Fantasy Thunder Chapter Eight: Theta
By Blue Dragon
So I'll just wait until Eta and Theta are deployed, but not until they regroup. They are powerless.
"Zidane! Squall!" Oren called them to the front.
"Listen, I need to other fighters besides myself and Jessica. Not that we couldn't handle anything in there but we just wanted to get you fighting together. Will you come with us?"
"I was actually going to volunteer anyway. You may need me to help find the way around the MD level"
Oren seemed to relax.
"Good. Also, I need to say this. Although it may seem different, you all have seen far more combat than me, and are actually better fighters. Once I teach you to harness Zatach energy, however, I think I'll step down from my position. I've been feeling a little too bossy lately. I'll simply give you advice, but you should be able to do well once you can fend for yourselves. Just keep that under your hat for now, okay?"
Zidane and Squall both nodded.
"Great. Squall, will you lead us to the MD level, please?"
Squall and Seifer went up at the front, Regent Cid, Highwind, and the Al Bhed in the middle, and Kuja and Zidane behind them, and Oren with Jessica slightly lagging to purposely bring up the rear.
It was fortunate that Kuja had had a nice change of clothes from the castle, even if it did mean he had to dress like some king. The outfit he wore resembled Zidane's slightly, the royal red satin shirt for the upper body, a nice blue cape, and standard black linen pants. The only incomplete thing was the sheath, which held no sword. The Terran said that he preferred to fight with his hands, and by that he certainly meant magic.
A few students stared curiously, but went about their duties. The newcomers' eyes widened in awe at the beautiful interior of the garden, the shiny and colorful floors, the sea-blue fountains, and the amazing craftsmanship of the building added to the beauty from the outside. It was hard to believe that all of this packed into a building could remain stable when achieving flight.
Cid Highwind spoke up.
"And you mean to tell me that this thing can fly? I'll bet she's not as nimble as mine though. My ship even escaped an unstable crater that was prone to implode."
"Really now? My ship really ain't so nimble, but it can withstand quite mess. Why, it didn't have a scratch after flyin' from an explosion that seared through eight solid layers of sandrock. Al Bhed machina is the best material"
"Hah! I laugh at you both. Not only is my ship nimble enough to jump a mountain on a whim, but it is fast enough to circle the globe in three minutes, and strong enough to withstand a full body crash"
Highwind and the Al Bhed both stared at the Regent skeptically.
"Three minutes, huh? You must be one of two things. A really big liar, or the resident of a small-ass planet"
The Al Bhed got a laugh from Highwind's comment.
"Just because you all couldn't make a bird fly doesn't mean my ships cannot come close to defying the laws of aviation" was the Regents witty comeback.
"Hah! I bet your ship is so old, the Wright brothers threw it away!" Highwind countered.
"And probably so slow, it can't even beat the rotation of the planet" the Al Bhed added.
"Yours are so clunky, it needs eight miles of clearance for a thirty degree turn!" the Regent felt fury rising within.
When Squall and Seifer stopped at the elevator, they turned to notice that Kuja and Zidane were staring back.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"The Cids are insulting each other on who has the worst ship" Zidane answered without turning his head away.
"Hey! We're at the elevator. Save your arguing for a later time."
The Cids reluctantly turned away from each other, and the rest of the group followed Squall into the elevator. They packed themselves in, and Squall pushed the hidden button, realizing his mistake much too late.
"Uh-oh" he said.
Jessica looked at him.
"Uh-oh what?"
"Last time I was here with Zell and Rinoa, the cables got jammed because of the weight, but we got out before it crashed, now that we're all in here with combined weight."
Seifer made a sound of a projectile falling, and then crashing.
". . . Precisely"
As if on cue, the elevator stopped abruptly with a loud creek.
Squall rushed to the trap door on the floor and opened it.
"Hey, we all have to get out of here, NOW!"
Without hesitation, Squall dropped down the hatch followed by Seifer, Kuja, Zidane, the three Cids, Jessica, and finally Oren.
"MOVE! IT'LL FALL ANY MINUTE!"
The group rushed forward, and just as Squall said it crashed behind them with a loud bang on the dark metallic floor of the garden basement only a few seconds after they cleared the shaft.
"I guess it's a good thing I asked Squall to come then." Oren wiped off some stray oil on his coat.
"Okay, there might be monsters, here, but our party should prove more than a match for them. The problem is probably with the engines, so we'll go to the engine room first."
Squall was surprised when he heard no objections. It felt good to have some sort of control again.
The group moved ahead again, in the same formation, and most were surprised to know that the inside wasn't nearly as incredible as the upper levels of garden. It was just a gigantic room of metal walkways, railings and stairs with dim lighting and frequent oil pools.
"If anything comes, I want to see you all fight two at a time. Seifer fight with Zidane every even monster, and Squall fights with Kuja every odd. This will be a good time to learn to fight with unfamiliar allies," Oren said from the back.
"What about me?" asked Cid Highwind. "I can fight, I even have my Venus Gospel with me.
"You can probably fight, but we can't risk you being injured, because your expertise may be needed to fix the ship"
Cid was a little disappointed that he couldn't get the old blood flowing for a good flight again, but excited at the thought of the challenge working on an unfamiliar type of transportation vehicle.
Inside a circular room there was a ladder that spiraled down into darkness.
"Not as dark as I remember it" Seifer muttered.
"As you remember it? What are you talking about?" Squall questioned him suspiciously.
"Nothing at all, I just--what's the use? I was actually hiding out here, and left for Alexandria when the garden landed."
"Oh. I guess that that explains how you got there"
Seifer looked at him.
"You're not the least bit upset?"
"Why would I be?"
"Uh, never mind"
Before the party could precede any further, an Oilboyle burst through the flimsy wall, spurting oil from its gray skin.
"Oilboyle!" Squall withdrew the Lionheart and Kuja cracked his knuckles as the two jumped into combat.
***
The much bigger crowd still waiting outside of garden had grown tired and sat down in their respective social clusters.
Zell was fidgeting around, getting the urge to stand up and start shadow boxing.
"Geez! There's nothing to do!" He lay back on the grass and stared up at the sky.
***
Tifa lay on her back staring at the sky.
"Geez! There's nothing to do! What's taking them so long?"
Cloud sat in a more focused position, Indian style.
"You seem easily bored. Why don't you practice your moves or something?"
"But that's--" she cut herself off when she remembered about Zell claiming to be a martial artist.
"I bet I know. I'll just beat the crap out of Zell"
Cloud raised an eyebrow.
"That doesn't sound very nice. You barely know him, either"
"I was just kidding. But I doubt it'll be much of a challenge. How much fight could a teenager put up?" she stood up and brushed herself off, starting a pace towards Zell himself.
"Besides, maybe I can give him some pointers"
***
Zell stood up and was about to start shadow boxing, when he noticed Tifa walking in his direction. He stopped and eagerly awaited her arrival. She stopped a few feet in front of him and extended her hand.
"Hi. I believe you know me, but more formally, I'm Tifa Lockheart"
He shook her hand.
"I'm Zell. I was actually wondering--"
"--If you want to fight? That's what I came here for. But are you sure? I don't play around. I'm a real martial artist"
Perfect. She sees me as some kid that isn't for real.
"Okay then. Maybe you can show me some pointers," he said. One thing he had learned: let the enemy think you are weak. It makes it easier to bring them down.
The two walked off to an open area away from everybody else.
***
"Hey" Reno tapped Rude on the shoulder.
"Those two are going at it. Maybe we have ourselves some entertainment."
Rude said nothing, but stood up. The two walked over to watch. Gradually, everyone noticed what was going on and most of them went to watch the fight as well, all hungry for some form of entertainment.
"Hey!" Reno shouted.
"I put twenty gil on Tifa!"
Everyone was surprised to find that they all used the same currency.
Tidus set ten gil on the grass.
"Ten gill on Zell"
"You're on!"
The less serious types made bets of ten, twenty, and even thirty gil on the victor while the opponents were still warming up. Most people set bets on Tifa, but the people who set bets on Zell set higher quantities. The fighters' support was about equal. One had more supporters, the other with fewer supporters that had more faith.
***
Pyros sat back in his big armchair inside of the bridge of his ship that was currently in orbit over Gaia. Alpha through Zeta were still trashed, but that didn't matter! Eta was stronger than all six combined times two. Of course there was the worry that they would run off, but that was unlikely. He picked up his "Girl Next Door" magazine and started leafing through looking for a picture worthy of adding to his collection.
"Sir?"
He found his assistant Farfy staring up at him.
"Ahh!"
Pyros fell out of his chair and tried to hide his naughty magazine.
"I thought you were prohibited from entering! Does your incompetence have no end?!"
". . . Is that a trick question sir?"
"Do you want it to be a trick question?"
"Um, no?"
"WELL TOO BAD! NOW GET!"
"Okay sir. . . "
The tiny young man turned to head the other way, when he was stopped.
"Hold on Farfy"
Pyros sat back in his chair.
"Why did you come here in the first place?"
"I wanted to ask why the fighters were named after the Greek alphabet."
"Oh. You should know. Wait, never mind. They are simply code names to shield us from spies"
"What are their real names?"
"How do I know you're not a spy?"
The two locked eyes for a few minutes.
"Sir. . . ?"
"What now?"
"Can I, um"
"Spit it out"
"Can I take a piss?"
"DAMMIT! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
Farfy ran out of the room and scrambled to the washroom.
A few minutes later he came back.
"Look, you're distracting me from my reading"
"Sir, how about you tell me their names every time they're defeated?"
"Fine, fine. Okay, Alpha through Zeta were named, respectively. . . "
***
Laguna didn't know whom the strange man with a glow of blue was to order the president of Esthar around, but he sure was excited by the Esthar Garden that had almost been completed. Almost three times bigger than any normal garden, Esthar Garden resembled Galbadia except it was light and dark purple. The large circular shape proved very effective when sustaining damage.
The president sat in his chair overlooking his beautiful futuristic city, twiddling his thumbs and playing Chrono Cross.
Kiros came in and looked at him for a second.
"Loire, it's a wonder that you've been president for almost eighteen years. Especially when all you do is sit on your ass and play video games"
". . . Go away. You're going to make me lose."
"Laguna, you're needed to oversee the construction. You can't really just sit around here and play some game made by Skewerhard."
"That's SQUARESOFT, for the last time. You have everything against them. I've never heard you complain when I play a game made by some other company!"
"I just don't like Squaresoft. Their games suck, especially since they skipped making an FF8. What kind of company would make Final Fantasy one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, ???, nine, and then ten? It makes no sense. And they never listen to my complaints"
"Forget it man. They want me at the construction site?"
"They said they were almost done, and it was about the time for the occupants. It's taken almost four days to do this, you know. You might as well"
Kiros, Laguna's friend and analyst had always tried to keep him in line, but unfortunately the ways of Laguna would probably never change. The two walked down the hall suspended hundreds of feet above the city with transparent walls and ceilings, a setting that they had all long since grown used to.
"Hey, where's Ward?" Laguna realized that his other friend had been absent.
"The guys responsible for the construction were afraid if they sent both of us, we would never come back," Kiros said accusingly. He was referring to when he had slapped both Kiros and Ward on the back as some gesture of friendship, and almost sent them falling to their death.
"Come on! That was a one time thing!"
"You only have to kill someone once for them to die, you know"
Laguna couldn't argue with that.
***
Squall and Kuja jumped into action, ready for battle. The others stepped back, and watched Squall lead the attack by sinking his gunblade into the soft flesh of the spine of the Oilboyle. The thing gave out a scream and squirted oil in his eyes.
"I can't see!" Squall clutched his eyes, and swung wildly. With his skill, an quite a bit of luck, the blade struck the target again, sending it flailing about, straight into Regent Cid.
"Stop!" Kuja cast a stop spell, right before the impact. The monster hung above the cowering ruler like something straight out of a cartoon.
"Flare" he cast one more spell, the flames engulfing and destroying the Oilboyle, sending about a three gallons of oil spilling everywhere.
Oren blinked.
"Very good. It seems you are capable of working together."
Squall was still clutching his eyes.
"It'll be hours before I can see clearly again."
"Here" Seifer gave him some eye drops, which Squall haphazardly took and dropped in his eyes. Oil still remained around it, but the substance in his eyes had cleared up.
"Thanks"
Everyone continued down the ladder into an even lower level, which contained the wide steel platform suspended over a sea of oil, and the switch was still on green from when Squall pulled it. To the right there was a long platform that led to the engine room.
The place where the Oilboyles cut us off last time, he thought.
Cid Highwind cracked his knuckles, eager to get his hands on some sort of equipment.
"None of you can speak Japanese, right?" Highwind asked.
The Regent could, but he didn't shake his head, just to see what this guy would try.
"Good. Even though I respect the regent here, for being a great kasuya"
"Nani! I mean, what! You vile insect, I happen to know what that means"
"Heh heh"
"Take that back immediately!"
"We're almost there," said Squall. "You all can argue later."
Squall was relieved when no monster attacked them on the way, but he got a much bigger surprise when they reached the engine room.
"Sweet mother of pearl!" Cid the Al Bhed yelled. There was a snake the size of Dali coiled up around the engines.
***
Zell and Tifa finished their warm up exercises. There were a few cheers, now that it was finally time for action.
Tifa watched out for a common mistake among any newbie, which was to charge immediately without any indication of the opponent's technique, but there was none. Eventually the two started circling each other, and Tifa took on her fighting stance.
Now that Zell had a tiny idea of the kind of attacks she was focused on, he felt it was safe to close in. He assumed his semi-boxing stance, doing a few quick punches, made sure that his Ergheiz were on tightly, and then started his approach. Tifa beat him to it, and came at a swift steady run. For a few seconds the two were a few feet apart, and then, suddenly, she brought up a surprise kick.
Zell brought up his knee and blocked, then smashed forward with the palm of his hand, expecting it to be a knockout, right to the head.
She somehow ducked, thrust her arm upward to break his guard, and grabbed him by the torso. Before he could react, Zell found himself thrown up into the sky, and sprawling head first into the ground.
He performed a trick that was very convenient for this, and balanced his hand as he made impact, and carefully flipped himself back onto the ground.
There were "oohs" among the crowed with the impressive movement, and Zell earned a surprised look from his opponent.
"Not bad" she said.
She flipped up, and grabbed both sides of Zell's neck with her feet, preparing to twist him.
Faster than light, he took hold of her ankles, and started swinging her around at a high speed.
"How's this!" he tossed her high into the air, his opponent sprawling around wildly. Then, as if from nowhere, she stabilized herself, and landed on her feet in a crouch. A wild gasp escaped the onlookers.
Both were out of tricks; including the easy one hit kills. It would have to be a close brawl of skill.
At the same time, both ran forward and went into a flurry.
"Dolphin Blow!"
Simultaneously they both performed the powerful combo.
Tifa somersaulted right into Zell's chin, which he countered with Mach Kick.
Suddenly the two launched into a flurry of fists and legs, seemingly a jumble and a blur, a few drops of blood flying, landing kicks and punches here and there.
"Zell! Use My Final Heaven!" Irvine yelled from the sidelines.
"Tifa! Final Heaven!" was Cloud's advice.
I'd love to, she thought, but I'll be wide open while I'm--
Her thoughts were interrupted when Zell raced away, leaving a trail of smoke.
"That's it Zell!" Irvine yelled off into the distance.
What the?
"Tifa! Get ready!" Cloud encouraged. She prepared for her ultimate attack.
Zell smiled, wind rushing at his face as he ran so fast he left smoke and circled the globe. His target was in sight; she was approaching at incredible speed, three hundred miles.one hundred and fifty miles. . . . . . WHAM!
Both of their fists connected as both smashed with their ultimate attacks, concentrating all their energy into their fists, knowing that a single bit of muscle movement could result in the loss. A burst of red energy temporarily flew, amazing everyone.
"This is it! The winner and loser will be determined! Come on gil!"
Reno had never imagined himself hoping a member of AVALANCHE would succeed in anything, especially Tifa. But now he had twenty gil riding on her victory.
The blows gradually started getting weaker, and both fighters' forces grew less and less strong, soon diminishing completely. In a few seconds both withdrew and grabbed their arms, rubbing them briskly and panting heavily.
"Geez. You are a martial artist," Zell said.
"You're pretty fun to fight. The only guy other than Zangan that I know of that I can't beat."
***
"My word! It's bigger than my ship! Perhaps it wasn't a mistake to leave Eiko!"
Seifer let out a whistle.
"I guess we have our problem. Who fights?"
"Stay on plan. Seifer and Zidane, see what you can do" Oren explained calmly.
The snake was a pure black one, coiled around the many cylindrical engines. Its body was around forty feet long, and maybe twelve feet wide. It had been sleeping, but everyone got a shock when it opened its eyes, being bloodshot red.
Seifer engaged without hesitation. He ran along the engines that were at extreme angles, performing a nice display of acrobatics. He cast a fire spell that didn't impact immediately, and the snake seemed to be frozen in place. Time seemed to slow down as Seifer jumped, spun in the air, and slammed the bloated head.
"That was my Demon Slice" Seifer landed next to Zidane.
"Impressive, but how about--"
The angered reptile reared back its head, and with and unearthly hiss brought it forward extremely fast down on the group.
"--My Grand Lethal!" A trail of fire and destruction led towards the black horror, and then exploded when it came under it. The head seemed to become black oily blood and rained down on the party.
"Disgusting!" Squall yelled. He tried to brush off all the oil that was quickly drying.
"Someone needs to clean this place of monsters once in a while. That thing must have been growing for a helluva long time," Highwind added.
Everything was pretty fine, until a large black brain landed on the party and turned into tiny chunks.
"My word" Jessica struggled to not regurgitate at the disgusting sight and brush all of the slime off.
"Geez, I wouldn't call it very smart with a brain like that" Seifer gave another lame joke.
"Not very smart being really dumb" Squall added dryly.
With a glow the engines began whirring to life.
"I guess that was the only problem." The Regent looked around.
"I was dragged down here for nothing!"
"Calm down, guy" Kuja requested.
"Wait a minute! Your Kuja! What is he doing here!"?
"Forget it, man," said Zidane.
"He's cool for now"
"I thought you were dead. . . "
"And I thought you were an oglop/frog, so there"
The ruler had no response to that comment.
***
Everyone was disappointed that the great fight they had expected was indeed great, but now over and leaving everyone with no source of entertainment.
Amarant sat with his arms and legs crossed.
"Did you all notice something?"
His party looked at him.
"Kuja was over there"
"I thought so too" Freya adjusted her hat.
"But he and Zidane seemed to ignore each other."
"I admit that he has some strange ways, and I still think that he is nothing but a bumpkin who hindered my duty to protect the princess, but I never thought he was capable of such stupidity"
"Maybe that's not the case!" Eiko forcefully interjected.
"Zidane said something about rescuing him back at that tree, and if I know him (and I do) then he would have gotten him out of there alive. As much as I hate Kuja, I'm willing to trust him, well not really, but tolerate him if Zidane is."
"I think so too" said Vivi.
"He's gotten us so many places in the past based what he believed, and even if it seemed boneheaded it always turned out okay in the end." Dagger added in her input.
It was anonymously agreed that they would trust his judgment for now, but later they were definitely going to do something about Kuja. He certainly couldn't be running around free!
Everyone soon lost excitement from the fight, also further disappointed that the seemed too wiped out to go any further. In a matter of minutes they were all sitting down again, with more frequent complaints of how there was nothing to do and the fact that it was taking the guys too long.
All anxiousness was remedied when they heard the humming of the garden's engines.
"Finally!"'s and "It's about time"'s and "Hallelujah!"'s rung out among the crowd. A few minutes later, Regent Cid, Cid Highwind, Cid the Al Bhed, Seifer, Squall, Zidane, Kuja, Jessica, and Oren resurfaced, covered with oil.
"The garden is mobile again. Just remember that I am the commander of the ship. Everyone come on in" Squall said.
Squall's allies came in first, followed by everyone else, completely jamming the entrances. The residents of garden had been given an explanation, but were still in shock to see so many people. There weren't nearly enough rooms for everyone! As a matter of fact, the hall would be filled with the sleeping figures of these new arrivals come night.
Squall noticed this and turned to Oren who was still at the entranceway.
"We don't have enough room in here. What will be done?"
"Like I said. We make the jump back to your planet, where we will find Esthar Garden. It's stationed by the Great Salt Lake. The rooms there are gigantic, and enough for everyone to get there own personal one. I guarantee that it will satisfy. I talked to Laguna."
Squall still couldn't understand why Oren would talk to a bonehead like Laguna, but trusted his judgment.
Seifer forgot about the situation and walked right in.
In seconds every present student or SeeD aimed ever firearm, blade, impact device, or other weapon of harm in his direction, a look of plain surprise on their face.
"Commander! Can we have an explanation?"
"That's not really Seifer, although it may look like it. Just a body double trained to extract information."
"Right! Just a body double. I'll go take off my wig, even though it does make me look extremely handsome" Seifer disguised his voice and walked slowly.
The SeeDs hesitantly went about their business, asking questions to the visitors who were gawking at the scenery of the garden.
It was certainly time. In a few seconds, everyone would see this Esthar Garden that was heavily bragged about, and the 'training' would commence.
____________________________________________________________________________
AN: And without further ado! The jump into Esthar Garden, and some inter- game interaction.in the next chapter.
By Blue Dragon
So I'll just wait until Eta and Theta are deployed, but not until they regroup. They are powerless.
"Zidane! Squall!" Oren called them to the front.
"Listen, I need to other fighters besides myself and Jessica. Not that we couldn't handle anything in there but we just wanted to get you fighting together. Will you come with us?"
"I was actually going to volunteer anyway. You may need me to help find the way around the MD level"
Oren seemed to relax.
"Good. Also, I need to say this. Although it may seem different, you all have seen far more combat than me, and are actually better fighters. Once I teach you to harness Zatach energy, however, I think I'll step down from my position. I've been feeling a little too bossy lately. I'll simply give you advice, but you should be able to do well once you can fend for yourselves. Just keep that under your hat for now, okay?"
Zidane and Squall both nodded.
"Great. Squall, will you lead us to the MD level, please?"
Squall and Seifer went up at the front, Regent Cid, Highwind, and the Al Bhed in the middle, and Kuja and Zidane behind them, and Oren with Jessica slightly lagging to purposely bring up the rear.
It was fortunate that Kuja had had a nice change of clothes from the castle, even if it did mean he had to dress like some king. The outfit he wore resembled Zidane's slightly, the royal red satin shirt for the upper body, a nice blue cape, and standard black linen pants. The only incomplete thing was the sheath, which held no sword. The Terran said that he preferred to fight with his hands, and by that he certainly meant magic.
A few students stared curiously, but went about their duties. The newcomers' eyes widened in awe at the beautiful interior of the garden, the shiny and colorful floors, the sea-blue fountains, and the amazing craftsmanship of the building added to the beauty from the outside. It was hard to believe that all of this packed into a building could remain stable when achieving flight.
Cid Highwind spoke up.
"And you mean to tell me that this thing can fly? I'll bet she's not as nimble as mine though. My ship even escaped an unstable crater that was prone to implode."
"Really now? My ship really ain't so nimble, but it can withstand quite mess. Why, it didn't have a scratch after flyin' from an explosion that seared through eight solid layers of sandrock. Al Bhed machina is the best material"
"Hah! I laugh at you both. Not only is my ship nimble enough to jump a mountain on a whim, but it is fast enough to circle the globe in three minutes, and strong enough to withstand a full body crash"
Highwind and the Al Bhed both stared at the Regent skeptically.
"Three minutes, huh? You must be one of two things. A really big liar, or the resident of a small-ass planet"
The Al Bhed got a laugh from Highwind's comment.
"Just because you all couldn't make a bird fly doesn't mean my ships cannot come close to defying the laws of aviation" was the Regents witty comeback.
"Hah! I bet your ship is so old, the Wright brothers threw it away!" Highwind countered.
"And probably so slow, it can't even beat the rotation of the planet" the Al Bhed added.
"Yours are so clunky, it needs eight miles of clearance for a thirty degree turn!" the Regent felt fury rising within.
When Squall and Seifer stopped at the elevator, they turned to notice that Kuja and Zidane were staring back.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"The Cids are insulting each other on who has the worst ship" Zidane answered without turning his head away.
"Hey! We're at the elevator. Save your arguing for a later time."
The Cids reluctantly turned away from each other, and the rest of the group followed Squall into the elevator. They packed themselves in, and Squall pushed the hidden button, realizing his mistake much too late.
"Uh-oh" he said.
Jessica looked at him.
"Uh-oh what?"
"Last time I was here with Zell and Rinoa, the cables got jammed because of the weight, but we got out before it crashed, now that we're all in here with combined weight."
Seifer made a sound of a projectile falling, and then crashing.
". . . Precisely"
As if on cue, the elevator stopped abruptly with a loud creek.
Squall rushed to the trap door on the floor and opened it.
"Hey, we all have to get out of here, NOW!"
Without hesitation, Squall dropped down the hatch followed by Seifer, Kuja, Zidane, the three Cids, Jessica, and finally Oren.
"MOVE! IT'LL FALL ANY MINUTE!"
The group rushed forward, and just as Squall said it crashed behind them with a loud bang on the dark metallic floor of the garden basement only a few seconds after they cleared the shaft.
"I guess it's a good thing I asked Squall to come then." Oren wiped off some stray oil on his coat.
"Okay, there might be monsters, here, but our party should prove more than a match for them. The problem is probably with the engines, so we'll go to the engine room first."
Squall was surprised when he heard no objections. It felt good to have some sort of control again.
The group moved ahead again, in the same formation, and most were surprised to know that the inside wasn't nearly as incredible as the upper levels of garden. It was just a gigantic room of metal walkways, railings and stairs with dim lighting and frequent oil pools.
"If anything comes, I want to see you all fight two at a time. Seifer fight with Zidane every even monster, and Squall fights with Kuja every odd. This will be a good time to learn to fight with unfamiliar allies," Oren said from the back.
"What about me?" asked Cid Highwind. "I can fight, I even have my Venus Gospel with me.
"You can probably fight, but we can't risk you being injured, because your expertise may be needed to fix the ship"
Cid was a little disappointed that he couldn't get the old blood flowing for a good flight again, but excited at the thought of the challenge working on an unfamiliar type of transportation vehicle.
Inside a circular room there was a ladder that spiraled down into darkness.
"Not as dark as I remember it" Seifer muttered.
"As you remember it? What are you talking about?" Squall questioned him suspiciously.
"Nothing at all, I just--what's the use? I was actually hiding out here, and left for Alexandria when the garden landed."
"Oh. I guess that that explains how you got there"
Seifer looked at him.
"You're not the least bit upset?"
"Why would I be?"
"Uh, never mind"
Before the party could precede any further, an Oilboyle burst through the flimsy wall, spurting oil from its gray skin.
"Oilboyle!" Squall withdrew the Lionheart and Kuja cracked his knuckles as the two jumped into combat.
***
The much bigger crowd still waiting outside of garden had grown tired and sat down in their respective social clusters.
Zell was fidgeting around, getting the urge to stand up and start shadow boxing.
"Geez! There's nothing to do!" He lay back on the grass and stared up at the sky.
***
Tifa lay on her back staring at the sky.
"Geez! There's nothing to do! What's taking them so long?"
Cloud sat in a more focused position, Indian style.
"You seem easily bored. Why don't you practice your moves or something?"
"But that's--" she cut herself off when she remembered about Zell claiming to be a martial artist.
"I bet I know. I'll just beat the crap out of Zell"
Cloud raised an eyebrow.
"That doesn't sound very nice. You barely know him, either"
"I was just kidding. But I doubt it'll be much of a challenge. How much fight could a teenager put up?" she stood up and brushed herself off, starting a pace towards Zell himself.
"Besides, maybe I can give him some pointers"
***
Zell stood up and was about to start shadow boxing, when he noticed Tifa walking in his direction. He stopped and eagerly awaited her arrival. She stopped a few feet in front of him and extended her hand.
"Hi. I believe you know me, but more formally, I'm Tifa Lockheart"
He shook her hand.
"I'm Zell. I was actually wondering--"
"--If you want to fight? That's what I came here for. But are you sure? I don't play around. I'm a real martial artist"
Perfect. She sees me as some kid that isn't for real.
"Okay then. Maybe you can show me some pointers," he said. One thing he had learned: let the enemy think you are weak. It makes it easier to bring them down.
The two walked off to an open area away from everybody else.
***
"Hey" Reno tapped Rude on the shoulder.
"Those two are going at it. Maybe we have ourselves some entertainment."
Rude said nothing, but stood up. The two walked over to watch. Gradually, everyone noticed what was going on and most of them went to watch the fight as well, all hungry for some form of entertainment.
"Hey!" Reno shouted.
"I put twenty gil on Tifa!"
Everyone was surprised to find that they all used the same currency.
Tidus set ten gil on the grass.
"Ten gill on Zell"
"You're on!"
The less serious types made bets of ten, twenty, and even thirty gil on the victor while the opponents were still warming up. Most people set bets on Tifa, but the people who set bets on Zell set higher quantities. The fighters' support was about equal. One had more supporters, the other with fewer supporters that had more faith.
***
Pyros sat back in his big armchair inside of the bridge of his ship that was currently in orbit over Gaia. Alpha through Zeta were still trashed, but that didn't matter! Eta was stronger than all six combined times two. Of course there was the worry that they would run off, but that was unlikely. He picked up his "Girl Next Door" magazine and started leafing through looking for a picture worthy of adding to his collection.
"Sir?"
He found his assistant Farfy staring up at him.
"Ahh!"
Pyros fell out of his chair and tried to hide his naughty magazine.
"I thought you were prohibited from entering! Does your incompetence have no end?!"
". . . Is that a trick question sir?"
"Do you want it to be a trick question?"
"Um, no?"
"WELL TOO BAD! NOW GET!"
"Okay sir. . . "
The tiny young man turned to head the other way, when he was stopped.
"Hold on Farfy"
Pyros sat back in his chair.
"Why did you come here in the first place?"
"I wanted to ask why the fighters were named after the Greek alphabet."
"Oh. You should know. Wait, never mind. They are simply code names to shield us from spies"
"What are their real names?"
"How do I know you're not a spy?"
The two locked eyes for a few minutes.
"Sir. . . ?"
"What now?"
"Can I, um"
"Spit it out"
"Can I take a piss?"
"DAMMIT! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
Farfy ran out of the room and scrambled to the washroom.
A few minutes later he came back.
"Look, you're distracting me from my reading"
"Sir, how about you tell me their names every time they're defeated?"
"Fine, fine. Okay, Alpha through Zeta were named, respectively. . . "
***
Laguna didn't know whom the strange man with a glow of blue was to order the president of Esthar around, but he sure was excited by the Esthar Garden that had almost been completed. Almost three times bigger than any normal garden, Esthar Garden resembled Galbadia except it was light and dark purple. The large circular shape proved very effective when sustaining damage.
The president sat in his chair overlooking his beautiful futuristic city, twiddling his thumbs and playing Chrono Cross.
Kiros came in and looked at him for a second.
"Loire, it's a wonder that you've been president for almost eighteen years. Especially when all you do is sit on your ass and play video games"
". . . Go away. You're going to make me lose."
"Laguna, you're needed to oversee the construction. You can't really just sit around here and play some game made by Skewerhard."
"That's SQUARESOFT, for the last time. You have everything against them. I've never heard you complain when I play a game made by some other company!"
"I just don't like Squaresoft. Their games suck, especially since they skipped making an FF8. What kind of company would make Final Fantasy one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, ???, nine, and then ten? It makes no sense. And they never listen to my complaints"
"Forget it man. They want me at the construction site?"
"They said they were almost done, and it was about the time for the occupants. It's taken almost four days to do this, you know. You might as well"
Kiros, Laguna's friend and analyst had always tried to keep him in line, but unfortunately the ways of Laguna would probably never change. The two walked down the hall suspended hundreds of feet above the city with transparent walls and ceilings, a setting that they had all long since grown used to.
"Hey, where's Ward?" Laguna realized that his other friend had been absent.
"The guys responsible for the construction were afraid if they sent both of us, we would never come back," Kiros said accusingly. He was referring to when he had slapped both Kiros and Ward on the back as some gesture of friendship, and almost sent them falling to their death.
"Come on! That was a one time thing!"
"You only have to kill someone once for them to die, you know"
Laguna couldn't argue with that.
***
Squall and Kuja jumped into action, ready for battle. The others stepped back, and watched Squall lead the attack by sinking his gunblade into the soft flesh of the spine of the Oilboyle. The thing gave out a scream and squirted oil in his eyes.
"I can't see!" Squall clutched his eyes, and swung wildly. With his skill, an quite a bit of luck, the blade struck the target again, sending it flailing about, straight into Regent Cid.
"Stop!" Kuja cast a stop spell, right before the impact. The monster hung above the cowering ruler like something straight out of a cartoon.
"Flare" he cast one more spell, the flames engulfing and destroying the Oilboyle, sending about a three gallons of oil spilling everywhere.
Oren blinked.
"Very good. It seems you are capable of working together."
Squall was still clutching his eyes.
"It'll be hours before I can see clearly again."
"Here" Seifer gave him some eye drops, which Squall haphazardly took and dropped in his eyes. Oil still remained around it, but the substance in his eyes had cleared up.
"Thanks"
Everyone continued down the ladder into an even lower level, which contained the wide steel platform suspended over a sea of oil, and the switch was still on green from when Squall pulled it. To the right there was a long platform that led to the engine room.
The place where the Oilboyles cut us off last time, he thought.
Cid Highwind cracked his knuckles, eager to get his hands on some sort of equipment.
"None of you can speak Japanese, right?" Highwind asked.
The Regent could, but he didn't shake his head, just to see what this guy would try.
"Good. Even though I respect the regent here, for being a great kasuya"
"Nani! I mean, what! You vile insect, I happen to know what that means"
"Heh heh"
"Take that back immediately!"
"We're almost there," said Squall. "You all can argue later."
Squall was relieved when no monster attacked them on the way, but he got a much bigger surprise when they reached the engine room.
"Sweet mother of pearl!" Cid the Al Bhed yelled. There was a snake the size of Dali coiled up around the engines.
***
Zell and Tifa finished their warm up exercises. There were a few cheers, now that it was finally time for action.
Tifa watched out for a common mistake among any newbie, which was to charge immediately without any indication of the opponent's technique, but there was none. Eventually the two started circling each other, and Tifa took on her fighting stance.
Now that Zell had a tiny idea of the kind of attacks she was focused on, he felt it was safe to close in. He assumed his semi-boxing stance, doing a few quick punches, made sure that his Ergheiz were on tightly, and then started his approach. Tifa beat him to it, and came at a swift steady run. For a few seconds the two were a few feet apart, and then, suddenly, she brought up a surprise kick.
Zell brought up his knee and blocked, then smashed forward with the palm of his hand, expecting it to be a knockout, right to the head.
She somehow ducked, thrust her arm upward to break his guard, and grabbed him by the torso. Before he could react, Zell found himself thrown up into the sky, and sprawling head first into the ground.
He performed a trick that was very convenient for this, and balanced his hand as he made impact, and carefully flipped himself back onto the ground.
There were "oohs" among the crowed with the impressive movement, and Zell earned a surprised look from his opponent.
"Not bad" she said.
She flipped up, and grabbed both sides of Zell's neck with her feet, preparing to twist him.
Faster than light, he took hold of her ankles, and started swinging her around at a high speed.
"How's this!" he tossed her high into the air, his opponent sprawling around wildly. Then, as if from nowhere, she stabilized herself, and landed on her feet in a crouch. A wild gasp escaped the onlookers.
Both were out of tricks; including the easy one hit kills. It would have to be a close brawl of skill.
At the same time, both ran forward and went into a flurry.
"Dolphin Blow!"
Simultaneously they both performed the powerful combo.
Tifa somersaulted right into Zell's chin, which he countered with Mach Kick.
Suddenly the two launched into a flurry of fists and legs, seemingly a jumble and a blur, a few drops of blood flying, landing kicks and punches here and there.
"Zell! Use My Final Heaven!" Irvine yelled from the sidelines.
"Tifa! Final Heaven!" was Cloud's advice.
I'd love to, she thought, but I'll be wide open while I'm--
Her thoughts were interrupted when Zell raced away, leaving a trail of smoke.
"That's it Zell!" Irvine yelled off into the distance.
What the?
"Tifa! Get ready!" Cloud encouraged. She prepared for her ultimate attack.
Zell smiled, wind rushing at his face as he ran so fast he left smoke and circled the globe. His target was in sight; she was approaching at incredible speed, three hundred miles.one hundred and fifty miles. . . . . . WHAM!
Both of their fists connected as both smashed with their ultimate attacks, concentrating all their energy into their fists, knowing that a single bit of muscle movement could result in the loss. A burst of red energy temporarily flew, amazing everyone.
"This is it! The winner and loser will be determined! Come on gil!"
Reno had never imagined himself hoping a member of AVALANCHE would succeed in anything, especially Tifa. But now he had twenty gil riding on her victory.
The blows gradually started getting weaker, and both fighters' forces grew less and less strong, soon diminishing completely. In a few seconds both withdrew and grabbed their arms, rubbing them briskly and panting heavily.
"Geez. You are a martial artist," Zell said.
"You're pretty fun to fight. The only guy other than Zangan that I know of that I can't beat."
***
"My word! It's bigger than my ship! Perhaps it wasn't a mistake to leave Eiko!"
Seifer let out a whistle.
"I guess we have our problem. Who fights?"
"Stay on plan. Seifer and Zidane, see what you can do" Oren explained calmly.
The snake was a pure black one, coiled around the many cylindrical engines. Its body was around forty feet long, and maybe twelve feet wide. It had been sleeping, but everyone got a shock when it opened its eyes, being bloodshot red.
Seifer engaged without hesitation. He ran along the engines that were at extreme angles, performing a nice display of acrobatics. He cast a fire spell that didn't impact immediately, and the snake seemed to be frozen in place. Time seemed to slow down as Seifer jumped, spun in the air, and slammed the bloated head.
"That was my Demon Slice" Seifer landed next to Zidane.
"Impressive, but how about--"
The angered reptile reared back its head, and with and unearthly hiss brought it forward extremely fast down on the group.
"--My Grand Lethal!" A trail of fire and destruction led towards the black horror, and then exploded when it came under it. The head seemed to become black oily blood and rained down on the party.
"Disgusting!" Squall yelled. He tried to brush off all the oil that was quickly drying.
"Someone needs to clean this place of monsters once in a while. That thing must have been growing for a helluva long time," Highwind added.
Everything was pretty fine, until a large black brain landed on the party and turned into tiny chunks.
"My word" Jessica struggled to not regurgitate at the disgusting sight and brush all of the slime off.
"Geez, I wouldn't call it very smart with a brain like that" Seifer gave another lame joke.
"Not very smart being really dumb" Squall added dryly.
With a glow the engines began whirring to life.
"I guess that was the only problem." The Regent looked around.
"I was dragged down here for nothing!"
"Calm down, guy" Kuja requested.
"Wait a minute! Your Kuja! What is he doing here!"?
"Forget it, man," said Zidane.
"He's cool for now"
"I thought you were dead. . . "
"And I thought you were an oglop/frog, so there"
The ruler had no response to that comment.
***
Everyone was disappointed that the great fight they had expected was indeed great, but now over and leaving everyone with no source of entertainment.
Amarant sat with his arms and legs crossed.
"Did you all notice something?"
His party looked at him.
"Kuja was over there"
"I thought so too" Freya adjusted her hat.
"But he and Zidane seemed to ignore each other."
"I admit that he has some strange ways, and I still think that he is nothing but a bumpkin who hindered my duty to protect the princess, but I never thought he was capable of such stupidity"
"Maybe that's not the case!" Eiko forcefully interjected.
"Zidane said something about rescuing him back at that tree, and if I know him (and I do) then he would have gotten him out of there alive. As much as I hate Kuja, I'm willing to trust him, well not really, but tolerate him if Zidane is."
"I think so too" said Vivi.
"He's gotten us so many places in the past based what he believed, and even if it seemed boneheaded it always turned out okay in the end." Dagger added in her input.
It was anonymously agreed that they would trust his judgment for now, but later they were definitely going to do something about Kuja. He certainly couldn't be running around free!
Everyone soon lost excitement from the fight, also further disappointed that the seemed too wiped out to go any further. In a matter of minutes they were all sitting down again, with more frequent complaints of how there was nothing to do and the fact that it was taking the guys too long.
All anxiousness was remedied when they heard the humming of the garden's engines.
"Finally!"'s and "It's about time"'s and "Hallelujah!"'s rung out among the crowd. A few minutes later, Regent Cid, Cid Highwind, Cid the Al Bhed, Seifer, Squall, Zidane, Kuja, Jessica, and Oren resurfaced, covered with oil.
"The garden is mobile again. Just remember that I am the commander of the ship. Everyone come on in" Squall said.
Squall's allies came in first, followed by everyone else, completely jamming the entrances. The residents of garden had been given an explanation, but were still in shock to see so many people. There weren't nearly enough rooms for everyone! As a matter of fact, the hall would be filled with the sleeping figures of these new arrivals come night.
Squall noticed this and turned to Oren who was still at the entranceway.
"We don't have enough room in here. What will be done?"
"Like I said. We make the jump back to your planet, where we will find Esthar Garden. It's stationed by the Great Salt Lake. The rooms there are gigantic, and enough for everyone to get there own personal one. I guarantee that it will satisfy. I talked to Laguna."
Squall still couldn't understand why Oren would talk to a bonehead like Laguna, but trusted his judgment.
Seifer forgot about the situation and walked right in.
In seconds every present student or SeeD aimed ever firearm, blade, impact device, or other weapon of harm in his direction, a look of plain surprise on their face.
"Commander! Can we have an explanation?"
"That's not really Seifer, although it may look like it. Just a body double trained to extract information."
"Right! Just a body double. I'll go take off my wig, even though it does make me look extremely handsome" Seifer disguised his voice and walked slowly.
The SeeDs hesitantly went about their business, asking questions to the visitors who were gawking at the scenery of the garden.
It was certainly time. In a few seconds, everyone would see this Esthar Garden that was heavily bragged about, and the 'training' would commence.
____________________________________________________________________________
AN: And without further ado! The jump into Esthar Garden, and some inter- game interaction.in the next chapter.