Chapter 4: The Intermission Chapter in Which a Bunch of Characters That Haven't Been Introduced Show up Out of Nowhere
"What WAS that?" Quistis asked, by now she had jumped in Ashley's arms, claiming it was from fright of the bright flash of light that had happened. But let's be honest, if you had the chance to jump into Ashley Riot's arms, wouldn't you do it too? Anyway, Ashley shrugged, and Sydney glanced behind him. All three were dead silent at that point. Outside, it was just as still; the blond mage crept over to the window to see what happened, only to see that the fires that Hardin and the other cult members had started were dead now. Also, there were no signs of human life outside at all. Sydney turned his head back at his two companions and shook his head. Then they heard it:
"Doo doo doo doo dooth! Da doo doo doo doo dooth! Doo doo doo doo dooth! Dat doo dat doo dat doo!"
"I know that isn't someone singing," Ashley mumbled, rolling his eyes. He then gently set Quistis back on the ground. He noticed that Sydney was frowning and had an irritated look on his face.
"Gee," Sydney began cynically, also rolling his eyes, "You think ROSENCRANTZ is here?"
Suddenly, from behind a pillar, jumped Rosencrantz.
"Doo doo doo doo dooth! Da doo doo doo doo dooth!" he sang.
"What the hell are you singing?" Quistis sighed, rolling here eyes, like her two male cohorts were already doing. Rosencrantz grinned and posed triumphly.
"'Tis my theme song!" he announced. "Sydney recognized it!" His grin grew larger, which looked really gross with that lipring of his. "Wait, I haven't got to the best part: wah wah waaaaaaagh wee wah wah! Woo woo weeeeeeeee wah wee wee!--"
"--STOP!" the others cried.
Rosencrantz frowned, "Fine, I will, you music hating fiends!" He crossed his arms and glanced over at Sydney, who was fuming by now, "By the way, Sydney, I thought ye were going out of the Graylands into Lea Monde--"
"--Not right now," Sydney shrugged. "Obviously, someone has set a trap outside."
"Oh, yes, obviously." Everyone turned and looked at Ashley.
"What?" the riskbreaker asked, wide eyed.
"Nevermind," Sydney sighed.
*****
"We can go on my dad's ship!" Nikki yelled randomly as he, Norris, Selphie, Kid, Glenn, and Leena (who just appeared out of nowhere) wandered around the streets of Termina. Selphie stayed close to Norris, mainly because Kid was giving her evil looks at every chance. However, little did Selphie know that Kid gave everyone evil looks.
"Why are we going on your dad's ship?" Selphie asked. She glanced back at Kid, and the blonde thief glared back at her. The SeeD clinged to Norris' arm and whimpered. Norris didn't notice.
"Well," Nikki began, "The idea is that we're looking for our leader, Serge. I'd say use my ship, but Miki's pretty pissed at me for just having Leena and Kid (and Riddle and Luccia and Razzly) on, so one more gal would be pushing. My dad's cool, and his boat is bigger and faster than mine." Nikki beamed proudly.
"I wonder where Serge could had went without us?" Leena sighed. She pushed Selphie off of Norris's arm and clung to it herself. Norris frowned.
"I can think of a few places..." he mumbled under his breath. "By the way, Nikki, won't we have to use your ship to get to your dad's anyway?"
Nikki shrugged, "Yeah?"
"So...why not just use yours for the entire time then?" Everyone gasped at the suggestion; it was a brilliant idea. In other words, there's a damned good reason why Norris was leading the group now: it's called "common sense".
"Oh, then nevermind."
Norris sighed and rolled his eyes. He then noticed that Leena was snuggling against his arm.
"Leena, just because I offered to lead you guys until Serge came back doesn't mean I'm your replacement sex toy." Leena glared up at Norris and dropped his arm.
"Fine, I just thought you were cute."
Norris rolled his eyes again, then marched ahead of the group.
It wasn't long before they a reached the port where Nikki's ship was anchored. It was still decorated for that concert that Nikki was supposed to be giving, but was indefinitely postponed since apparently he had no other cities to go tour at. Nikki pranced ahead of Norris to lead everyone inside and around the ship.
Norris took that opportunity to talk to Selphie, who still was glancing behind at Kid, who still was glowering at her.
"So, what made you decide to go to Opassa Beach?" he asked, slowing his walk down a bit. The others soon moved ahead of them, unaware that their surrogate leader was lagging behind them, aside from Kid who lingered on in the back, listening.
"I didn't really choose to go there," the SeeD merc sighed. "I just woke up, and there I was. I know why I'm here though... I think."
"You think?" Norris chuckled and smiled at the younger girl.
"Well, I'm supposed to be looking for a sorceress," she shrugged.
"What?" Norris lifted a brow. "Um, a what?"
"You know, a witch. Wears black and does evil magic and stuff."
"Eeyeah..." Norris managed to grin. "I think the closest thing like that we have here is Sir Lynx. But he's hardly a witch, I'd say." He paused and scratched his cheek. "Is it really important that you find this sorceress?" Selphie sniffled once and nodded.
"The world might go blow up or something if I don't find her," she buried her face in her hands. "I'm so lost. This is worse than when my puppy ran off, and I couldn't find her. I suck more than Rinoa!" She began sobbing. Norris put an arm around Selphie.
"There there," he cooed, "Whoever or whatever it is you're looking for, we'll find it." He sighed and added softly, "I have a feeling that your mission has something to do with Serge."
Selphie sniffed again and rubbed her eyes; there was snot running from her nose, "Why is that?"
"The timing was too perfect," he smiled faintly. "We find Serge, we'll find your sorceress. I can almost guarantee that."
"Then...should we look for that Lynx guy?"
"Uh, no. We're going to stay far far away from Lynx until we get Serge back..."
Meanwhile, Kid smiled deviously and rubbed her hands together, "No Lynx, eh?" she chuckled lowly to herself. Nikki was right, one too many gals. But she had a way to deal with that.
*****
Two hours laters, Seifer and his cohorts were still wandering around Midgar. By now, they were back in Section 5, and Fuujin finally convinced (actually more like threatened) Seifer to go to a bar there. The foursome sat and conversed over drinks, after managing to scrape together some money from Serge and Fuujin singing on the streetcorners. Seifer was slumped back in the little booth that they were relaxing at, obviously quite disheartened.
"I can't believe it," he mumbled, staring down his half empty mug of beer.
"......" Serge chuckled as he took of sip of his own beer.
"Yeah," Raijin agreed, "you know, you shouldn't had downed that so fast. Then you'd still have some, you know?"
"Not that, you idiot," Seifer mumbled. "This whole town! This HAS to be the place that Sephiroth resides! But we haven't found shit!" He hung his head down lower, "I guess this is why I'm not a SeeD..."
"I thought you're weren't SeeD because you couldn't follow orders, you know." Seifer looked up and glared at Raijin. Serge and Fuujin snickered at each other.
Serge then butted in again, "......"
Seifer turned his head toward the bluehaired boy, "Yeah, that could be a problem still... With Rinoa and Irvine in this city, that's going to make things harder."
At that moment, all of the Turks walked in. Tseng greeted the bartender, since they were regulars there, then scanned the bar. He noticed that the booth behind Seifer and crew was empty and gestured toward that area. One by one, each Turk slid into the booth.
Reno was the first to speak, "Excuse my French, but Rufus is a #$%*@ idiot. Having us going after Sephiroth. No #$%*@ way, man. No #$%*@ way."
Seifer jerked his head around and raised a brow. He then turned back to his companions and put a finger to his lips. The others nodded and like Seifer, listened intently to the conversation about to start.
"Don't speak about the President that way," Tseng snickered.
"President, my ass," Reno sneered. "I hate that little shit. He should be THANKING Sephiroth for killing his daddy."
Rude shrugged, "I'm not thanking Sephiroth, that's for sure. I'm with the rest of you, Rufus doesn't know what he's doing. And he's gonna get all of us killed."
"No kidding, Rude," Tseng sighed. He then gestured toward bartenter, indicating that they were ready for drinks. "The usual!"
"Wait, is Sephiroth the bad guy or Rufus?" Elena asked, she blinked once. Reno stared at her in disbelief.
"I know she just didn't ask--"
"--Lay off, Reno," Tseng warned, "El's new, she doesn't know the deal yet." He then took of his suit jacket and slug it over the back of the booth seat that he and Elena were sharing. "Besides, it's kinda confusing. Technically, we shouldn't have to do anything for Rufus. His father was our boss, not him."
"Yeah, well, Hojo's still working for that brat," Rude shrugged.
"Hojo also has a hump in his back and hair growing out of that bigass mole on his chin."
"Meaning?"
"He's desperate, we're not. In fact..." Tseng cracked a sly grin, "If we play our cards right, we can rake in big with taking care of Sephinut."
Elena sniffed once, "But there's no way we can take him on... We already tried that once." The three men around her sighed and nodded in agreement.
"For once, the broad has a point," Reno mumbled, wrinkling up his nose.
Seifer grinned and called over, "Or maybe you just need a different approach."
Tseng gave his companions an odd look, then turned and peered over the top of the booth to where Seifer and his group sat.
"Excuse me?" Tseng asked, lifting a brow.
"Hi there!" Seifer greeted, "Couldn't help but overhear you talking about Sephiroth." He gave a little wave back to Tseng.
"And what's it to you?!" Reno called back. Tseng turned back to give Reno a warning look. He then turned his attention back to Seifer.
"A different approach, huh? How, the guy's invincible."
"Do you think you could track him down and at least trap him? Because I know a way to keep him under control." Tseng blinked. This was almost too good to be true. Well, of course we all know that it is, since this is Seifer Almasy we're talking about. But humor me. Please.
"Well, yeah, I'd just have to talk to Hojo about setting a few traps."
"Great! Then we'll work together!"
"......!" Serge objected.
"Yeah, what that guy said!" Reno agreed, "We don't know you, you don't know us, and how do we know you're not part of that Avalanche group?"
"I don't even know what Avalanche is, thank you," Seifer snorted back. "Besides, weren't you the one bitching about how difficult a job it was going to be? I'm offering my services as a knight to help out." Fuujin, Raijin, and Serge all rolled their eyes at that last line.
"You're a real knight?!" Elena gasped as she stood up and turned around to to get a look at Seifer. She grinned like a teenaged fangirl when she saw him, her eyes growing soft and doe-like.
"You even look like a knight," she sighed dreamily at him. Tseng lifted a brow and turned his head at Elena. He then shook his head. Fuujin pretended that she was going to shove her middle finger down her throat and made gagging noises at Raijin and Serge. The two snickered.
Seifer smiled at Elena, then back at Tseng, "So is it a deal?"
Tseng sighed and scratched the back of his head, "I guess so, as long as you follow through, though. No backing out."
Seifer's grin grew, "Will do."
*****
Sydney waved his arms to cast Eureka one last time to make sure that the manor was clear of traps outside. His companions were each scattered about the great hall, looking out windows and checking again for any signs of life outside.
"Still quiet," Ashley informed as he turned back around to the blonde mage. Rosencrantz and Quistis both did the same and nodded.
"The traps are cleared, I believe," Sydney sighed stepping back from the doorway that he had been standing in. "Those bastards, whoever they were."
"Order of the Crimson Blades, Sydney," Rosencrantz added.
"Oh," Sydney mumbled, "Of course you would know who did it." He then turned toward Quistis, "Well, we now have a little problem, since there's now a fourth party involved."
Quistis frowned, "What are you talking about?"
"We have to flee here immediately."
"But what about my sorcerer?!" she cried, marching toward Sydney. "We just can't just leave here! He still has to show up--"
"--Or would you rather us be killed?" Sydney lifted a brow, his usual smirk was gone and replaced with concern. "There's always later. Trust me, if we stay here much longer, we'll be ambushed by a horde of fools. And dying by the hands of fools is no fun and rather embarrassing."
"Ah, even in his moments of breaking promises, Sydney Losstarot speaks like a true profit!" Rosencrantz mused. Sydney frowned at that comment, and Ashley shrugged, like a true guy that doesn't give a shit would do.
Quistis balled her hands up into fists at her sides, "I have to find that other sorcerer though, or I'm stuck here!"
"But what were you planning on doing when you did find him, deary?" She blinked, taken back at that question. It was true, she hadn't a clue what she was supposed to do after she found her other sorcerer. Great, thank you Squall and Dr. Odine for not having a real plan. Assholes.
"Are we going to leave or not?" Ashley sighed, crossing his arms, "I kinda have a partner that I left behind, and I should probably go check to see if she's still alive or something."
"You left your partner...Oh, right. Riskbreaker," Rosencrantz mumbled.
"Then....let's go," Quistis sighed, nearly in tears. Sydney managed a small, pained smile and gestured at his three companions to join him at the door. He stepped aside and let each one out before him. Quistis was the last before Sydney to go, as she didn't want Ashley to see her crying. She looked down as she started to walk past the priest.
"Quistis, he was already here," he said softly as she went by. She stopped and turned her head back.
"Wha--"
"--I'll explain later in private, but you have your other sorcerer. I promise you that. Now, catch up with the others. We have to find this other person the riskbreaker speaks of before the Blades do, then go into Lea Monde to safety." She nodded once then hurried out the door.
*****
Yuffie Kisaragi crept down stairs after all the commotion had died down. She figured it had something to do with her "borrowing" Aerith's wallet to go the Golden Saucer to bet on the chocobo races. However, she saw that Irvine was the only person still down stairs. She promptly grabbed the nearest blunt object, which was Marlene's rag doll and crept behind Irvine. She then lifted the doll in the air, preparing to hit him with it.
"Whatever you're planning on doing, stop it," Irvine sighed as he saw Yuffie's shadow, turning around. He then noticed the rag doll and arched a brow. "You're kidding, right?"
"You're going to steal our stuff, aren't you?!" she yelled, slamming the doll down on Irvine's head. All it did was knock his hat off. The cowboy looked at his black Stetson that was at his feet now then back up at Yuffie.
He narrowed his eyes, "If I was going to steal your crap, why would I just be sitting on the couch?"
"Well, then, how'd you get in?" she asked aiming the doll at Irvine's head again.
"Cloud invited me over. You're either Yuffie or Cid, right?"
"CID?!!!!" Yuffie dropped the doll, fuming over the fact that Irvine called her Cid. As if on cue, Cid Highwind appeared.
"Somebody called my @#$damn name while I was napping?" he growled. He then noticed Yuffie. "Oh, nevermind."
"He called me Cid!" she shrieked, and began swatting at Irvine. He put up his hands to protect himself. "I should tell Vincent! He'll kick your ass so hard that you won't be able to sit for a week!"
"And why," Irvine started as he began swatting her back, "would Vincent care about what I said?"
"Good point," Cid snickered, "because he won't give a shit." He trotted down the stairs and toward the irate Yuffie. The pilot then proceeded to pull her off of Irvine, who sighed with relief. "By the way, where the hell is everyone?"
Irvine shrugged, "Um, Tifa went for a walk. She wasn't in a good mood. Aerith and Rinoa dragged Cloud out to see some play. 'Loveless', I think. Then Barrett is upstairs with Marlene."
"Damn, they went to see 'Loveless' without me?" Cid sniffed; he was still holding on to Yuffie, who was pouting by now. "Why didn't you go?"
"I can't stand Rinoa or Aerith, that's why."
Cid chuckled, "Don't know who Rinoa is, but Aerith is annoying. Dumb bitch has her head in the clouds constantly. So, I sympathize with you there." He let go of the ninja girl and jumped over the backside of the couch to sit next to Irvine. Yuffie squeaked then sat on the floor next to the couch.
The three were silent for the longest time.
Cid was the first one to break the silence, "So, what brings you here?"
Irvine didn't answer right away, as he tried to think of a good answer. Finally, he shrugged a bit, "I think I'm here mainly to take care of Rinoa's stupid ass until we meet back up with her boyfriend...Oh, and I'm think I'm supposed to be looking for Sephiroth and another sor--person with similar 'gifts'."
"Sephiroth, eh? You know, he's on everyone's hit list in this house." Irvine shrugged again and leaned back in the couch.
"Eh, figures. Besides, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do when I find the guy," the cowboy added, chuckling. "They just kinda sent us out here, no plan whatsoever."
"Sounds like us. We're supposed to be tracking down Sephiroth, and we don't have a #$%*@ clue at all."
"Hrm, I guess then it's probably a good thing we found you guys then. At least we're looking for the same thing." Yuffie sighed and stood up, bored with the conversation.
"Blah blah blah, Sephiroth this, Sephiroth that. If I was just sent out on my own, I'd be partying real hard!"
Irvine smirked, "I would be too, but I have a pretty good idea what's going to happen if I don't do my job." He sighed and leaned over to pick up his hat. He dusted it off a bit and put it back on his head. "Besides, I can't wait to get out of here."
"Me either," Yuffie sighed. "Everyone's so uptight here. Borrow a little bit a of money, they go berserk--"
"--Maybe if you #$%*@ asked first and actually paid people back," Cid mumbled under his breath. Yuffie nudged him hard.
"I'll tell Vincent."
"He'll just agree." Which was true.
*****
Meanwhile, Sephiroth was lying in bed with his favorite stuffed animal, a rabbit named Mr. Bunny-Bun, in an inn in Nibelhiem. His head was hurting, not to mention he was very upset. Today, he had tried to give money to some homeless people in Midgar, but they all screamed and ran away. He just couldn't understand why people always screamed when they saw him. They didn't used to do that.
"Maybe it's my looks. I might have acne," he said to Mr. Bunny-Bun. He sat up and swung his feet over his bed and trotted over to the bathroom, rabbit still in hand. He looked in the mirror. Nope, his complexion was flawless, as usual. He flashed a brilliant smile at himself then looked down at Mr. Bunny-Bun, "No pimples. Maybe it's the hair?"
No answer.
"Oh, you say it's fine, Mr. Bunny-Bun?" Sephiroth giggled. "You're the coolest!" He smiled again and skipped back to his bed and sat down.
"Say, wasn't it nice of the hotel manager to give us this room for free?" the ex-Soldier sighed. "I hope it wasn't because he was scared of my sword." He glanced over at the huge katana sword that sat in the corner with his baggage. "Or me saying that I was going to cut off his #$%*@ head. I would never cut off anyone's head. Right, Mr. Bunny-Bun?"
Silence.
"Hee hee! You're so nice! Thank you for saying I'm a good boy! I'd never hurt people, because I'm special, like Mommy said!" He hugged his bunny and stretched out on the bed to finish his conversation with Mr. Bunny-Bun.
*****
Squall was laid out on his bed when he heard knocking on his dorm room door.
"Come in," he called, sitting up. He smiled a bit as the door slid open to reveal Elly, who smiled and waved at the SeeD.
"What a nice surprise," he grinned as she stepped in; the door closed behind her.
She placed her hands on her abdomen, "Just wanted to congratulate you on how well you're doing in your training." She smiled again.
"Thanks," he moved over and gestured for her to sit down next to him. "I'm enjoying myself here. It's a lot more organized than the last academy I was at."
"You've done this before?" she gasped as she sat next to Squall.
He nodded, "Yeah, aside from the gears, all the training and stuff, I've done before." He stood up and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck. Elly blinked once and stretched out, taking up the rest of the bed.
"So, why are you here?" Elly asked resting her chin on her palms. Squall turned and smiled at the redhead. He then sat down in the seat at his desk, turned the chair so he could face her.
"Well, I'm here because..." His voice trailed off. What the hell WAS he there for? Elly raised a brow in anticipation. He sighed, "You know, I just remembered, I need to take those vitamins that Colonel Hawwa gave me."
"Ew, you have to take those too?" The redhead made a face. "I tend to black out from those things."
"Happened a couple of times to me too," he shrugged. "But why I'm here... Um, I can't really think of that. I know that I'm supposed to be looking for someone, but who has slipped my mind."
"Understandable," Elly giggled as she turned over on her back. "Can I ask something else?" She shifted to lying on her stomach. "That scar on your face..." She moved again and sat up to face Squall.
"Oh...that." He smiled faintly. "I got it being stupid in training. I was training with this guy, um..." His face darkened, and he frowned. "I can't remember his name, and it's on the tip of my tongue..." He sighed and shrugged, "I guess it doesn't matter. He got me right between the eyes."
"Ugh, sounds painful."
"A little, can't remember all that much since all I did was hit him back then passed out," Squall chuckled. Elly smiled again and stood up. "Leaving already?"
"Yeah, my roommate's really bizarre and freaks if I don't go check in sometime after class," she explained as she stretched. Then Elly headed toward the door.
Squall gave a little wave, "Hey, later then." He watched Elly as she went to the door. Then she paused, her back to him.
"Something wrong?" Squall asked.
"Screw going home!" She turned and jumped in his lap, kissing him at the same time. Of course, it took him by surprise, but he relaxed and kissed her back. He then pulled away to look at her face, his hands wandering all over on her body. She stroked his cheek and kissed him again, this time more passionately. Squall shifted a bit to better fondle Elly and unzip her uniform.
And the entire time that they went at it, Squall couldn't help but think that he should had been feeling guilty, despite how much he was enjoying himself (and Elly). But for the life of him, he couldn't remember why.
*****
Zell was sat in a seedy bar in Limbergh. He was lucky, it was hard to find tasteless places like that in Limbergh. However, he was also lost. After teleporting from the Hilda Garde, he realized that he didn't know exactly HOW he was supposed to get to Garnet, since she was a princess. Then there was the whole looking for his two sorceresses. He couldn't do both. So, what to do? Oh, then there was the whole not knowing his way around Limbergh thing.
Do what's important first!, he thought to himself. Then Kuja popped into his head. Those soft thighs, pouty lips, sexy voice... He sighed. So naturally, he chose sex over his job, and began trying to figure out how to get into the palace to get Garnet. He downed another beer, happy that he was of legal age here.
"Um, sir," the bartender began, "do you plan on paying for those drinks at all?" Zell looked up and blinked.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," the blonde SeeD replied as he began digging through his pockets. "You take gil, right?"
"Of course." Zell pulled out a 500 gil bill and placed in on the table. The bartender stared at it. "What the hell is that?"
"I'm going to need change."
"That's not gil! Are you trying to rip me off, you little bastard?!" Zell looked down at the bill. It had a picture of President Deling on the front, meaning that it was authentic.
"It's 500 gil."
"That is not 500 gil!" the bartender screamed as he leaped over the bar countertop. Zell jumped back, knocking over the stool he had been sitting on. The older man grabbed a beer bottle and smashed it over the back of a chair, creating a makeshift weapon. He slashed at Zell, who ducked and weaved easily from the frantic attacks.
"Dude, I paid you!" Zell pleaded, trying to reason with the angry server. "I don't understand why you're all up into my grill!" The bartender threw the broken bottle at Zell, who moved to the side, missing getting hit by a mile. The disgruntled man then picked up a chair, and attempted to hit the younger man in the head with it. But Zell jumped back onto a table, interrupting a game of poker that Zidane and Freya were having.
"Little thief!" the bartender cried, as he knocked over the table; Zell jumped off just in time.
"The fuck?!" Zidane cried as his beer and winnings were showered up into the air. He stood up, and decked the bartender, "Lenny, CALM DOWN. He said he paid you!" Freya stood up too, but more to sneak out of the bar to avoid being associated with Zidane.
By this time, Zell was very frightened and wanted to leave. But he still wanted his change. A 500 gil bill that Zidane had won (more like cheated to get) flutter down onto the SeeD merc's head. Thinking it was a bee, Zell jumped then paused when he saw the little piece of paper flutter down in front of him. On the front of if was a picture of King Cid. Zell's eye twitched, then he looked up to see Zidane and bartender going at it. He glanced around, noticing that other people in the bar were chanting and cheering for the semian-tailed man. Again, he looked around and saw Freya sneaking out of the exit. He cautiously crept over there, then slipped out the door himself.
