~ Chapter 4: City of Soldiers: Walk Down the Street, I Dare You ~

A/n: I'm feeling like there should be lots of blood shed... so there will be... everyone (minor characters that no one gives a shit about) shall be mangled and torn to bits! Tee-Hee!

P.s.: I'm going to be leaning more towards Squinoa... just 'cause I love that couple! Tee-Hee (again)

****************************************************

"Wow..." Selphie began awestruck as she got out of the car at the Balamb Pier. It was a sunny day and the air was of salt and fish. Out on the water, the blue submarines carrying the students waited for the last sub to be filled, theirs. "This is so cool." Selphie finally continued after taking in the scenery.

"Hey!" A deep voice yelled from behind her. "Move it!" He commanded. A hand reached out of the car and pushed Selphie out of the way and out stepped Seifer. Selphie snarled at him and was about to kick him until a hand touched her shoulder. She turned around and found that it was Quistis with a smiling face. Selphie smiled back casually and walked for the blue sub that waited at the harbor.

"Come on now!" Quistis called into the car. "We're the last ones so hurry up!" She commanded as she pulled her head back from inside the car and walked for the sub. Zell was next to emerge. He stretched and yawned quite loudly, blocking the only way through. Rinoa pushed him over and exited the car.

"You really need to move your ass more often..." Rinoa mumbled to Zell with a glare as she walked for the sub. Squall came out just after her. The three walked to the sub in silence and entered just the same.

*

"That's it!" Rinoa exclaimed, pleased at their mission orders. "There's no more?" She asked, just making sure. She sat forward in her seat, expecting a bad answer.

"That's it!" Xu declared with a little smile as she saw the happiness from Rinoa. Rinoa sighed with relief as she lied back in her chair.

"So... clear the central square of all enemies?" Squall reiterated. Xu nodded.

"This is gonna be a piece of cake!" Zell said with a smile as he punched the air with excitement.

"Would you shut up and sit down!?" Seifer exclaimed, frustrated in his actions. Zell rolled his eyes but took his seat anyways. "... and if you're gonna punch anything at least punch your face in." Seifer continued with a smirk. Rinoa stifled a laugh and Selphie looked at her, almost disgusted that she had laughed at his joke. Now everyone was looking at her.

"What?" She asked, embarrassment crossing her face. She looked down to her skirt, hoping to hide her eyes from everyone. Seifer put his arm around her and pulled her close. "AH!" Rinoa screamed as she was shoved into his chest. Squall snarled with disgust and turned away from the scene. "Let go of me!" Rinoa commanded as she tried to pull away but Seifer's hold was strong.

"See Leonhart? You've got some competetion." Seifer told him with an evil smirk.

"You smell like BO.!" Rinoa cried as she struggled to get free. Seifer immediately let her go and snarled at her.

"It's okay... You can buy some deoderant for me when we get home, isn't that right pretty?" He asked, his face inching towards her. She pushed his face away with distaste. "Oh come on... I know you love me!" He continued trying to push his face closer, but only receiving a hard push away from her hand.

"I'm going outside." Squall stated as he stood and took a few papers with him. He walked up a short spiral stair case that lead to a viewing area on top of the sub. Rinoa glared at Seifer, stood and walked for where Squall was heading. Seifer tried to grab her arm but she kicked him in the knee cap before he could touch her. She walked up to the area where Squall was. He was looking at a map and comparing it to the scene he saw before him. Rinoa didn't bother looking at was in front of them, only him, a worried look on her face.

"He's just being a dick..." Rinoa whispered, Squall knew what she was talking about. "He just wants to get you mad like last time." She insisted.

"I know." He told her, turning towards her. "... but still. Arrrggghhh... GODDAMIT! He's such a fuck face." He said with a snarl.

"Well, if its any conciliation..." She paused her sentence and looked down into the ship to see everybody looking at them. She brought her lips to his ear and whispered into them. "... he won't become a SeeD." She told him quietly. She backed away from him with a smile.

"That's a given." He told her as he looked back to the scene that they were approaching. "We can talk more after this is done." He said in a serious tone and he went into the sub. Rinoa looked out in front to find that the town of Dollet was full of bullets, explosions and death. Her expression fell as she saw it all.

"Rinoa, come in now!" Quistis commanded as she appeared at the stairs. Rinoa nodded to her, looked back once more to the scene and headed back inside.

"We'll be arriving soon..." Quistis told them as she stood to walk to the captain. She was about to reach him until a large bump caused her to fall to the ground and everyone else to hurl out of their seats.

"OW!" Selphie cried as she lied on top of Zell. She stood but another crash caused her to fall right back where she was. Suddenly the front hatch opened, revealing Dollet's beach. Selphie could see all the soldiers running everywhere and explosions so close they rocked the sub.

"Oh!" Quistis suddenly exclaimed as she looked at the beach. She stood up from lying position and headed out of the sub. "We're here!" She told them.

"Rinoa!" Squall exclaimed from below her body. "Your knee is jammed into my spine!" He cried in pain. She immediately stood, which caused her to accidentally step on Seifer's hand. He howled in pain and she ran off the sub, afraid of hurting anyone else.

"Sorry!" She apologized to the two men. They all got up and headed out for the beach with a bit of struggle from the earlier bumps.

"Okay everyone! Prepare your weapons and good luck!" Quistis stated, looking to each one with a pleased smile on her face, proud that she had taught them all (with the exception of a few). "Now go!" She commanded, pointing to the town of Dollet.

"OH! This is so exciting!" Selphie exclaimed as she jumped about. Suddenly, a man came up to her and handed her a letter.

"Take this to Squad 3 immediately!" He commanded and ran off.

"Neato! My first assignment!" She said with a giddy smile as she pressed the letter close to her. She ran off into the town, leaving the others.

"Alright you little losers." Seifer began as he drew his Hyperion from its sheath. "Lets clear out the Central Square just like ordered!" He stated as he ran into town.

"I can't believe we have to take orders from HIM!" Zell exclaimed as the three ran after him. They ran up the short flight of stairs to the paved street where they met Seifer again.

"Okay... I think we should keep a close look out for any enemy activity now." Rinoa advised. The three men nodded in understanding and they continued through the town, down the road. Squall took a look around to find that none of the buildings were damaged and that the windows were boarded up or had steel bars in front of them.

"Hey! Look lively Leonhart!" Seifer commanded. Squall shook himself from his previous thoughts to find that 4 Galbadian soldiers had just jumped down from a bridge above them. One was running towards Squall. He unsheathed his gunblade, rolled under the soldiers swipe, stood and thwacked off his head with a clean cut. Squall looked over to Rinoa to see if she was having trouble, she wasn't. She had pinned the Soldier to a wall and was pummeling his face in with her pin wheel at close range. At such close range, it ejected and came back rapidly. Fortunately for the soldier, she put the pin wheel on its blunt setting. After a while, the soldier fell to the ground, dead or just placed into a coma. Zell and Seifer had already finished off their soldier.

"Ready!" Rinoa told them all and they ran ahead.

"Squad 3... Squad 3..." Selphie repeated as she walked through Dollet, searching various Garden students. She came across a group and smiled, she had a feeling this was Squad 3. "Are you Squad 3!?" She called over to them.

"For the last damn time! NO!" They screamed. "Stop following us!" The demanded as they ran off. Selphie sighed.

"I'm never going to become a SeeD." She said quietly as she shook her head.

"We're Squad 3!" Someone called from behind her. She turned with a bright smile and ran to them and handed the letter off. "Could you take this to Squad 13? It's extremely important." A man said as he handed the letter to her. She nodded and ran off.

"Squad 13... Rinoa's Squad!" She cheered with a smile as her run increased its pace.

"The Central Square is clear for the 5th fucking time!" Rinoa exclaimed to Seifer in a very agitated voice. "Happy NOW!?" She asked, becoming the ever more frustrated.

"Yes. Your master is happy now go away you dumb bitch! Oh, and if you ever want Squall to mount you, stop acting like a freaking bitch all the time, dumbass." Seifer said in a very cocky manner as he took a seat on the side part of the fountain. He crossed his legs and arms and held his head high. Rinoa's face became blank and she stepped in front of him.

"Seifer." She began. He looked to her and a hard smack came raging across his face causing his head to whip in that direction as if it was whip lash.

"ow." Seifer whispered as he touched his red cheek slightly.

"Never, ever talk to me like that!" Rinoa said venomously between clenched teeth.

"I'm the captain... I wouldn't do that again if I were you." He warned with a little smile on his face. She slapped him again, and just as hard.

"I don't give a flying fuck if you're the captain or not! Never talk to me that-UGH!" Rinoa was about to finish her sentence until Seifer grabbed her throat and pinned her against the side of a building.

"Look you little fucking bitch!" He began, his lips only centimeters from hers. "You talk to me like that again and I swear to god that I will kill you and kill that piece of shit boyfriend you have as well!" He told her venemously.

"UGH!" She cried again, trying to pull off Seifer's hand.

"Fuck off!" Squall demanded as he shoved Seifer off of Rinoa. Rinoa fell to the ground and gasped for air as she touched her neck slightly. It hurt, badly and there would be bruises later.

"Look, Puberty Boy! I know you just want to fuck her up! So do it already!" Seifer advised to him as he backed away slowly as Squall advanced. Squall remained silent. "I'm sure she's good! I could never get her into my bed." Seifer told him as he backed away ever faster. Squall looked to Rinoa out of the corner of his eye and saw the tears forming at her eye lids. He flipped Seifer off and ran back to Rinoa. He knelt by her and wrapped and arm around her shoulders gently.

"You shouldn't have done anything..." Rinoa told him.

"Don't say that." He insisted as he pulled her closer. She rested her head on his shoulder as the tears faded into nothingness.

"He just wanted to mess with you again." She reminded him.

"I know." There was silence after his short statement. Zell gulped uncomfortably in a corner and Seifer turned away from the scene and towards an odd satellite like dish. Suddenly, their ears picked up on foot steps and voices talking.

"Quick! Hide!" Squall commanded with the quietest voice he could muster. They ran to a nearby wall that was out of sight from the soldiers as they ran towards the satellite dish that had fascinated Seifer before. When they passed Seifer walked out from their hiding spot and rubbed his fingers to his chin.

"We're going to the mountain top." He declared as he already was walking towards the path.

"No! We're suppose to stay here!" Rinoa reminded him sternly.

"You're suppose to follow the captain." He reminded her.

"As much as I don't want to admit it... He's right." Zell said. "If we don't we might not become SeeDs." He warned, standing to follow Seifer. Squall looked to Rinoa, waiting for a response. She sighed reluctantly and stood with Squall and they walked ahead.

"This path is so long..." Rinoa whined as they continued up to the top. The view was gorgeous but they didn't have time to get a good look at it as they had to make quick time because the test was to end in another 4 hours. The path was cobble stone, but poorly placed as they were sticking up as if a light tornado had come through.

"HELP!" Someone screamed from ahead of them. "OH PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!!" They screamed again. They all ran to where the shouting was coming from, it was a side area from the path. There was an extremely large snake hovering over a poor defenseless man. Rinoa pulled out her pin wheel and shot at the snake. The snake ducked just in time, causing the pin wheel to miss and hit the rock behind it and return to her. The snake bent down and bit down on his leg and tossed him around like a rag doll. The snake smashed the mans body into a nearby rock several times, dropped it to the floor and swallowed him whole.

"Holy fucking shit..." Seifer exclaimed as he began to back away from the scene along with everyone else. The snake suddenly eyed them and hunger filled its eyes. They all screamed in terror as the snake charged. The all ran back the way they came, down the hill. The snake was surprisingly fast, despite its freakishly large body.

"I'M GONNA DIE!!" Zell cried in agony.

"Shut up and turn in there!" Squall commanded bravely, seeing the snake literally nipping at their heels. He pointed to a small cave up ahead. They all dove in, hoping to psyche the snake out because of their sudden disappearance. It worked as they saw the snake slither by from inside the cave. They all panted, mainly from being so scared as they sat in the pitch black of the cave. Suddenly a figure appeared in the cave entrance. Her hair was curly.

"Selphie!" Rinoa cried, happiness radiating from her voice. "You'll never guess what happened!" She said, running to her.

"The giant snake?" She asked.

"Yeah..." Rinoa said, slightly suspicious of how she knew. "How did you know?" She asked.

"I saw you guys running from it from the top of the mountain. It was pretty entertaining." She said with a little wink. Rinoa glared at her but Selphie just shoved the letter in her face. She stared at her quizzically and she was about to ask what it was until Seifer's voice rang up.

"This doesn't seem like a cave... the walls are steel." He pointed out, feeling the wall. It was pitch black so they couldn't see anything. Squall went to the wall and touched an odd protrusion. Suddenly, the entire 'cave' lit up, revealing it to be a gigantic elevator platform and began to rise.

"What did you Squall!?" Rinoa cried, concern ridden in her voice.

"I just pressed something!" He told her, not knowing what to do except press the button some more. The elevator rose to the top, which happened to be where they wanted to go all along, the satellite dish.

"How convenient!" Seifer said with a smug smirk. Two men were fixing some random wires on the side of a large machine.

"Got it!" One of the men cried. Suddenly, the structure began to shake.

"Oh crap... what now?" Zell asked as he fell to the ground from the shaking. From behind them, a gigantic needle shot through the dish, completing the satellite. A light blue beam shot from the tip of it and to the heavens. "What the... What did that do?" Zell questioned as he stood and turned to the two men.

"Intruders?" A man in blue asked.

"Yes, indeed I believe so." The red one said.

"Major Tweedle-Dee, what shall we do?" The blue one asked.

"Eliminate them Tweedle-Dum." Tweedle Dee answered. They brought their guns and aimed them at Rinoa and Seifer. Everyone dropped their weapons and rose their hands to show they had nothing and could do nothing.

"We're unarmed!" Squall protested. "We mean no harm!" He lied cleverly.

"Oh really?" Tweedle Dum questioned. He shot at Squall's leg, but missed by a mile and instead shot out into open air and towards the setting sun. "Is that painful?" He asked.

"... you missed me-I mean! OW! Oh God it hurts!" Squall cried in fake pain as he fell to the ground.

"Excellent!" Tweedle Dum laughed. The Tweedle's began to laugh in sync for a bit until a strong wind blew them into the wall, knocking them out.

"What was that?" Selphie asked, picking up her weapon along with everyone else. A loud roar followed her question, answering it.

"Oh shit..." Seifer cursed under his breath. "Back to the elevator, we're leaving!" He commanded as they all got to the elevator, pressed some random switch and it proceeded down. While it was going down Rinoa remembered the letter.

"Oh my..." She exclaimed quietly as she pulled out the letter and safety flashlight to read it with. "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!" She screamed as loud as she could. Everyone turned to her quizzically.

"What?" Squall asked.

"We have to be at the beach in..." She stopped to look at her watch. "5 MINUTES!!!" She screamed in panic. They all began to panic as well, as it was believed that they had a monster on their tail and they were going to be stuck on this damn place. The elevator and they all ran out, completely avoided the correct path and slid down the mountain side, towards the beach. Slowly, the sloping side became less and they could just run screaming like idiots down the hill side, which they did.

"Not..." Tweedle Dee began.

"... So..." Tweedle Dum continued.

"... fast... you..."

"... shits..." as Tweedle Dum said that, they both pulled out a controller with on large button on it and pressed it...

The monster roared behind them and they picked up their pace. It was like some kind of freakish giant bee or something of the sort. The beach was being neared and they secretly sighed with relief, well until a gigantic mechanical spider dropped down in front of them. They wanted to stop, but couldn't as there was no traction to stop with and the hill side was far to steep.

"Oh my..." Zell whispered. The mech raised its laser eye cannon above them and shot the bee like thing. It exploded and bee-whatever pieces flew everywhere. They continued to run towards the spider and just as they were about to crash into him, he flipped over them and behind.

"THANK YOU!!" Selphie cried as she waved her hand behind her to the gigantic mech. The spider immediately began to chase them after that.

"Great going Selphie." Zell scolded between breaths.

Down on the sub Quistis saw them all running for their lives from the giant spider and she shook her head in distaste and she readied the utterly massive chain gun for firing.

They finally reached the top roof that connected the hill to the beach and they all jumped down, Squall being the last one. They all ran for the blue sub, but Squall and Rinoa were slower and were far behind everyone.

"Come on Squall!" Rinoa pushed. "Just a bit more!" She exclaimed as she pointed to the sub with all their 'friends' waving for them running faster. Suddenly the spider picked its speed up and charged behind them. It targeted them both and began to charge its eye cannon once more, in preparation for killing them.

"Fuck off." Quistis whispered as she fired the chain gun, riddling the mammoth spider with bullet upon bullet upon bullet. The spider fell to the ground, holes still being drilled through it by the chain gun. Squall and Rinoa jumped for the already leaving sub. Rinoa made it completely on but Squall's lower half was stuck in the water and she helped him out of it. The doors sealed and the sub flew off just as the spider exploded into a thousand shards.

The two stared at each other and embraced and took their seats. Everyone was silent... until Selphie started laughing, which caused Rinoa and Zell to explode with laughter as well.

****

A/n: I bet this chapter felt rushed... 'cause I think it was rushed a bit. Whatever... I hope you all liked it!

IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!!! The SeeD graduates... who are they? Who passed the Field Test? But most importantly... who gets to go to the fabulous SeeD Graduation Ball!?