Disclaimer: Well, the truth is, yes, I do own the Final Fantasy 8 characters and everything about them.

*Background mumbling. *

What? I don't own them any more? I sold them! To a company named Squaresoft! How stupid is that!? Well, I guess I don't own them anymore. Oh well, read the story anyway and I hope you enjoy.

Conflicts Galore

IHaunted House: Squall and Rinoa/I

This was going to be a looooooong assignment if things didn't change soon and Rinoa knew it. Squall had his professionalism running full throttle and there didn't seem to be an ounce of fun in him. But if there was anything Rinoa did well, it was bringing out the true insides of a person, even an introvert like Squall.

"We've covered three rooms so far. We've got a lot more to go, so we should hurry," Squall reported.

Rinoa couldn't stand it anymore; she had to do something. "Squall, what do you do for fun?"

"What?"

Squall had thoroughly cleared this room of the monsters dwelling within it so Rinoa pulled out one of the old wooden chairs and sat on it. Her legs straddled the back of the chair and she rested her head on her arms, which she rested on the top of the chair, watching Squall.

"You know. Like hobbies, what do you do?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, sit down".

Rinoa pulled out another seat and pressed Squall into, and then returned to her own chair.

"Now what kind of things do you do in your free time?" Rinoa continued.

"I don't understand what you're trying to get at."

"You, Squall! You! I don't understand you and I want to. I want to know what makes our fearless leader tick. Like uhh.where'd you get that jacket huh?"

"I don know. I just.got it."

"So you've just always had that jacket? You were born with it and it's just changed its size to fit you since birth?"

"Whatever."

Squall shook his head and let Rinoa know that this conversation was over.

"Come on," he said "we need to keep moving."

IGarden: Cafeteria/I

"Cid, I don't understand it," Xu said.

Both Xu and Headmaster Cid were sitting at a table in the cafeteria. All of the students eating lunch were very uptight and afraid that Cid was trying to look casual while evaluating them all. Although this is what they thought, they were wrong. Headmaster Cid and Xu were simply discussing the mission they had recently sent the crew of seven on over a cup of coffee.

"Well, it's really quite simple," Cid assured her. "You see, I had a good reason for each of the groups."

"And those would be?"

"First off I set up Zell and Seifer for obvious reasons. They are both very hot headed and stubborn at times and this will be good for them. It's like trying to force two territorial animals to get along. And I think that it will help them both in the long run."

"If they don't kill each other first. You know Seifer isn't the most cautious person with his gunblade. And if Seifer strikes first you can be sure that Zell will fire back."

"With some of the dangers in that house, those two will be forced to band together. For their own good."

"What about Squall and Rinoa?"

"Squall is much to serious all the time. He really needs to be brought back down to earth. If anyone can do that, I'm sure it's Rinoa."

"Your probably right. I have noticed that Squall doesn't participate in anything. He's just a dedicated SeeD."

"Right. And as much I as like my SeeDs to be dedicated, they need to be well-rounded people as well. And Rinoa is such a lively young lady, I think she can bring Squall to his senses."

"Well, that sounds like a wonderful plan and all, but I can't possibly understand what you hope to achieve with Irvine, Quistis and Selphie! You Iknow/I how Irvine is!"

"Yes, hence why this group was assigned. I believe that Irvine's conscience is going to be on a limit break."

"Huh? What do you mean Headmaster?"

Cid took a sip of his coffee and looked over the edge of the mug to see Xu's face while she asked the question. "Wait until the group returns. I think you'll see what I mean."

IHaunted House: Zell and Seifer/I

"I know! We could throw something in the room," Zell began "and if anything moves, we'll know it's in there. Then the only way out is the doorway and we can take care of it from there!"

"Oh. My. God. Is this what it takes to be a SeeD," asked Seifer as he looked to the sky for an answer. "You must have bseriously/b forgot to junction anything to your intelligence this morning."

"No, I just chose to junction to my speed."

"More like you junctioned them to stupidity, chicken-wuss."

Realizing that this argument was not going to be the one that he got the edge in, Zell just slumped on the floor with his back to the wall and sighed. Seifer leaned up against an old grandfather clock and looked over Zell's slumped form.

"You better not start crying cause I called you a chicken wuss."

"I'm not crying. I'm contemplating why you hate me."

"The same reason anyone would hate you. Your immature, way too energetic and you look like a freak. How is anyone suppose to take you seriously with that crap you call hair? And that tattoo? What is that? Do you think you're a bad ass because you have a tattoo or something?"

Zell really couldn't take much more of this. Seifer was really riding his nerves, and a lot more lately. It could have been because they were forced to be within about five feet of each other, but it had only been fifteen minutes. Only fifteen minutes and Zell could swear Seifer was putting off more vibes of hatred per second than usual. He could feel something inside of him want to get up and smack Seifer because of his ignorance. Seifer had no idea what was going on, yet he felt compelled to give everyone crap about everything. Zell used all of the willpower he had to stand up and look Seifer dead in the eyes and not deck him.

"I have this tattoo for a very good reason Seifer. Now I think it would be a good idea if we kept going."

Zell walked through the doorway of the room; not worrying about was on the other side, just as long as it wasn't Seifer.

IBalamb Garden: Quad/I

The Quad was packed, and that word isn't being used lightly. Half the student body of the Garden was crammed into the Quad this evening. All of them were yelling and waving gil in the air. On the stage was the above average student and SeeD member, Nida. In front of him was a microphone on a stand and he faced the sea of Garden students. But exactly bwhat/b was going on?

"Okay, first bet. Is Seifer going to punch Zell first or will Zell punch Seifer?" Nida shouted out.

"Seifer all the way, ya know?" called out a familiar face.

"YEAH. 150 GIL ON SEIFER," Yelled the women next to him.

"No way! Zell is gonna deck 'em hard!" shouted the little girl with pigtails in Zell's defense. "200 gil on Zell!"

"Whoa oh! Those are some big bets people, do I hear anymore?" asked the Vegas bound booking.

At that point Xu dashed into the Quad and saw the crowd from its side. Of course she decided that this chaos must cease and order replace it.

"QUIEEEEEET!" she exploded. Everyone in the Quad stopped moving and yelling. In one massive movement they all turned towards Xu. "Now who wants to tell me what's going on?"

Everyone's eyes quickly swiveled, Xu's eyes soon following, to see Nida on stage red with embarrassment.

"Well.ummm.we all got together and were like.we should.yeah.like start-"

"That's enough," Xu let Nida know. "Everyone should return to their dorms and I will sort this out with the Headmaster later."

IHaunted House: Irvine, Selphie and Quistis/I

"Oh bMAN/b am I a happy man," Irvine thought to himself. And rightfully so of course. He wasn't going to be nagged by Rinoa or made fun of by Seifer. Oh no, he was going to spend his weekend with Quistis and Selphie. "Both of these girls are on the top ten list, "Garden's Greatest Girls" and here I am spending time with BOTH of them!"

"What was that?" Quistis asked from in front.

"Oh uh, nothing, nothing at all. Just mumbling about my guns."

"He's been mumbling about his guns ever since we left the main room," Selphie whispered to Quistis.

"I know. Those guns must be pretty interesting," Quistis replied.

"Man though, I wonder," Irvine went back to thinking, "Most guys would kill for a chance to be with these two lovely ladies for the weekend; and I get both! But that means I'm gonna have to make a choice. So do I take the hard-to-get instructor or the always-perky optimist? Both have their ups and downs buuuut.wait! What do I have to choose now for? I've got like two whole days to evaluate them! This is great! Now I can make sure that I make the perfect decision. Oh yeah, I am gonna need some tests to evaluate these two."

Irvine let out a small maniacal laugh from behind the two young women and smiled a little more evilly.

"What are you laughin' at Irvy?" Selphie asked him while falling behind and lightly elbowing him in the chest.

"Nothing Selph," Irvine said while throwing his arm first around Selphie and then around Quistis, "nothing. at. all."

Well that's chapter two folks. Hope you liked it. I don't know when the next part will be coming out but hopefully soon because I'm really enjoying writing this. More feedback and criticism would be wonderful. Good or bad, it's just nice to know that other people read this and what they think of it. Thanks guys.

On a final, and very very important note, I want to thank Brandie Michelle Williams. She has excepted the huge task of becoming my proofreader and is doing a great job. I don't know anyone else that would put up with my type- o's and constant mistakes, but somehow she does. She deserves a big round of applause from everyone. Thanks Brandie (Brandy or Bran-D. Which is it this week? lol)