Well, I hope you peeps liked the last chapter. Enjoy Chapter 16!
Chapter 16: The Question: Cloud Breaks Down!
Later that day, Cloud got a knock on his tent post, and into it walked three people Cloud had never seen before: Two men, one bald and one with wild multi-coloured hair, and a girl with blonde hair down to her shoulders.
"So, what do you think?" the girl asked; Cloud, bewildered at the sudden appearance of these strangers, asked, "Um, yeah, you look nice."
"SEE?" She said, ecstatic, "I TOLD YOU HE'D RECOGNIZE US!" "That's just the thing, actually," Cloud said, as the girl leaned in closer and said, "So? Who am I?" Cloud thought it over for a moment. He then said, "Sorry, I really haven't ever seen you three before. You all look familiar, but I could swear I've never seen anyone of you before."
The girl was now shocked beyond reproach, and was quickly pushed aside by one of the men, who had a wild head of multi-toned hair: the bangs were yellow, the base color was orange, the front row of spikes was red, and the back was white. His streaks, however, should have been a dead give away; they were red.
"Come on, Cloud," he said, pulling the girl back over and unzipping the back of her shirt, then moving her to show Cloud: her stomach and chest were covered in scars. "Wait," Cloud said, as his eyes touched each scar separately, and continued, "Elena, is that you?"
"YES! You finally guessed!" Elena cheered, jumping up and down on the spot. "Well, I guess it's true what they say. Clothes do make the man. Or as the case may be, the woman." Elena simply stood there, looking happier than she had in the years she had spent hunting Cloud.
"So," Cloud said, looking from the bald man to the one with the wild hair, "Rude and Reno, right?" Rude simply nodded, speaking for both. "So, Reno, what possessed you to go and dye your hair so many colors?" Cloud asked, to which the new Reno said, "Well, I thought that if those new Turks Rufus is hiring are supposed to hunt us down, how are they to do that without knowing what we look like? I mean, would Rufus actually tell them to go and look for three people in blue suits, one bald, one with shoulder length blonde hair, and one with a head that looks like a flame? That wouldn't make a lot of sense. He would have told them that we'd be smart enough to cover our-"
"Actually, he did say that. That last part, with the blue suits," Cloud interrupted. Reno's mouth hung open dumbly as he finished, "-Tracks." Elena piped up, "Does it really matter? We look different now. The only way they'd recognize us is by our skills and abilities. This means we're going to need new weapons." "Yeah, that reminds me," Cloud said, "What about those weapon slips I gave you? Did you decide on a weapon of choice yet?"
Reno snapped from his stupor, and handed over his slip, as did Rude. Elena came up last, and as Cloud took her slip, he read: "OK, so Reno wants a new electro-nightstick, with telescopic extensions on both sides that snap together and make a stable, safe, and all-in one bow staff. Ok! That can be done. Rude, you asked for… New gloves… Wow. That's high tech, you can get those anywhere!"
"You didn't read the extra bit, the description," Rude said indignantly, using all the strength he had not to whip around and punch Cloud in the face. "Oh," Cloud said, reading further, "With wrist blades that extend from above the hand as short swords, and underneath as tonifers, both for close-quarters combat. The gloves have to be able to lock in an elemental attack for easy attack-backfiring. All right! I'll get the request out now." cloud stopped, put both previous slips behind the last one, and said, "And Elena wants … me to teach her how to use a sword?! And then to have one like mine?" Elena stood there, smiling and nodding her head, oblivious to Reno's shocked expression. "ELENA?! WHAT ARE YOU, MAD?! YOU WANT TO BE USING A BIG, BULKY, BAD-ASS SWORD LIKE CLOUD'S?!" Elena looked stunned; her head fell into a depressed, "staring-at-the-ground" pose. Reno walked in closer and, lifting her head to look at him, he said, "Why didn't you think of that sooner? It's going to be cool to have a female Cloud on the team."
She perked up immediately, and smiled a gigantic grin. "All you're missing is the spiky hair!" Reno finished, causing Rude to laughed heartily as he said, "Yeah. Wouldn't that be weird, eh Cloud? Dress her up exactly like you, and trot her out into battle? TWO CLOUDS, one with breasts and one without! It's the perfect couple!" Rude continued to laugh as Elena began punching him.
"Reno, you really have a way with the women, don't you?" Cloud said; Reno replied, "What do you mean?" "What I mean is, you know how to make a woman cry, and you know how to make her happy again AFTER you've made her cry. You are one twisted person," Cloud said, causing Rude to laugh hysterically.
"Ok, you guys get ready. You got yourselves something nice for the ceremony tomorrow night?" "YEP!" Reno replied enthusiastically. "All right then," Cloud said, getting up from his desk, and moving to Reno. "Before the ceremony, You will each have to pass a test. Reno, you are first. Follow me."
Reno, now completely confused, looked at Rude, who shrugged, then to Elena, who shook her head in an "I don't know!" way, and then followed Cloud outside, followed closely by Rude and Elena. Cloud led the three to a small arena, in which were Sam, Clover, and Alex. "WAIT A MINUTE!" Reno shouted, spinning Cloud around, "ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU'RE GONNA MAKE US FIGHT THE CHICKS THAT BEAT OUR BOSS?!"
Cloud shook his head, then put his hand on Reno's shoulder and said, "No, I'm not that nuts," then stopped as Reno started smiling and laughing. "You'll be attempting to outwit me in combat," Cloud continued, causing Reno's smile to fade and his happy laughter to die. "Outwit… YOU?! How am I supposed to do that?"
"Well, actually, you already completed that one. You made yourself so unrecognizable that I almost thought you were from Wutai! In fact, all three of you passed. Now, for challenge number two of three." Reno, who had started cheering loudly, and once more became sullen and quiet.
"Now," Cloud said, "You must get past me in mental combat." "MENTAL COMBAT?! WHAT IS THAT?!" Reno screamed, indignantly. "Simple. Think of something I can't figure out, or something I'm bound to be unable to answer, and you pass," Cloud said, leading Reno down into the arena, from which Sam, Clover, and Alex were just finishing up some light training.
As they left, they smiled and waved at Cloud, who returned the gestures and brought Reno to the center of the arena. "OK, so," Cloud began, before being cut off by Reno, who said, "Alright Cloud, let's see you solve this. I pose a conundrum, a riddle if you will." "Alright, shoot. Let's hear it," cloud said, as Reno continued.
"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies in rivers and behind hills and empty holes it fills. It comes first, follows after, ends life, and it kills laughter." Cloud stared at Reno, amazed that someone who seemed so light-headed could, in fact, possess the brain power to create an incredibly deep riddle from scratch. As Cloud struggled to deduce the answer, Reno stood back and said, "What's wrong, Cloud? Is your generous mind hurting too much to think straight? Well?"
Cloud continued to struggle. For five minutes, he looked ripe to blow, but eventually said, "Okay, I give, Reno. What's the answer?" Reno, now sitting on the ground and fiddling with his clothes, stood up and said, "Well Cloud, I thought you'd be able to guess. The answer is: DARKNESS. You can't perceive it with your senses, it is everywhere where light can't tread. It's there when we're born, and when we die, and it's not funny when someone turns off the lights on you at night, right?" Cloud, finally getting the riddle, slapped his head, and said, "Geez!! Why couldn't I figure that out?! That was easy! And yet, so hard… Okay, Rude, you're next."
As Reno strolled off to stand next to Elena, Rude jumped from his place straight down in front of Cloud. Rude then said, "This one is a math question, Cloud." "Oh, Goddess, no! Okay, Rude, let me here it. Math was never my strong subject." Rude said, "If it takes a dragon twelve years to lay ten eggs, and the babies take another twelve years to mature, how long will it take for twelve dragons to fully raise 120 new dragons, while creating another 120?"
Once more, Cloud sat in deep thought, seemingly stumped by this question. Several occasions appeared where Cloud would perk up with a possible answer, causing Rude to sweat profusely. These were concluded each time when Cloud would lower back into thought with a plain "no, no, that's not it…," causing Rude to sigh in relief.
Finally, Cloud said, "Rude, I give up. What is the answer?" "The answer," Rude replied, "Is twenty-four. Since it takes one dragon twelve years to lay the eggs, and another twelve to raise the babies, the answer is a simple addition of both the numbers. Twelve plus twelve is twenty-four, therefore, it takes twelve dragons twenty-four years to fully raise 120 babies into full grown dragons, while laying 120 brand new eggs."
Cloud once more slapped his head, and, realizing that every answer he would have given would have been wrong, said, "Good job, Rude, you made my head hurt. You pass. Send Elena down, would ya?" Rude smiled, and jumping back up in an easy leap, said, "Head down, Elena." Elena was already more than halfway down when she heard this, and chose, wisely, to ignore it. When she reached Cloud, before he could say anything, she said, "Alright, Cloud, I've always wanted to know. Who do you love more: Tifa, or Aeris? Wait, I should rephrase. Who DID you love more?"
Cloud, stunned at being asked this, lowered his gaze, and didn't answer… for a time. After waiting for a half hour, Elena was getting impatient. "DAMN IT, CLOUD! ANSWER ME!" When Cloud looked up, Elena could see tears welling in his eyes. "WHY DID I KICK THEM FROM THE TEAM?! WHY DID I HAVE TO BE SUCH AN IDIOT?!" he screamed, then collapsed to his knees and began crying, despite his tough façade.
Elena dropped down next to him, and pulled him in close to her, attempting to comfort him. Meanwhile, Reno was having a small conversation with Rude when his eyes inadvertently trailed down to the arena, where he saw Elena holding Cloud.
"OHO! What's this?" he said, before breaking out in hysteric laughter. Rude stopped talking, turned to look, and also began laughing. Elena, hearing this, shouted up, "SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU ASSHOLES!" KNOCK IT OFF, OR I'll SEND THE BOTH OF YOU INTO NEXT THURSDAY! I ASKED A QUESTION THAT WAS A LITTLE TOO PERSONAL, OK? HE NEEDS TO GET IT OFF HIS CHEST, SO SHUT UP AND LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
Reno and Rude immediately quieted down, and continued their conversation, as if nothing had happened. Down below, Cloud looked up at Elena, and asked, "Why did I have to be such an idiot? Why did I have to kick them off the team? All three of them. I miss them so much. They're all so distant from me now."
Elena, seeing his problem, said, "Why don't you apologize, and tell them that you accept their ways, and were wrong to act so harshly? You don't need to sugar-coat it, but just tell them you were an idiot. Because, you know," She said, looking at him kindly, "You'd seem a lot more masculine that way. Girls like men who admit to their faults. You admit to this one, and you won't have to worry. Just make sure you don't do it again, and you'll be fine!"
Cloud looked at her again and said, "Really? It's that easy?" "Yeah!" Elena said, helping him to his feet, "In fact, why not test it now?" "How?" Cloud asked, to which Elena said, "Um, hello? You call them, Cloud!"
This took me slightly longer to think up. I hope I did a good enough job, though. R&R, flames are always welcome.