A/N: After learning that George Newbern (Sephiroth's English voice actor) is in Saw VI, I eventually had to incorporate the movie in one of my stories somehow. Also, are there any Torchwood/Doctor Who fans out there? If so, Zack has something that may be of interest to you...though he might be confusing the two Captain Jacks (Harkness and Sparrow).
So erm…after hours of research and not satisfied with the type of clothing that Russia might wear under his coat (blue and white stripes? hrm…), I just went ahead and made him shirtless XD. There's already been two and a half (Cloud, Sephiroth, and more or less Genesis) shirtless scenes so far so…just picture a bishified Russia (veeeh..?). Fanservice all the way ;D
'
Chapter 9: Knights, Spies, and Allies
(Alternative Title: The Art of Intimidation)
Genesis didn't know how long he had been out, but eventually, he awoke, groggy and more or less paralyzed. Even his mind felt too foggy to form comprehensive thoughts. He couldn't feel his arms or legs, and no matter how hard he tried to open them, his eyes remained firmly shut. He was floating in darkness without knowledge of where he was or what had happened.
Then, he heard something.
"Hello, Genesis," a dark, mocking voice said to him, seemingly coming from all directions around him.
His thoughts managed to converge on each other, fueled by enough fury to curse his name. Seph…iroth!
Genesis tried to move again but his limbs could barely respond. Thankfully, though, he was able to open his eyes with what little strength he had and realized that he was in a small, dimly lit, rectangular box of a building with only room for a bed on which he was lying, and a stand beside him on which a flickering TV sat facing him.
Genesis managed to tilt his head just enough to the right to see the TV screen flash of static, then show a close up of Sephiroth's face.
"I want to play a game," he said through a smirk.
Genesis ignored him, concerned more about his current condition than another one of Sephiroth's crazy schemes. He tried to move his arms and discovered that, with a lot of effort, he could. The feeling in his limbs was quickly returning to him and he managed, inch by inch, to push himself up in a sitting position.
The video of Sephiroth continued to play without his attention. "You are on Cactus Island, and here you will gather the ingredients necessary to reach Concrete Feather's six-month quota. There will be a SOLDIER waiting for you outside. He will be your lieutenant, there to assist you in commanding the troops that have been summoned by you."
The last bit caught Genesis's attention and his eyes snapped back to the TV screen. The email, he remembered. But he didn't finish it. Or send it. But how? Who?
"An airship will arrive in exactly forty-eight hours to retrieve you and the ingredients. If you refuse to act…" Sephiroth trailed off. "Well, I am sure you are aware of the consequences, but I have decided to make things more interesting.
"Your beloved book is in a safe on the roof of Headquarters. That safe has four locks. Three keys are held by three random monsters scattered across this island, while the last one is located on the airship that will take you home. Unlock the safe with these keys, and the book is yours. But that is not all."
Of course, nothing with him would be that simple. There was another flash of static before Sephiroth continued.
"The safe is set to incinerate anything inside it in exactly…fifty hours from now. Your time is running out. Act quickly, or Loveless will burn. Make your choice."
Genesis stood up suddenly, fists clenched and eyes burning into the TV screen as he watched the picture of Sephiroth disappear into a sea of static. It was only after a few seconds of cursing him that Genesis realized he was standing up when only a few moments ago, he could barely move.
He brought his hands up to examine them, opening and closing them to feel that he indeed had control of his body again. That was when he realized there was something on his left wrist. It was a black leather strap with a two-inch wide LCD screen on it that now displayed the numbers 49:57. As the 7 blinked to 6, Genesis looked around the room, putting aside his anger and focused getting to work. If what Sephiroth had said was true- and his unnecessarily elaborate plans always are- then he didn't have time to be angry. He needed to save Loveless. He'll get his revenge afterwards.
Hanging on the back of the door in the far corner of the room was…a black suit. He glanced at it but had already made his decision before he even considered the possibility that it may have been intended for him. Even though he was still in his lounging clothes- a simple red t-shirt and jeans- he'd feel a lot less like a tool if he didn't accept the more dignified attire and become another one of Sephiroth's minions.
Leaning against the door was his red rapier and at the sight of it, his face softened and he even smiled a bit. At least he knew not to take away a soldier's weapon of choice. After all, Sephiroth needed him to kill…what? The entire monster population on Cactus Island to fill the quota? In two days?
Genesis let out a sigh of annoyance as he took the rapier comfortably into his right hand and flung the door open, revealing a divided island. On the right was a vast desert, derived of everything but sand and Cactuars, on the left was a lush forest where the Tonberries resided, and up ahead was a cavernous mountain of a hill where their Kings ruled. And just in front of him was a bunch of…
Idiots, Genesis thought.
"No, no, I swear to Minerva that if you dance like them, the Cactuars'll come and swarm you, I swear!" one of four Third Class SOLDIERs said to the other he was facing.
"No way, man, you're out of your mind," he replied with a laugh. "Why the hell would I want to be swarmed by a bunch of Cactuars anyway?"
"C'mon, I'll give you a hundred gil if you do it!" egged on the one beside him.
"It really works, you gotta believe us! Kunsel knows someone who's done it before, righ-" he turned to his left to face him only to cut himself off when he saw Genesis coming out of the small building.
Kunsel, who was leaning against the outside wall of it, perked up at the sudden silence and followed the SOLDIER's gaze to meet Genesis. At once, the peaceful smile he was wearing was wiped away and he faced him, stood up straight, feet together, and brought a hand up to his head in a salute. "SOLDIER, Second Class, Kunsel, at your service, sir!"
The four men in front of the building also lined up straight in front of him, awaiting instructions.
"Where are the others?" Genesis asked him, noting that these five SOLDIERs were in their regular uniforms rather than the black suits.
Kunsel let his right hand fall to his side. "There are currently five thousand infantrymen on this island, sir. They have been split into teams, each lead by a Third, and are currently occupying the eastern and western portions of the island. The ingredients brought back from the monsters are being gathered in an area south of here. And, ah…" Kunsel corrected himself before letting anymore words out of his mouth. "We can gather them up if you'd like to instruct them yourself, sir."
Genesis shook his head slightly. "No need," he said, looking around. There was no time to waste. "All of you," he said, looking to SOLDIERS. "Follow me." And with that, he took off straight ahead towards the Tonberry Kings.
The four men let him run ahead of them. They didn't move. Their eyes were on Kunsel. It was only when he turned to them and gave a firm nod that they started to chase after him.
Kunsel stayed behind, taking a few idle steps forwards as they ran off as he simply took in the scenery.
Putting his hands on both sides of his SOLDIER helmet, he lifted it off, letting his flattened silvery hair free of its entrapment. He ran a hand through his hair, giving it a quick ruffle to loosen it, and letting the strands fall where they fell. He shook his head a bit to shake some of the hair out of his eyes and he smiled.
The island was peaceful, all right. Regardless of the mass slaughter needed to obtain the ingredients for…hair products…the island was peaceful. He didn't know where his friend Zack and the others were, or what exactly they were doing, but here, where he was stationed, it was peaceful, and he quite enjoyed it. One day, he'll have a bigger role in the world, the new world. For now, though, he was content in playing a smaller part.
He took a deep breath in and out. "Stage two of Operation Genocide commencing," he said quietly to himself as he stood there for a while with his eyes closed, simply feeling the gentle breeze on his bare face. It was a rare thing for him, being so open like this. And at the sudden realization that his face was completely exposed, he snapped out of his tranquility.
He looked around to where he leaned his standard SOLDIER sword against the wall of the building and took it by the handle. He slid his helmet back on with one hand and, starting with a bit of a hop, Kusnel began to run north, catching up with Genesis and the others.
**
"Wh-who," Harmony's voice escaped from her softly as the surprise of the mystery man in Sephiroth's apartment left her almost speechless. But she forced the words out, not caring how weak she sounded compared to her usual self. "Who are yo-" Harmony was silenced as the man pulled her towards him and pushed her against the kitchen wall in one swift action, covering her mouth with his right gloved hand.
Russia looked off to the left, listening as a phone's ringing called out the resident president from out of his room.
When she heard the sound of Sephiroth opening the door and stepping towards the phone in the living room, muttering the words "What now..", Harmony tried to scream for help, but Russia had caught her before she could utter what would be a muffled cry. Without warning, he quickly brought his face closer to hers, tightened his grip on her mouth, and brought a finger to his lips to silently hush her. Harmony, as close to the wall as she could possibly get, watched with widened eyes as the man again stopped to listen to the goings on in the other room just down the hall.
"Hello?" Sephiroth's voice filled the apartment. After a pause, he sighed and said, "No, Tseng. Everything has already been done. The Turks are just going to have to get a new uniform". Then, Russia heard what he wanted to hear: the sound of his footsteps echoing away from him as Sephiroth continued his phone call, and the sound of his door closing again.
Harmony struggled harder against his grip, trying to get free, but Russia would not allow it. The smile he wore when she first saw him was gone and what replaced it was a stern, no-nonsense expression of determination.
Keeping his hand on her mouth, he turned the blue-painted woman around and put one arm across her neck to keep her close to him. With a quick look around the wall to make sure Sephiroth was indeed gone, he moved swiftly towards the apartment door down the hall. Harmony's feet dragged behind, almost stumbling to keep up with him, and when he realized this, Russia merely held her up higher and carried her out the door.
"It's a good thing you're so easy to control, da?" he said, once they cleared the apartment.
**
"Has anyone found anything yet? Any sign of the products?" Cloud said into the radio, trying to reorganize the troops.
The only reply that came from across Ouran Academy was an intermittent chorus of "No", "Nothing here", and "No, sir".
Cloud let the slight disappointment and frustration come and go, not letting it interfere with his thoughts. "Keep looking."
"Yes, sir."
Cloud looked to his own team now. "Leon, guard the door," he commanded. "Make sure the girls don't get back in here and that the door stays closed," he said, making sure to emphasize the last part.
Leon Kennedy nodded and went to his post at the door, even if a bit reluctantly.
"I'll help you move to cow out of here when I get back."
Cloud walked over to the right where the others were. "Tidus, Link," he called out to get their attention, but his voice was nearly drowned out by their yelling.
"Link! Link! Stop it! Get a hold of yourself!" Tidus said, trying to restrain the Hylian's raised arms that now threatened to let the last of the many expensive pots in the room drop.
"NO! There's treasure inside! I can smell it!" Link sneered with increasing intensity as he tried to free himself from the blonde.
The tiny shards of porcelain crunched underfoot as Cloud stepped closer with an authoritative air that his teammates seemed to sense. They froze together and looked at Cloud, who simply gave them a steely stare.
"Uh, right," Tidus said, quickly putting on a cheesy smile to try and make Cloud lighten up. "Back to wor-"
"HA!" Link yelled in victory as Tidus's grip on his arms loosened, allowing him to carry on with destroying all the pots in the room. But the sound of porcelain smashing on marble was not the only sound that echoed throughout the large room.
Cloud turned his attention in the direction of the club room's back closet whose large white doors were now widely opened and inside, Zack's loud laughter could be heard.
"You two," Cloud said to Tidus and Link. "Search everything in this room. That includes cupboards, shelves, drawers, couch cushions, anything. Take out the chandeliers if you have to," he ordered and began towards the backroom before Tidus or Link could respond.
Tidus sighed and looked to Link. "Well, I guess you got us a headstart at least."
In the other room, Cloud stepped in to watch the Bravo team (Zack, Irvine, and Zelos) at work, but couldn't quite tell if they were searching for any sign of the products like they were supposed to, or…looking for another prop to complete their own costumes. The three notorious womanizers had lost themselves in a vast array of different clothing as they searched through large walk-in closet labeled "Cosplay".
"Zack," Cloud said dully in his direction. He knew that what he was going to say was obvious, so he didn't bother to continue with his sentence. Still, he waited for an explanation.
Zack turned around with a grin on his face. "So?" he said, opening his arms to display the World War II officer's greatcoat he now wore with pride. "Whaddaya think? Check it out," he said, moving the coat behind him as he placed his hands on his hips and looked up and off to the side. "Captain Zack Fairness!"
Cloud's silence was enough of a response for Zack to continue talking.
"Ah, c'mon, don't be like that! I look awesome, don't I?" he said with a laugh.
Cloud's face was unreadable. "Are you going to keep that?"
"Hm? Why not?" Zack readjusted the coat onto his back and fixed the collar behind his neck. "I mean, Sephiroth has a longcoat. Genesis has a longcoat. Why not me? I'm a First now. I think I deserve a badass longcoat!"
Cloud still refused to give him a response that even hinted at emotion. Instead, he simply asked, "Can you fight with it?"
Zack was silenced. He didn't think about it. The greatcoat was quite comfortable and he liked the look of it. He raised and lowered his arms to test out how the fabric moved, then made a curious face. He folded his arms and thought for a bit. With the coat, he wouldn't be able to carry around large swords anymore. He might even have to switch to guns. That wouldn't feel right… Plus, Sephiroth's and Genesis's coats were both made of leather. And tailor-made. And with almost skin-tight sleeves. In fact, their coats were hardly coats at all, but rather fitted capes…hm…
"Zack," Cloud said, snapping him out of thought.
"Hm? Oh yeah, you're still here…"
"Have you found anything?"
"Ah, nope! But I found this!" Zack turned around and when he did, the tail of the coat fluttered behind him, making him laugh. "Oh man, I am SO keeping this," he chuckled to himself. He bent down and picked something up before turning back to Cloud, this time, mindfully trying to get the coat to flutter out more. He grinned at Cloud as he presented him with…
"What is that?" Cloud asked.
"A jar of sparkles," he said proudly.
"Sparkles…" Cloud repeated, watching at the sparkles, like glints of light, float around inside the jar.
"A jar of sparkles," Zack confirmed with a grin. As his smile exposed his teeth, there was a little glimmer that appeared at his lips. It was obvious he had been playing with it.
"L-let me see," Cloud said, reaching out to it.
Zack's smile disappeared and he was suddenly very serious as he clutched it to his chest with both hands, guarding it as if it were something precious. "No."
"Just…get back to work, Zack," Cloud finally said, unsure of why he, too, wanted some of those sparkles…if only just slightly. "You two as well," he said to Irvine and Zelos.
**
"You know," Russia said as he untied the scarf he had tied around Harmony's eyes. "You shouldn't go around like that."
With the scarf gone, Harmony could see…but just barely. The room they were in was completely dark, save for the single light bulb hanging from the ceiling that shone down above the centre of the plain wooden table she was seated at.
"You could catch a cold," he whispered gently into her ear behind her. His voice sent shivers down her spine and she closed her eyes tightly in disgust.
"Here," he said, standing upright to undo his thick winter coat.
Harmony began to turn her head slightly, trying to see what he was doing behind her, but the sudden, loud slam of hollow metal on wood extremely close to her made her jump and look back again to see what it was. On the table was a water faucet pipe.
Her silver-dyed brows knotted in confusion, but before she could even speculate why the man who abducted her had a faucet pipe, she was again shocked by a loud slam in front of her. This time, Russia had put down a clear glass bottle with "водка" embossed on it.
Harmony simply stared at the two objects on the table. She had never been so confused in her life.
Then, she felt a bit of fabric touch her arm. She looked to her right to see the grey-blond man offering his coat to her with a gentle smile.
She looked away from him uncomfortably, unsure of what to do, but the gesture was more of an order than an offering. Whether she refused or accepted it didn't matter.
With a hand, Russia moved the practically naked woman forward a bit and draped the coat over her shoulders behind her.
"There, isn't that better?" he said, walking over to the other side of the table.
Harmony's eyes followed her captor, but she quickly looked away when she realized that he wasn't wearing anything except his scarf, gloves, pants, and boots. She was uncomfortable enough with what had already happened. She didn't need herself making it even more so. But then again….
She watched him from the corner of her eyes as he took a seat in front of her on the opposite side of the table. She examined him in all his oddity, watching him closely...at least she started that way. Her eyes soon began trailing down his face, to the scarf that loosely wrapped around his neck, to his broad shoulders, to his bare che-
Harmony mentally slapped herself, quickly looking away as the man leaned over the table to reach for something near her.
"Want some?" he asked innocently.
Harmony looked back to him with mild shock clearly written on her face.
Russia giggled and motioned to the bottle of clear alcohol now in his hand. "It'll warm you up," he said as he uncapped it.
Harmony looked away again, the blue paint hiding the pink in her cheeks.
"No?" He said with a bit of a frown. He shrugged, then took a satisfying shot straight from the bottle.
Recapping it and putting it aside, he watched the blue woman for a moment, a move that was unintentionally more intimidating to Harmony than anything he could ever say or do.
A pleasant smile crept onto his face, making her shudder, as he listened to the goings-on back at the Allied Forces conference room from his radio ear-piece.
"HELLLO~!!" A loud voice yelled at him, "This is me, America, your commander. How are things on the enemy front? I've got special new orders that I came up with myself, so listen up! Number One-"
"What the hell are you talking about!?" someone else interrupted him. "You're not allowed to give new orders without our approval first, you git! Give me that microph-"
There was a struggle between the two over the microphone, with it sending out sharp wails of feedback, but Russia didn't mind.
"R-russia! Russia! I order you to-"
"Gyaahhh!! G-get off of me, you fat bast-!"
Russia heard a ruffling as the microphone again changed hands.
"Russia-ah! How is it there? Is there any space for me to build a little town?"
Again, there was a ruffling, but in the background, Russia could hear, "Oh, cher Chine, now's not the time to talk about that."
"HA! Guess who's got the mic now, Bushy Brows!"
"Oh no, you don't!"
The microphone squeaked and screeched as it was fought for, but then suddenly, Russia heard a loud bang as the microphone fell onto the floor.
Then, he heard someone pick it up and softly say, "Hello, um…Russia. Can you hear me? This is Canada. Um…I just want to say…do your bes-"
Before he could finish speaking, though, a voice in the background overpowered his.
"LOOK! A UNICORN!"
"Where!?" the other voice responded promptly.
The loud muffled movements echoing from the other side told Russia that it was ripped away from Canada's hands by a more boisterous nation.
"HA! HA! GOT IT NOW!"
There was more ruffling and another bang after that as the microphone again fell to the floor, this time, sending an incredibly loud screech over to Russia, then complete silence.
Harmony finally got up the courage to look at him again. "W-who are you and what do you want from me?" she blurted out, even surprising herself.
Russia turned his attention back onto her. "Oh?" he mused, frowning, slightly irked by the harsh tone of her voice. "I just want to talk a bit. It's been so long since I left my friends to come here, so I haven't had anyone to talk to," he said as his hand drifted over the table towards the pipe. He picked it up and sat back in his chair, his eyes floating over the metal tube.
Harmony eyed the faucet pipe in his hands and swallowed hard. "What's…that for?" she asked, cautious, yet trying to regain some of her composure.
"Hm? This?" he said, now lightly tapping one end of the pipe into his left palm. "This is just my lucky charm. I always seem to get what I want when I'm holding this." He flashed a closed-eyed smile at her. "I wonder if it'll work this time."
Harmony sank back into her chair as a cloud of dread fell over her, but suddenly froze, frigid, when she remembered whose coat was draped around her. The residual heat left from Russia himself just made her even colder. She was in an unknown location with limited visibility, and Russia was both in front of her and behind her. She was trapped.
"There are so many things I want to know about this world," Russia said, his darkened eyes lowering onto her. "And you will tell me all about it, won't you?"
The light bulb, the only source of light in the room, flickered a bit, threatening to cut out.
**
Vincent looked up from his quiet contemplation when he heard the quick footsteps of Reno's team running towards them. Squall and Rude did the same, although, from afar, they didn't look like they were doing anything.
As Reno reached the rest of the team, the others behind him slowed down, but Reno went straight for the classroom they had been stalking out. "Alright!" he said with no regard to his volume anymore. "Let's break down this door and drag this guy out of here!" Reno gave a quick peek through the classroom window (that was covered on the inside by a piece of paper) before trying for the doorknob.
"Wait!" Squall sprung to life suddenly when he realized that Reno was doing, but Reno would not wait. He had been waiting for too long already. Just a door separated him and his enemy, and he would get through it.
With a quick little turn of the knob, Reno flung the door open, but just as he tried to take a step inside, he was struck with a surge of power that sent him flying backwards onto the floor.
"Ugh! What was that?" Reno said, sitting himself up on his elbows. His whole body ached in disapproval of the movement.
Squall looked to him with slight disgust. Reno was more brash than usual, he noticed. "You think we didn't try that?" He glanced over his shoulder to where the open door showed a blurred out version of the classroom. "There's some type of barrier that keeps us from advancing. It's probably because of what happened to the people in this world- frozen. That means we're frozen in place too."
"We did run here pretty quickly," Zidane said, his breathing a bit heavier than usual as he caught his breath. "Maybe it hasn't been ten minutes yet."
Reno brushed himself off as he stood up. "Yeah? Well, I've had enough of this world." He took out his Electro-Mag Rod and turned it on. Electricity crackled from it and yellow lines of energy crawled over the tip of it, ready for action. "Angeal! I know you can hear me!" He started to yell as he ran towards the open classroom, EMR posed to attack. "And I demand you take down this barrier!"
"Reno, no!" Zidane yelled behind him as the others merely watched.
"Uoryaa!!" Reno screamed as he attacked the barrier with the EMR.
When he made contact, a painful surge of power went through his right arm and then throughout his body, and for a slight moment, he felt as if time had stood still, but then all of a sudden, Reno felt like he was flying….then he felt his whole body crumble to the ground as he slid to a stop across the classroom floor.
Squall covered his eyes with a hand. "You idiot…" he muttered.
Reno struggled to open his eyes when the numbness in his body subsided seconds after breaking through the barrier.
"Uh…um…" he stuttered, dazed.
The dimness of the classroom was something his eyes needed a second or two to get accustomed too, but when they did, all he saw were several eyes staring down on him with an eerie, unnatural glow. That glow wasn't mako.
"This…can't be good…" he muttered to himself as Squall led the others into the classroom to see what was going on.
Reno slowly stood up as his allies joined him.
For the first time, they were face to face with the main target- Mitsukuni Haninozuka, also known as "Honey".
Reno raised an eyebrow in confusion when he realized that it was him. The short, brown-eyed blonde that they were looking for was right in front of him, but the fact that he looked so young…
Reno turned to Squall and the others. "You've gotta be kidding me. He's supposed to Sephi-"
"Shh!" Squall snapped, but Reno had already let it slip.
"-roth's enemy?"
The dagger-sharp gazes from the white-uniformed students sitting in the desks surrounding Honey in the front quickly shifted to them.
"Mitsukuni…" A taller, black-haired student in the same uniform as Honey muttered to him.
For a moment, the two parties remained at a stand-still, as if trying to stare each other down. And even though all the windows were closed, there was a slight breeze that went through the classroom, making everyone's hair sway softly. No one questioned the phantom breeze. The situation merely called for it…
Then, the silence was broken.
"Get them!" Honey commanded in his high, child-like voice.
**
"Yo, Cloud!" Zack yelled as he came out of the backroom and into the main area of Music Room #3, holding the jar of sparkles in one hand and the orange cat in the other. "There's nothing in there. Don't know what those guys were hiding, but there's nothing in there."
Cloud looked to the others for a status update as well and Tidus delivered, "Nothing here, either."
Cloud sighed and said, "Well...then, we may search somewhere el-"
Cloud was cut off by Zack's awkward yelp of surprise as the orange cat suddenly came to a very sharp-clawed life, putting Zack off balance as he tried to balance the cat and the rather large jar at the same time.
The cat let out a high-pitched roar of sorts and sprung out towards Zack's face, claws aiming for the eyes. Zack was forced to pull away, protecting the jar more than himself. He regained his footing a few steps behind where he was, gripping the jar with both hands to ensure its safety.
"W-What happened? What's going on!?" the cat hissed as he arched his back, exposing his sharp fangs.
Zack looked back with widened eyes. "Kitty! You can talk! Oh, Aerith is going to love you!"
"What!? I'm not going anywhere!" he yelled, his fur standing on end. "I am going to TAKE YOU DOWN!" He stamped a paw on the floor in front of him.
Zack took a few steps backwards, keeping his eyes on the cat. "Here," he said Irvine as he handed the jar over to him. "Keep it safe." He began to step forwards again, but suddenly turned again to point a finger straight at the mock-cowboy. "And don't use any of it!"
Shedding the military coat off his shoulders, Zack took it in both hands and shook it out. "Alright…" he said. "Let's go!" With a smirk, he pounced on the cat with the coat, and as he held it down, the cat hissed, shrieked, and tried to claw his way out of it, cursing in his human voice all the while.
"Yuki! Yuki, where are you!" The suddenly animated cow called out as he began to step around the room with his head down, searching like a dog.
Cloud and the others watched the animals closely but their attention was quickly switched to the door.
"Kyo! Yuki! Haru!" a rather high-pitched voice yelled from the other side. "Guys, help me! Help me, please! Hurry! There's a bunch of girls after me and-!"
"Mo-" Haru yelled but cut himself off. "No! Get away!"
Cloud gave a nod to Leon, who opened one of the large doors and a small blond boy stumbled onto the floor inside. Leon closed the door behind him.
Cloud examined the boy as he looked up at him. Small stature, brown eyes, blond hair: the traits matched their mark and that signaled Cloud to draw his weapon and point the large Buster Sword copy right at the child.
The boy's eyes grew wide and he yet out a bit of a yelp before shuffling himself backwards so that his back was straight up against the door. Cloud took a step forward to keep his threat very real. He took his orders seriously, and he took invasions of his personal property even more so. Do not mess with Mr. Spiky and his hair gel.
"P-please! Don't hurt me! I didn't do anything!" the boy yelled out at him.
"Don't you dare touch him!" Haru yelled from behind him and started to charge with his head bowed, exposing the small horns on his head that peeked out from under his hair.
Leon cocked his gun and stood with his back to Cloud, pointing the gun straight at the raging cow. When he realized what had happened, Haru forced himself to stop.
The cow growled, which actually caused Leon to hold back a smile.
"Just…don't hurt him," a hushed voice came from the ground in front of Haru.
"Yuki!" Haru exclaimed as he lowered his head for the mouse to hop onto his nose and climb onto his head.
"Where are the products?" Cloud demanded, keeping the point of the sword just inches away from the boy's face.
The boy held Cloud's gaze and returned it with a sneer of his own. "I…I don't know what you're talking about!"
Cloud closed his eyes and scoffed before saying, "The only thing worse than a thief is a liar. Now tell me-where are the products?"
Zack, holding down Kyo with his coat, looked up at his friend when he heard him say that, and he smirked to himself. Cloud was like a hormonal pregnant woman without any ice-cream, he thought.
"I don't know where they are, honest!" the boy yelled at Cloud, but that only irritated him.
Cloud swung the sword behind his shoulder, affixing it to the magnet on his back. He then stepped slowly towards the boy, who merely watched him as the taller man in front of him blocked out the light coming from around him. He bent down, grabbed the boy by the collar of his light blue shirt and held him against the wall. The boy tried to struggle out of his grip, but Cloud was too strong. And a bit scary.
Though his anger was apparent in his actions, Cloud voice depicted nothing but his usual stoicism. "You will admit the truth, be it to me…or to Sephiroth."
At the mention of his name, the boy's eyes widened even more and his arms and legs fell limp, before struggling like he never struggled before. "No! No! Not him! No! You guys~! Help!"
At that, Haru huffed angrily and began to charge, regardless of Leon threatening to shoot.
When Cloud heard the hoofbeats behind him, he turned to look over his shoulder to his teammate. "Leon, the door," he muttered.
Leon quickly took two steps to stand in front of the door, and when Haru, blinded with rage, simply followed his target and was getting close, Leon stepped aside and opened the door, letting both the cow with the mouse on his head run straight into the horde of girls that they had escaped from not too long ago. Leon held the door shut tight to make sure no one came back in, muffling the high-pitched screams of fright, confusion, and delight from the girls outside.
The cat that Zack had pinned down with his coat was still frantic, and the lump under the jacket would not stay still. "When I get out, I am going to DESTROY you!" Kyo hissed as he slashed at the thick fabric, one paw after another. "If you hurt him, I'll-!"
"Attention all units," Cloud said into the radio with one hand still on the boy's collar. "This is Alpha leader Strife. We have captured enemy Honey. If there's nothing left here…move out."
Tidus stood back a bit from Cloud with his arms crossed, examining the boy with a confused look on his face. Something about him wasn't right. Wasn't Honey a martial arts master? He would've put up a fight instead of being manhandled so easily- anyone would if they could. And if he had the courage to steal from Sephiroth, why did he cower and look so frightened merely at the mention of his name?
"Hey…Cloud," he started, but was cut off by a desperate call from Reno over the radio in reply to the Alpha leader's earlier statement.
"C-Cloud!" Reno's voice came through strained. A loud crash could be heard then his grunts and breathing as the Turk worked to get out of the fray. "The hell're you talking about? Honey's right here and we're in serious heat! There's- ugh!" Reno was interrupted again by something. This time, Cloud could hear the ever so familiar sound of electricity in the air, but whether or not it was from Reno's weapon could not be determined from the radio alone.
"Reno!" Cloud called out to him when the pause was too long for comfort. When there was no response, Cloud looked back to the boy and clutched his collar tighter. "Who are you?" he said, his voice darker than usual out of concern for what had happened to his comrades.
The boy looked away, trying to avoid eye contact.
Cloud stared at him for a moment before looking over his shoulder to Link, who he knew held a rather lethal-looking clawshot. "Link, tie him up" he said, hoping that one of Link's multiple personalities would catch on to what he was saying.
A composed Link perked up at the sound of his name and gave a nod to Cloud, taking the clawshot out of his…magical, stretchable, and invisible pocket of weapons…
Cloud looked back to the boy. "If you don't talk now, you'll talk in front of the General," he said slowly, and just when he finished his sentence, Link deployed the clawshot. The long metal cord spewed out of the handle with a menacing, cold rattling, and the three claws at the end of it opened up like jaws then dug in deeper and deeper into the walls when it touched the surface of it, just inches away from the boy's head. Chips of plaster rained down to the floor from where the claws pierced the surface.
The boy let out a scream, followed by a string of groveling as he thrashed against Cloud's grip. "Okay, okay, okay! Stop! I-I-I'm just a lookalike, a diversion! Let me go! Let me g-!"
Suddenly, right in front of Cloud, there was a large puff of smoke that seemed to have come from nowhere, enveloping the boy and causing Cloud to close his eyes and turn away. When he opened his eyes again, the boy was gone, yet his clothes still remained in Cloud's hands.
"Huh…?" Cloud looked down, then around, perplexed at where the boy had gone, but soon spotted something odd hopping off into the backroom of the clubroom- a yellow rabbit.
"Cloud!" Reno yelled over the radio. "They're way too strong for us to handle alone. Haaaah!" he exhaled in frustration. "There're four… five of them with incredibly powerful elemental attacks. We need backup now, Clo-" Reno again was cut off, but this time, Cloud could hear him yell out his comrade's name. "ZIDANE!" he screamed as a great roar of fire could be heard in the background.
That was all Cloud needed to hear, and both the Alpha and Bravo teams didn't need a command to know what to do.
Dropping the clothes in his hands, the Alpha leader drew his weapon again from his back, and led his team out of the clubroom and towards the battlefield of the math class.
Zack scooped the cat up, still bundled up in the military greatcoat, and quickly ran into the backroom to pick up his sword before running out of the door himself. His teammates put the items they were made to carry down, but when Zack saw them from the corner of his eye, he stopped, turned around, and yelled back into the clubroom, "What're you doing, guys!? I didn't tell you to put them down!"
"It's all junk, Zack," Irvine responded bluntly.
"What?!" Zack said, genuinely offended. "It's not junk! Look, I'm your leader and that's an order. Now pick up the jar of sparkles and let's go!"
Irvine shook his head in disbelief but did as he was told anyway.
"And the stuff in the bag too!"
Zelos, behind him, was in charge of that- a rather large pink plastic bag that required him to carry it with both hands.
"That's right," Zack said with a nod, relishing in his position of power. "Now," he smirked, "let's go!"
**
Sephiroth winced as his hairbrush abruptly stopped, refusing to slide down his long silver strands further. He wriggled the brush out of his hair and placed the chrome brush on the side of his bathroom sink. Bringing the troublesome mat from behind his head up to examine it in the mirror, he began to detangle the area with his fingers, muttering, "Damned Shinra shampoo…"
**
Russia tucked the bottle of alcohol back inside his coat, then picked up the pipe on the table. "Remember," he said to Harmony, who now sat with her head hung and her eyes covered by the silver strands of her wig. "This is our little secret. You won't tell anyone, will you?"
He turned his back on her to walk towards the door, hidden from Harmony by the darkness. He giggled a bit, then added, "We're friends…right?"
Harmony didn't move. She simply sat there, defeated.
When Russia got to the door, he stopped, and took a deep breath in and out.
"Well, it's okay," he said softly as he exhaled. "Not a lot of people want to be my friend. But I know, when this is all over, I will come back to this world one day…because I have at least one friend here. I met her on the way over- a nice girl in pink. She gave me this flower," he said, looking down at the small yellow flower with its stem tucked into his right glove. "She said that she wanted this whole world to be filled with flowers. Wouldn't that be wonderful?" he said, looking back over his shoulder at Harmony.
Still, Harmony would not respond with words or actions. The great, strong leader of the Silver Elite was now reduced to a lifeless doll, positioned on the chair in the dark. Small, dejected, pitiful…Mother? Hardly. Not anymore.
"Maybe when I return, that would have already happened." He paused for a moment, looked up, and closed his eyes. "The people here are so nice. Such a warm, beautiful place. Maybe when I return...your world, and my world..." he trailed off and opened his eyes, simply staring up into the darkness. "We can be one…big, happy family."
His smile returned again. He was always smiling. "No one will ever be lonely again," he said cheerfully.
Finally, he reached for the doorknob and pushed the door open. "I look forward to our next meeting." Russia's voice lowered a bit as he stepped out, leaving her with the words "Do svidaniya".
Harmony closed her eyes when she heard the door clicked shut, but remained motionless even after the man was gone.
Sephiroth… I'm so sorry.
A/N: So, two crazy people go into a room…only one comes out.
Apologies for my failure at writing Russia…and for (almost) villainy Cloud. OTL
"Do svidaniya" = "Goodbye"
(Russia's character song "Winter" kicks major ass. Hetalia fans, you must listen to it!)