Ch 27 – Regaining The Sense
The door suddenly burst open, a man stepping in quickly and shutting the door behind him.
As quickly as he had stepped inside the room, Squall was all over him, his LionHeart blazing into life as he pushed the man's back against the wall, the energy blade shimmering millimetres away from his neck.
"Hyne, son, let off will you?!" Laguna cried, looking terrified as his son suddenly realised who he had almost decapitated.
Squall stepped away from his father and pressed the 'lock' button on the door, a satisfying click noting the barring of the door, before turning to face Laguna. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking, Laguna?"
"Sorry, son, but my security detail was right behind me, and I needed to get in quickly."
Squall frowned, watching as Laguna walked over to one of the chairs and sat down gracefully, silently greeting Selphie and Angel, who were sitting on the bed, with a finger-to-forehead salute. Laguna was dressed in travelling clothes – western travelling clothes, not the Estharian official robes he usually wore. Squall also noticed the Desperado machine gun cradled in Laguna's arms, and the ammo pouches strapped onto the Galbadian-army issue webbing he was using as a belt.
Squall knew instantly what Laguna had on his mind. "No way. You're staying here, Laguna! It's too dangerous!!"
Laguna rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Squall! I've got more experience then you rookies could ever hope to poke a stick at, and besides that, where else would I be safer then with the Sorceress Heroes?" He frowned, thinking of the contradiction he had just made…then shrugged it off with a grin.
Rinoa walked out of the bathroom, having spent a good hour in there scrubbing her skin raw to rid herself of the smell of garbage. Clad in only a towel, she took one look at the old man sitting in the chair and turned around, going back into the bathroom. "What's he doing here?!" She cried, the shock evident in her voice. She had though that only the girls and her Knight would have been in the room! Not only that, but Laguna always had this bad habit of winking at her whenever Squall looked away. She knew he was only trying to be friendly, but hyne…
"He was just leaving, Rinoa." Squall said forcefully, looking at Laguna with daggers in his eyes. "Laguna, leave. There's no way we can be sure the Assassin won't come after you as well. We can't look for Zell and Irvine and keep looking after you either."
Laguna stood, puffing his chest out and gripping the butt of his machine gun. "Squall, I am the President of Esthar, the most advanced nation on Gaia…and not only that, I'm your father. I know what's best."
Squall rolled his eyes. Not only was Laguna pulling rank officially, he was also doing so family wise…not that Squall cared about the family-rank, but officially, Laguna could do anything he wanted. "Fine…but if we get into the shit, you'd better stick to the back. OK?"
Laguna nodded with a huge grin on his face and flopped down onto the bed next to Selphie. "So, what's the plan, gang?"
"We find the people he kidnapped Zell and Irvine and we kill them." Selphie said coldly, looking down at him with dead eyes. "Simple."
Laguna shifted away from her uncertainly, bumping into Angel. She smiled at him sadly and shifted to make room on her side of the bed.
Squall face-palmed – guarding my Sorceress AND the President of Esthar, not to forget the librarian – and walked over to one of Rinoa's cases, pulling out some of her clothes. He knocked on the door of the bathroom.
"If it isn't Squall, I don't wanna know about it!!" Came the yelled reply.
"I'm coming in, ok?" Squall warned, before opening the dor and closing it before Laguna could peek in. Angel clocked him over the head as he craned over Selphie to get a better view.
Rinoa accepted the clothes gratefully, putting them on as Squall stood with his back to the door. "What are we going to do with him?" she asked, pulling on her black shirt before flicking out her blue cut-off cardigan.
Squall thought for a minute. "He could prove useful…get us places we couldn't go before…and if push comes to shove, we'll just get Selphie to cast Barrier on him. That ought to keep him safe until most of the danger's gone. And besides, he is kinda right…he's still a pretty good shot with that machine gun, no matter what he says…"
Rinoa pulled the last knot on her boots tight, before standing and giving Squall and quick peck on the cheek. "Well…just as long as we keep him safe…"
He smiled and nodded, before opening the door for her.
* * *
What was going on?
Darkness swam in his vision, and everything was far away, like he was looking into a pair of binoculars the wrong way. His head felt like a lump of stone – heavy and dense. He couldn't move anything – he was frozen.
He wanted to scream out, but then he saw, in the far distance, Zell, strapped onto an upright table. He was being tortured…by…
His eyes narrowed. Sam? It was Sam? But how? He didn't have a leg. He had even been shown the stump – Sam had told Irvine about how the medics had been masters at healing the wound over – but he was walking on two legs. He even seemed to be able to move pretty fast.
Why couldn't he move? Was he strapped down too? He couldn't move his head!
What was going on?!
* * *
Zell's eyes didn't leave Irvine's for one second, the fact that his friend was still within the autonomic husk being the only hope that the SeeD had left. He watched Irvine narrow his eyes ever so slightly, and felt the hope flare within him once more.
Not only that, Emily was nowhere to be seen, and Deling and Sam were having too much fun electrocuting Zell to pay any attention to their humble little servant.
I need to hold on just a bit longer…I need to make sure he's back with me…The final shockwave passed through his body, and Zell slumped forward, his body being caught by the metal straps immediately. He wasn't so sure how much more he could take.
"Excellent, Mr. Dincht!" Deling said happily. "You've surprised me yet again. I had no idea you were this strong."
Zell managed to work the Steel Orb out from behind his teeth and spat it out painfully. "Never…one to…disappoint…" he whispered, his throat feeling dry. He could still taste the metallic ball in his mouth. His teeth were numb from the burning electricity.
"No…you're not…you know, I'm a fan of yours? You're fights at the Tournament were spectacular…"
Zell smiled. "I…was…only…playing around. You…should see…me when I…get serious…"
Deling's smile grew bigger. "Yes. Like the battle between you and Clara Justice? I saw when you decided to take the 'kid gloves' off. You were impressive."
Zell chuckled. "Thanks."
Deling nodded to him, before standing. "Sam? Do you wish to take a break now?"
"Not really."
Deling ignored him. "Sam's going to take a break now. I'll send someone else in to entertain you in the meantime." With that, Deling gestured for the traitorous SeeD to follow him, walking out the door.
Sam watched Deling go, before punching Zell in the stomach, causing the Hunter to choke up some more blood, before following the dictator.
Zell slumped forward, unable to keep conscience for any longer.
* * *
"Damn you! Stop it! Friggin stop hurting him!!"It was no use. No matter how much Irvine screamed at Sam to stop the torture, he couldn't make his body say the words. He could only rant and rave in the little corner of his mind that was still his own.
They finally stopped, the man sitting down standing and saying something that sounded like something muffled by cotton wool. Irvine watched in horror as he recognised the man as the former President of Galbadia. "What the hell is going on here?!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
Deling moved out of the room, before being followed by Sam, but not after punching Zell visioucly in the guts, making his friend spurt blood through his gritted teeth and slump forward, unconscious.
Irvine could only tear himself apart as he watched the blood drip down out of Zell's mouth and nose, his bruised face mercifully still as he slept.
Irvine raised an ethereal fist and smashed it down onto something. "Fuck!!" he screamed in exasperation.
A sudden sound made him jump, and amazingly his vision awkwardly swung down to look at his feet, at the shotgun lying beside his leather shoes.
"What the hell…?"
"Aw, escape you did it?" A woman's voice suddenly said, the words chillingly clear in his mind.
* * *
A sudden clatter awoke Zell from his stupor, causing him to look up in confusion, his mind awkwardly alert through the pain.
Irvine had dropped his gun.
Zell wanted to frown, but that would have caused even more pain, so he simply watched at what he would do.
Irvine looked down at the gun, his hand balled tightly into the fist it had made when he dropped it. He looked pitiful, like a man who had been strung up by his feet only inches off the ground, his salvation only mere centimetres out of his grasp.
The door opened, and a slight figure walked in. "Aw, escape you did it?" Emily asked sweetly, as if talking to a child who had dropped his ice-cream cone. "Here you go." Reaching down, she picked the heavy weapon up with both hands, grabbing Irvine's left hand and wrapping it around the handle of the shotgun.
He looked at her with wide eyes. "Thank you." He said automatically, swinging the big gun up and onto his shoulder.
She nodded to him and walked over to Zell, stopping only inches away from him and smiling. "It's the magic…makes them do anything I ask em to, but their motor skills aren't all that flash."
Zell swallowed some blood that had been building in his mouth. "It's…like a Confuse…right?" But it's a Blue…it takes over their mind instead of muddling them up…
Emily smiled. "Correct. Well, Zell…imagine this. I have you all to myself, under the President's orders…what fun we'll be having."
"Like…that fun you…had with…Grey?"
Emily smiled, opening the black leather coat she had been wearing and pulling it off slowly. "Maybe…if you're a naughty boy." Beneath, strapped to her chest, was a baldric covered in sharp looking knives.
"I…guess…I'd better behave…then." Zell said with a chuckle.
"Oh no, Hunter…" Emily said sadly, drawing one of the knives from her baldric slowly, running the flat of the blade along her face in a…seductive way. "…My goal in this little exercise is to make you curse the day you ever met me."
"Believe me hon…I already do."
Emily's smile faded, to be replaced with a determined glare. "You know? Through out all of your adventures, you've never sustained any scarring to the face. Let's say we remedy that, huh?" Zell gulped as she lifted the knife's edge to meet with his tattoo. "How about we remove this tattoo first, hmm?" she asked. "It's not exactly very good looking."
"Look who's talking…" Zell gasped. "I'm…not the one…with a ton…of metal coming…out of my…face…"
Emily drew the knife back and slapped Zell's face with her other hand. Amazingly, she looked shocked, as if Zell had insulted her somehow. Zell had to frown at that. "What's up…? Did I insult you…?"
Emily didn't look determined now. She looked angry. "Lets not worry abut the face now…we can get to that later. Deling and Sam are gone…we can take our time. Let's start with something…lower." On 'lower' Emily grabbed Zell's crotch, giving it an almighty squeeze, bringing tears to the SeeD's eyes and causing him to groan in agony. Emily licked the tears from his cheeks before crouching down, working with his belt in order to get his pants down…
Before Irvine stepped up behind her, swinging the butt of his shotgun down, the loud crack of the wooden stock connecting with the back of her head echoing all around the room. She seemed to pause, looking up at Zell with a confused look on her face – before Irvine swung the gun like a bat, the stock connecting with her head so viciously it knocked her to the side, making her collide with the wall and slump down, out for the count.
Zell looked down at his unzipped zipper, then looked up at Irvine. "Took…your…friggin…time, man."
Irvine simply stood there, staring at him.
"You…gonna let me go…or are you gonna…just stare at me all day long?" Zell asked with a painful grin…before looking into Irvine's eyes.
The intense rage that had filled them while he had attacked Emily had been replaced with the blank stare.
* * *
"Shit! I had it!!" Irvine cried in frustration, balling his ethereal fists and shaking them in desperation. "Work, damn you, work!!"
He had watched as Emily threatened Zell, feeling his rage build within him, and he realised he could feed off the rage, causing him to break free of the bondage his body was within and batter the bitch down.
His initial plan over, however, his body resumed it's statuesque role, not moving, no matter how loud he yelled.
"Crap…" He spat in defeat, throwing his hands down in desperation. "What am I gonna do?"
The sound of creaking metal made him looked up, however, as Zell began to fight against his restraints.
* * *
Irvine wasn't answering to his feeble pleas to free him. Zell realised he was gonna have to do it solo.
Closing his eyes, he drew in all the scraps of strength he had left; fighting for everything he had, focusing it all into his arms. His muscles bulging against the metal, he began to pull, the adamantine cutting into his flesh, the table creaking in protest as he pulled harder and harder…
…Before having to stop. His strength waning, his breaths laboured beyond belief, he realised that he barely had enough energy to even pull off a Limit Break. Even if he managed to free himself, it would be up to Irvine to get them out…and Irvine didn't seem like he was going to be any real help any time soon.
"Friggin hell, Irvine!!" Zell suddenly spat, desperate to get any reaction from the gunfighter. "What the hell did you do that for?! Sure, you knocked her ass out, but when she wakes up, we're screwed!! You could have at least blasted my locks off, you useless sack of crap!!"
Talking was taking too much out of him, and he let his head hang on the strap binding it. He felt like he was going to vomit…he wasn't sure that he could take much more…
"C'mon, you Chicken-Wuss!! I'd bet Seifer'd be able to get outta this, no problem!!" Irvine suddenly grunted through gritted teeth. "Then he's pummel you into the ground, just for kicks!"
"Seifer couldn't hit the wide side of a barn!!" Zell muttered back, tensing his muscles at the re-emergence of his vendetta with Seifer. Amazingly, it gave back some of his strength, feeding his tired and battered muscles. "I…need more…" He groaned.
"You're so weak, I have to tie you down when we go on a picnic in case the breeze picks you!" Irvine grunted, his fists tightening around his gun, his words beginning to have more strength in them. "You couldn't fight your way out of a wet paper bag! You make me laugh, trying to break those straps! You couldn't do that even if you were at full strength!!"
There was one thing Zell hated most in the entire world. And that was being teased. "At least I can move under my own free will!!" He grunted, sweat beading on his forehead as a bolt from one of the straps suddenly sprang free.
"Move!? You're so slow, my grandmother could out-run you! And she's a hundred and five!!"
"Grrrrraaahh!!" Zell suddenly screamed, his left arm slashing out of the strap and smashing across Irvine's stony face, smacking him to the floor. Then Zell went limp, his strength completely gone.
Irvine lay on the floor for a second…before he stood. Twisting his head to the left to work the kinks out, he turned to Zell and smiled. "Thanks, man!! Uh…Zell? Aw crap…"
* * *
The ground flying away beneath them, Squall turned to Selphie. "You sure you're alright to fly?"
Selphie rolled her eyes. "Squall, it's not as if Irvine's dead or anything. Quit bugging me, huh!?"
Squall paused, before shrugging and going down the elevator, making his way to the leisure quarters, where a concerned Angel was trying to comfort a distraught Laguna. Squall waked in to see Angel with her arm around Laguna's shoulder, Laguna with his face buried in his hands. "I can't believe what they did to my ship…" He wept.
"I'm sure Zell had good reasons for all the damage that's been done…" Angel said soothingly, patting him on the back.
"The loading ramp almost fell off!! It's no longer space worthy! Do you know how much it costs to repair this thing?! I'm going to have to raise taxes again!! What was I on when I gave them permission to borrow it…"
"I think it was tequila, father." Squall said with a smile, walking over and sitting down on the sofa next to Angel. "That, or at least ten beers."
Laguna simply whimpered and shook his head sadly.
Rinoa walked out from behind the counter. "Do you want anything, Squall?"
"Just some water, please."
Rinoa set about getting a glass of water for her Knight, speaking as she grabbed a glass from a cupboard. "So, what's the next move?"
Squall leaned back, resting his arms on the back of the sofa. "Irvine managed to get to his quarters and grab his shotgun and a change of clothes just before he left, which where our break comes in." He looked over to Angel. "We fitted both Irvine's and Zell's weapons with tracking devices, in the event that they were captured. Zell's original Ehrgiez Gloves were modified, however, and when Grease Monkey gave him his Uber Ehrgiez Gauntlets, he also gave him a replica set of the original Ehrgiez Gloves. So the tracking unit for him was destroyed. However, Irvine's tracker was placed in the stock of his shotgun. It ought to still function."
Angel frowned. "Why only Irvine and Zell? Why not Selphie as well?"
"Because Selphie was checked by Rinoa."
Rinoa walked out, setting Squall's glass of water on the coffee table. "I can tell, if I concentrate, if someone is under mind-manipulation. When the whole incident with Zell's virus came up, I had to pass special magic to Selphie. I knew she was under her own control."
"So why didn't you check Irvine too?"
Rinoa simply shrugged and smiled. "I had no need."
Angel crossed her arms. "Some friends you guys are…"
Squall smiled sadly at her, reaching over to pick up his glass of water. "Unfortunately, in our line of work, you have to take precautions that you rather wouldn't. Anyways, it doesn't matter now. What matters now is that we find them. Selphie ought to be homing in on Irvine's frequency soon…if they haven't found the tracker, that is."
Rinoa sat on the edge of the sofa, placing a hand on Squall's head, sifting her fingers through his hair. "What I don't get is how Sam is the Assassin. Didn't Zell say he lost his leg during the selection process?"
"That's right. But the thing is, he never said he saw Sam lose his leg. Also, if Sam did lose his leg, there's a hundred ways to regain it. Maybe he's got Regen based Blues like Clara and Sheran did…or maybe he got a bionic leg…either way, he was able to capture Zell, and kill Justice. He's a force to be reckoned with."
Laguna looked up, wiping his eyes. "Justice isn't dead."
Rinoa fell off her seat as Squall sprang up. "What?!"
"He isn't dead. He was hanging on by a thread when the medics came, but he's being treated at the Esthar Official Hospital right now. The medics say that his girlfriend managed to save his life by drawing some magic from him and casting it on him…a Life, I presume…"
Squall sat back down with a thump, looking dumbfounded. "…He survived…incredible…"
Rinoa got up from where she fell and smacked Squall over the head, making him spill his water, before frowning. "Angel, I didn't know that Ma Dincht knew magic."
Angel smiled. "Of course. Zell always said how he used to come back home all beaten up after training, or fighting with monsters. She learned how to use paramagic because she hated waiting so long for him to heal."
Squall scrubbed the back of his head and scowled. "It's not all that uncommon, Rinoa. Lot's of civilians know White magic."
Laguna shrugged, back in happy spirits. "Well, the main thing is that Justice is on his way to revival, and the bad guys failed. Now all we need to do is track em down, put em down, and go home to knock back a few!"
Squall rolled his eyes and shook his head. Rinoa and Angel simply giggled.
* * *
Irvine, for all he was worth, was in a bit of trouble.
The Blue magic, he figured, must have been much like Confuse – causing the victim to not be able to control his/her own actions. However, a forceful blow like the one Zell gave him managed to knock him back to his senses – and also gave him a few extra minutes. He would have waited until he fully regained control, but Zell would have killed himself had Irvine not taken drastic action – thusly insult him until he couldn't take anymore.
Zell hated being teased.
Now Irvine had a dilemma. Thankfully, the bad guys, confident their magic would work on the magically impotent SeeD, had given him all his weapons, plus loaded him full of ammo. He blasted the straps off Zell with a Vincent, hauled his bleeding body over his shoulders, and walked out the door as if nothing had happened.
Right into a room full of soldiers.
Hiding behind an overturned metal cabinet that had been next to the door, bullets whizzing over his head, Irvine grimaced. Great one, Kinnes…get your mind taken over by SuperBitch back there, and now just draw attention to yourself by walking into a room chock full of guards.
He popped the shotgun open, feeding two fresh shells into the chambers before flipping it shut. Well, I suppose I'd better find out how many guys I'm going for.
There was a brief pause in the gunfire going his way, and he took the opportunity to poke his fedora-covered head up. One quick look, and his head was back down, the air where it had been only milliseconds ago now full of sizzling bullets.
About fifty guys…all armed with sub-machine guns, shotguns, and one guy with a paramilitary rifle…and they most probably know magic too…He looked at the cabinet he was hiding behind. This is going to be tough.
Quickly flashing up, he blasted off both barrels at the four guys trying to sneak up under the gunfire, the buckshot spreading to take em all down. He sat back down and cracked the gun open, the smoking shells flying out over the cabinet to be cut u by the bullets, and fed two new ones into the chambers again. He looked down at Zell, still unconscious. "Hey, man." He yelled over the gunfire. "I wish I could say that I'm sorry for what I did…but it kinda wasn't my fault, y'know? I wonder if Selphie will be waiting for me when we get out of this…if we get out of this…"
He didn't even pop up – he simply craned his arm over the cabinet, blasting off both barrels with one hand. Cries of agony were quickly drowned out by gunfire, and Irvine cracked the gun open for the seventh time, allowing the spent shells to fly out and feeding new ones in.
"Although I suppose she ought to…we've been getting along more and more, ever since the thing with you last year…you know, I even thought she once had a thing for you? Isn't that weird? But you had Angel…and you always have your training…she probably just gave up after a while…staying friends with you was most probably the best thing anyways…you guys would have just got on one-another's nerves, I reckon…hang on, I'll be back." He suddenly jumped up and onto the cabinet.
"Yipee kai yae, motherfuckers!!" He screamed, the battle cry in Old World Language, letting off both barrels at the pack of soldiers, the bullets flying around him, before flipping off the cabinet and into the fray.
His shotgun dropped behind him, he flicked his wrists out, the Vincent Valentines falling into his palms and flaring almost as quickly. In less then three seconds twenty four men had fallen, and Irvine popped the clips for the guns, training the handles down to his sleeves where the quick-loaders sat. The IR ports met each other and the new clips sprang into the loading area, Irvine allowing the slides to click into place.
Twirling like a tornado, he flicked his foot out, taking two guys down with a round-house kick, blasting seven others as he span. Jumping away from where he stood, the area where he had been suddenly becoming dense with bullets, he landed back on top of the cabinet, flicking the guns at the remaining soldiers as if the extra push would give the bullets more speed, duel clicks of the slides locking back signifying that they were empty.
Finally letting the guns slide back into his sleeves, he scooped up his shotgun and jumped back down behind the cabinet, where Zell slept peacefully. Irvine placed the shotgun over his legs and allowed the Vincent's to slide back into his palms, casually reloading them, looking down at Zell and talking as he moved. "You know, I'm doing all the work here. When are you gonna wake your lazy ass up and help me, huh? I could really use a Haste round-about now." There was a ricochet off the cabinet, and Irvine ducked as it buried itself into the wall next to where he sat. "Yeah, yeah, you've been beaten up and stuff, but I suppose now that you're out of that room, you should have your magic back up and working, right?"
He slid the handguns back up his sleeves and picked up the shotgun, snapping it open and feeding new rounds into it. "Huh?" He asked, flicking the big gun shut. "How bout it, big guy?" Lifting up over the cabinet once more, he fire off both rounds, taking out another four guys. He also counted sixty men before ducking down again. Wasn't that more then last time? Damn…
* * *
"We've got a reading!" Selphie cried over the intercom. "It's weak, but it's close by."
"Where, Selphie?" Squall asked the intercom box in the kitchen.
"It's in Esthar…just within the Sollet Mountains."
"That's not right…" Laguna muttered, standing next to Squall with his arms crossed. "That would mean that they had ready access to Esthar the entire time. Could I have defectors within the Estharian Army too?"
I'd say so…the warm welcome we got to Esthar when Zell was sick would be a good sign… Squall thought to himself. "How long till we're there?" He asked Selphie.
"With the boosters on, give me fifteen minutes!!""Do it." Squall let go of the intercom and turned to the small group standing behind him. "Ok. Get geared up and ready to rock. Expect resistance when we get there."
Angel nodded. Laguna smiled evilly, working the catch on his Desperado. Rinoa simply crossed her arms and closed her eyes, her wings slashing out from her back and hr eyes blazing when she opened them.
I'm going out there to scout. She pulsed. It's my fault that I didn't check on Irvine. And besides – if Selphie gets there first, she'll most probably destroy the place with the Raganrok's weapons.
"Fine. Do it. Just be careful." Squall said.
Rinoa blew him a kiss and floated/ran for the nearest hatch.
* * *
Whehey! Finale coming up very shortly!! Get prepared for one hell of a battle.
A concern – after Ch 25, I seemed to get a lot of reviews that signified people thought that I had finished off the story!! For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, I'll say it from the cheap seats:
ZELL ISN'T DEAD, YOU NUTS!!
He's still got some fight left in him, people! And he's going to need it in the next few chapters!!
