Chapter Five:
A week. A whole, damn, boring, mind numbing, headache making week.
Cloud plopped onto his bed, his annoying, uncomfortable, squeaky bed. He had just finished a patrol with two other cadets he didn't know. They wore those lame-o helmets that looked retarded and high-tech-y at the same time. Cloud NEVER wore those dumb helmets.
Geeze, it had only been a week and already the blonde was ranting about how stupid and annoying everything was and how bad he wanted to leave. No, he wasn't tired or thought the lessons and stuff to be to hard. It was the fact that they WEREN'T that he hated! He was SOOOOOO bored.
He was happy though, and thanked Gaia that he had Zack and Qliphoth to keep him company. That really helped keep his sanity in check. He'd go and visit Qliphoth a lot in the kitchen, most visits ending with the silver-haired woman burning something, and he and Zack had become fast friends, almost inseparable. They always ate at the same table and spoke about anything really. Though, the blonde did grow tired with the ravenette's constant teasing.
Today, though, other then the patrol he had just been on, Cloud was totally free. No lessons or anything. He could just relax. He believed it to be some dead guy's birthday or something, but he didn't really know. He wasn't very good with the history of this world. It was his weak point. But, at the moment, he didn't really care.
Another good thing was that ever since that training lesson one week ago, Cloud hadn't seen or heard that vain general at all. Cloud cheered in his head.
He had been plotting, actually. It's what foxes do. He wanted to prank that silver-haired man, and he was planning on pranking him soon! He had asked Qliphoth to drop by his room when she was free so she could help him out.
There was a knock on the door and Cloud quickly zoomed off his bed to answer it. It was Qliphoth, as expected, and he quickly pulled her inside and shut the door.
"So whatcha need, Taco?" Qliphoth grinned, sitting down on Cloud's bed. The blonde gritted his teeth. He didn't like that nickname. The cat-eyed girl always came up with weird nicknames for people. "Taco" had been when she started calling Cloud "Storm Cloud". That had turned into "Hurricane", then "Tornado", then "Toquito", then "Burrito", and finally "Taco".
"I need some help," the fox demon said to his friend.
"No duh! I figured that out!" Qliphoth retorted, grinning. The blonde rolled his eyes and continued.
"You specialize in undercover work, right?" the silverette nodded slowly. "Well, to specialize in undercover, you have to pass A-Rank in stealth, correct?" Qliphoth grinned wide.
"You need me to sneak around don't you? Have anything to do with the mission? Or is your foxy instinct kicking in?" the green-eyed woman giggled, but Cloud shook his head.
"No, but I want you to teach me the 'Technorian Slip'," Cloud replied calmly, standing in front of his friend, his arms crossed over his chest. The Technorian Slip was a stealth ability that allowed the user to become "invisible" to electronics, but not to the human eye. Now, if that person were caught on a camera, the video would not show them for it would be going through a machine feed.
"When do you need to use it?" Qliphoth's tone went serious for a minute. When it came to stealth and sharing her secrets, Qliphoth was very serious about it.
"By this evening, at least," the king answered without hesitation, only to have the silverette stand up and punch him in the arm, her eyes narrowed.
"God damn it, Mag!" Qliphoth growled, accidentally using the demon's old nickname, the one nickname she used that actually fit with the real name, Magnorak, "I can't teach you a move in just a few hours!" Cloud rubbed his now soar arm. Qliphoth was tough, and she could make him feel the pain.
Now I'll probably have a bruise or something! Cloud grumbled inside his mind.
"Look, I'm a very fast learner! I'm the most powerful demon in all of Western Region!" Cloud testified against his friend's rude treatment.
"Don't get cocky around me!" Qliphoth wagged her finger in the blonde's face angrily.
"Look, as your king, I ORDER you to teach me the move! Or at least show me how to do it and I'll figure it out myself!" Cloud retorted angrily, not feeling like dealing with Qliphoth's sass. Sometimes, the silverette could be a royal pain in the ass!
Qliphoth glared at her king a few more seconds, the king glaring right back, until she finally sighed her defeat and stood up straight. "Fine, fine! But, I deserve to know why you need it TODAY," Qliphoth arched a delicate eyebrow and stuck her hands on her hips.
Cloud smiled slightly; glad he had won the debate. "Tonight is the night of the half moon. I turn half demon tonight," the cat-eyed woman narrowed her eyes in curiousity. "Well, I want to use that form to my advantage!"
"Prank?" the silverette guessed.
"Prank," the blonde nodded, only to make Qliphoth grin bigger.
~Around 3pm~
Cloud walked stiffly down the halls towards Sephiroth's office. From his understanding, the general was out on a mission for the time being. He thanked Qliphoth for getting that information for him. His cadet helmet was worn over his head so as to cover what he looked like. He didn't want anyone recognizing him now. And, heaven forbid, him to run into Zack without hiding his face.
Cloud had decided to turn into his adult form for this, so no one could even tell who he was from his taller stature and deeper voice. The uniform was a bit on the tight side, but he was able to squeeze into it.
As he passed a man with red hair, the redhead quickly grabbed his arm. Cloud froze, trying to act surprised, when in truth he had seen the hand coming before it had even left the other man's side.
"What do you think you're doing up here, cadet?" the man growled and Cloud made a gulping sound. He praised himself at his great acting skills.
"I-I was asked t-t-to s-speak with G-General S-S-Sephiroth, sir. A-another cadet gave me th-this letter," Cloud stuttered. He still hated stuttering. He'd never get over that.
The redhead eyed him suspiciously, letting go of his arm, and placing them on his hips in a feminized fashion.
Gay, Cloud decided as the man puckered his lips in thought. Definitely gay…
"Let me see the letter," the man commanded and the blonde handed him the folded piece of paper in his grip. The redhead read over it. Blinked a few times. Read over it again. Then finally nodded and handed the letter back to Cloud.
"Alright, fine, hurry up and go!" the man commanded and Cloud inwardly smirked at his idiocy. Obviously this man did not know that the general was out on a mission.
As the man turned and began to walk away, Cloud flicked his wrist in his direction. He knew that the redhead wouldn't remember ever even seeing him in a few seconds.
The demon king turned back in the direction he was going. He congratulated himself in his great skills of forgery. All he had to do was look at a sample of Sephiroth's writing and he could easily copy his handwriting within a few seconds. It was very simple to make a fake letter.
The blonde took in a deep breath as he stepped in front of the general's office door. He concentrated on his inner energy and could feel the Technorian Slip's distinct energy signature wash over him. It was working!
The fox demon swiftly typed a combination of numbers onto the code pad next to the door and he couldn't help but grin as the doors slid open instantly. Oh, he was good!
Cloud zipped into the room, trying to make as little sound as possible. He looked around, scanning the walls and ceiling. He took off his annoying and uncomfortable helmet and tucked it under his arm. His slitted eyes stared straight at a security camera that was hidden within the ceiling tiles.
I can hear its movements, Cloud said disapprovingly inside his mind. They should make these cameras undetectable. Though Cloud had been trained to be able to pick up stuff like this, just like everyone in security class back home, it was still much too easy.
The blonde skittered over to the camera, digging his fingers into the ceiling and holding himself there, upside down.
Dude! I'm Spiderman! Cloud grinned happily. He didn't know why, but he always got this weird jitter when on a stealth mission. He guessed it was because being a fox he loved to sneak around.
Cloud carefully moved the tile out of the way just enough for him to reach up and snip a wire. The camera turned off with a 'beep! Beep! Beep… beep…… booooooop!'
Aw! It died! Cloud thought jokingly. He was having way too much fun, and he wasn't even pranking the guy yet!
The blonde king made quick work of the other cameras and he let the Technorian Slip fade away from his body, seeing as he could no longer be seen anyway. He slipped the helmet back onto his head slowly, cursing at how retarded and uncomfortable it was.
The fox demon finally walked out of the room calmly and headed back to his room. He was to set the pranks tonight when he was a half demon.
~That Evening~
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!" the squeal was so loud Cloud had to cover his ears.
"QLIPH!!! QPLIPHOTH!!! STOP!!! ENOUGH!!! IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL!!!" Cloud screeched over his friend, whose squeals finally ceased.
"Not a big deal?! NOT A BIG DEAL!?" Qliphoth suddenly wrapped her arms around Cloud's neck, cutting off airflow. "THIS IS THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!!! YOU ARE FOLLOWING IN MY FOOT STEPS!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" the walking coffee pot began to squeal in happiness again. She quickly let go of the blonde king's neck and began to bounce around his small room in joy. Cloud could only sigh at her hyperness.
"I'm going to be turning into a half demon soon," the fox demon said, glancing out the window as the sun slowly set behind the murky, dark buildings of Midgar.
"How can you even tell?" Qliphoth bounced by, glancing out the window as she went. "I can barely see the sun through that icky blech in the sky!" Cloud had to agree with the silverette on how polluted and disgusting the skies were in this world.
"Don't you need to get back to your own room?" the blonde growled at the cat-eyed woman as she nearly knocked over a lamp on the bedside table.
"Trying to kick me out, eh?" Qliphoth glared at Cloud, her fists placed on her hips.
The demon king blinked at her a few times. "Yes, actually, I am," he said blankly. Qliphoth glared at him a few more seconds.
"OTAY!!!" she grinned and zoomed out the door happily. The blonde smacked his palm against his forehead in annoyance.
Cloud sighed and shook off his irritation at his mission coworker. He walked over to the tiny, disgusting window and creaked it open. It was a very loud, rusty window.
Another thing to add to Cloud's ever growing list of things he hated on this mission.
The blonde backed up a few feet, readied his feet, and with a running start, jumped out the window. As he fell towards the streets below, he could feel his six wings form out of his back and fan out. The next thing he knew he was barrel rolling through the sky in half demon form. He made sure to stay out of anyone's line of vision, mainly staying in the clouds.
The clouds themselves smelled terrible. The pollution in this world would always disgust the fox demon. What could he say? He was an animal, basically. A natural born hippie!
Cloud flew around the skies just a little longer until the sun finally fully set and the half moon rose, it's white light glinting of the blonde's wings majestically. The king loved to fly about during the night. He could relax, not worry about paper work, and at the same time keep an out on the horizon for any attacking army.
He sighed slightly. It seemed that in every world there was war. Here in the human world it was ShinRa against Wutai. Back in the demon world it was Western Region against Southern.
Cloud's world, his whole planet, was divided into four Territories. Northern, getting the northern part of the planet and the coldest. Eastern, getting the eastern part of the planet and the most peaceful. Western, getting the western part of the planet, Cloud's home, and having the best crops. And finally, Southern, getting the southern part of the planet and being the most dark and senile.
It sent shivers down Cloud's spine when he thought about it. He was the leader, the king, and the most powerful being of all of Western Region. He ruled one forth of the whole planet. It was almost implausible.
Cloud shook off his thoughts and quickly turned towards the ShinRa building. He had memorized the lay out of the building, so he knew exactly which floor Sephiroth's office was on.
The blonde zoomed over to the office window and creaked it open. He had made sure to unlock it while he had been in there earlier. Much easier access. He walked in calmly, grinning a grin that would put Zack and Qliphoth to shame.
He dug into one of his pockets and pulled out his "equipment". The fox boy marched over to the general's bookcase and stuck in a few magazines into it. Porn magazines to be correct. The blonde snickered and walked over to the man's desk. He looked at the paper work on his desk and pulled out a sharpie. His grin widened as he doodled random pictures on the paperwork. Wait till the general turns these in!
The next thing he did was open up the drawers, looking for the one that would most likely be opened the most. He found the one with the pencils, pens, and blank papers in it to be a good idea. He pulled out a small box, opened it, and dumped its contents into it.
Hope Sephy likes cockroaches, Cloud mused happily, shutting the drawer.
The next few minutes went on with the fox demon setting up a few more pranks. He was finally done, when he turned back to leave and he saw an object of the heavens. Every prankster's love.
Sephiroth's computer.
~Two Days Later~
The general was back from his mission, apparently, and Cloud was nearly jumping off the walls in excitement. He couldn't wait to put his plan into action!
He was sitting and eating lunch at the moment, Zack yapping across the table from him. The ravenette shoveled his meal into his mouth as he spoke, some of the food spitting onto Cloud's cheek.
The blonde wiped the food off his cheek with disgust and glared at his friend.
"Say it, don't spray it!" he growled to the violet-eyed man, who just smiled in apology. But, Zack just continued to talk, and talk, and talk a few seconds after. The blonde groaned and continued to eat his lunch, only half listening to Zack blabber.
"YO! TACO!" Cloud froze at the call and turned his gaze to his left where a familiar girl was walking up to him, grin on her face.
Damn it, Qliphoth, what the hell are you doing? Cloud panicked slightly. The silverette was wearing her hat and sunglasses so no one could really tell what she looked like, but everyone knew that was the cook. What would people think when they saw the cook coming up to the cadet?
Qliphoth finally stood at the edge of the table, right next to both Cloud and Zack. The ravenette was eyeing her like she was crazy and with innocent lust. Qliphoth HAD to wear those tight, figure-showing clothes didn't she?
"You know the cook, Spiky?" Zack questioned his friend, turning to him for a second.
"Y-yeah! I bumped into her a while back and she recognized me! Turns out she's an old friend from Nibelheim!" Cloud made up the excuse quickly, his voice quiet.
"Why'd she call ya Taco?" The violet-eyed man arched an eyebrow.
"It's his nickname, a' course!!" Qliphoth exclaimed quite loudly, throwing her hands into the air happily. Suddenly, the silverette wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck and rubbed her cheek against his playfully. "ISN'T IT JUST THE CUTEST NICKNAME FOR THE CUTEST LITTLE BLONDIE!!! ISN'T IT? ISN'T IT?" she squealed, nearly bursting the fox demon's eardrums.
"I hate you right now. You know that, right?" Cloud growled blankly to Qliphoth as she finally stepped away from him.
"YEAH! I KNOW!" she grinned and the blonde king slammed his head against the table. Zack was laughing incredibly hard at the sight, enjoying every moment of it.
"THIS IS BETTER THEN CABLE!!" he wheezed through his laughter. Cloud just groaned and turned his head towards his "friend".
"What do you need, anyway?" Cloud questioned her, but she glared at him.
"Don't be rude! Introduce me to your friend!!" Qliphoth motioned towards Zack.
"I'm SOLDIER First Class, Lieutenant Zack Fair!" the ravenette grinned, stretching out his hand to shake the cook's. Bad idea…
Qliphoth snatched his hand and shook it very, very violently, a grin always on her face. "I'M QLIPHOTH!! I'M CLOUD'S FRIEND, as you know, AND YOU CAN CALL ME QLIPH!!!" she finally let go of the Lieutenant's hand, who was chuckling and slowly turning his arm in circles. He'd be sore later.
"Ok! Introductions are out of the way now! So Qli—" Cloud was interrupted.
"And who are you?" both Zack and Qliphoth said at the exact same time. They both started to laugh as their blonde friend glared at them.
"You two are children," Cloud grumbled to himself. "Look, Qliph, what do you need?" he turned back to his old friend, waiting for a reply.
"Sheesh! I can't just come by and say hello?" Qliphoth groaned, pouting slightly. Cloud was silent, watching her blankly, waiting for the real answer. "OK! OK! BAH! Stop with the staring thing! It's creepy! I came by to offer you my cupcake!" the silverette held out a chocolate cupcake that Cloud hadn't noticed she'd been holding. When someone is squealing and hugging you so tight you can't breath, you normally don't really notice if they're holding a pastry.
"Ok, who gave you sweets?" the blonde king asked blankly, poking at his lunch.
"It's the boss's b-day and she gave me a cupcake!!" Qliphoth grinned happily.
"Why don't you want it? I thought you loved chocolate," it was true. Qliphoth, if known not for her hyperness, would be known for her inhuman addiction to chocolate.
"I made a bet with this Turk I met a couple days ago that I wouldn't eat chocolate for a whole week!!" the cat-eyed woman grinned happily.
"How's it going?" Zack piped in, interested with this little bet. Why was Cloud not surprised?
"I'm going through coco withdrawal! But, I'll get over it soon!" Qliphoth did a quick thumbs up and handed the cupcake to her king. Cloud took the cupcake, split it in half, and handed one half to Zack, who took it quickly and devoured it in a heart beat.
"YOU ATE THAT IN THREE SECONDS!!!" Qliphoth exclaimed, eyes wide, jaw open. Cloud chuckled slightly.
"He beat your record by one second!" he smirked at the silverette, who was still gawking at the black-haired man.
"Eh, I'm just THAT awesome!" Zack shrugged nonchalantly, but smiled nonetheless. Qliphoth smiled as well and turned to Cloud.
"Why can't you smile a bit more?" the silverette whined loudly, drawing out the question. Cloud just shrugged, and continued to eat, not in the mood for any more antics from her. From himself, though, was a totally different thing. All he needed now was to figure out when Sephiroth was actually IN the office!
"Excuse me, Lieutenant Fair, sir?" a SOLDIER Third Class came up to the table.
"That's my name! Don't wear it out!" Zack grinned, turning to the speaker. Qliphoth giggled under her breath. Cloud sighed. Could either of these two take anything seriously or professionally?
"Yes, well, General Sephiroth would like to speak with you in his office, sir," the SOLDIER saluted quickly, and left when Zack nodded for him to go.
"Well, I must bid you adue! I must be off!" the ravenette stood from his seat, picking up his tray and smiling at the blonde and silverette.
"Duty calls!" Qliphoth smiled back happily.
"And all that jazz!" Zack laughed as he left the dining hall, throwing away his tray on his way out. When he was gone, Qliphoth took a seat next to her good friend.
"So, you gonna put your plan in action now that you know Sephy's in there?" she questioned, knowing all of Cloud's pranks that he had set up. The blonde shook his head a bit.
"I'll wait a few seconds, but yes, I'm about to," the answer made the green-eyed woman grin widely. "Hey, shouldn't you be making sure dinner isn't burning?" the fox demon arched a suspicious eyebrow when the silverette shook her head wildly.
"NOPE!! Dinner's salad!" Qliphoth patted Cloud's back and began to sing, quite loudly, "NO WORRIES! ABOUT A T'ING! CAUSE EVERY LITTLE T'ING, IS GONNA BE A'RIGHT!" the demon king bopped her in the back of the head to quiet her. She rubbed her tender head, pouting, and sending a glare at her mission buddy every now and again. "Where's the jump drive?" the silverette finally spoke after a few seconds of Cloud eating.
The blonde cadet pulled out a black jump drive from his pocket and waved it back and forth. It held every little file and detail that was in Sephiroth's computer. Using the handy dandy summoning book, Cloud had summoned a new laptop for himself and loaded the data into it so that he would have special access to it. It wouldn't all fit on the one he already possessed. There was too much on that one. And, with the prank he had planned, he planned on putting the data holder back into the general's office so that he didn't lose anything important.
Come on! He was a kitsune! A master of pranks! Not a serpent! A master of torture!
Cloud finished his lunch quickly and smirked. Time for the prank!
"Is it time?" Qliphoth read the emotion on her friend's face.
"Oh, it's time!" Cloud nodded, the smirk turning foxier by the second, eyes glinting mischievously. He dug into his pocket again, leaving the jump drive there, and pulled out a small remote. It had only one red button on it.
Qliphoth looked at it like she was a lion and it was her prey. "Can I?" she whispered, sparing Cloud a pleaful glance.
"Be my guest!" the blonde grinned and the silverette quickly pressed her finger onto the button.
The building shook.
Cloud put the remote back into his pocket as everyone in the room froze, silence falling, and looked around wide-eyed. The cadet and cook mirrored their expressions, secretly laughing their asses off in their heads.
Murmurs of "what was that?" and "what happened?" could be heard as a few of the higher ranking SOLDIERs started to move out of the room. Everyone was quieted as Zack reentered, though. He was covered in what appeared to be soot. His eyes were wide with surprise and shock.
"I-it's ok, everyone! We're all good!" he reassured the men, grinning shakily. Some people voiced their worries for his health, but he just waved them off and wobbled back over to his seat across from Cloud.
He sat there, stark still, and stared at the table. Qliphoth and Cloud exchanged a look then turned back to their black-haired friend.
"Are you ok, sir?" the blonde questioned slowly. Zack looked up at him.
"Tell me, Spiky," the ravenette took in a deep breath. "Is it natural for computers to explode?" By the look on Zack's face, he was genuinely asking a real, serious question. Over to the side, Qliphoth hid a bright grin.
"I don't think so, sir!" Cloud paused a second, gathering himself before he could start laughing. "Why?"
"Uh, well, I'm not really sure, but I think Seph's computer just blew up," Zack stared at the table blankly, not really knowing what to say.
Both Cloud and Qliphoth did a little victory dance in their head.
The prank worked!!
Mental high five!
"What do you mean, 'you're not really sure'?" the silverette questioned, hidden laughter noticed by her blonde companion.
"Uh," Zack looked like he was thinking for a second, "I THINK I got hit in the head with the mouse as it flew through the air." Qliphoth covered her mouth from the on coming burst of laughter and Cloud cleared his throat to cover his.
"That," the blonde cleared his throat again as his voice cracked slightly, "That really sucks!"
The Lieutenant nodded his head slowly. "It really does! I mean, it was out of nowhere! And, oh man, Sephy's mad! He went storming out to look for the security tapes. The guy that did that is a dead man walking!"
The demon king smirked on the inside of his mind. He doubted the general would ever find him out. No one had ever been able to catch him in the act. Though some people just had the feeling it had been him on certain pranks, they could never get proof. And, if he looked at the tapes for any other room during the time of the explosion, he would not see Qliphoth and him press the button. He knew where every security camera was in this place and he knew where he could hold the remote so it would be hidden.
"God, I'm hungry!" Zack suddenly spoke up, at some point in Cloud's musing he had rested his chin on the table. The blonde wasn't really surprised. For some reason, he, Kiva, and a good amount of demon's he knew got hungry after recovering from surprise or shock.
"Go get some more food then!" Qliphoth said like it was the easiest thing in the world. Well, it kind of was. Just stand up and get in line.
"I'm not allowed to get seconds since I was a cadet," the Lieutenant said sadly. Cloud's thought's wandered a bit. One thing he was thinking about was how hard it was to picture Zack as a cadet. Though his personality was much like a fourteen-year-old's, he still was a First Class SOLDIER and it was hard to picture.
The other thought was why on earth was Zack not allowed to have seconds? He was the Lieutenant and had very difficult missions that required energy, which required food. If he needed it, the ravenette should be allowed to get as much food as he needed.
"Why, might I ask?" Cloud said slowly, arching his eyebrow. His black-haired friend didn't answer right away. Instead, he turned and stared off into space, probably reminiscing in old times.
~Zack's Flashback~
A fifteen-year-old Zack Fair stared out the cafateria windows in shock as all the lights and power in Midgar shut off.
He turned to a twitching Angeal.
"Sorry."
~End Flashback~
"We were without power for three hours," Zack murmured to himself. Cloud and Qliphoth exchanged a confused look, and shrugged. Never even TRY to understand the mystery that was Zack. Or Qliphoth. Don't try to understand that one either.
"Yeah, well, anyway," Qliphoth mumbled and shook her head violently. She grinned at Zack and nodded to herself. "How 'bout I sneak you out some food?"
The violet-eyed man turned his head towards and the green-eyed woman with shimmering eyes. "I'll be your best friend!" Qliphoth just nodded to his answer, stood, and walked for the kitchen. Zack watched her go then turned back towards the cadet in front of him.
"She's like an angel sent down from the heavens!" the ravenette whispered wistfully. Cloud just rolled his eyes.
More like a demon sent from hell, he thought grumpily, remembering the little prank the cat-eyed girl had played on him four days ago involving his morning coffee and a very large spider.
The rest of lunch consisted of Zack garfing down the food Qliphoth brought out, the silverette and ravenette talking like there was no tomorrow, Cloud zoning out many times, and Zack and Qliphoth fake crying when Cloud had to leave for classes. The blonde was finally able to shake his two friends off his ankles (literally) and head for classes. He was honestly excited about the lesson that day.
Survival.
This was great!
He loved the subject of survival!
Cloud walked casually into the classroom and looked around. There was a different group of cadets in his class lessons then there was in his physical lessons.
NO BRIAN! YAY! Cloud would always cheer inside his head, but a small pain would come forward. Brian, realizing that bad things would happen when he attacked Cloud because of the invisible warriors (that name had actually stuck, surprisingly), he tried more mental beatings. The blonde would of suspected the idiot to not think up anything devastating, which he hadn't, he had to give his props to what the brunette had done so far.
Though his plans were very simple and honestly expected when it came to psychological warfare in schools, Cloud hadn't thought Brian could think it all up.
First plan: make the blonde, newbie loser as lonely as possible.
Brian had somehow gotten Carmille to become one of the Brian clones. Cloud had no idea how the bully had done it, but he'd done it. Now, the closest person he had to a friend in that class was gone. And anyone that started to get close to the blonde king was either taken away or beaten until they would stay away from him.
Second plan: spread rumors.
This one irked Cloud greatly. Now, the whole of the cadet class in that training room believed he slept with a stuffed animal and had cried like a baby when he had come from Nibelheim to SOLDIER. The blonde vowed he'd get the brunette back, too. He couldn't just leave it to pranking Sephiroth! The brunette idiot would most definitely pay.
Third plan: mess Cloud up when training.
They mainly just yelled at the blonde when he was doing a running course or when he was sparring. This never really worked. Cloud could easily tune them out. He didn't mind if people knew he was good at concentrating. That was fine. He just wanted to make them think he was a weakling in the strength department.
So, Cloud's first classes of the day were pretty much a living hell. Well, they would be if he were a desperate teen boy, just wanting to do the best he could do and become. But, he wasn't, but he was supposed to seem like it. There were so many times that the blonde wanted to either bash the Brian clone's heads in, role his eyes in annoyance and just retort with a better insult, or strangle them, but he had to look hurt, ignore them, or look like he was gonna cry.
It all still disgusted him to no degree.
Cloud took his seat next to a boy with black hair and a green, spiky Mohawk. His name was Napoleon. To the fox king's surprise, this seemingly tough, punk, bully acted a lot like Zalu. Intelligent, kind, sweet, patient, top of the class, perfectionist, a bit of a spaz (Cloud hoped Zalu would never read this story), and great with kids.
HA!
TAKE THAT STEREOTYPING!
Cloud hated stereotyping.
The blonde and the seemingly punk teen had become friends in a short time.
"So, what is up with you?" Nap asked when his friend took a seat. Nap was his nickname, seeing as his name was too long to say sometimes. And he hated being called Napoleon. Another thing that reminded the blonde of his blue haired friend.
"Not much. Two of my friends were being total idiots today at lunch, though," Cloud mumbled, reaching into his pocket lazily and pulling out a small travel sized book. It was called "The Shapeshifter: Finding the Fox" by Ali Sparkes (1). It had been a gift from Qliphoth on his job well done for setting up the pranks, and he had yet to start it.
"Did it have anything to do with Lieutenant Fair?" Nap asked knowingly. Cloud had vented many times on how annoying Zack could be, but he also spoke of how kind he was and how loyal a friend he was. It's just that Zack being annoying seemed to be a big topic for Nap and Cloud's conversations.
"He and another one of my many annoying friends," the fox demon grumbled, opening his book and beginning to read.
"HEY!" Nap exclaimed, holding a mock hurt expression on his face.
"Sorry! You're one of the slightly less annoying friends," Cloud grinned at his friend then turned back to his book.
"I will take it!" Nap said with finality and turned to the textbook on his desk. Another thing that Cloud realized was similar between Nap and Zalu was the fact neither of them ever, EVER used contractions. It was kind of weird. The one time the demon king had actually heard Zalu use a contraction was when they weren't even in the warrior program and she was totally pissed at Kiva. The red phoenix had ended up with three broken ribs, a broken arm, and a broken leg. When the redhead was released from the hospital he stayed at Cloud's house for a week or so, not wanting anything to do with his sister.
The blonde, to this day, still had no idea what they had fought over, but he did end up noticing that they never talked about some human male actor named Robert Pattinson, or something.
That's when it happened. That's when Cloud's day went totally down hill. The SOLDIER First Class that taught the lessons most of the time walked in. No, that's not the bad thing. Cloud actually liked Mr. Montrelize. No, it was what he said that made Cloud want to scream and tear his hair out.
"Class, due to certain events, the general has informed that all classes of will be having changes in schedule. This class will no longer be learning of survival today," insert class groan, "they'll be experiencing it."
~Authors Note~
Ok, so here's chapter five! I'm pretty sure it's the longest, but I'm not sure.
This is mainly a comic relief chapter. Brian's gonna get it in the next chapter, trust me!
So, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering why survival training instead of learning is so bad. Well, it will be spoken of in the next chapter, but it's because Cloud isn't ready. He doesn't know how he should act. And, if it's SURVIVAL training then he knows there will be monsters and bad things.
Ok, well, thanks for reading! Please review! And the poles are changed a little.
~POLL~
1. If Zack were a demon, which would he be? (I'm not saying he's going to be a demon. It might just be like someone's saying he'd be good as that one)
-Werewolf (tell me what color)
-Elemental Wolf (which element?)
-Cerberus
2. Should Qliphoth meet Sephiroth soon?
-Yes (how soon?) (how should Sephy react?)
-No
~Pointers~
(1) that is a real book, actually! I really, really, REALLY want to get it and read it, but I haven't yet... :'(