Chapter V; "The Stage Is Set"
They arrived in Wall Market without a second to spare. It was busy with the hustle and bustle of tradesmen and people just trying to make an honest Gil. Or even a dishonest one, if possible.
"Which way is it to the Don's place?" Squall asked.
"I don't know." Rinoa replied. "Let's just take a look around and find it."
They walked through the market together, looking for clues as to the Don's whereabouts. Information was hardly forthcoming, however. That is, until one scumbag yelled out to Squall.
"Hey boy! You shore got a good lookin' heifer there! Take her to Don's place, and you'll make a mint."
He soon found himself on the receiving end of one of Squall's chokeholds, as per Rinoa's request.
"You want his boot in your face next?" she asked.
"Uh-uh."
"Then tell us where the Don lives."
"It's straight down there at the very end. Ya can't miss it."
"Alright, you can let him go, Squall."
Squall released his grip and the bum scrambled away into the market, although not before an apology to Rinoa was in order.
They walked straight on and came to the mansion. Even the outside was a vast shrine to bad taste. God only knows what it was like inside. As they approached the door, a large doorman, twice the size of Squall, approached them.
"This is the mansion of Don Corneo, the most powerful man in Wall Market." he boomed. "Look, the Don's not into men. So don't let me catch you around here again...Hey, and you got another cute one with you! She can come in senòr, but no men without an invitation."
Rinoa pulled Squall to the side, behind an abandoned sushi stand.
"So how are we going to get into this place?" Rinoa asked.
"It'll be tough. Like I said, then Don will be pretty well guarded. You could get in, but I can't let you go in alone...."
Rinoa began to giggle to herself.
"Maybe a more direct way is.... What's so funny?"
"Hee hee. Why don't you dress up like a girl, Squall? You could pull it off no problem."
Squall sighed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Let's go."
He walked up to the doorman once again. "We'd like to see the Don." Squall said.
"May I see you invitation?" said the doorman, clamping his hand on Squall's shoulder. Squall allowed himself a slight grin...
***
An almighty crash boomed throughout the mansion as the beaten-up doorman was thrown, crashing through the doors. As Squall and Rinoa stepped through the debris and over the doorman (now relegated to doormat), their worst fears were confirmed...
It was indeed, a gigantic eyesore. A shrine to tastelessness. Lava lamps and neon anime images of super-deformed girls with a bad case of visible-panty-line. There was even a disco-ball hanging from the ceiling, for crying out loud. It looked more like a brothel than a mansion. To make matters worse, there was some godawful music pumping out from the speakers, singing praise to "The Partyman, all hail the new king in town. The funkiest thang you've ever seen..." and on and on, ad nauseum.
"The Attack Of The Psychotic Interior Decorator." Rinoa mused.
"Let's go." said Squall.
They walked up the steps towards the Don's office, where the "music" was coming from. As Squall tried the handle, he found it was locked. As he drew out his gunblade, Rinoa grabbed his hand.
"Um, let's try it the old fashioned way, first Squall, okay?"
She rapped on the door. "Knock knock!" she called.
"Who's there?" shouted a voice from the other side.
"Midgar Owls." Rinoa called back.
"Midgar Owls who?" the moronic voice shouted again.
Rinoa looked at Squall. "Hmm. Don't think I've heard this one before."
As they heard the click of the door unlocking, Squall drew back his foot and planted a heavy kick on the door. It swung back, sending whoever was on the other side flying backwards.
Squall and Rinoa entered the office. It was just as tasteless as the rest of the place, if not more so. There was the Don, a fat tub of lard sitting behind a desk. Three young girls were lined up in front of his desk. Rinoa clicked her fingers and pointed to the exit with her thumb. The girls immediately made a break for it. There was one bodyguard standing just behind the Don, and the second was out for the count, splayed out on the floor.
"Oh Don, we've come for a bit of a chat." Rinoa grinned.
"Get 'em Kotch!" Corneo yelled. Kotch leapt forward, yelling like a maniac. He drew a shotgun and pointed it right in Squall's face. Squall stood there, not flinching. There was a long pause between them, before...
Squall brought his gunblade up in a flash, slicing the shotgun to pieces. He then grabbed Kotch and threw him headfirst into the sound system, putting a stop to the so-called music.
"Wow." remarked Rinoa. "Two birds with one stone. Alright, Don. Let's talk."
The Don screamed and scrambled out of his chair, running back behind the curtain towards his own private chambers. Squall and Rinoa followed, bounding over the desk and cornering him.
"No way out." stated Rinoa, to the cowering Corneo. "Since you were so eager to learn about us, it's only fair that you tell us a bit about you."
"Like what you're doing sending people to snoop around Sector 7." Squall remarked.
"It wasn't me!" Corneo pleaded. "It was the Shin-Ra! They're organising this big clampdown on rebel factions. Sure, I made my boys find out where the Midgar Owls were located, but that's only what I was ordered to do!"
"By the Shin-Ra? Who in Shin-Ra?" Rinoa asked.
"Oh wow. You know, you look just like that celebrity Julia, anybody tell you that? Now, there's a body that has got it going on, you know what I mean?"
Squall pointed his gunblade right at the Don.
"Waaaaaaagh!!! It was Heideggar!!! Heideggar of Shin-Ra!"
"The head of public safety maintenance...." Squall mused.
"What are they up to?!" Rinoa demanded.
"Oh my, my dear, Tell me, have you ever considered a career in glamour modelling?"
Squall clicked the safety off as Rinoa adjusted her pinwheel.
"Gyaaaaaah!! They're planning to crush Sector 7 by breaking the support and dropping the plate on them!"
"They're going to annihilate Sector 7...." Rinoa gasped, horrified.
"We have to get there and warn everybody!" Squall cried.
As they moved for the exit, the Don called for them. "One last question, my dear!" he said, his tone changing. "Are you absolutely sure you can't be persuaded to model nude?"
Rinoa raised her arm and aimed her pinwheel for his throat. "Positive." she growled.
"Oh well, what a shame."
At this, the Don pressed a hidden switch at the side of his bed. The floor underneath Squall and Rinoa slipped open, and they fell through the trapdoor, down into the murky waste far below...
***
At the very centre of Midgar City lies Shin-Ra headquarters. It is from here that President Shin-Ra and his division heads rule the entire planet, in an empire built on Mako energy. At the very top floor of the building, President Shin-Ra sat at his desk, planning Armageddon...
"How are the preparations going?" he asked the fat bearded man in green, approaching his desk.
"Ha, ha, ha! Smoothly, very smoothly!" Heidegger laughed. "I assigned the Turks to this."
"Good good." replied Shin-Ra.
"I gotta warn you, though." said Heideggar. "Not everyone is in favor of this."
Shin-Ra shrugged.
"Your son called from Junon. He thinks your plan is a terrible waste of the money and effort that went into building Area 7 in the first place."
"Did you tell him that after tonight we'll never have to worry about rebels again?"
"He hung up then, sir."
Shin-Ra grinned. "Anyone else against this?"
"Just the mayor."
"Deling?" Shin-Ra scoffed. "I'm surprised he even knew what was going on outside his office. The man couldn't find his ass if he was sitting on his hands. We should give him a proper warning not to try to interfere in Shin-Ra business, otherwise he'll end up like his friend General Caraway."
Heideggar cackled and exited as Shin-Ra looked out over his city.
"We'll destroy Sector 7 and wipe out the Midgar Owls once and for all. After that, no rebel group will dare oppose us again. Heh, heh, heh... this is perfect."
***
Rinoa screamed in terror as they plummeted down the shaft towards their doom. As they fell, rushing through the air, Squall grabbed her, pulling her body as close to him as possible. He needed her this close to be able to concentrate...
Rinoa screamed when she saw the ground rush up to greet her, and crossed her arms over face, expecting the impact...
Which never came.
She curiously opened her eyes and found that they were floating about a foot or so above the murky sewer water. She looked at Squall, who was still holding on to her. He was concentrating; beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. The two of them dangling upside down would have been pretty comical if they weren't just certain they were both about to die.
They turned over, and settled down, safe on terra firma once more.
"What was that?" Rinoa gasped.
"I drew Float from you and cast it just before we hit the ground." Squall explained, catching his breath. "I've never done a Draw like that. It was hard to concentrate, and your body had to be in the closest proximity possible."
"Oh..." said Rinoa. "So that's why you grabbed me close. Gee, and here was me wondering if you done it for one final moment of bliss."
"Final moments of bliss will be all the people of Sector 7 can hope for if we don't hurry!" Squall dismissed. Rinoa nodded, and together they ran, bounding through the filthy water as fast as possible, their footsteps causing deep splashes that echoed throughout the sewer walls.
They soon reached the way out, a ladder leading to a manhole. Squall punched the cover out of its place and leaped out, pulling Rinoa up behind him.
"Thanks." she said.
"Where are we?"
Rinoa looked around. "Seems hauntingly familiar. Either that or just plain haunted. This is the Train Graveyard, Squall, where all the retired trains are placed. This is a very dangerous place. Some say there's even a few ghosts flying around. No matter what, this place is definitely totally creepy."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Rinoa said. "Got a big strong chap like you to protect me, don't I?"
"Sure, whatever, let's hurry on!"
Squall pulled himself onto the roof of a burnt out train car, then hoisted Rinoa up after him.
"Are you worried about Quistis?" Rinoa asked, keeping up with him as they vaulted over the cars.
"It's nothing." Squall answered. "If it was you I'd be reacting the same."
"Why Squall..." replied Rinoa, with false cheer. "I didn't know you cared so much. You'll be asking for my hand in marriage, next."
"You'll have to make that an order." Squall riposted. Wow, two attempts at humour in two nights. A personal record.
"Are we there yet?" Rinoa panned in a childish voice.
"How far is it from here?" asked Squall, standing on an abandoned locomotive. Rinoa stood beside him.
"Not to far now!" she panted. "We can even make it with time to spare, I guess."
Squall nodded and looked for a way down off the locomotive.
"But can...can we take a.......take a nap.....first?" yawned Rinoa groggily.
"What?!" Squall turned around as she fell into his arms.
"I don' know wha id is Squall, but suddenly I feel vewy sweepy...." she yawned and passed out in his arms. Squall let her lie on the roof of the locomotive, as he too began to get dizzy.
"No...not now!......This......isn't good......" he yawned, and fell down to sleep right beside Rinoa.
* * * * * * *
~Dreamworld~
* * * *
Gast walked along the firing range, idly taking notes as the students that lay on the floor beside him continued their training. It was astonishing. All of them had excellent hand/eye co-ordination, precision targeting skills, and even enemy-movement anticipation.
What was most disturbing was the fact that none of them were under 11 years of age, and here they all are, lying forward to fire their semi-automatic weapons at the targets Shin-Ra gave them.
Gast ticked the boxes as he passed each of the children.
Lewis. Juvenile, long hair, green eyes, age 8. Targeting;................Excellent.4
Magaret. Juvenile, eldest female, age 11. Targeting; .....................Excellent.4
Claude. Juvenile, youngest male, age 7. Targeting;.......................Excellent.4
He carried on, watching the children annihilate the dummies that sprang up on the range, but sparing the dummies of innocents. He carried on walking until he came to the two students at the end. So far, these were the two best students in the project. Even their genetic qualities stood out head and shoulders above the others.
He found General Caraway, head of the Shin-Ra military standing there waiting for him.
"Gast." he demanded. "A word."
"Not now, Caraway." Gast dismissed. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
"It's what you're busy with that disturbs me." Caraway growled.
Gast took his eyes from his folder for the first time. "You were given full autonomy and security clearance for this project, as head of the Shin-Ra military." he reminded him. "Not having second thoughts, are you?"
"I never even had first thoughts, Gast!" Caraway riposted. "But I should have said something the moment you bastards proposed this inhumane project. This isn't right! Children were never meant to be raised like this! How am I to go home and face my daughter every night when I know that there are children her age being given weapons and trained to kill? These children belong in real schools and playgrounds, not boot camps and training exercises. These children are the seeds of the future! God's sake, what kind of bastards are you to turn these seeds into soldiers?"
"We're creating a generation of soldier far superior to any other." boasted Gast. "Soldiers trained from the earliest possible age, so that they know nothing but combat and fighting. A pure bred soldier."
"It's the penultimate form of child abuse."
At their feet, cadets Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy continued to fire, oblivious to the conversation. Squall fired off a burst, taking out a dummy of an attacker before Seifer could.
"We're learning new and far greater things than we thought possible." said a voice from behind Caraway.
The evil presence of Hojo walked forward, his hands behind his back, his brow low, thinking. "Thanks to the work of Odine on the captive juvenile Sorceress, we've discovered how to use para-magic. We're thinking of training the Generation; NeXus project to use this technique. Imagine it, Caraway, a soldier who knows every single detail about combat, as he has learned nothing else."
"I imagine it." said Caraway. "And my skin crawls. Every single person who becomes a soldier does so voluntarily. These children were kidnapped to be conditioned against their will. And don't even get me started on that Odine sicko. I've heard the screaming from his laboratory. I'm going to see to it that this project is terminated, and all of you are made to pay for your crimes."
Caraway stormed off, disgust and rage burning in every fibre of his body.
"What was that now, all of a sudden?" mused Hojo.
"Family life is making him soft." said Gast. "He should never have put in for less hours so he could spend more time with his damn family."
"A shame." continued Hojo. "He chose between being a great soldier or a good family man. Trust a sentimental fool like that to pick the latter."
"Nevertheless, his threats were serious."
Hojo nodded. "True, true. We can't allow anyone to interfere. Get me in contact with the Turks. I think it may be time to arrange a tragic car accident for our poor dear General Caraway."
Hojo grinned and walked away. Gast nodded and looked at his check pad again, then down at the two boys lying beneath his feet.
Squall fired off another round, taking out another terrorist dummy. His finger hovered on the trigger, pausing as an innocent popped up. Seifer fired off a burst, taking out two terrorists consecutively. A terrorist popped up directly in Squall's line of fire. An easy shot. However, a dummy of a woman holding a baby instantly popped up in front of the terrorist, a human shield scenario.
Squall held, then looked in surprise as the woman. her baby and the terrorist were shot to clay pieces by a round of bullets. Squall looked at Seifer, his barrel smoking. Seifer just kept firing at the other targets.
Gast smiled and began to tick the boxes.
Seifer. Juvenile, blonde hair, age 9. Targeting;...............................Excellent.4
Addendum; Killer Instinct – Superb.4 4 4
Squall. Juvenile, brown hair, age 8. Targeting;...............................Excellent.4
Addendum; Failed human shield scenario. Emotions may prove a hindrance to this one's training.
* * * * *
~Dreamworld End~
* * * * *
Rinoa and Squall awoke. Squall's eyes shot open, and he sprang up as he realized where he was and what he was supposed to do. He moved over to Rinoa and tried to help her up.
She was groggy but wide-eyed. Pushing herself up by her hands, she was astounded and confused as to what had just happened. Had they both had the same dream, or was it just herself.
The children. The two boys. One of them was Squall, but without the scar. And the other was....oh my god, Seifer?!? Those men, they were Hojo and Gast of Shin-Ra. And my....my....my father. Did Shin-Ra kill him? I thought it was an accident?
"What was that?" asked Rinoa, standing up.
"No time to explain." said Squall, jumping down from the locomotive. He held out his arms and caught Rinoa as she jumped down after him. "We don't have time to try to figure this out!"
"Too right." Rinoa nodded, standing on her own two feet. "Let's get to Sector 7!"
The two of them ran through the train graveyard as fast as they could. Not running for their lives, but the lives of everyone else in Sector 7. They ran out of the graveyard and clear across the Sector 7 station without a second's stopping. They ran into the clear space in front of the pillar, where a crowd was gathering.
This was where they had first met.
"We made it!" Rinoa exclaimed. "What's going on?!"
"It's Shin-Ra!" shouted a man in the crowd. "They're doing something up on the pillar! The Midgar Owls are fighting 'em, but they can't hold out for much longer!"
"Shin-Ra's going to collapse the plate!" Squall shouted. "You have to get out of here, all of you!"
"Squall!! Rinoa!!!" shouted a voice. Xu moved towards them on her crutch as fast as she could, with Quistis coming up behind her. "Zell, Zone and Watts are up there!"
"You have to get as many people as you can out of here!" Rinoa ordered. "Evacuate everyone you can!"
"I can lead them to Sector 5!" Quistis stated.
They all nodded and split as Squall and Rinoa made for the pillar, whilst Quistis and Xu began to evacuate as many people as they could, trying to get them out as fast as they could whilst trying to avoid a stampede. They knew that given the size of the plate, the most amount of people they could even hope to evacuate was 10%. They ushered them out, shouting at them all to keep moving. They all ran, carrying their children and leaving their homes behind, forever.
***
Squall and Rinoa bounded up the steps two at a time. The sounds of gunfire and shouting were getting louder as they got higher. They kept running, not even a second to waste.
As they ran up the stairs, Squall almost tripped over a figure lying against the rail.
"Oh my god..." Rinoa gasped. "Watts."
There was blood oozing through his shirt, indicating several places he'd been shot. The grim crimson trail marked where he had been pushed down the steps after they shot him.
"It's....not as bad as it looks....sir, ma'am." Watts panted, trying a smile. "It doesn't even hurt.....in fact, I can't even feel a thing....I must be getting better, huh?....just give me a few days."
"Watts...." said Rinoa, welling up.
"S'ok..." Watts panted. "S'alright....gathering information was my specialty, ma'am....but it was good to fight with my team-mates.....one...last......."
Watts fell silent, and only the sound of the wind was heard. Rinoa hung her head, then stood and looked at Squall. He nodded, and they ran on again. When they were almost at their destination, they found another body, lying on the steps. Zone.
"Not....dead yet....princess...." gasped Zone. "Zell's...still up there. He needs.....help."
"That's why we're here." said Squall. "We have to try to stop this."
"We won't let your sacrifice be in vain, Zone." said Rinoa. "Someday, Shin-Ra will fall."
"Stop talking.......like I'm gonna die...." said Zone, clutching his chest and attempting a grin. Rinoa tried to smile with him, but the sadness in her heart was just too much.
"Hey you...." Zone croaked, looking at Squall. "Squall...Ouch...Take care of Rinoa, will you? I'll kill you if you let anything happen to her."
Squall nodded, and together, he and Rinoa began the final run up the last few steps. They reached the top, and sure enough, there was Zell, pounding away at the attacking Shin-Ra forces. He punched one soldier square in the jaw, then leapt over the back of another, grabbing him by the collar and flinging him into a third. They both toppled over the rails to their doom.
"Rinoa! Squall! Glad you came!" he shouted, somersaulting and uppercutting one last soldier with a devastating kick to the chin. "You know about the plate, right?! Those bastards have gone too far this time!"
"Heads up!" Rinoa shouted. "Chopper inbound!"
At this, a Shin-Ra helicopter floated in from out of nowhere and hovered above them. A hatch in the side opened, and out stepped Reno. He glanced down at the trio, grinned and hopped down, landing in front of them.
"Well well, it's an all-star cast." he chuckled. "Let's see. Dincht! Splendid fellow! How the hell have you been then? Still copying moves from cartoons, I see."
Zell cracked his knuckles and growled. Reno turned and looked at Squall.
"Hmmm, Quistis' boyfriend." he mused. "Small world after all, huh? She sends her regards, by the way. Oops, I'm getting ahead of myself."
Squall drew his gunblade, as Reno finally faced Rinoa. He lowered his shades a little and looked at her with his naked eyes.
"Wow." he feigned. "Your file photo certainly does not do you justice. It's not every resistance movement that has a total babe for a leader."
Rinoa adjusted her pinwheel, aiming it at Reno's head.
"Touch that control panel and you're a dead man." she warned.
Reno turned around and looked at it, then back at Rinoa. "That control panel? Don't worry about it. I won't be touching that, I swear."
He reached into his pocket and took out a remote control, grinning the whole time. "This remote on the other hand, will start a countdown that not even a Shin-Ra executive can stop. See, if I push this button, you lose. If I don't get to, we lose."
The trio stood braced for action, ready for a fight to save Sector 7 that would never come. Reno held the remote out in his hands like a deadly weapon, ready to wipe out Sector 7 at the order. He glanced down at his watch.
"It's time."
Reno dashed to the side of the pillar before any of them could move, leaping off. As he vaulted over the side, he clicked the remote button as he did, and the countdown began. It gave Sector 7 a minute to live.
"Son of a bitch!!!!!" roared Zell.
"Squall! Can't you stop it?!?" Rinoa pleaded.
Squall looked at the control panel, trying to figure its ins and outs. "I don't know." he said honestly. "Maybe, if I had a few hours, I could. But we've barely got 40 seconds."
"That's right." shouted a voice, and a Shin-Ra helicopter floated into view once more, Reno in the co-pilot seat. Raijin and Fujin were nowhere to be seen. The Turk who addressed them was tall with long dark hair. Squall recognized him as the leader, Tseng.
"You'll have a hard time disarming that one." he continued "It'll blow the second some stupid bastard touches it."
"Tseng!" Squall shouted in recognition. "Stop this!"
"Orders are orders, Squall." Tseng replied. "I thought you of all people should understand that. Be thankful I'm at least giving you the next 35 seconds to try to save yourselves. All I can really do for an old comrade."
"What does he mean by that?" Zell demanded.
"Rinoa! Squall! Get out of here!" shouted a familiar voice from the helicopter. Quistis managed to stick her head out the window, despite unseen hands holding her back. "You have to try to escape! Xu and I tried to get as many people out as we could, but you have to save yourselves!"
At this, Tseng slapped her back into the helicopter. Hard.
"Let's go." he said to the pilot, who nodded and eased the throttle forward, taking it clear of the pillar, which exploded, shooting rubble off in all directions. Squall, Rinoa and Zell ducked for cover as chunks of flaming steel and concrete whooshed past their heads.
"We have to get out of here!" Rinoa screamed.
"Exit stage left!" Zell added, grabbing hold of a thick cable. Squall and Rinoa scrambled over towards him.
"What's your idea?" Rinoa shouted above the noise of the explosions.
"Ummmm....."
"Hang on." Squall ordered, drawing Griever. Rinoa stood up on the rails and gripped the cable tightly. Zell did likewise, but from a lower point. Squall grabbed onto it too, and slashed through the bottom half with the gunblade. The cable cut, and they flew clear across the slums, holding on to the cable for dear life, accompanied by Zell's screaming.
***
The people of Area 7 thought it was an earthquake at first, which was soon followed by a strange feeling of unbalancing. Before they knew it, gravity had gone haywire as the entire plate fell to earth. They barely even had time to register what had happened to them, let alone the fact that they had just crushed hundreds of homes and families.
From his office where he stood, staring out the window, President Shin-Ra did know. He just didn't care. He walked back to his desk, smiling quietly to himself as he turned up the volume on the already far too loud classical music.
***
They lay were they had come to ground, choking and coughing in the dust.
Squall stood up dizzily, coughing and dusting himself off. Rinoa held up her am, which he took, helping her up. They looked back in horror. It was the playground where they had talked not more than a few hours ago, completely demolished. Shards of debris protruded grotesquely from the Sector 7 gateway, leading whoever saw then to feel pity for all the lost souls, twisted, mangled and flattened behind it. Rinoa walked forward slowly.
"....Zone..." she said quietly. "...Watts..."
Squall appeared beside her, as did Zell, not quite dusted off.
"Damn Shin-Ra have gone too far this time!" he growled. "That's it! I can't take it anymore! If they think they're gonna start bringing down plates on us, then we're gonna do whatever it takes to bring them down! The gloves are coming off!!!"
"Zell.....please...." said Rinoa quietly.
"Are you okay?" Squall asked.
"It's all gone..." sighed Rinoa, sniffling a little. "..It's......friends, loved ones, homes, children, people...it's all dust..."
Squall looked away from her and at Zell. "You got any idea's?" he asked.
"Just one." replied Zell. "We take President Shin-Ra and force him through a meat-grinder."
"Zell..." said Rinoa, standing up. "That's not much of a plan."
"...Feet-first?" offered Zell.
"Let's try to get to Sector 5." suggested Squall. "There's somebody there who can help us."
***
After a quiet walk, the trio arrived at Quistis' house. This was where the people of Sector 7 had been taken. They were in the immense garden. There was crying, sobbing, some sighs of relief, joy at finding a loved one also there, and wails of those who heard their loved ones were left behind. Adel walked among them, trying to help and to heal as many as she could. Xu was with her, also helping.
"Xu." said Rinoa, walking up to her. "What happened?"
"The Shin-Ra came." explained Xu. "They threatened to open fire on the crowd if Quistis didn't come willingly. So, she went with them. Back to their headquarters."
"What do they want her for?" Rinoa asked.
"She's a Sorceress." Adel explained, turning to her. "As I once was."
"Sorceresses are a myth, like vampires and the like." Rinoa replied. "I don't believe in them."
"We keep our numbers small, and live out of the spotlight of the world. That is how we survive." said Adel.
"...So, Quistis is a Sorceress..." mused Squall.
"Damn, no wonder she could read our minds." stated Zell.
"And Shin-Ra want her for why?!" Rinoa wanted to know.
"Why else?" said Adel. "To experiment on her."
"We've got to save her!!" shouted Zell. everyone looked at him, as if for a justification that was not necessary. "She helped everyone here escape the plate. She risked herself to save us all, and it's only right that we try to save her."
"Are you suggesting a raid on Shin-Ra headquarters?" exclaimed Xu.
"Abso-frickinfrackin'-lutely!" said Zell.
Rinoa seemed to think about it for a while. "They'll never expect it...." she mused. "They won't see us coming. We could be in and out, and they won't know about it."
"And while we're there, we could raise a little hell."
"Squall, what do you think?" Rinoa asked.
He could tell from the way she was looking at him that she knew he was the little boy they had seen in the dream. He didn't like the idea of going back to that place. The last time he had tried to escape, it had been a total failure. But it would be different this time. He was stronger. They had made him stronger. He could fight them, he knew it.
"What are your orders?" he asked.
Rinoa grinned. "Xu, you gonna be okay here by yourself?"
"Yeah." replied Xu. "Adel and I will look after these people. Be careful, okay?"
"We'll be back before you know it!" grinned "What do you say, Rin?"
"We're going after Shin-Ra." said Rinoa, adjusting her Pinwheel. "Lock and Load."
With that, the trio nodded to each other, and headed for Sector 6, and on to Shin-Ra. It was payback time.
* * * * * * * *