Ch 14 – Dead Ends
In Centra, on the Serengetti Plains, five people stood.
Or, to be more correct, four people stood, and one sat.
They all stared up at the sky, waiting and watching. Watching for a gigantic metallic dragon.
One man, his hair grey at the temples, brushed his suit down for the third time since he had been out on the designated landing area. He was dressed in a full formal suit, and the blistering heat made sweat dot his old forehead, and he wiped away the beads with a handkerchief.
Another man was sweating, but not from heat. Ok, also from heat, but that wasn't what was making his really sweat bullets. He was dressed in Galbadian Prison fatigues – a dull orange – and had large manacles clamped to his wrists and feet. Even if he wanted to run, he wouldn't get far. But he was man enough to accept his fate.
The boy standing behind him, his grey eyes slashing up into the sky, didn't sweat a bead. His cool demeanour was also reflected in his dress – a simple black shirt and black slacks, with black combat boots. Infinitely mysterious, he kept one eye on the sky as well as one eye on the man in the orange fatigues.
The only female in the group, the girl stood away from the rest, like an outcast, yet still looking to the sky all the same. Her blue eyes were not filled with wonder like the old man's, or cool confidence like the boy in grey – they were filled with a desperate hope. Her white skirt ruffled in the breeze, and she let a hand slip from its grip of the other to push it back down, not letting her gaze slip from the cool blue for one instant.
The final sky-gazer, sitting in a wheelchair, simply looked up at the sky with a muted interest. His contribution to the events had been minimal, at the least, and therefore he had little interest in the affairs coming to a close at the landing zone. He had simply come to see the giant red dragon again, in all it's technological glory.
He didn't need to watch much longer.
* * *
Selphie sat in the pilot seat, the red dragon and it's crew at her mercy as she made yet another corkscrew, laughing hysterically as she went. It was extremely rare that she was allowed this privilege, and she milked the Ragnarok's flight manvuoroablity for all it was worth.
Irvine sat in the co-pilot's seat, hanging on for dear life and wishing that she'd let up on the corkscrews and simply went back to doing flips. At least with the flips you had enough time to grab onto something before the floor went to where the ceiling was supposed to be. They had all gotten used to Selphie's flying – but they couldn't tell when she was about to do another manoeuvre.
In the leisure quarters, Squall pulled his head out of the drinks cupboard and spat out several coffee beans and a tea bag, before reaching, with infinite patience, for the contact unit for the cockpit.
Pressing the switch, his voice deadpan, Squall spoke into the little box in his hand. "Selphie? Are you reading me?"
"Yes,Squall!!" Was the excited reply.
Squall, his voice still very much neutral in tone and body, spoke into the box once more. "A little warning next time you do that, ok?"
"OK, Squall!!"
Squall placed the box back into it's holder, gripped the nearest thing close to him – a coffee cup – and proceeded to shatter it in a fit of frustration.
Zell and Rinoa, safely buckled into the sofa, laughed out loud at Squall's ineptitude at getting them all a simple cup of coffee. "Getting too used to pushing pens, hey Squall?" Zell yelled over Rinoa's howling.
"Zell, you say that again and you wont receive coffee in you're cup. You'll receive something altogether nasty." Squall trained his deathly gaze at the giggling Rinoa. "That goes for you too."
Zell and Rinoa sat up straight, their face's neutral as Squall turned back to fixing them all a beverage of some sort.
Rinoa and Zell looked at each other, seeing each other's expression. Zell, his body getting over his willpower, snorted at Rinoa's face.
"I heard that." Squall muttered, his voice coming from a cupboard below the counter level. "Where the hell is everything…?" He muttered, the sound of clinking and clanking eating plates and bowls emitting from the counter.
Zell, fighting for dear life, tried not to laugh out loud. Rinoa wasn't helping.
* * *
"Is that them?" Grey muttered, raising his hand to shade his eyes from the harsh sun.
"I think so…" Sam said, wheeling his chair closer to his black-garbed counterpart. "But what are they doing?"
They all watched as the big metal dragon did a flip, before corkscrewing it's way to the ground, the twist ending perfectly, the dragon stopping almost instantaneously to hover to the ground gracefully, blowing sand everywhere as it's down-thrusters kicked in to slow it's decent.
The sand kicked up settled in a minute, and the group watched as the Ragnarok sat in the sand, the sunlight glistening off it's shiny metallic hull.
* * *
Selphie, sighing that the ride was over, grabbed the intercom transmitter and pressed the button. "That was Flight oh-two-five-six, from Sand Prison to the Serengetti Plains. Pilot Selphie Tilmett here, wishing you a safe journey, and asking you to please make sure that all you're seat trays are in their up-right positions, thank you!" she replaced the transmitter and looked over at a dishevelled Irvine. "That was fun, huh?"
Irvine, trying to find where his fedora had fallen in the last flip, looked up to her and smiled awkwardly. "Uh…yeah, hon…a real blast." He also absently tried to gather all the spilled ammunition that had fallen from his pockets too, but gave up after a few minutes.
* * *
Squall turned to Zell, looking him in the eye. "You ready?"
Zell nodded, looking around him. The loading bay, having suffered two separate attacks from Justice's men, looked a little worse for wear – scorching from magic use, bullet holes drilled almost everywhere, and several bloodstains from the fallen Galbadian defectors. He looked back at Squall. "Do you reckon we can ask him to pay for these repairs?"
Squall rolled his eyes and slapped the door-open mechanism. "Oh, get serious, Zell..."
"Hey, I am serious! Laguna is going to kill me when he sees this!!"
"Is that why you wanted to come here first?"
Zell looked at his shoes. "Kinda…"
The door fully open, the two SeeDs walked down the ramp, looking around for the party they were supposed to meet. Zell placed a hand on Squall's chest when he saw the group. "Hey. Those are the White SeeDs I told you about."
Squall looked them over. "A man…a girl and a cripple." He cocked an eyebrow. "They don't look like much."
"Don't underestimate them, man. The boy in black is a master at martial arts, and the girl is a level twelve user."
Squall whistled. "Impressive…but what about the boy in the wheelchair?"
"I don't know. He wasn't up and about long enough to figure out what he was like. But he's a SeeD, so he can use magic all the same."
Squall shrugged. "Whatever. Lets go."
The two moved forward, trudging slowly through the sandy dunes, until they got to the group. Squall moved forward first, raising his hands in a sign of surrender. "We come in peace."
The boy in black gestured to Squall's belt. "What's that, then?"
Squall looked down at his gun blade butt. "What, this?" He asked with eyebrows raised, unclipping it in one swift grab and pressing the button on the side, the blue energy blade suddenly flashing out in one smooth movement. "It's called the Lion Heart. Custom made to my specifications in Esthar. There's no other like it."
The group of five took a collective step back as he advanced, holding the shimmering blade forward…before he pressed the button again, the blade dissolving as quickly as it had appeared. "Only one person has broken it's blade…and no other." He shot a glance at Zell, before looking at the boy who had spoken. "And you are?"
"My name is Grey." The boy said. Amazingly, Zell seemed to detect a hint of fear from the cold voice. "And I'll thank you to keep you're distant."
Squall clipped the gun blade back to it's clip, and nodded, before looking at the old man. "And you must be President Justice. It's an honour to meet you, sir. I only wish it had been on less…" He looked at Grey and July, both ready for anything. "…Hostile circumstances."
Justice moved forward and held out his hand, which Squall took. "Believe me, Mr. Leonheart, I wish it had been under different circumstances too, but a lot has happened today." He looked over at Zell, who stood behind Squall. "Zell…how are you?"
His voice seemed full of genuine concern, and Zell decided to reply. "I'm cool, President Justice. Thanks for asking."
"Good…" Justice turned to the man in orange fatigues, and gestured for him to come forward. "This is the man you want, isn't it?"
The man waddled forward, and Squall lifted a little device to the man's face.
* * *
The device flashed, and the man's face was sent back to the Ragnarok, where Selphie and Irvine sat at the ready, Rinoa standing behind them. The man's face came on screen, and Selphie looked at it.
"Well, Selphie?" Squall's voice said, coming from the microphone in the device. "Is this our guy?"
Irvine looked at Selphie. "Is it him, Selph? I didn't get a good look at him. You're the only one who did."
Selphie nodded positively. "Yes. It's him."
Rinoa craned her head between them. "Oh, but he's a cutie. Why would a cutie want to kill Zell?"
Irvine looked up at her, smiling. "Hey, babe, look who you're talking to? I'm assassin extraordinaire, and I'm a cutie!!" He grinned at her lewdly, before an elbow to the gut from Selphie made him shift his sight back to the screen, thoroughly cowed. "Hey, I was only kidding around…no need to get physical." he mumbled.
"We'll talk about it later…" Selphie muttered back. "But that's the guy, Squall. I'm sure."
* * *
"Good." Squall lowered the device and placed it in a pocket, before grabbing the man's arm. "You're coming with us now."
The man looked at President Justice with wide-eyes. "You're not seriously going to let these war-mongers take me, are you?"
Justice looked at the man with cold eyes. "Son, you were destined to cross their paths as soon as you picked that gun up and pulled the trigger."
The man began to yell, and Squall cast Silence on him, his words now sounding like nothing. Mutely screaming, the man began to struggle, before Squall grabbed him by his shirt-front and pulled him close. "Co-operate – and maybe I'll think about not letting my friend get a hold of you."
He twisted the man's head to the left, where Zell stood. Zell waved and smiled with good nature. "Hi. Remember me? I'm the guy you filled with lead this morning."
The man's eyes went wide with horror, before they rolled up until the whites showed, and he fainted.
Squall tossed him to Zell, who slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Squall turned back to the group. "Thank you for co-operating. Once we have what we need from him, we'll give him back for a proper trial."
Justice shifted his weight uncomfortably. "You're not going to…hurt him, are you?"
Zell smiled. "Don't worry about him. He'll have all his fingers and toes when we give him back."
Squall nodded, before turning to Zell. "Right, Lets go."
Zell nodded, turning with Squall as he walked past the warrior, before turning back to the group. "I expected more from you, Grey." Zell muttered, looking the boy right in the eye. "Not to use underhanded tactics like this."
Grey didn't waver one bit. "Ellone told us to win no matter what we had to do. If that means we have to dirty our noses a little…then so be it."
Zell frowned at that, but didn't reply – he simply turned to Justice. "And what about you? What do you think of their actions?"
Justice shrugged. "I must admit, they were unorthodox…but they have a worthy cause to uphold. I suppose I shouldn't get in the way of that."
Zell frowned at that comment too…before smiling. "I suppose you're right." With that, he turned and followed Squall, moving back to the ship.
* * *
As they moved back to the living area for the fighters, Sam rolled a little forward, moving behind Grey. "What do we do now?"
"Nothing." The boy replied, his eyes narrowing. "We continue as if nothing has happened." He turned to July, who was walking slowly behind them. "Are you ready to join us once more?"
July looked up at them, before returning her gaze to the sand. "I'm sure we could have figure out something else…something that wouldn't have put him in such as bad light…"
"He doesn't like you." Grey muttered harshly, turning back to walk forward. "Get over it already."
Sam frowned. "Hey! What's wrong with you?" He said fiercely as Grey walked away from them, but before he could continue he was stopped by July's soft hand on his shoulder.
"No, Sam…" She said dully, her eyes dried of tears. "He's right. We simply move on. Keep an eye on Justice, and win. That's all we have to do now."
* * *
The trio stumbled aboard the ship with a minimal of fuss, the ramp closing behind them. Zell looked at the guy draped over his shoulder and promptly dropped him to the floor, his body making a low thump as it hit the metallic floor. He slept on.
Zell looked at Squall. "Do you wanna check for any bugs and things?"
Squall crouched next to the man, looking him over. He had long black hair, which flowed over his broad shoulders. He was relatively fit, but wasn't massive. The manacles snapped to his hands and feet would have been easily broken by a SeeD – but this guy was small time. The fatigues he wore were standard issue Galbadian prisoner fatigues – one piece, uncomfortable as hell, stank if you sweat in them. Which all prisoners did. Eventually.
Squall pulled the same device that he took the man's picture with and held it over his head. A small blue beam came out of it, covering the man's face, and Squall ran the beam down his body. There was a small beep as it came to the handcuffs, and Squall removed them. "We have something here."
Taking the handcuffs in his hand, he turned them over and over, before finally finding the tiny switch to the left of the keyhole. The panel next to the keyhole flipped open, and a tiny electronic device winked up at him. "Well, hello there…" he muttered, pulling the device from it's niche and looking it over. He shrugged and tossed it to Zell.
Zell caught it and held it close to his eye, looking at it with interest. "Mark 3 Transmitter, huh? The Galbadians have been upgrading their stock of late, I see…" he said as he flicked it up in the air, like flicking a coin, before catching it in his hand and holding it close to his mouth, putting on a radio DJ's swanky voice. "This is Zell Dincht, giving you another classic, Dead Silence by My Hand. Enjoy." He chuckled and shook his head as he crushed it easily, the device popping in his hand with a tinny puff as he applied a little pressure.
Squall stood. "He doesn't have anything else on him. Let's get him to the brig, and we'll figure out what to do with him later."
Zell nodded, scattering the remnants of the Mark 3 for the cleaning bots to recover, and picked up the unconscious sniper, slinging him over his shoulder once more.
* * *
Squall and Zell went down to the brig, collecting Rinoa and Selphie along the way. The plan was to get the guy talking as quickly as possible, using any means necessary. And the first rule of SeeD interrogation – appeal to the target's taste.
Rinoa stood aside from Squall and Zell with Selphie, and looked down at Selphie once more. "Ok. Run it through me one last time. You want me to do what?"
Selphie looked up at her. Rinoa was only about a few inches taller, but that didn't make her any more experienced in this kind of thing. "Look, we're not asking you to pull his pants down and give him a rogering. We're just asking you to…you know, swagger a bit."
"Swagger?! I don't swagger for anybody but Squall!!"
Squall blushed slightly. "Rinoa, please…"
"Besides, why do we need to do this? How do we know he's not gay, or something?" She looked at the unconscious man, his long black hair trailing down over Zell's shoulder. He was snoring quietly. "He's pretty handsome…and we all know the handsome ones are gay."
Squall and Zell looked at her, their expressions deadpan. Rinoa smiled, slightly embarrassed, and waved her hands. "I didn't mean it that way…"
Squall grunted. "Whatever…the point is, guys who are this radical are usually straight, and will bend over backwards for a pretty girl if she pouts her lips in their general direction. We're not asking you to do anything you haven't done before to get information out of anybody. I'm sure you've done this kind of thing in the Owls before, right?"
Rinoa pouted. "I never had to do this kind of thing. I usually beat the crap out of them until they began to talk."
Zell grinned. "You just leave that bit to me and Squall here. If you can't get him to sing, then we'll just have to make him loosen his vocal chords a bit."
Rinoa crossed her arms and leant on the wall of the elevator. "Fine. I'll do it. But I won't like it."
Selphie smiled. "Neither will I. Which is why I'll play the sweet one, and you…well, you'll get the really good part…"
* * *
In the brig, which wasn't really a brig – a brig was a container at the bottom of a tanker or a sailing ship, not a gigantic flying dragon – Zell dumped the guy on a chair in a separate room. He sat him up straight, straightened his clothes, and removed the manacles on his feet. His preparations finished, Zell stood to go, before stopping, almost as an after thought. Turning back around, he slapped the guy a few times, bringing him around.
The guy looked up groggily. "Where…where am I?"
Zell held up his hand. "How many fingers?"
The guy blinked. "Four."
Zell looked down at his two fingers and shrugged. "Eh, close enough." With that he turned and walked out, leaving the sniper all alone.
The guy blinked again, and reached up to rub his eyes. In doing so, he found that he wasn't chained up anymore, and neither was his feet. Getting up and walking around, he did a few legs stretches to loosen up. His legs had been bound together for almost all day, and he felt a little tight.
He stood straight, however, when the door opened and two people walked in. Two female people, to be exact.
Rinoa and Selphie both moved into the room, allowing the door to shut behind them, before Selphie gestured to the chair that the guy had occupied before. "Take a seat, please."
The guy sat down willingly, and Selphie smiled slightly. "Well, let's start small." She moved to the table and sat down opposite the guy, looking at him across the table. Rinoa remained standing, leaning against the wall next to the door. Selphie leaned forward a little, allowing the guy to get a good look at her chocolate brown hair and big green eyes. "What's you're name?" Big guy, was the unspoken words.
The guy smirked. "I'm not that stupid. I'm not telling you my name."
Selphie smiled sweetly. "We'll find out eventually. Why not tell us now?" her voice was small and innocuous, like a child's.
"Because." Was the one word reply, as blunt as a bowling pin.
Selphie felt like putting a fist through the smirk on the guys face, but instead got up off her chair. "Well, what do we call you then?" she asked, moving around the table to sit on it next to him, sitting on the table, her legs dangling just off the ground.
The guy seemed to be thinking, frowning and looking at the table in front of him. It was made of steel, glinting metallically in the single light on the ceiling, and was bolted to the ground. He twisted his mouth as he thought, before finally looking up at the tiny SeeD. "You can call me Shooting Star. That'll do for now."
Selphie shrugged. "Ok. Shooting Star. Good enough for a code name." she shook her hair out a little, running her hand through it, allowing the curls to bounce naturally. "So, where you from, Shooting Star?" She asked the question as if he had just tried to pick her up in a bar.
Shooting Star smiled. "Around."
"Ooo, around." Selphie looked at Rinoa, smiling happily. "Hey, Rinoa, this guy's been places."
Rinoa smiled, but said nothing, simply standing next to the door, her hands clasped in front of her.
"So, Shooting Star, where you been?" Selphie continued.
"Here and there. I've been to Timber, Trabia, Esthar…you know. Around."
"Ahhh…so, you have friends around places."
"Yeah…" he replied, before frowning. "And they'll come and get me soon. You'll see."
"Oh, I don't think so." Was Selphie's immediate reply. "We're currently hovering over the Great Sea, somewhere around…Fisherman's Horizon, I believe. So no-one will find you any time soon." She leaned a little closer. "So, what do you have to tell us about a certain incident this morning?"
Her sudden mood change – from slight, seductive and out putting to aggressive, in the blink of an eye, startled both Shooting Star and Rinoa, but Star was the only one who reacted. "You…you can't do anything to me. I…I got rights…"
"Not here you don't, big guy. You're dealing with SeeD, not Galbadia. We're a mercenary company, not a government off-branch. We go by our own rules." She leaned a little closer to him, his nostrils suddenly filled with her scent. "So be a good boy, and maybe I won't have to get rough."
The sniper was beginning to sweat. "I…I've been through torture classes. You'll get nothing from me."
Selphie narrowed her eyes. "Right…"
She hopped off the table and moved around to Rinoa, placing a hand onher shoulder. "Do you know who this woman is?" The guy shook his head timidly, and Selphie continued. "She's the current incarnation of the Sorceress, imbued with unlimited magical power, and something not to mess with."
Rinoa walked forward suddenly, hand outstretched over the table. "Hi!" she said pleasantly with a smile. "My name's Rinoa!"
Shooting Star shook the hand gently, suddenly realising who's company he was gracing. "You're…you're kidding…right?"
Rinoa stood straight and shook her head. "Nah. I'm the Sorceress."
"But…but that's crazy! The…the Sorceress is in space…she was dead long ago…"
"The power is passed along. I was unlucky enough to get it."
The sniper shook his head determinedly and sat back in the chair, crossing his arms. "I don't believe it. You're just trying to scare me into talking. Well, it won't work…"
His voice tapered off as he watched Rinoa close her eyes and clench her hands, her tiny fists trembling as she called upon the power within her. There was a tearing sound, and something flapped out form her back. They were white wings, and they grew larger until they almost filled the tiny room, craning around her. She looked like an angel as her slim body lifting off the ground to float just a few inches off the floor through sheer power.
She opened her eyes slowly, the white glow making them smoke, the smoke curling up and over her eyebrows. She seemed to move slowly, yet fast, as if everything else slowed down just for her. Her voice wasn't spoken – it was simply heard. Now do you believe me? It said, the cold chill touching the sniper's brain, causing him to jump out of his chair, knocking it over as he back against the wall.
"This…this is impossible…" He stammered, looking at her as she moved forward, the metal table bolted to the floor simply sheering in half for her, bending left and right as she floated towards him, walking on air, her wings folding around her like a birds, tucking in behind her back.
She walked right up to him, pressing her body against his, running a hand over his face. Tell us what we want to know…and we can end this quickly. She pulsed into his head, her clear white eyes looking into his. She cocked her head to the side as he stammered a little more, before pushing away from him, grimacing.
She floated/walked out of the room, pausing just next to Selphie. He won't talk. We'll let the boys handle it from here.
Selphie nodded, and pressed the stud for her, letting her move out of the room. She began to follow, before pausing just in the doorway, turning to look at the Sniper. "You know…it would have been much easier for you if you had simply told us what we wanted to know." She shook her head sadly. "Now you have to get hurt."
She walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
Squall and Zell sat waiting for her, Squall with his arms around Rinoa's waist, her wings flapping a little as she sniffled. He seems like a nice person…only misguided. She pulsed, her white eyes looking into Squall's grey gaze. Try not to hurt him too much.
"I can't make any promises, Rinoa…" Squall said, wiping a single tear from her cheek. "But I'll try to make it brief for him." He looked down at the tear stain on his finger. It glowed with her power, before fading slightly.
"Yeah, Rinoa. We'll be nice." Zell said with a grin, cracking his knuckles. "We're not sadists, you know."
Rinoa looked at him and smiled. I know, Zell, it's just that… there was a sound in everybody's head, like a massive sigh, before she began to move for the elevator. I think I'll go for a fly around…clear my head.
Selphie walked up to the two boys, and smiled. "He acted tough, but I managed to glean a few things off him. Like the fact that he knew bout Sorceress Adel in space. And that he's a wide traveller. And he's had torture classes." Her smile became a seroious line. "He's not just some SeeD hater. He's been trained. So be gentle…but not too gentle, ok?"
Zell's grin didn't waver one bit. "Oh, don't worry about that, Selph. I get the feeling that he'll be singing like a canary in a bit."
Selphie smiled and walk onto the elevator with Rinoa, who flapped her wings a little once more, flinging white feathers everywhere. Selphie began to pick them out of her hair and moved to the far end of the elevator as the doors closed, shutting the girls off from Zell and Squall's view.
Zell looked at Squall, and Squall smiled. Zell grinned. "How do you live with that?"
"Lets put it this way – I know where she's been most of the time." Squall replied, showing a rare sign of humour. He chuckled at his joke, but Zell simply shook his head and walked to the door.
"I'll warm him up for us, k?" He muttered over his shoulder at Squall.
"Whatever."
Zell chuckled and opened the door, walking in and closing the door behind him.
* * *
The room was dark. It wasn't supposed to be dark. Who turned out the lights?
Zell took a step forward cautiously – before flinging his fist out to the left, connecting with a jaw. There was a yelp of pain, and the thump of a body hitting the floor, as well as a clatter of something metallic dropped to the ground.
Zell sighed, and, lifting his right hand, clicked his fingers. A small ball of fire suddenly burst in his palm, and he lifted it high to look around. The sniper had managed to wrench one of the legs off the destroyed table, and had bashed out the light on the ceiling.
Zell placed his free hand on his hip. "Damn. Now I'm going to have to fix that too. Do you know how much one of these things cost?" he said down at the man, who had crawled to the table leg and picked it up once more, standing now.
Zell smiled in the flickering Fire light. "And what are you going to do with that?" he asked.
"My mission is to kill you, no matter what." Shooting Star replied, stalking forward menacingly. "Even in these circumstances." He suddenly lunged, swinging the table leg down like a baton, but Zell simply slapped the attack aside and head butted the guy, causing him to stagger back and drop to the ground once more.
"Oh, come on." Zell said, rolling his eyes and walking over to the guy. "Who do you think you're up against?" He grabbed the guy by his shirt-front and stood him up against the wall, Shooting Star too groggy to do anything. Zell then righted his fallen chair and sat him down in it. "There you go, buddy. Now just sit there, ok?"
Turning to the broken fixture in the ceiling, Zell lifted his hand and blew the Fire spell up at the fixture. It floated up to the fixture and stopped, flicking slightly before growing to fill the fixture completely. It would have to do until they were finished with the room.
Squall finally entered, took one look around him, and said nothing. He simply moved to the table, and placed the things he was carrying down on a part that was still standing.
Shooting Star looked at the items on the table. "What…what are those?" he asked.
Squall looked down at the items, and spread them out to show his victim. "This…" he said, holding up a vial. "…Is an X-potion…a small dose will fully restore you're health." He lifted a small rock. "…This is a Dynamo Stone..." He lifted a small tube. "This is a spool of copper wire…." He picked up the final item. "…And this is a Steel Orb." He placed them all on the table, and walked over to the sniper, crouching before him. "Now, normally, these items are innocuous – couldn't harm a fly, let alone a fully grown man. But, if used properly…"
His grey eyes narrowed and he smiled evilly.
"…They can dish out a whole lot of pain."
* * *
Several hours later, the door opened, and Zell and Squall walked out tiredly. Irvine was waiting for them, looking at them evenly as he leant against the wall next to the door. "So? How'd it go?"
Squall looked tired and a little frustrated. "He's a nobody. Trained with some Estharian rebels when he was a kid, then travelled around for about for a few years after that, taking small assassination jobs here and there to gather money. He says he got this job from one of his friends – a SeeD hater. He wanted Galbadia SeeD to pay for all the stuff they did under Edea's rule, and took Zell to be a main target after watching him fight."
He brushed past Irvine, stepping onto the elevator with anger and stabbing the up button with a knuckle. "He's nothing. Cut him loose."
Irvine and Zell watched the doors close, before Irvine turned to Zell. "What do you think?"
Zell shook his head sadly. "He's nothing. Just a kid who got taken in by the wrong crowd, and grew up believing in the wrong ideals." He shook his head again. "A sad life, but that's what happens in the world."
"What do we do now?"
Zell sighed. "We give our report and the guy to the Galbadians, and send to Balamb for an official enquiry for the SeeD hater cell. He's given us everything, so it'll be wiped up and forgotten in a month…"
"No, I mean, what do we do now." Irvine said, shaking his head. "We still have no idea who our assassin is. It isn't this guy, so…who is it?"
Zell looked at Irvine for a second…before shrugging nonchalantly. "I'm stumped. I suppose we'll just have to wait until he shows himself. As for now, I'm kinda hungry."
He pressed the call button for the elevator, and waited for it to come to him.
