"The Unlikely Team"

X-over

Sephiroth: Leader (Final Fantasy VII)—After Advent Children—Height: 6'1 Age: 32

Vegeta: Foil/Ego (Dragon Ball Z)—After Omega Shenron—Height: 5'6 Age: 67

Lang: Arbiter (Legaia 2 Duel Saga)—After End of Game—Height: 5'4 Age: 16

Ziggy: Order (Xenosaga)—After End of Xenosaga III—Height: 6'3 Age: 128

Chapter 7: Endless Green

I woke up to the rather disturbing image of Vegeta looking down at me. He was much too close to me. Today was going to be a great day—I could just feel it. Before I could tell him off, he spoke first.

"Your scent is different," Vegeta said matter-of-factly.

I sat up, though with some difficulty as it was the bare ground once again I'd been resting on.

"I had no idea you went about smelling people every morning," I replied lacking any hint of surprise I might have felt at the moment.

I received a satisfying frown from the other. He looked visibly perturbed as well he should be. Whether I smelled nice or not was rather low on my list of interests. But on that subject, perhaps we could all do with a shower or bath or with a bucket of water dumped over us. It was too bad we couldn't find something like that at the last village, but it was too late to turn back now.

Still, Vegeta was looking at me with concern and that started to bother me more than anything else. I'm sure he'd sooner kill me his self than worry over my wellbeing.

"Your comparison of me to a dog is duly noted," Vegeta said back sardonically. "For your information, no, I don't do that, but it was just...very noticeable."

"And is that something I should be concerned with?" I asked finally humoring the man since he would not drop the ridiculous subject. I might be the so-called leader of this rag tag group, but only a fool would intentionally put the most stubborn, obnoxious member into a bad mood. I'd rather save my energy for something more important.

"Maybe," he said thoughtfully, "Maybe not. If you feel any different...you'd let us know, right?"

I was at a loss as to where this line of thinking was coming from, but it was a reasonable question. "If it effected my judgement, then I suppose I would have no choice."

Vegeta nodded, satisfied with my answer it would seem. He still studied me with his dark eyes as if he saw something, but was debating with himself whether he should mention it or not. Just what was so interesting there?

As I finally stood up to evaluate the others, I noticed that I was the last one to awaken. That in itself was not a good sign. They must have been waiting for me yet no one said a word about it as we set off again. The sun was quite high by this time. It was probably the afternoons. Had I really slept right through the morning? Perhaps something was amiss, but I didn't feel any differently.

I could see the concern on Lang's face and it was beginning to irk me. Ziggurat was as usual impartial to me at least, but anyone could tell that there was some closeness between him and Vegeta. It was just as well. The hotheaded so-called Saiyan could stand to spend some time with his complete temperament opposite. I discerned from their thoughts that they were, in fact, discussing me and my condition. I don't bother with telepathy unless it is necessary as I could care less the arbitrary thoughts of lower beings, but sometimes it can prove to be interesting as it was at this moment.

Saiyans or at least this particular Saiyan appeared to have heightened senses and was quite superior to those of humans as it turned out. He mentioned my scent, but he also noticed discoloration in the eyes which was unbeknownst to everyone except him, along with some propensity in sensing energy levels within a person. According to his thoughts, that ability had been more accurate in the past, but now in this world it required more concentration. Perhaps that was the true reason he'd been watching me so closely as of late. As far as my own energy went, it was much lower than what was usual. These sorts of thoughts swirled about the Saiyan's mind. His more devious thoughts wondered if he should take advantage and then others telling the Saiyan that now was not the time, that he wasn't at full power and so was too vulnerable to strike out on his own. You know, the usual thoughts of Vegeta.

I hadn't told anyone of this telepathy that I still thankfully retained from the world I came from and no one suspected a thing. No one except Vegeta, of course. The barbarian had his clever moments and it was this cleverness that continuously amazed me. His thoughts were simplistic enough and then suddenly they would take on a genius quality. He'd suddenly pick up on the most subtle of things. It was more disappointing than anything else. It would mean that I had to watch what I said if I wanted to continue being a step ahead.

Ziggurat's mind worked differently. Very differently, I might add. It was a strange mix of both human and computer-like qualities. It was akin to reading an essay written in extremely dry language and like all good essays they were informative. Sometimes his thoughts could be even insightful, but dull nonetheless. There was a distinct lack of personality there and it was only in exchange that I could so much as glean such a thing from him. Something told me though that had he been an actual human there would be little difference in that department.

Then there was Lang, the easily managed youth whose thoughts interested me the least. He was a sensible boy at least and quite easy to read telepathy or not. He never did or thought of anything out of the ordinary and for some strange reason he had taken a liking to me. Perhaps it wasn't strange as I've been looked up to in the past, but admiration was a thing I hadn't felt from others in a long time. It was oddly nostalgic. Of course, I don't regret the decisions I've made in my life. Rather I regret that a boy like Cloud could exist...but I'm digressing.

Lang walked beside me now as was his habit and Vegeta and Ziggurat brought up the rear—their usual formation. I could not see the other two, but I could hear them—especially Ziggurat's unwieldy metallic feet; it almost overshadowed everyone else's movements. It was because of this that I could immediately tell when his footsteps stopped which in turn caused me to halt. I looked back at the cyborg curiously and saw that he was looking about himself as if expecting something to surround them and instinctively I cast my sight about us.

Seeing nothing, I took note of his thoughts at that moment which was a bit more frantic than usual. His sensors were alerting him to incoming missiles. It was surprising to say the least given the nature of this world. If our powers are so easily suspended, such mechanisms as missiles should not be able to exist here, but then again, I don't claim to know everything. Obviously, there were ways to bypass this law and this was simply another example.

The cyborg thought of nothing but our safety—a trait that most would find admirable. He was always thinking, always setting up plans for any possible situation, always worried about the next person. Dare I say, he made for a competent leader were I not one already. It was obvious that the cyborg trusted his own senses and was then shouting at all of us to run. No explanation, simply that we should run. Had it been any other person, we might have hesitated, but this was the cyborg, the impartial machine who seemed to have no hidden agenda. I didn't make a fuss, I simply did as he wanted for practical reasons. I had no reason to disbelieve him.

So we ran like our lives depended on it. Vegeta heard the sounds of the incoming missiles first and then I too almost at the same time as the cyborg. None of this made sense, but I had long since given up trying to understand everything we encounter. Everything appeared to be arbitrary and I suspected that this was the norm in this world.

We were running through the soft sand and then we were running over the much firmer ground of a wooded area. Then we were through the trees and onto a grassy field which turned out to have a plethora of hills. As soon as I stepped out of the trees, however, I knew something was wrong. I knew immediately that I was alone. I could no longer sense anyone near me. I stopped midstride and saw with my own eyes that there was no one else.

How in the world could this be possible? There was no reason why we should be this separated. I started back to where I had come from and knew that the landscape had already changed completely. The wooded area that we'd been running through was no longer there. It was all quite strange and unsettling. Who knew if this was deliberate or accidental? I knew that the land was capable of changing, but I'd never seen it do so right under my nose.

Was it possible then, that purely by the strangeness of the environment we had become separated? In our haste, had the land itself disrupted our locations? If that was the case, then how would we be able to find each other again? Who would choose to live in such a world as this where no maps could be drawn and cities and villages constantly misplaced or becoming utterly unreachable.

I sighed to myself. There was nothing left to do, but to go forward. I hated the lack of options yet it was all I could do at the moment. At least the day and night cycles seemed fairly consistent. I watched as the sun slowly went across the sky as it should; the only constant in these strange lands. I watched as the sun began to sink into the horizon, the skies turn dark. That whole day, I'd not found any food or people. There had simply been grass and more grass. Fresh and vibrant though it was, I was beginning to grow sick of its appearance. Being alone was not something that bothered me, but it was the lack of life around me. There was no hint of other lifeforms besides plant life. It might have been peaceful had it not been so eerie.

For a moment, I pondered on the other's whereabouts, but only for a moment. I had my own problems to worry about. I'd been walking that whole day so when it finally became too dark to see anything ahead of me, I simply "made camp" in that very spot. It was all I could do. The serene, silent night lulled me to sleep. I hoped the next day would be a bit more productive.

I awoke to a woman's voice humming softly and the crackling of fire. Judging by how the bright sun pierced my eyes, it was the afternoons. I'd managed to sleep through the morning again—it was getting to be a normal occurrence. I felt tired and worn out even after having what I assumed was a restful night. After my eyes adjusted, I sat up slowly to make eye contact with the nearby woman.

"Oh, you're awake," the woman said in pleasant tones when she noticed me.

She was sitting in front of the flames holding a stick with a chunk of meat into it obviously waiting for it to cook. The very sight of it made my mouth water and my hunger betrayed me as my stomach began to growl. The woman giggled at this. I still hadn't managed to say a word.

"This one is for you," she said, "I don't mind sharing."

The woman had short cropped turquoise hair, bright blue eyes, milky white skin, and a rather small stature. She didn't seem like one who spent a great amount of time outside, however. She wore bright red lipstick, small loop earrings, and a very out-of-place red sleeve-less dress. Around her neck was a yellow scarf which somehow seemed fitting.

"Are you a native?" I finally asked her. She didn't seem the least bit put off by anything. In fact, she was at ease.

One of her eyebrows went up questioningly, "No, do I look like it? I haven't the slightest clue where I am. In fact, I'm pretty lost. I woke up one day and I was here. It's not the strangest thing that's happened to me, but it's up there. I started calling out for people, but no response. Then I started walking and found you this morning. You're the first person I've seen in a while so I decided to make camp here."

"So, you're not from here as well. Although, you don't appear too startled about this."

"As well? As in you don't know anything either?" She sighed then. "Well, looks like I'm just as lost as ever."

I didn't like the phrasing she used. I did know something, but obviously not the information that she was hoping for. "You've been here in this environment the whole time you've been here?" I asked cautiously.

"This environment?" she asked a bit confused. "Sure, yes, it's just been grass for miles."

"Where did you get the wood for the fire and the food?" I asked further.

"That was easy. I had it on me already," she said as if it were common knowledge. She reached to her purse and pulled out a few cylindrical containers. "See, these are called capsules, they can contain items much larger than itself. Good thing I had these with me or else I would be freaking out. Oh, I think it's ready," the woman finished referring to the roasting meat.

I didn't ask what it was exactly. I was far too famished to care. She moved over a little so that she could hand it to me. I made no comment on these so-called capsules. I was unfamiliar with such a technology, but the concept did not seem too farfetched. The woman giggled again and I realized that I was practically inhaling whatever was on that stick—how embarrassing, but then I've always been far more prepared than this and did not make a habit of being without nourishment for quite so long.

"Do you want another?" the woman asked after I finished the whole thing.

"No, that was more than enough," I told her.

"Don't worry, I have lots more where that came from. I went grocery shopping not too long ago. It's tiring buying all that food, but I suppose it was a blessing in disguise. If I hadn't fallen asleep on the couch with my purse on me, I wouldn't be so prepared. Now, let's just get the introductions out the way. I'm Bulma Briefs, scientist extraordinaire and I hail from Earth."

A scientist? She certainly didn't look like one nor did she give off a vibe of being one. I would simply have to take her word for it. Again, I found that I was introducing myself. I simply gave my name and that I hailed from a planet known as Gaia. It was clear to me that the world she came from was fairly modern as she instinctively acknowledged that there existed other planets. She gave me a funny look after my brief introduction.

"Is it just Sephiroth?" she asked.

I realized that she had given her last name and I had simply given her my first, but I had done so purposefully. "Just Sephiroth," I parroted back.

"Alright," she said with a shrug and letting the matter rest. "So, I'm guessing you've been here longer than me. What should we do now?"

I had no real plan and I had known this for a while. That much already bothered me. Now I would have to admit this fact to someone else—it was quite humiliating. "The land changes in an arbitrary fashion so walking in a straight line should be sufficient. It is impossible to know where exactly you're headed. I was just recently separated from three others I've been traveling with for some time. A woman who claims to have been the reason we were brought here has a task for us to fulfill and she promises to send us back when the deed is done."

Bulma's eyes widened at this. "So there is a way back if I just stick with you. You don't mind, do you?"

For now, it would be advantageous to keep her around as she had food. Then again, I could easily do away with her and take what she had. The capsules seemed easy enough to use. Yet I hesitated with going through with this. A scientist could be handy to have around and...perhaps I could do with a bit of company. I was no stranger to being alone for extended amounts of time, but forgive me Mother she was easy on the eyes and sometimes I wanted to hear something else besides my own thoughts.

Outwardly, she looked like a bimbo, but apparently she was not quite. It was then that I came to the revelation that I did not have access to her thoughts. My eyes narrowed at this. I began to wonder if this "Bulma" was a real person or perhaps something else. I could not recollect any reason why I should be unable to read someone's thoughts with ease. Just like that, my guard was up once again.

I put out the flames of the seemingly magical fire. There had been no logs underneath and yet it had been steady and strong the whole time. The technology on her planet must have been quite advanced indeed.

We began to travel aimlessly. Unlike the other three I'd been with before, Bulma did not notice anything off about me. Then again, she might have assumed that however I was now was the norm. There was no weird, awkward silence between us as she was capable of keeping a conversation up all by herself. She chattered away incessantly. I should have been annoyed, but at times I did humor her with a few things to say myself.

She spoke of normal things and normal problems she experienced on a day to day basis but she cleverly—or at least I thought so—avoided revealing anything personal about herself. Most would find her relatable, but I could not conjure up any similar experiences I had.

It was later on in the afternoons when we stopped to rest. Bulma had insisted and I pretended as if I was annoyed, that I could have gone on, but in reality, I was exhausted as well. There was definitely something wrong now. I could feel it. Perhaps Vegeta's observations hadn't been too far off the mark.

There was only a few minutes of complete silence until Bulma decided to break it again a bit to my relief. I wanted to be distracted from the dreadfully monotonous scenery, my growing apprehension of forever being lost, the thoughts that my weakness would increase in severity... And she did not disappoint although this time she caught me a bit off guard.

She looked at me as if she'd finally began to take notice of me. Her eyes were evaluating and she nodded to herself. She grinned at a joke that only she was privy to. "I bet you're quite the lady killer, leaving all those countless ladies in tears when you callously move on to the next one."

My eyebrows furrowed a bit at this. What she was implying was so preposterous that it gave me pause and left me bereft of words. She laughed at my confusion.

"Oh, c'mon! I'm not talking in a foreign language. Surprised I found you out so fast?"

I recovered my bearings. "I've always had little time for such things," I began, but then she interrupted.

"Trying to pull a fast one on me? How old are you anyway?" she asked then she crossed her arms and nodded in a sagely. "Oh, I see—this is part of your seduction, right? Make a girl think you've been so tragically busy and lacking in companionship thereby giving you the appearance of innocence. What girl wouldn't fall for that?"

This woman had a vivid imagination. "Bulma, I assure you—I don't engage in such activities."

She wasn't satisfied with this response and it was now her turn to be confused. "But I'm sure you must have had some girlfriends in the past," she asked. Obviously, she was beginning to believe me.

"Why must that be a fact?" I asked instead of going over the same statement.

"Wait a minute," she said in a tone that suggested she had come to a shocking conclusion, "You really don't do that sort of thing. Never kissed anyone, never loved another like that—this day just keeps getting stranger and stranger. Don't tell me, you're actually...asexual."

She said it as if instead she'd just found out that I was some psychopathic maniac who took pleasure in seeing people suffer. I grinned at my own private joke and she must have took it as further proof of her assumptions.

"I don't like putting labels on things. Who's to say I don't meet someone someday that I fancy. Though unlikely, it may not impossible. After what I've seen of this world, nothing is impossible."

"But if that happened," she said with a knowing look, "You'd be woefully unprepared." She had her finger up as if she was giving me particularly sound advice. "And you seem like the kind of person who likes being the opposite."

Keen observation, I must say, seeing as I've given her little evidence to this fact. At this point I was unprepared in every sense of the word and I could not rectify the situation.

"Well, you've run into just the right girl to give you the lowdown. Just think of how horrified that special woman or man might be when you give them that inexperienced kiss from lack of other partners. You gotta' make sure you sweep them off their feet. As long as you can get the kiss right, all that other stuff will fall right into place."

"You seem to speak from experience," I observed.

"Oh, I do! So we must practice while we have all this time to waste."

"Practice?" I asked again being caught off guard by her.

"Yeah, silly. I'll have you know that I'm married to the love of my life so I'm completely impartial to all of this and you won't have to worry about me becoming clingy."

Married to the love of her life? I couldn't even picture such an individual that could tame this rather frisky woman. Would this same person be fine with the offer she was giving me? Was he some pushover that Bulma had complete control over? Women do like to have control over others or at least feel as if they do. It wouldn't be so farfetched to assume that this was the case for her.

She insisted that we be standing up for this affair. And I, well, was feeling less than enthusiastic about it. I wasn't eager, but she was looking at me so expectantly. I wondered what her face would look like if I disappointed her, if I completely denied her request. I suppose that would be an equally entertaining thing to see. However, I was curious. Mother, how did I get to this point? Contemplating whether I should kiss someone or not.

I wasn't completely ignorant to the activity. I knew, in theory, what I had to do. So, I went through the motions. I pressed my lips against hers and was done with it. Painless. Was that all it was? This was the thing I'd been so woefully missing?

Her eyes had been closed, but they were opened now staring at me with complete disbelief. "What the Hell was that? You really have no clue," she said with widening eyes. "You really think that would make anyone like you? It was like having a piece of cardboard pressed against my lips! This is how you do it."

The woman pounced on me unexpectantly. Strange that I had my guard down enough for her to get away with it, but that was the least of my issues. She did far more than press her lips against mine. It was much more than that. Her eyes were closed and so were mine and we were like that for almost an entire minute. I don't think I've ever felt something like that before. Such passion, such strength and determination. It was nice, but I was completely out of my element. I pulled away first. At that moment, I knew more about lower beings than I ever had before.

"See? Speechless, right?" she said congratulating herself, "That's what you've been missing out on." Her eyes looked away from me then. "You should be thanking me, really. It's hard to do all that while kissing an almost literal cardboard. You gave me no response at all...and, honestly, it was kind of weird. I think you should just stick with hands instead of lips. You'll figure it out one day, I hope."

I noticed something different in her eyes. Was it fear? I was quite good at sensing that and though she tried to hide it I was still able to pinpoint it. Had she discovered something disturbing about me? In the same way that I had felt her, had she felt me as well? There had been nothing to feel. I had not reacted, but perhaps...that was my reaction. Maybe I had given away something of myself. As emotionless as the cyborg seemed, would he have responded the same way in such a situation?

I knew one thing for certain, I would not figure out how to simulate the kind of kiss that Bulma had given me. Mother, though they are lower beings, there are certain depths of emotions that are impossible for me to imitate and you are the only being who I could love to such a degree yet I would never kiss you in such a way.

Such knowledge was incredibly satisfying. I could further understand the pain one might feel at the loss of an individual they could love to such a degree. That kind of loss was far more torturous than I gave it credit and I must have in my lifetime dealt out incalculable levels of pain on account of my usual callousness. It put things more into perspective. I do like when things come full circle. I derived pleasure from being the arbiter of pain and now I enjoyed it even more.

This woman had given me this knowledge freely and I was grateful. By the end of the day, I was able to imitate a reasonable kiss as judged by Bulma after I took up her hand many times that day. We never repeated the exercise earlier that day and something told me that she was avoiding it instinctively. Yes, she was very clearly afraid of me.

The land hadn't changed when nightfall came. I fell asleep easily, but the woman was still awake by the time this happened. It felt like only moments had passed when I awoke to the sounds of struggle and Bulma yelling my name like a banshee. I knew something was wrong in that instant, but I realized that I could not move on my own.

"As I said before," the gravelly voice from some unfamiliar man said, "he's under my control now. Sephiroth, I want you to kill her, but slowly!"

I was able to move now and there was only one thing I wanted to do with this newfound ability. I waited for my eyes to readjust and made out Bulma grasped tightly by the waist against another who was taller than she.

"You're not making any sense!" Bulma shouted, "He won't do anything you say," she said defiantly. "Sephiroth, tell him off already!"

"But haven't you noticed? He woke up to my command. He can move because I wanted him to. Isn't that right, Sephiroth?"

I was standing before the two of them now and I wanted to slice the woman open, but that very implication infuriated me. That this stranger could even begin to think that he could exert control of me, the Chosen One. I could hardly even speak, I was so angry. My thoughts were my own and I would do only what I desired and not the other way around. I took the katana out of it's sheathe. My hands trembled not from weakness, but from the mental war in my mind.

Bulma's eyes had closed then as if resigned to her fate. How little faith she had in me, but then I didn't blame her. She hardly knew me. The stranger was laughing raucously now, pissing me off further. It was much harder than I thought earlier to regain control over my action. It was as if my own body was rebelling against me. I wanted to move towards him, but I could not. I wanted to cut him in two, but my arms wouldn't move. It was like pushing against some massive invisible stone. I was sweating harder than I ever had in my life.

"I think you've chosen your victim poorly," I said referring to myself and my predicament.

I finally took a step forward and every step after was excruciating. I ignored the pain. That was all I had to do to exert my will once again. I wanted the man to suffer. I wanted this man with the audacity to command me to feel the depths of his insignificance to me. I knew my own limits, however. I knew I wasn't at a hundred percent and prolonged struggle would be my downfall. I was no fool; I had to get this over with quickly. The wretched man didn't even realize the moment of his demise. He was still looking at me with that smug satisfaction as his body split in two and fell in harmless bloody heaps to the ground.

I didn't have much time to bask in my victory as I fell to my knees and dropped my katana. My body was betraying me once again but in ways I had not thought possible as I began to convulse. I was no longer in control of myself no matter how much I tried to counteract it. What exactly had that man done to me? I felt what strength I had left leaving me as well. The violent convulsions would not stop. Little by little they began to subside after a time and since that time Bulma had been near me. She could do nothing for me. All she could do was watch. I was embarrassed. I did not want anyone to see me like this.

She spoke when she thought I could listen properly. "That man, I don't know who he was, but I think he's been following you for quite some time. He just kept going on and on about being able to control you. Some technique that took time to take effect. It was so weird. I kept calling your name and you wouldn't answer and then he just clicks his fingers and 'poof' you're awake. I'm sorry...I didn't believe in you more...All that is over now. You're already getting better and-

I interrupted her then. The convulsions had stopped, but I did not feel quite so certain of my recovery. It did feel as if I was dying. I knew what death felt like. Perhaps this time hadn't been as grandiose as before, but I did feel death approaching. My eyes were struggling to stay open. They were fluttering trying to regain some sort of focus and my attempts were getting weaker and weaker. "Bulma...at least you'll still be alive...find Veil Publius, find the other three..." I honestly thought I could give her more information than that, but my strength failed me completely and my world grew dark.

AN: Random guest person who "reviewed" my story. You probably could have PMed me with that sort of information, but I've known about that petition even before the PS4 existed. I've signed and told all those who I'm associated with and actually cares about Xenosaga. So, yes, WAY ahead of you. That petition is pretty obsolete unless there's another as they never did get enough people to sign up. I'm not holding my breath either.