Okay, sorry this took awhile to get up. I really wanted to do a few chapters during my break but I really didn't have the time. It takes me a few hours to write a chapter, and my boyfriend was only home a few days, so I didn't want to make him suffer and watch a movie (or two) while I wrote out one of these chapters. ^_^
To Everyone: I'm still looking at the themes. It's going to take a bit to listen to them all, but I'll let you know what I think of them as soon as I can. So far the all look great. Also, I think I'm changing Jen's theme from Fallen by Sarah McLauchlin to Faint by Linkin Park. Faint is just much more of her outside personality as WELL as her inner. So I think I'll do that. Fallen would be more of her alone, no one around theme.
To c-kai: Great pic! Love Mal!! And to everyone who the page doesn't work for, and hasn't figured it out, put another ww in front of the w. ^_^
To Antimony Sulfide: I'll be sending you a review/message soon. I just have to get my lazy butt in gear.
To raistlin23: poke poke poke poke poke. . . Told you I'd do this. . . poke poke poke poke poke poke poke. . . When are you going to review ON THE SITE? ::tilts head like the pic of Farfie watching Schu eat the cookies:: poke poke poke. . . I don't care if you beta read it or not, it would be nice to get you to submit an actual review. . .poke poke pokepokepokepokepoke. . . ::continues:: ^_~ Sorry to everyone that endured that. Raistlin23 I know in real life. He's my boyfriend. ::giggles:: pokepokepokepoke REVIEW DAMNIT!!!! -.-
Also just want to say that the groupings took me FOREVER to come up with. They are not permanent, so just bear with me on it. If you don't like some of groupings I'm sorry. Hope I didn't forget anyone! . And now to just let you know who the ten Circle Members are (actually nine, one of them will be revealed later. ::thinks:: yeah. . . some of the people's stats weren't posted here, but they will be soon (no BAX, not the OTHERS ^_~)) : Aerick Bosnar, Zack Daghar, Daniel Mendoza, Matt Ranedrum, Davik Matale, Victor Degrail, Xag Komdosuki, Oni Arashi, and Sabrynthe. . . SOOOO SORRY if I spelled any wrong. I'm not looking at the names right now.
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Jen looked up after a few minutes while Daniel rifled through the papers and looked at Lisa. "Lisa, I want you and Vincent to come with me." She announced suddenly. Daniel looked up.
"But I thought-"
"No. If we run into Aerick while we're over there we're going to need an array of weapons. He gets flustered around swords."
"Alright. So who wants to come with me then?" He asked, looking around. Ebonie finally stood up cheerfully.
"We'll go!" She said smiling, pointing at Tidus and Yuna. He frowned for a second and shrugged, putting the folder for Zack off to the side. He handed Jen the one on Aerick and slid Daniel Mendoza's over to Eric, who stepped forward to collect it. Zuzu picked up Matt's which slid over to her and she opened it, frowning as she looked at all the information on him.
"Ok. Davik Matale is in Saudi Arabia." He looked over to Shock who nodded. "And who do you want to take?"
"We'll go!" Rikku said happily, pointing to Yuffie. Shock frowned at them.
"I don't think that's a wise idea."
"Why not?"
"Because it's not safe."
"Oh please! If you had any idea what we went through on our own worlds!" Yuffie started, crossing her arms.
"I don't think-"
"We're going." Rikku said, looking at Daniel, who looked at Shock. Shock sighed, shaking his head, defeated.
"I'll go too, ya?" Wakka said. Alex nodded.
"Me too."
"Same here!" Blade called from her spot with the girls. Daniel slid the folder over to Shock who looked through it showing it to Rikku and Yuffie.
"Xag Komdosuki is in England."
"That would be me." Oren said, waiting for the folder to be slid over to him. Cloud nodded, looking at Tifa.
"We'll go with him."
"Anyone else?"
"We will." Alessa said, pointing to herself and Ryu, who nodded. Daniel looked back down at the papers.
"Oni Arashi is in Japan."
"That would be me. Don't have anywhere else to go as of yet. I'd like to see this Oni. Heard much about him recently." Lexiter said, taking the manila folder handed to her. She opened it and peered inside, grinning. "You all know the routine. Who's coming?"
"I will." Auron said softly. Tidus looked at him surprised for a moment before a grin broke out over his face. Angel, Chaos Angel and Seifer all stepped forward while Zidane, Dagger and Vivi raised their hands briefly.
"Didn't think that many people would volunteer to go with me." She snorted. Jen looked down at the notes she had been mindlessly making at blinked a few times.
"Reise, have you made up your mind yet?"
"Yeah. I'm staying here. I didn't like that bastards attitude at the club." He frowned and then winked at Zuzu, who rolled her eyes laughing.
"How fun." She said.
"We'll stay too." Rinoa said, inclining her head towards Squall. "It's just easier with Angelo."
"I'll go with Eric." Michael said. "Just this feeling I have."
"Same with us." Aeris said from her spot. She had known Daniel Mendoza before and wanted to have a few choice words with him. Hopefully a choice few that would end with him lying dead in the street. Spike put a hand on her arm and squeezed gently.
"Alright, I think that's it." Lexiter said.
"No." Jen said, and turned to Cid. He looked around.
"Oh fuck it. I'll go with you then. How's that sound Vinny?" Vincent raised an eyebrow at the shorter man and looked at him.
"Oh the fun we shall have." He said dryly. Jen snorted and grabbed the pen again, making notes on her folder.
"Bennett?"
"Nah, I'm gonna stay here. Keep the cadets in line while your gone. They won't listen to the others, but they have to listen to a second."
"Don't be afraid to kill a few dozen while we're gone." BlackJack said. Everyone laughed, except for her. "I'm serious."
"Wait, before we go, I have a few questions." Shock said, standing. Everyone turned to look at the very tall man."
"Yes?"
"This seems like a trap to me. Why are they all suddenly scattering when for years they would remain in the same place together?"
"They finally got fucking smarter?" Badguy joked. They looked at him to shut him up.
"No joking. We could be playing right into their hands."
"It's a risk we're going to have to take, isn't it?" Ryu glared. "What other way will we get to them? We can't just go waltzing into their base now can we?"
"Besides that, we don't even know where their base of operations is anymore." Oren pointed out.
"Okay, fine. I see your point. But isn't there supposedly ten Circle members? I'm only counting seven." Everyone else counted the groups.
"Hey, yeah." Alessa said, frowning. "What happened to the other three?"
"No reports of them yet. We can't do anything about them until we know where they are." Daniel sighed.
"Who is missing?"
"Don't know. Never knew the others by name."
"Are we finished now?" Jen asked, stepping away from the table. Severine looked over at Badguy who nodded. They stood up together as Badguy cleared his throat. "Oh what is it now?" Jen said, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
"We contacted Damon and Janiyra's families. They're coming to get the bodies." Badguy said, his hands resting on the table as he looked at them. Everyone paused and looked at the captains who stood still.
"When?" Jen asked, standing up straight.
"Tomorrow." Severine whispered. "We told them we would have the traditional 'Going Home' ceremony for them." They all nodded.
"Thank you." Jen whispered. "Alright everyone, you know what that means." She held back any tears. She wouldn't cry anymore. It was over. "Make sure your uniforms are clean." She grabbed the folder and nodded to them before starting to walk away.
"Hey, uh Jen?"
"Yes?"
"Aren't you going to come to the shooting range and test out the new gun? Everyone else is coming."
"I'd rather not, right now." Severine grinned.
"It's a FIRE gun." She said slyly. Jen stopped walking and spun around.
"That's right. Well, what could it hurt."
Everyone stood up and headed out the door towards the shooting range while Severine ran to her lab to retrieve Elizabeth Three.
After a few minutes they were all hanging around the large indoor shooting ranged looking at Severine who was holding the Elizabeth Three delicately. She waited for everyone to be quiet so she could start the speech she had been preparing. She was quiet proud of the first two guns in the series, and this one was just as good. Everyone was quiet, and she began.
"This is the Elizabeth Three. She's the third gun in the Elizabeth series, preceded by One and Two. E-One was a water magic gun." She paused to pulled it out of the temporary holster she was wearing. "The magic was contained in this container right here and sprayed out, hitting opponents." She put the E-One away and pulled out a much smaller green gun. Some people snorted and she glared at them. "This is the E-Two, a powerful, though small, gun that produces a hurricane like wind. The magic is once again right in this little container."
"It's so fucking small." Cid grumbled.
"Yeah, but it packs a mighty big punch." Alex said. Lexiter sighed.
"I remember the day it was first tested. In here." She sighed again, shaking her head. Everyone else cringed.
"What? What the fuck could THAT thing do?" Cid asked.
"It's like letting loose a tornado in a china shop." Mal tried to explain. "Major damage and not wise. At all." She added. Severine cleared her throat again.
"The E-three is slightly modified from the first two. It has no chamber in which the magic was stored. As I'm sure everyone knows it exploded every time it was shot."
"No kidding! Nearly gave everyone a heart attack a few times Sev!" Badguy laughed. She frowned before smiling slightly and continuing.
"Yes, well that would have just made more work for you. Anyways, as I was saying, the E-Three has been modified so that it shoots bullets, much like a regular handgun. These bullets, however, contain the fire magic. There are three types of bullets. The Eliza, Lizzy and Beth. Beth cannot be used because there are only five bullets for emergencies. When fired and the target is struck, Beth destroys everything within a fifteen meter radius."
"Which fire magic is it?"
"Isn't it obvious? It's Firaga. Lizzy is Fira magic and bursts on contact. Not as powerful as Beth, but more so than Eliza. Eliza is just like any regular fire magic. It causes the target to catch fire and burn, but not explode, unless the target is highly flammable of course. What's great about the Eliza is that it can be used in any gun uses forty-five calibers." Jen grinned slightly evilly. "Jen, would you do the honors?"
"Of course." Jen took the gun and inspected it, juggling it between her hands for a second. She looked at the Eliza clip and put it in the gun, aiming it across the room at the dummy that was standing there. She looked down the barrel for a second and pulled the trigger.
It was just like any other gun, but the target burst into flames. She grinned and pulled out the clip, replacing it with the clip of Lizzy that Severine handed her. She did the same and squeezed the trigger and watched with everyone else as the target exploded. They all felt a momentary wave of heat before it was extinguished.
"That's fucking awesome." Badguy said in awe as he stared at the place where the target once stood. Jen had a sly grin on her face as she handed Severine the E-Three and took the clip or Eliza and pulled out a bullet. She took out her revolver and replaced one of the bullets with the new one and pulled the hammer back before squeezing the trigger. Sure enough it did fire, and the new target that stood next to the old one burst into flames. Jen started laughing.
"This has to be the BEST invention EVER!" She laughed and threw her arms around Severine, who turned red from the praise. "Pure work of genius!"
"Thanks." She said softly, almost unable to breath as Jen squeezed her.
"Sypher, get your ass over there, I want to test this on a live subject.
"What the- fuck no!" He yelled, stepping back to be safe behind Oren. "Find some other damn guinea pig!" Everyone else laughed.
"You're a trigger-happy Pyro, Jen." Zuzu laughed.
"Maybe that's what we should call her from now on." Michael teased.
"Nah, too long." Zuzu joked. "But Pyro could work." Jen sighed.
"Please. You can come up with something better than that. Pyro is SO overplayed." She winked and started to walk towards the door. "Excellent job Severine."
"And everyone, don't forget what is going on tomorrow. And we leave in two days for our destinations." Lexiter warned, glaring at them all before following Jen and Daniel out the door. Some people left while others wanted to play with the E-Three themselves.
"Are you going to make more of these?" Alessa asked, holding the gun in her hands in amazement.
"Course! They're going to be mass-produced like the others."
Somewhere in the United States a tall man sat in a leather chair with a golden band over his eyes. He pushed the chair back slightly and put his long legs on the mahogany table. He reached up when he heard his platinum watch beep and pressed a tiny button on the side of the band.
Instantly he was standing in a dark grey room with a black mahogany table and black leather chairs, few lights accenting the walls. He looked around and nodded to the one of the man as he took a seat opposite.
"Why does everyone have to be so fucking late." Matt Ranedrum growled, glaring at the older man who sat down, resting his chin on his fingers.
"Temper, temper young Matt. Shall you never learn?" Aerick Bosnar sneered, his eyes diverting to the other areas of the room as seven other members of the Circle popped in and sat down.
"Where is Paul?" Victor Degrail asked, sitting in the seat next to Aerick and Davik Matale.
"He may not have been able to get away from them." Zack Daghar said from his seat as he looked at the table.
"Well that's just great."
"Can we get on with this? I'm scheduled to be in Esperanza in an hour." Daniel said, his eyes narrowed.
"Oh, it's always about you." Matt snorted.
"Boys, boys." Xag Komdosuki sighed. "Must we go through this every time? Now lets just go over our agendas so we can all leave. I'm going to be heading towards Bristol, England in a few days. There are some people there that have been very unco-operative with our efforts."
"Torture the bastards." Aerick frowned. "Make them an example to others."
"Oh I'm sure I will." Xag sneered. "Always the one for torture when you can, eh Bosnar?"
"I will be heading towards Neo Tokyo in three days time." Oni Arashi said so quietly they all strained to hear him.
"Why?"
"It does not concern any of you." He said, looking specifically at Zack, who frowned.
"I'll be in Florida." Aerick said. Matt snorted.
"Sounds like someone is on vacation."
"Fuck you." He mouthed. Matt's eyes twitched as he looked at him.
"I'm staying here in France."
"We'll be in Saudi Arabia." Davik said. Victor laughed.
"Waiting for Shock to come to us." He kept laughing until Davik smacked him in the back of the head.
"You are sometimes a disgrace to the Circle. Get a hold of yourself man."
"Look what the bastard did to me!" Victor yelled, holding out his silver metal arm. "You think I'm going to let him walk away whole again? My dear friend," he raged, "you are sadly mistaken."
"Just keep your eyes on the mission and when it's over you can have him."
"Germany." Zack said, raising a finger in the air. "And I hope that fucking Daniel follows me."
"I have business elsewhere." Sabrynthe said softly. They all looked at him for a moment, shocked, almost forgetting he had been there.
"What ARE you doing exactly?"
"Securing weapons for us."
"Oh. Well that's nice." Aerick frowned.
"Before we go, where the hell are all the women?" Davik asked. "Haven't been pestered by the bitches in awhile."
"I have Suina with me." Matt said.
"Genocide followed me to Spain." Daniel frowned, rolling his eyes.
"Roni." Zack grinned. "What a fucked up bitch." He burst out laughing. "This should be interesting with her."
"I have Olivia." Xag replied dutifully while Zack kept laughing.
"I have Koga."
"Does he count as a girl or a guy?" Zack stopped laughing, confused.
"Koga is Koga." Oni shrugged. "But with me nonetheless."
"Alright, I'm getting out of here." Aerick said, standing. "You don't need me anymore." He took a step back from his seat while the other agreed and did the same. He reached up and touched the side of his face.
A second later he was sitting in his chair again, legs still on the table. He removed the gold band from his head and placed it on the desk before reclining in the chair. Tomorrow was a busy day.
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Well I hope everyone enjoyed it!! ^_^ The bad guys have made their appearance. And to BAX, if you could email me telling me how you want our friends to appear I'm thinking they are going to be with Aerick unless you have other plans. ^_^
See you later everyone! I have to update my other fics now!! ^_~