(Disclaimer: Plata-Azul Firebird does not own Final Fantasy 7 or the songs that are in this story, only her OCs… Otherwise, we might end up having a not-so-epic battle with the lawsuits.)
Altering Rhythm
Marine Carnival
Silver: For those who noted about the past and present tense confusion, it's been my problem too. Along with... which my sister kindly points out, the fact I'm paraphrasing while I talk. The last chapter, I used a grammar checker my friend suggested… And it's a fail and brought back the problem. So I decided to download another and fix the last chapter. Once I fix it, mind telling me if it's better or worse on chapter 20 and this chapter. If I do better, I'll re-edit some chapters with 'tense' problems. If not, find another checker and test it out on the next chapters.
Marine Carnival
Hissing…
Again, tugs the strings out of reach.
Expecting this, but not this soon…
"I need more time…"
:::^*^:::
Before the sun comes up and the parade…
Mira and Riley are still at the beach, trying to find out more of their powers. Right now, both girls are looking on the orange dolphin which is Mira's second creature she created. "Wow… this is really a breathing being. Still, how come it's not flying anymore?" The mime asked, as they look at the aquatic mammal from a distance.
"Do you see the curved and hollow parts of the armor?" the songstress points out, the mime then notices it and thought that there is something missing.
"Yeah, it looks like a holder for gems or stone." Then it clicks to her. "The gems are the reason why the dolphin can fly, is it?"
"Yeah, the gems broke when Spitfire protected us from the last huge wave."
"That was cheap."
"I know, I'm starting to think I did not create it right." As the dolphin whistles and chirps, then splashes the water around. "Yet… it seems that it loves the sea more than flying now."
"I guess that's good, he- she- what is the gender of your dolphin again?"
"… I don't know…"
And then there is a bit of silence between them, only the crickets are making a sound.
"That's it. I'm going to put genders on the creatures I make next time." The songstress noted herself and sighs. After that, they test Riley's abilities and to find out if she can do more than miming. Manipulation and mental control, both girls decided to test it out in the morning when Cloud is awake. The brunette tries to 'infect' a crab nearby, but nothing happens aside from getting a painful pinch from its claw. Next is shape-shifting, the results are a little surprising and limited to the girls' opinions.
First is to copy one's looks…
"Well, this is something." Mira points out.
"Did I copy his looks?"
"Nope, but I can say, your hair is red as a rose." And the songstress lends her pocket mirror to the mime. There she sees the similar red color on her hair and in her style, which made her grin silly.
"Awesome! I'm a redhead!"
"But you didn't mimic his hairstyle or even the color of his eyes… Did you try to change your eye color?"
"Duh, I did." The mime points out. "I tried to mentally make myself look like Reno." Then gives another look in the mirror. "But changing my hair color is the closest feat I could do right now… I think." The mime shrugs at this as she returns her default hair color, she really don't know if she has all of Jenova's powers. But right now, she only got miming and the ability to change hair color which she is a bit glad on.
"Okay, one last test then we head back to the house." The songstress said.
"Right… this is going to be painful." This is what the mime is dreading… Growing appendages. She like to have her own ability to fly, but the fact that sprouting a wing on the back is going to rip her skin… she is now in her own mental debate. Seeing the not-so-happy look on the mime's face, the ravenette thinks for a moment.
"Hey…" she calls her best friend. "You know, instead of sprouting a wing, why don't you grow tails or ears instead?" Riley looks at her. "Well, think about it. A huge wing? Or minor parts such as a tail or a pair of ears?"
The mime pauses for a minute and then her eyes widens. "Duh! Of course! I'll just grow small parts first!" she gives the songstress a thumbs-up and begins to focus on the appendages. She imagines having a tail or ears of an…
There is a ripping sound and both girls looks, once more, quite surprised.
"… I really don't know if I should be sad or happy with this." As Riley touches her furry, brown tail, which flicks out of subconscious reflect.
As it turns out, Riley can shift or grow extra appendages and the very proof is right on the cat's ears and tail she has. Still she is in slight pain of growing and shifting the appendages on her body, which she'll definitely feel in the morning. Then she remembers that Genesis and Angeal can retract the appendages back in their bodies, and tries it with her cat's ears and tail. It took about a few painful minutes, the tail is retracted, painfully, into her body and her ears morphs back to normal.
"Ow…" Riley whines in pain as she rubs the side of her head and back to ease the pain. "I thought generating extra limbs is painful, but reeling it back is the worst."
"Here." The songstress said and tosses a potion at her. "Also, you might as well change your clothes or add zippers to where you want to grow extra limbs." And she points out the small hole at the back of her jogging pants.
"Ah man…" The mime miffs at this and uses her grey hoodie to cover her back. Checking the time, the two quickly sneaks back into the house and quietly heads back to their beds.
:::^*^:::
Green and lively…
That's all what her eyes see as she seems to fly around the abundant flora of the land.
Awed at this sight, yet it seems familiar and could not put a finger on it.
Suddenly, something pulls her into the sky.
:::^*^:::
"Ack!" As she falls off her bed with a thud and causing the others to wake up.
"Riley?" As the flower girl peeks in the room, having risen early and used the restroom. There she sees the brunette right in the wooden floor, rubbing her side from having fallen off the bed. Mira, Cloud, Tifa and Kunsel are up and alert, thanks to the noise the mime made. Yuffie and Barret are still asleep, only grunting at the disturbance before turning away. Red, on the other hand, is awake and currently eating his meal in the living room. "Are you okay?"
"Ow… I fell off the bed." The mime points out as she gets up and tosses her covers back in the bed.
Once everyone is up, including the hard-to-wake Barret, the party straps their gear and packs on. As they get ready, the girls hear this familiar song coming from above and the mime attempted to control Cloud. At first, she tried on manipulating him by tripping over the red feline… nothing happened. She tried making him wark like a Chocobo… still nothing. Then, she knows her best friend is going to kill her for this, the brunette attempts to make him kiss the songstress.
… Nothing happens and she is still alive.
'I guess I don't have any manipulation power, at least that's a good thing for me.' The mime thought as the others head out. As she decided to wear black military pants, so she can pass as a male and join the march, both she and Mira witnesses this scene again…
"Tifa… When Sephiroth and I went to Nibelheim, where were you?" Cloud asked the barmaid.
"… We saw each other, right?" she replied.
"The other time."
That's when she stiffens a bit before answering back. "No… it was 5 years ago. I don't remember." And, by that, she quickly shuts the topic off but the blonde seems not that satisfied with the answer. Seeing this, the barmaid quickly points out the noise above and the little girl whom the three saved wants to meet them.
Cloud and the others went outside and the music is much louder. The music is not one of the girls' favorite, but they both remember using it for a march in their C.A.T. class. They head to a house, the one which is higher from the ground and is set on stilts. Both Mira and Riley wait below as the blonde Ex-SOLDIER heads up, but then they notice… Kunsel is looking at them for a brief moment before looking away.
'… Weird.' Both girls thought, as Priscilla came out of the house before the blonde climbs the other set of stairs.
"Are you all right now?" he asked.
"Ummm… thanks for helping…" she sheepishly said, as she and the blonde went down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, she looks at the two girls and apologizes to them too. "I'm sorry, I mistook you for one of those Shinra, Inc.…"
"That's all right." The blonde said out casually.
"Hey, everybody makes mistakes, so it's okay." The mime said cheerily.
The girl brightens up a little and looks at the songstress. "I'll give you something SPECIAL!" she then reaches into her pocket and pulls out a pendant with a red orb on it. "It's an amulet. Take good care of it, okay?"
On touching the red orb, the ravenette hears a female giggle from the ice summon within it.
"What's that music? It sure sounds quite lively." The former AVALANCHE leader noted.
"I heard that rehearsing the reception for the new Shinra president." Priscilla explains.
"Rufus?! I gotta pay my respects." The black man said with sarcasm.
"Grandpa and grandma told me this beach was beautiful when they were small. But after the Shinra built that city above, the sun stopped shining here, and the water got polluted…" Everyone seems to sympathize with her, even the two Earth girls. The two knows the feeling of having their home polluted, despite their home does not mine spiritual energy for electricity.
"You think Rufus is thinking about crossing the ocean from here, too?" Aerith asked and everyone look at her.
"What? Does that mean Sephiroth already crossed the ocean?" the barmaid asked incredulously.
"Well, if the former general had crossed the ocean, all we have to do is sneak and stow ourselves in a ship." The mime suggested.
"Cloud, didn't you finish Rufus off?" The red feline asked and the blonde shakes his head.
"We gotta get to the town up there… Mebbe we could climb the tower?" the black man asked.
"Impossible, there's a high-voltage current running underneath the tower. Plus with the water, we'll surely be shocked to death before we get an inch high." Kunsel points out.
"He's right! It's too dangerous!" Priscilla warns them… until her eyes brighten with an idea. "But… you might be able to if Mr. Dolphin helps you." And she quickly runs towards the beach, but she stops for a moment and looks back at them. "Follow me!"
As the girl heads to the beach, the group looks at one another and the barmaid quickly states. "High-voltage tower… I guess this means Cloud will be all right." She immediately looks away and places her hands behind her, when the blonde looks at her.
"Yeah, better leave it to Cloud!" The flower girl added as the blonde turns to her incredulously.
"We're counting on you, Cloud!" Red stated calmly, although the girls did notice a glint in his eyes.
"Hey!" Cloud protests but it is too late as the party separates and explore the town. Only Mira, Riley, and Barret who is just talking to a fisherman nearby, are still with him. "Wait a second!" but slumps on seeing the others left him with the highly risky task.
"Hey, don't look too glum." Riley said and the blonde looks at her. "I'm going with you if it helps." Somehow, it manages to encourage him a little as they head to the beach while Mira looks for an alternate way to get up.
:::^*^:::
'I need my specimens…' the mad scientist thought, as he recalls Rufus shutting off the chase on the last Ancient. Although he sent the young president his resignation letter with a stiff expression, inside he is still having a fit like a kid who is having a tantrum about not getting a new toy.
Right now, he continues with his observation on his Reunion Theory and to study the videos of his two future specimens. His smile widens on one video, where he extremely zooms in and watches its interesting scene. 'Interesting… truly fascinating.' He thought, as one of the specimens uses the materia to call out the griffon.
However, even with these sample videos, he wants to find out more and to see how they will fare with his prized specimen.
To complete his experiments with satisfying results…
For now, he waits… he does not have the right equipment and observation is the only thing he can do for now. 'They'll see how grand it will be.' He thought giddily as he makes notes on the black specimen.
:::^*^:::
Arriving at the beach, Cloud and Riley see Priscilla blowing on her whistle and the dolphins appear, swimming towards them. The little girl looks surprised on seeing the new dolphin and wonders where it came from.
"Hey Spitfire." The mime greets the orange dolphin and the aquatic mammal chirps back in return.
"Is that dolphin your friend?" Priscilla asked.
"Yeah, Spitfire is a friend of ours and helped us when we were rescuing you. You can keep it so Mr. Dolphin can have a friend if you like."
"Really?"
The mime nodded at her as the orange dolphin does its own moon-walk above the water, which entertain them a bit and the other dolphin quickly learns the move and mimics it. After the short show, the little girl shows what she meant at how Mr. Dolphin will help them in getting up the tower. Barret arrived just in time to see Priscilla signals the dolphin to jump and they are awed on how high it goes before falling back down in the sea.
"Now ain't that something! I ain't never seen no Dolphin jump like that!" the former AVALANCHE leader said as the orange dolphin does the same trick as its fellow aquatic mammal. But it didn't reach the same height like the other dolphin did though.
"It's a good try, Spitfire." The mime said encouraging at the orange dolphin as it does the moon-walk again.
"Pretty cool, huh? When I blow this whistle, Mr. Dolphin jumps for me." She said cheerily and then gives the whistle to the mime. "Here! This is for you!"
"Thank you." The mime thanks her as she wears the whistle on her neck.
"What are we supposed to do with it?" the blonde asked.
"Just go into the water, blow this whistle and Mr. Dolphin'll jump you to the top of the pole!" Priscilla said like it is a normal thing to do.
"Jump to the top of the pole?"
"You mean that one?" the mime asked as she points at the steel pole sticking out the tower.
"Yep! That's right! If you jump just right, you can climb to the top of the town." the little girl said cheerily.
"Good luck you two! If you make it, we'll follow you! Whoa, I'll hold the PHS for you. It'll break if it gets wet." As the black man takes the blonde's PHS, while Riley have given her phones to the songstress.
The two enter the water and Cloud is the first to go jumping with the dolphins. But the brunette has to adjust the position and the angle, so the blonde can land on the pole. Then she blows the whistle to call the dolphin and jump Cloud up to the pole. Although, it is a few inches farther, he manages to grab the pole and hoist himself up. The mime smiles a bit, having successfully gotten him up, it is now her turn to jump. Once more she positions herself in the same area where the blonde was, but a little bit forward to the pole. She then whistles for the dolphin, the aquatic mammal hears the signal and dives under the water. It then turns and swims up in a fast pace under her. The two then jumps out of the water and Riley manages to land on the pole, as the dolphin dives back into the sea.
After giving a shout of thanks for the aquatic mammals, the two climbed up the next area. There the mime can't help to be awed… at the view of the Cid's prized airship, which Shinra has taken from him.
The Highwind.
'If Square is going to make a remake of Final Fantasy 7, I hope they make it quite detailed like in Dirge of Cerberus… real life is so awesome!' she thought as she tries not to grin at this sight and quickly follows Cloud to the entrance of the airport. The two arrive in the hallway and it greeted by troopers quickly marching to their positions, but they did not notice them in their hurry. As the blonde wonders why they are in a hurry, the mime sees a red suit military personnel walks out of the locker room and sees them.
"Hey! You still dressed like that? Come're!" the man shouts at them, as the mime restrain from laughing.
'Dude… are you blind or far-sighted?' she thought silly as the blonde reaches for this blade, only for her to elbow him right on his stomach. "Not now!" she hissed and drags him into the locker room.
Inside, the room is bigger than what is portrayed in the game. There are actually rows of lockers, shower areas and changing rooms, to the mime's relief.
"Today's the big day when we welcome President Rufus! Hurry up and change!" the man shouts at them and waits at the door.
The two looks at one another before the mime shrugs it away and went off to find themselves some uniforms. For some reason, it seems that people in this world didn't bother with privacy, as most of the lockers are practically open. 'Or they are in a hurry to join the parade.' She thought as she checks the lockers, she quickly finds a roll of bandage and a few potions in a first aid kit. She quickly pockets them and checks other lockers. She finds the uniforms in some lockers and makes a beeline for the changing room, so she can make her chest flat.
:::^*^:::
Meanwhile, back with Mira and the others…
"So, how are we going to get up into the city?" Tifa asked.
"Can't we try bribing the guard?" Mira points at the only trooper who is guarding the elevator which is the only way to get there safely.
"How sure he will cooperate?" Kunsel asked.
"Yeah, he'll probably want all of our money, or even worse, our materias!" the ninja girl exclaims in a childish, dramatic way.
"I… don't know." The songstress is stumped on this one. In the game, he'll just ask for ten gil for a lift into the city… but the situation right now is different and he'll probably ask a price higher instead. As she tries to think of a solution to get up in the city, she did not notice someone is staring at her until she feels it. She slightly flinched and looks around wildly, before calming down but still on her guard.
"I know! Why don't you sing him to sleep, instead?" Aerith asked and looks at the songstress.
"Now that's a gud idea!" Barret said with his fist pumping the air. Thinking about it, it is a good idea and not to mention a free lift, so the songstress agrees on singing the guard to sleep. After telling them to hide from the guard's view and she'll signal if he is asleep, she makes a few minor adjustments before heading towards him.
"Hello." She greeted him politely.
"You better turn around now, lady. No one is allowed to use the lift today." He stated gruffly, and the songstress is quick to pick up the tired tone in his voice. Not to mention he seems annoyed also.
"Oh I'm not asking for a lift, I was going to ask for directions." She points out with the wave of her hand and then looks at him again. "Say, you look a little off." She said, sounding concerned.
"Ugh…" he groans as he rubs his eyes. "You can say it again… I woke up extremely early to practice, only to find out they pulled you into guard duty."
"Ah, so you're supposed to take part in the parade above?"
"Yeah… this sucks." He miffs and yawns.
Now, she feels sorry for the guard. But she guess it's a good thing that she'll be singing him to sleep and arms her keytar. She asked him if he wants to listens to some music, other ones than the one currently playing lively. Thinking about it, the guard agrees as he is getting annoyed at the parade music since he is not participating. Nodding at this, she sets the volume a little higher and test it out. She once more sings out this song.
We could just go home right now
Or maybe we could stick around
For just one more drink.
Oh yeah.
She sings.
Get another bottle out
Let's shoot the breeze, sit back down
For just one more drink.
Oh yeah.
Here's to us.
Here's to love.
All the times that we've messed up.
Here's to you.
Fill the glass.
Cuz the last few days have gone too fast.
Oh let's give 'em hell.
Wish everybody well.
Here's to us.
Here's to us.
She grins once more on the familiar sound of snoring and turns to see the guard is sleeping as he leans on the wall. Thinking it is not a good position to sleep, she helps him by making him sit down instead. She then signals the group with a wave of her hand and the group appears around the corner. She presses the up button for the elevator and the doors open, they quickly pile into the elevator and heads up for the city.
:::^*^:::
After the two changes into the Shinra trooper uniform and packing their clothes in their packs, the two exits the changing room…
"Wow!" the commander said, as he approaches them. "You both look good in it!" as the mime refrains from laughing out loud. For her, it's like crossplaying and she got no problem with breathing as the bandages flatten her chest. The only difference is that she is now handling real equipment… like the helmet for example.
It has a red shades and targeting system in it, but it can be removed by a button on the side. But there is one downside of the helmet… is the loss of side vision. As if the helmet is equipped with horse's blinders or she is looking through a binocular, much to the mime's irritation. 'Shinra… what the heck do you think of your own military? Horses? Mules?' she thought out of exasperation.
"You remember the Greeting procedure, right!?" he then looks at them as neither of them answers back. "… It seems you both have forgotten about it. All right, I'll show you again! Do just like we do."
Suddenly, a real trooper enters the room followed by another one. "Commander! We'll help too! This is how to do it!" the first trooper said with such energy.
"We'll sing too!" the other added.
'Are they troopers… or cheerleaders?' the disguise mime thought as she mentally stomps on the bubbling feeling in her.
"All right! Show 'em!" the commander orders them.
"Now, march! This is the Welcoming March!" as the first trooper shows them the moves and marches on the same place, it frankly reminds Riley of one C.A.T. session.
"Then! I'll sing along with you!" the other pipes in "Quietly-! Aaaaah! Aaaaah!" he tested out his voice and the disguise mime cringes slightly.
'Aw man, he sounds horrible! And they allowed him on this march? It's a good thing that the game doesn't have any voice-overs.' she thought, as the troopers begin to sing and march. The brunette refrains herself from shooting the second trooper for having a horrible voice. She even notices that the disguise Ex-SOLDIER's hand is twitching, she thinks he is refraining himself from hacking the horrible singer to death. After they remember the Welcoming March performance…
"Good! Make sure you do well at the real parade!" the commander stated, then another trooper comes in and announced that the president has arrived. "All right, show time! Don't disgrace yourselves!"
The troopers saluted while Riley does a mock salute and Cloud just stands beside her. They exit the locker room and heads out to where they'll meet with the others.
However, on arriving there…
"Oh no…! No one's here! Late!? Hey rookies! It's because you're both running around like that!" the commander shouts at them with a shaking fist. They did arrive at the meeting place but it is empty and they hear singing not too far from them. One of the troopers, went to find out where the singing came from and to his joy, he finds the parade!
And all they have to do is to cross this alley.
"Captain! We'll take a short cut!" the trooper shouts at the commander. The man dashes to where the said trooper is and sees the parade. He grins on seeing this and signals the other troopers to move to where he is standing.
As Cloud and Riley approach the shortcut…
:::^*^:::
"Is it clear?" Tifa asked as they others anxiously waits for Kunsel and Red to say that it is okay.
Arriving on the top floor, they were nearly seen by Shinra troopers. But, thankfully, they are too busy with the parade and the party decided to hide in the elevator for a while. A moment later, both Kunsel and Red volunteered to see if the place is clear of guards.
However, an unfortunate thing happened while waiting…
And it is not long when Kunsel heads back to the elevator they are hiding and gives them an okay. The next thing he knows, is that he is almost barreled down by the party as if they want to get away from the elevator. The Ex-Second looks stupefied at this, as Red came back from scouting and he seems to be amused on this sight.
"Air! Fresh air!" the ninja girl heaves, she leans on the wall as Barret walks out of the elevator… looking sheepish.
"That's abominable! Even worse than Greg's armpits!" the songstress exclaims as she coughs and helps the bar maid by rubbing circles on her back.
"… Okay, what happen back there?" Red asked as the Ex-Second stands up and looks at the party. They just stared at the four female members of the group, who are now glaring at the black man who seems to have something red on his face.
"That guy just dropped a stink bomb." The songstress hissed as the girls nod in agreement.
And then there's a pause… "Um… what?" Kunsel asked.
"What Mira means is… Barret's fart stinks!" Yuffie shrieks at the former AVALANCHE leader, whose face have turned into a dark cherry color.
"Barret… what did you eat last night or for breakfast?" Aerith asked and she snorts a bit to get rid of the stinky memory.
"Hey! I just ate what you guys ate last night and for breakfast!" the black man protested back in defense.
"… I'm starting to think that beans for dinner is such a bad idea." Tifa comments and Mira, who have some experience due to the brunette's choice of midnight snacks, can't help to agree with her.
Once Kunsel calms the party down, he reminds them that they have to head for the docks and sneak into the ship. Nodding at this, but they have one small problem…
No one knows where the dock is. Even Kunsel, who's been here once, does not know where it is since he was stationed at the airport. As they debate, Yuffie quickly snuck into the locker room and goes around each locker, looting items she thinks its treasure. As she takes a potion and a tent from one locker, she notices a pile of clothes with a note on top. She checks out the letter first and is surprised to see it is addressed to them.
"Hey guys! Someone left some stuff for us!" she calls the party and they enter the locker room. They notice the pile of Shinra trooper uniform as Kunsel takes the letter from her.
"To Mira and the others…" the Ex-Second reading the letter out loud to the party to hear. "You guys need to disguise as Shinra employees in order to stow ourselves into the ship. To Kunsel, you need to ditch the SOLDIER uniform for a while, because Cloud almost got caught. Don't worry about us, one of the commanders mistake us as troopers taking an off-duty. That gave us a chance to dress up as troopers and a chance to get on the ship. But since we were mistaken as troopers on off-duty, we both ended up joining the parade. Again, we're fine, so don't worry much. Instead, pick the uniforms I found and head for the docks by following the parade route. Oh and I must add this, sorry Barret, Yuffie, but none of these uniforms fits for you. Try looking your own disguise as you head there. We'll meet you guys after the parade, kay. From your miming friend, Riley."
They look at the uniform pile and then looks at each other.
"So… should we change into this now?" Aerith asked.
"I guess we should…" Tifa said with a sense of distaste in her voice.
"Wait." Mira pipes in and both flower girl and barmaid stops for a moment, as she rummages her belt bags. "Ah here we go." She mutters and takes out a few rolls of bandages and a sport bra. "Here."
"What do we do with these?" The barmaid asked as she takes a pair of it.
"Duh, to flatten our chest."
"Why do we need to flatten our chest?" the flower girl asked.
"… Have you seen a trooper with lumps on the front?" Both women get the point the songstress is pointing at and blushes out of embarrassment.
Except for Yuffie and Barret, they head to the changing room to change into their disguise. Both Tifa and Aerith shared one room, so they can help each other with the bandages. Mira has no problem flattening her chest on her own and is quick to change into the uniform. Once she is done, she exits the room and sees Kunsel helping Red into his disguise.
Now that she thinks about it, why didn't the party thought of putting him in a box of sorts. Once he tied the boots on his hind legs and made sure it does not fall off, he then puts on his helmet as he carries Red's.
"Try not to scratch with the boots on, okay?" he said as the feline nodded, feeling not so comfortable with the clothes. He then sees Mira, who is trying out the helmet as she puts it on before removing it. It seems she's trying to readjust her eyesight to the helmet's eye protection. "Is there something wrong?"
"Ugh, what's with these helmets?" She asked and looks at him as she blinks a bit. "It's like you put a chocobo blinker in there."
Kunsel shrugs at this and she scowls a bit, she then puts the helmet back on and tries to get used to its works. As she exercises herself by looking left to right...
"Mira, can I ask you something?" the Ex-Second asked.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"When you arrived at the rebuilt Nibelheim… Are there any Shinra personnel there?"
"… Well, just a few and the place seems to be scrambling about, trying to find and hunt down some missing specimens. They even told us not to go near them, since they are dangerous."
"Missing specimens?"
"Yeah, they said that those specimens are very important and they have to secure them."
"I see… but why does-" he is cut off, when both Tifa and Aerith are complaining as they walk out of the changing room in their trooper outfits. Both of them have a hard time breathing due to the pressure on their chest. Thankfully, the songstress points out that they made their bindings too tight and ushers them back in the changing room to readjust it. She follows them behind and takes the helmet off, to see how they bind and correct it. But before she enters the changing room, she takes a quick glance at the Ex-Second… and to notice that he is looking at her.
She can't tell his expression due to his helmet, but she can tell that Kunsel seems to… trying to find something out.
More specifically, trying to analyze her.
As she helps the other two with the bindings, she mentally debates in her mind on what caused the Ex-Second question her. 'Weird…' she thought as she checks Tifa's binding and asked if she can breathe. Once the binding is fixed, the group quietly checks the area again and then dash out into the streets.
They are then looking around for the parade and Red finds the route when he notices it in another street. But they have to hide for a moment to let it pass, so they can tail behind. Meanwhile, the songstress takes this chance to go equipment shopping and quietly left the group.
:::^*^:::
Arriving at the parade, the commander orders them to sneak in the formation by going behind them. The first trooper shows the two how to sneak in as they march… first he calmly walks to the back, then briskly heads to the open end and he successfully snuck in as he marches with the other troopers.
"Now listen up! This parade's going to be broadcast live on Shinra TV, all around the world!" the commander stated, as Riley thinks of waving at the camera once she gets into position. "If you look bad, the whole Junon army will look bad."
'Do I look I care? Nope!' the mime thought cheerily as she notices the formation of the platoons… The last row of the formation has a space wide enough for two troopers to sneak in. '… Wait, another change, again?' she thought, as she remembers what Mira said about the Don's increase of girls.
"Remember that and don't screw up! OK!" the man said as he ordered them to get ready. "Both of you will jump in when I give you the sign! Just sneak in from the back! Don't mess up the row! And no matter what you do, don't try to go in from the front!"
Although the mime seems to snort at this and thinking that if she and her friend cannot return to their home, she is considering taking a military career for a while. 'At least, I'll probably be better since I was a Captain in C.A.T.' she thought, as she stands behind Cloud.
When the commander gives out the signal, both Riley and Cloud sneak in successfully and marches in with the soldiers. The mime is quick to get the timing with the gun saluting, for her it's like a 3 second Shoulder Arms, then 3 second Port Arms and then repeat the sequences. The Ex-SOLDIER on the other hand is having a difficulty of getting the timing right, as he tries to mimic the gun salute… only to fail as they changes position.
"Pssht! Cloudy!" the mime hisses at the blonde, who looks back at her in response. Once she gets his attention, she begins counting… "One, two, three." she rest her gun on her shoulder. "One, two, three." She then pulls her gun into Port Arms. She keeps counting as she changes the gun salutes and the disguise blonde kept wondering why she is counting…
Until he gets the hint that she is helping him with the timing, he mentally thank her as he too begins to count and gets the timing right this time. Once they reach the end of the parade, Riley notices something moving behind and smiles a bit.
"Good! We made it." The commander said, coming up behind them and nearly making the mime jump out of her disguise.
'Where the heck he came from?!' she thought, as she doesn't remember him sneaking in the march. As the other troopers sing, the commander quickly instructs them on standing still as he takes his position behind. Both of them look at one another as they stand and stiffly faces to the front. Riley is tempting to move like what she did to Cloud in her first game, but she didn't get the chance to do it when the drills stop.
"How's the job? What happened to the Airship?" Rufus demands
"The long range airship is still being prepared. It should be ready in about three more days. Gya haa haa!" Heidegger stated arrogantly.
"Even the Air Force's Gelnika?" the response he got is that laugh again. "Stop that stupid horse laugh. Things are different than when father was in charge." And the burly man seems to deflate on seeing the stern and cold glare of the blonde president. "Is the ship ready?" he asked.
"Yes sir, we'll get it ready quickly." The burly man replies and the mime can tell that he is not that happy to follow Rufus at all. Once the president climbs into the tramway, Heidegger turns around for a moment and laughs.
The mime doesn't get why the idiot head of public safety is laughing when he is scolded by the young president, and then goes off taking out his frustration on the troopers in the game. But she and Cloud kept their mouth shut as the other troopers and commanders laughs with him. The burly man got pissed and goes off taking out his frustration on his men. The troopers, knowing the head's short temper, run away and scatters as he finds someone to hit on. The brunette quickly pushes the disguise blonde out of the way, causing the burly man to trip on his own feet and falls flat on his hairy front. Seeing this, makes the mime want to point and declare that he deserve that for dropping the plate. But the fact that they are in the den of the enemy, she kept the outburst reserve and mentally remind herself to shout that next time they meet.
Heidegger is even more pissed and is about to go after other troopers when he feels the tramway is starting to move. He quickly forgets about his frustration and makes a mad dash to the tramway. Managing to get inside, the tramway moves up as the troopers groups together.
"What a disaster." One of the troopers said.
"Heidegger was really irritated…" Another pipe in.
"What do you mean?" Riley asked and the blonde looks at her with surprise, although it is hidden thanks to the helmet.
"The man in the Black Cape's been roaming the city, but we can't find him." A third trooper points out.
"Man in a Black Cape?" Cloud asked
"He showed up two or three says ago, and killed a few of our troopers."
"He disappeared right after that. There's a rumor going around that it was Sephiroth." Another trooper joins in the conversation. Till their commander calls their attention and then dismisses them, but he stops the two for a moment.
"You messing with the army?!" the commander demands, as he did witness their stunt with their director earlier.
"Who cares?" the blonde stated with a shrug.
"If I do?" Riley asked and once more, earns another look from Cloud.
'How…?' he thought.
"You're too lazy!" the commander yells at them, face to face. The mime refrains from wiping out the spits in front of the commanding officer. "No break for you!" he then heads back to the locker room. "Get over here!" he shouts. The two looks at each other again, before they follow the commander.
"Riley, how did you do that?" Cloud whispered to the mime.
"Do what?"
"Your voice, how did you make it sound…?"
"Manly? Boyish?" she asked with a smirk, as they head back to where they started. "Cloudy, I'm a mime. It's my job to mimic others, especially voices."
:::^*^:::
After Mira's shopping spree, the group is happy to have better weapons while Kunsel kept his SOLDIER sword. As the parade passes by, they carefully tail behind them and then hide once they reaches the tramway. They watch as Rufus enters the the tram, Heidegger's failed attempts to take out his frustration on the troopers before getting on the tram and then the troopers are dismissed. Once they are gone, the party quickly enters the underpass.
"Okay… there's no parade here, now what?" Yuffie asked, as they stop for a moment since the parade is over and they still don't know where the dock is.
"The dock is that way." The songstress stated as she points where the dock is.
"Really?" Aerith asked.
"How did you know?" Kunsel asked and the songstress caught a tone in his voice she couldn't point at.
"The direction is right here." She deadpan at them, as she points at the painted directions on the underpass wall. They stared at it for a moment before turning away, feeling a bit sheepish for not noticing it. The sign is practically right beside them!
Moving on, the party quickly makes their way to the docks and makes sure they don't get unwanted attention. Arriving there, the party has to find disguises for Yuffie and Barret. And to their luck, they immediately found a pair of sailors and one of them is exactly the same size as Barret. Both Kunsel and Tifa walks towards them, pretending they are on patrol around the ship. As the sailors pass them, both Ex-Second and barmaid turns around and knocks the two out by hitting their heads from behind.
Once they take their uniforms, they quickly hid the real sailors in a dumpster and makes a beeline for the they enter the ship through the cargo gate, the songstress looks for the materia that Yuffie will block due to her seasickness. Finding the said materia, she swiftly picks it up and looks for Aerith. 'She might need this for curing the party.' She thought.
As she looks for her, she accidentally dumps on someone.
"Sorry!" she apologizes quickly.
"Mira?" the trooper asked and the songstress immediately recognizes the voice.
"Kunsel?" he nods back and she sighs in relief. "Aye, you almost gave me a surprise there… By the way, have you seen Aerith?"
"She's with Yuffie, helping her pack her clothes and hiding their equipments." He explains.
"I see, I'll go find them then."
"Hold on, I want to ask you something." He immediately blocks her way causing her to look at him strangely, although her expression is hidden behind the helmet. Needing to know, he decided to risk it or else he'll lose this chance. "You know something we don't, don't you?"
"What do you mean?" Right now, she got the feeling that he is definitely digging for information.
"What do you know about Banora?"
"Well, it's a small town and the only place you grow Dumbapples. It's also the home of Angeal and Genesis."
"Where is it located?"
"Near Mideel."
"Did you know that there is an underground laboratory and prison, which were abandoned by the company?"
Now that made her pause… she knows that Genesis used the undergrounds as his base and Zack went there for the final battle. She might understand if she's talking to a Turk who found that place, or discussing it to Weiss or Nero since they were there to pick the Crimson SOLDIER.
But…
"Yeah…" she carefully answered back. "Me and Riley went back there to give our loved ones flowers, that's when we discovered the underground. Hold on, why are you asking me this?" she demands as she crosses her arms.
That's when he pulls out a familiar device from his pocket and alarms went off in her head on seeing it.
'Oh snap! Riley... I'm so going to kill you!'
Silver: And we're off to the last send off and then to the ocean… Uh oh… looks like Kunsel discovered something he shouldn't. Also, I'm planning another FFVII fanfic… the plot is a girl from the past awakens before the crisis starts. She knows more about the crisis that will unfold and must prepare for a war. Also, an enemy from the past is also returned. It is a slight crossover in the timeline, like Game A is the past of Game B. Suggestion if I should go with this story and if this and the other chapter have some improvement.
NOTE: I used two grammar checkers in this chapter, but the other one expired before I finish this. (Trial mode, shrugs.)