hand, "I've already contacted all your parents, informing them that you'll be staying the night." This earned a cheer from the rest of the group
"Bu-" Lightning faltered. This woman seemed to disarm every argument she had. Not even Serah could do that!
"C'mon sis!" Serah begged, shaking Lightning's arm. Lightning sighed in defeat.
"Fine."
"Cloud, I hope you'll stay too. It's entirely your decision though" At this, Kadaj and Loz begged Cloud to stay and gave him puppy dog looks. Yazoo, while not begging, shyly asked him to stay as well. Cloud sighed.
"Thank You Jenova. I guess I've been gone a little too long" Cloud smiled weakly. At this the three dog piled on Cloud.
"Loz, Yazoo, Kadaj! Behave! You're hurting Cloud!" Sephiroth scolded.
"I will inform the servants to bring in some beds, don't stay up too late" Jenova smiled, waving goodbye as she left the room.
REVIEW PLEASE. Yup, It's a sleep over, who knew? I have multiple scenarios in mind, but I'll let the readers decide in their reviews, whichever of these has the most votes will be the main focus of the next chapter. The second most popular will also be included, and possibly the third. Anyways, here they are.
A)Zidane and Yazoo sneak out to snatch some beer, and drunk antics ensue!
B)The group decides to play King (Like truth or dare, except random, and only dares, can go with choice D)
C)Truth or Dare
D)An awkward moment with Kadaj and another character, and if so, who?
E)The group watches a horror movie, and are plagued by strange noises
F)A secret of Cloud is revealed
G)Character (a) flirting with character(b), character(c) getting jealous (could go with choice A)
H)Characters (a) (b) and (c) try to pull a prank on the group, only to have it backfire in their face!
I will make my decision by this Sunday and start then, so get your votes in soon!