"You ok?" Jinn
asked as Cloud's broken nose was treated.
"Yeah, fine…
ouch!"
"Then sit
still, it wouldn't hurt if you didn't move." The nurse stood up and nodded,
"Well, that's all I can do, you sure you want to go on?"
Cloud looked at
Jinn and grinned, "Yeah, I wanna see if the kid is better than me or not."
"I'm not a
kid!" Jinn smiled and punched Cloud on his shoulder, "And if you call me that
again, I'll hit you on the nose again."
"Fine, do as
you wish." The nurse walked out the infirmary mumbling, "Men…!"
Cloud and Jinn
gave each other a sheepish look and burst out in laughter.
"You get some
more rest then, Cloud." Jinn stood up, "And Cloud…"
"Yes?"
"…See you in
the ring!" Jinn left and closed the door behind him.
Cloud carefully
thought his nose and lay back on the bed. I could have sworn I heard… After
this fight is over I'm going to look for a phone and tell her where I am.
He slowly got up and checked his nose in the mirror, Damn, should have been
more careful. Cloud left the room, outside he bumped in Reno and Rude.
"…You're
tougher than I imagined, see you around Cloud!" Reno smiled and turned, Rude
nodded and followed Reno.
"What where you
doing here, anyway?" Cloud had been curious about what had happened to the Turks
after Shinra disappeared.
Reno turned and
gazed at Cloud, "Why do you ask?"
"I know we
weren't friends, but you only followed orders back then. I was only interested
in what had become of you guy's."
Reno nodded and
said; "We were sacked, as was SOLDIER. But they where taken over, and we? We
were left to take care of ourselves. That's what we where doing here. Trying to
get a new life started outside the gutter."
Rude pocked
Reno and left. Reno turned saying; "Maybe we'll meet again, Cloud. We're traveling
as mercenaries now, and good luck when you fight the boy."
SOLDIER is
a private company now? Why did they want me than? Cloud shrugged and walked
the arena.
"Look at the
size of that thing!" The
sight of WEAPON amazed Kane. "Why didn't they kill it yet?"
Valerius tried
to fly the helicopter passed WEAPON, which blocked their way to the helicopter
pad. "I don't know, Kane. But if the weapons are down, we're going to have our
hands full with that thing."
-"Krrgg…Val…us?
…erius? Are..ou there?"- The intercom produced a faint sound what seemed a
voice.
"Valerius here.
What's the situation there? Over."
-"Krrgg…APON
atta… us .y ..prise. We've susta..ed ma.. casu..ties. Ple…"- the line got cut
off.
"Damn Val. We
godda do sumting!"
"Like what?
What can we do against this… creature?"
WEAPON noticed
the newcomers and faced them.
"I don't know,
but we're gonna find out now!"
OMEGA opened
his breastplate and fired a white-hot plasma beam, hitting the tail-rotor of
the helicopter.
The helicopter
started to toss and turn. "Hold on!" Valerius tried to keep the
helicopter under control, but to no avail: the helicopter stalled and dove;
nose down, to the ground. The helicopter hit the ground with a crash and after
a few seconds it exploded in a great fireball, pieces of the wreckage scattered
all over the ground.
OMEGA flew
three more rounds around the citadel and left. A man's laughter faded as OMEGA
disappeared at the horizon.
"Why won't you
let me in?" Tifa stood in front of the entrance to the Gladiator's room. "A
friend of mine is competing in this tournament and I want to see him."
"Lady, you have
no idea how many girls use that line to get in here." A bouncer stood in front
of her and refused to let her pass. "So if you'd please, ma'am. You can see
your idol after the battles are over. And I'm sure young Jinn is still single
so…"
"Jinn? You
think I'm here for Jinn? I'm here to see Cloud."
"I'm sure he's
single too, so you like the rougher ones, don't you?"
Barret got hold
of Tifa before she could attack the bouncer.
"Who are you
calling…"
Barret dragged
Tifa away from the door and back to the tribunes. "Calm down, spiky'll kick the
brat's ass and then you can see him again, okay?"
"Okay, I'll
watch from up here then." She sat down with a sigh.
"Lady's and
gentlemen… the moment you've all be waiting for… the championship battle. The
last remaining fight… here are they, give them a big hand people… 'Blazing'
Jinn Katana and Cloud 'blue eyes' Strife!"
Cloud and Jinn
entered the arena, welcomed by a thunderous applause of the spectators.
"Well… you
ready?"
"Yeah… you?"
"Me too, so
let's dance!"
Cloud and Jinn
bowed to each other and to the audience, then they took their battle positions.
"They're ready
for their fight, who will win? Lets find out and start the battle! Hold on…
this just came in. It seems that… the SOLDIER city, Matrilance, has been
attacked by… a WEAPON!"
"What!! No,
this can't be! Dad, June!!" Jinn ran out the arena.
"Jinn!" Cloud
followed him, leaving the spectators without a champion.
"The hell…
What's up with those guy's?" Barret tried to see where they were going.
"Come on, guys.
We've got to follow them." Tifa dragged Barret and Vincent with her as she ran
down the stairs.
"You coming
with us?" Ramuh looked at O'Brien.
"Nah kid, I've
had my adventures when I was younger. You go ahead now, or you'll lose you're
friends."
"Thanks for
getting us here." Ramuh ran down the stairs and at the bottom he looked up once
more, after that he ran as fast as he could to catch-up with the others.
"Yeah, you go
and see the world kid." O'Brien sat down and lighted a cigarette.
"Jinn! Jinn,
wait up!" Cloud was yelling Jinn's name while he was running after him, "Jinn!
There's nothing you can do now."
Jinn didn't
react to Cloud's calls; all he wanted now was to see if his father and sister
where doing all right. He jumped over a small bush, nearly tripped but managed
to sty on his feet. He turned his head to shout something back to Cloud, but he
couldn't see him anymore. Looks like I out run him, better wait for him
here. Jinn slowed down when suddenly someone took hold of his arm. "What?"
"Huff, huff…
You are fast, gotta give you that."
"Cloud? How did
you get in front of me?" Jinn looked surprised; he didn't see Cloud passing
him.
"That doesn't
matter, what matters is, what where you planning to do once you get at
Matrilance? You don't have any weapons nor do you have any means of
transportation into the citadel. Or did you forget that you can't reach it by
foot?"
Jinn shrugged;
he hadn't thought of that nor did it matter to him, he only wanted to see his
family. "…Cloud, I…" He shook his head; "I'm sorry, I just blow our chance to
get some Gil, but I…"
"Hey, hey. You
idiots! Now see what you have done!" A man dressed in kaki shorts, matching
shirt and loaded with all kinds of weapons, stepped out one of the bushes. "I
nearly got it and then you come along, making a big fuss, and scared it away."
Staring at them, he sighed. "Oooh boy, should have known, SOLDIERS, never did
like you're kind, showing up everywhere, making a riot, and leaving when it
gets really tough." He picked one of the weapons from his back, "Then again, I
never did kill a SOLDIER before… so if you would, please stand still, chaps. I
believe I'll place you're heads in the dinner room, yes I can just imagine the
faces of the others, they'd be green of envy of me."
Cloud and Jinn
stared at the man with their mouths wide open; this was one of strangest
persons they'd ever seen.
The man aimed
his weapon at them, "Alright chaps, don't move, yes hold it like that please,
jolly good." He pulled the trigger, nothing happened. "What? No, not again,
don't worry, I'll fix this in a jiffy, happens all the time, there… that should
do it." He pulled the trigger again and this time the weapon blew up in his face.
Cloud and Jinn
couldn't help but laughing, the man's face was blackened as a result of the
explosion.
"Better buy
other weapons if you want to stay alive." Cloud grinned and turned to Jinn,
"Come Jinn, lets head back to Gongaga, find a way to equip ourselves and than
find a way to get to Matrilance."
Cloud looked at
the man once more and turned to walk back. He stopped when he saw a man running
towards them.
"Now who can
that be? Hey, …mister, is that one of you're friends?"
"What are you
talking about? And the name is Darien Alexis mastrimatus the third, Daralex for
short."
The
man in the distance came closer and shouted something.
"Blondie?
What's that he's shouting? I can't make it out." Darien removed some of the
dirt from his face; when he looked at the distance again, the man was gone.
"Where did he
go?" He looked at Jinn and then at Cloud. "Whoa… I say, now that's a fast boy,
hmmm… Hey buddy? Could I interest you in working for me, my last bait-boy got
eaten by a monster last weak."
Ramuh stared at
Darien for a second and focused on Cloud again.
"Huff, huff…
Sorry, no time for introductions, you're friends have been captured by a horde
of Iron Giants! I could escape and ran after you as fast as I could. You are
friends with Tifa, Barret and Vincent, aren't you?"
Cloud grabbed
Ramuh and stared at him with a worried look on his face, "What? Where did this
happen? Take us to them, quickly!"
Ramuh pulled
free of Cloud's grip and mumbled; "Yup, he's a friend of Barret alright." He
placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath, "I can't, they took them to
the SOLDIER citadel! I almost got caught myself."
"Damn, Jinn
lets go, we must get there as soon as we can!"
"Cloud? What
about the 'get equipped first' stuff you where talking about earlier?"
Cloud sighed
and raised his hands in despair. He stared in the distance for a moment and
said; "You're right, lets go back and find a way to equip ourselves."
Darien stopped
them before they could move. "So, tell me chaps, are we going on an adventure,
jolly good, been a while but I'm up to it."
Cloud pushed
him aside, "You are not coming with us! This isn't a game, my friends are in
danger!"
"You're quite
right, this isn't a game, I know that. But you did have a problem with you're
funding for this voyage, am I right? And I can help you with that, if you allow
me to travel with you, that is."
Jinn pulled
Cloud away from the rest; "Lets not waste anymore time here, if the oddball
wants to give us our equipment, that's great. And whatever happens to him after
that, isn't our concern."
Cloud wasn't to
sure about this but agreed; he wanted to help his friends as soon as possible.
"Alright than,
you can come along, and you too." He pointed at Ramuh.
Ramuh
straighten his back, "You can count me in, I want to return the favor to them,
they saved me a little while ago."
Cloud led the
group to Gongaga, not to sure this was such a good idea.
"Looks like
OMEGA just wanted to startle us. He didn't do serious damage to the main
structure." A second class SOLDIER made his report at his commanding officer.
"No serious damage? You call blowing up our main power supply, no serious
damage? What would you call serious? Go and help clean up this place,
dismissed!"
The SOLDIER
saluted and walked out the room, when he closed the door behind him he sighed
out of relieve; his commandant may be a woman but she could be very dangerous
when she gets mad, and after what had happened to her fiancée, she was already
on edge.
"No serious
damage, Valerius could be dead for all we know. Come on, Dewi, get a grip on
yourself." The commandant breathed deeply for a couple of times and sat down
behind her desk. "First things first." She tried to read some of the reports
but couldn't stay focused. "…Aaarg, I'm going to look for him!" she stood up
and left the office.
"Hey, get over
here! And bring some medics with ya!" A middle-aged SOLDIER was standing near a
helicopter wreckage. "No buddy, ya just stay still for a minute, and don't
worry, they'll fix ya up."
Two medics came
running to him, "Where's the wounded?"
"There's two of
'em, I think they got hit by the helicopter when it exploded."
"Well, they
sure are lucky, the helicopter could have landed on top on them."
"I'll be
looking for more victims." The SOLDIER left the medics to do they're job.
"I'll call an
ambulance, these are some of our own!" One of the medics stood up and called
their base. "They'll be here in a minute."
"Good day, can
I help you?" The shopkeeper was much friendlier now than the first time that
Cloud had visited him. When he recognized Cloud, the big smile on his face
disappeared, "How dare you show you're face around here again, wanna rob me
again? Get out, before I call the cops!"
Hey, hey, be
friendly to my guests, old man!" Darien walked in after Cloud. "They told me
what happened and I must say, can't blame them for taking the blade. You must
be happy they're so honest that they'd come bake and are willing to pay for it
this time."
"Yeah, I'm
jumpin' up and down from joy, see! Now pay and get out!"
Darien smiled
and placed a bag, filled with Gil, on the counter, "As you can see, this is much to much for only the blade, so let
them snoop around the shop for a while, so they can take what they need."
"You mean…
you've hired these… to be you're…" The shopkeeper burst out in laughter,
"Whahahaha… ya gotta be kidding me, well then, take you're time." He
disappeared in the room behind the counter, still laughing.
"You heard the
man, take what you want." Darien leaned against the counter and watched the
rest getting their equipment. After ten minutes, everybody was armed and ready
to go to the citadel. Darien said goodbye to the merchant and when they stood
outside the next question rose: how to get air-transportation? They stood
there, looking at each other for a moment, until Ramuh got an idea; "Shees…
should have thought about it sooner, I know someone in this town that owns a
helicopter! His name is O'Brien, and he lives not far from here."
Darien thought
for a second and stopped Ramuh before he could walk away, "You just said, O'Brien,
didn't you? I believe you did, but let me tell you sonny, I've lived in this
town for a long time now, and I don't recall anybody here owns a helicopter, or
goes by the name O'Brien, for that matter. But than again, who am I to question
you? If you say you know someone that can take us into the citadel, lets go and
meet this chap."
Ramuh looked at
Darien for a moment, shrugged and mumbled; "You love to talk, eh?" He
led them to O'Brien's house.
Darien glanced
at the house and said, "I hate to bust you're bubble, but this house is
uninhabited for as long I can remember. They build it one year ago, but no one
wants to live in it, they say it's haunted. But then again, if you say so, who
am I to question you?"
Ramuh shrugged
and walked to the door, "I'll be right back." He knocked on the door and waited
for a response. After standing there for one minute, Ramuh knocked again. "He
must be taking a bath or something."
"Hey kid, what
are you doing there?"
Everyone turned
and saw a man standing in the doorpost of a house across the street.
"That house is
abandoned for quite a while now, say where are the rest of you're friends?"
Ramuh blushed
and muttered, "Darn, wrong house."
They all walked
to O'Brien, and Cloud asked, "You are the man with a helicopter?"
"That's right,
and you are one of this kids friends? Saw you in the arena earlier, shame you
didn't finish you're fight."
"Erm… O'Brien?
Can I ask you for a favor?"
"Sure kid,
shoot."
"Well, you
remember the others that where with me?"
"Yeah, who
could forget that colorful bunch?"
"Erm, well, eh…
it's like this…"
"I believe what
the lads trying to say is, we need your helicopter to fly to Matrilance, that
was what you wanted to say, right?"
Ramuh nodded
and glared at Darien for a moment; this guy is getting on his nerves. "So
O'Brien? Can you take us there?"
O'Brien lighted
a cigarette and inhaled the smoke. He looked over the four men standing in
front of him and smiled, "Alright kid, I and my helicopter are in you're
service once more. I recon you want to go as soon as you can, right?"
Cloud nodded
and said, "Yeah, the less time we waste the better, and thanks."
"Then let's go,
the 'Dwarf's song' is waiting behind my house."
Darien
hesitated for a moment and then asked O'Brien, "I say, I, Darien Alexus mastrimatus
the third, have been living here for quite some time, and I can't remember
anyone living here owning a helicopter. So did you move in recently? Or are you
not who you say you are?"
O'Brien
looked shocked for a second and than laughed, "No you're right, I moved in here
recently. But I am who I say I am, I can assure you that. Now than, if that is
all, can we go?"
Darien
wanted to say something more, but Ramuh grabbed him and dragged him towards the
helicopter.
"Let's
get mossy, everyone."
Cloud
looked at Ramuh and thought, Cid was right, it really sounds wimpy.
"Hey Ramuh, just say 'move out' or something, alright."
Ramuh
scratched his head, thinking; Why? What's wrong with 'mossy'? "Erm…
let's move out."
They
climbed in the helicopter and O'Brien headed towards Matrilance.
"How's Valerius
doing? I heard he got attack by WEAPON when he tried to aid us."
"He's doing
better now, thanks to you're help." Dewi stood in front of the commander. She
had made her report on WEAPON'S attack. "But I do have one question."
The commander
sat back and folded his hands, "Go ahead and ask, but if it's regarding WEAPON,
no you cannot hunt it down to get revenge."
Dewi sighed,
"But… as you wish, M'lord. If there's nothing more, could you excuse me?"
"Yes, get some
rest, it must have been a tiring experience for you." He turned his chair and
walked out the room.
Dewi watched
him leave and thought, If he won't let me do it while I'm on duty, I'll
take some day's off and kill the beast alone if I have too. She walked out
the room and directly to the infirmary. She passed by some 1ST-klass
SOLDIER'S, but not half as much as there usually would be in the citadel.
Hmmm, I thought all operatives in field where called back as soon WEAPON
attacked, but it doesn't seem to me that they are here. She passed by the
briefing room and stopped, Huh, what is that? She looked inside the
room and saw that there where at least fifty SOLDIER'S sitting there, being
briefed. She snuck up to the doorpost and eavesdropped the conversation: "Well
men, this is one of our biggest missions yet. This time we're not going into
battle because someone pay's us too, but for ourselves! WEAPON made a big
mistake when it decided too attack us! You all have you're orders, let's go get
this bastard! Move out!"
Dewi turned and
walked away as if noting happened, whilst thinking; So they are going to
hunt down WEAPON. Why wasn't I informed about this? I'll have another meeting
with the commander about this. When she reached the infirmary, she stopped
and took a deep breath, after that she walked in the room and said with a big
smile, "Good afternoon, darling. And how are we feeling today?"
Kane sat up in
his bed and growled, "How would you feel if you're helicopter blows up right
behind you? Now you have you're answer!"
"I'm sorry
Kane, but I believe the lady was talking to me." Valerius took hold of one of
Dewi's hands and pulled her onto his bed. "I'm doing a lot better thank you. I
was lucky that they found me so fast." He kissed Dewi, and she snuggled up to
him.
"Yeah, you're
right Val, if they'd found us any later, we wouldn't have been recovered so
fast!" Kane looked at them, cuddling together on bed, and threw a pillow at
them, "Hey, if you guys wanna make out, do it some place else!" He got up out
of bed, picked his stuff together and left. He stopped walking when he got at
the door, turned around and said, smiling, "I'll leave you love-birds alone,
shees, you guys make me wanna puke, Val… later!" He left and closed the door
behind him. "Ough, still not completely recovered… shit!" Kane rushed back into
the room. "Val! Dewi! Come, you gotta see this!" He stormed out the room again.
"What was that
all about?"
"Don't know,
better check it out. Well after you, fair lady."
Dewi stepped
out of bed and threw a robe towards Valerius.
"Thanks, now
let us see what that was all about."
When they got
outside, there was no sight of Kane. Valerius looked around and saw Kane
disappearing around a corner. He grabbed Dewi by the arm and ran after Kane.
When they got at the corner, Valerius stopped and tried to find out where Kane
had gone.
"Hey, come on
you guys, what's the delay?" Kane's head stuck out of an open door and
disappeared in the room.
"Hey, isn't
that the…?" Dewi asked but Valerius had run towards the door already. "Men!
Arg!" Dewi ran after him. When she entered the room she bumped into Valerius.
"Alright Kane, what was so important?" All Dewi could see where three ordinary
people, heavily guarded by Valerius's special Iron Giant squad. "Who are these
people?"
"Lemme go,
aaaarrg, ya jest wait 'till I get my hands free!" One of the male prisoners
made quite a ruckus. "Whoa… I know you… yer one of the jackasses that 'napped
Cloud! Hey… yer both here, what is this all about?"
Before anyone
could say anything, the wall behind them disappeared into the ground and a man,
sitting on a sort of throne, moved into the room.
"You are here
because we need the bait."
Kane, Valerius
and Dewi saluted the newcomer.
"At ease, men.
Now than, let's get down to business, shall we?"
Tifa looked at
the man and suddenly her yaw fell open with a snap, "No, you can't be…"
"O yes, I am.
And how have you been Tifa? I've been watching you're exploits for quite some
time now, sorry for not writhing you, but as you can see, I've been busy myself."
"No, this can't
be… you where dead!"
