[Eee, I tried my best with the battle scene. Hope its good! I wasn't sure I was going to do it at first since Rinoa wasn't participating, but what fun would that have been?]
It was rather dim inside the president's car, even with the lights that were on either side of the room. Seeing the President sitting in a booth, Rinoa closed her eyes and let out a breath before approaching him. This is it, Rinoa. The moment everyone's been waiting for…the possible end to Timber's endless spiral of being Galbadia's puppets. You can do this!
"…President Deling!" Rinoa called out, trying to sound strong. "As long as you…don't resist, you won't get hurt…" As much as Rinoa hated the man's guts, she didn't want to see him beaten up on her account. Violence never really solved anything.
"And if I do resist…What would you do…? Young lady?" The president said.
Rinoa took a step back and blinked, narrowing her eyes, looking at the man closely. She slowly felt something at the pit of her stomach that something was very wrong here. That…doesn't sound like him!
"What's wrong?" Squall asked her, and before Rinoa could comment on what she was feeling the fake president spoke again, answering his question for her.
"Boo-hoo... Too bad... I'm not the president. I'm what they call...a body double." Squall's group gasped, and Rinoa closed her eyes slowly and hung her head slightly. She was right. He wasn't the President at all. But then, where was the real President?
"All these rumors about the many resistance groups in Timber... You pass along a little false information and they fall for it... How pathetic... Seems like there are only amateurs around here," the dummy president droned on.
Rinoa was completely speechless. How…how could they have gotten false information? "Ama…teurs…!?" Rinoa barely breathed out. It was like a knife to her heart right there. She and the Forest Owls have been carrying out plans for so long. Zone and Watts' fathers founded the Forest Owls before the invasion of Timber even took place. And Rinoa learnt many military strategies from her own father, probably the only thing she ever got from him. They had years of experience between them. And now this man sat before her and called her an amateur? This…isn't possible! Rinoa screamed in her head.
"Ahh... My butt hurts from all this sitting... Young...LADY... Ahh... So what did you have in stORE for me had I resiSTED...? Why doN'T you teLL mE... QuiTE aMUsing thouGH... For beINg such amAtEurs...!!! HoW daRe YOU InSUlt tHe presIDent!!!"
Rinoa staggered backwards, cowering away as the fake president continued to taunt her. Rinoa tried to catch her breath so she could get oxygen to her brain and think clearly on how exactly this happened. She was still in an utter state of shock as her back touched the door and she slowly slid against it and sat on the ground, watching blankly as Squall's group braced themselves to fight the fake President.
"Yo! We're not really going to…kill this guy, are we?" Zell asked, though he knew it was stupid to do so. He had already gone into a fighting stance, his gloved fists up, cracked, and ready to beat the man into submission.
The metallic sound of a metal chain clanging together was heard as pulled out her Nunchaku and stretched the long weapon above her head, giggling in excitement. "Oh, Zell, you think too much."
The invisible air was cut in half as the sharp edge of Squall's gunblade sliced through the air. Checking the revolver for ammo, it slid back in place with a faint click and he gripped the handle hard. "It's either him or us. Let's go."
The fake president laughed, amused, and Zell ran in quickly, connecting his metal knuckles into the overweight man's ribcage with a couple of uppercuts. The man doubled over, and Zell pulled his hand back for a punch to the jaw when the man suddenly straightened up and opened his mouth wide, an unexpected burst of white blinding him, causing his punch to miss its mark greatly.
"What the hell!?" Zell yelled as he felt goosebumps rising on his skin, the freezing cold effects of the Blizzard spell cast only delaying him. As he rubbed his eyes to melt the ice that covered his vision, Zell was pushed back harshly with a punch from the man to his chest, and Zell waved his arms up and down to keep his balance. The attack wasn't very strong, and Zell shook his head to get back into the fight.
Selphie twirled her Nunchaku above her head like it was a lasso, ready to begin her assault after Zell had been attacked. With the fake president caught off guard while trying to charge for another spell, Selphie brought down her weapon across his face with amazing force for such a girl, causing extreme whiplash to the man as he spun rapidly due to the power and dropped to the ground heavily. Smirking, Selphie grabbed the other end of her weapon as if came back around. "This guy isn't very hard to beat! Not even putting up a real fight!"Squall's boots made no sound on the carpet as he slowly made his way to the man, who was slowly coming to his knees in an attempt to stand back up, still thinking he could really defeat them. "So let's finish this," Squall said in a low voice, the tip of his blade shining in the light as it rested upon his right shoulder. Looking down at the man, Squall hesitated. To kill a man in cold blood…that was what he was trained for. And it wouldn't have been the first time he had done it, either. But it never did get easier.
Without warning, Squall raised the duel-weapon and cut into the man easily, dragging the weapon through the man's skin, disfiguring the body from left shoulder to right hip in a giant slash. As if the inch-deep cut wasn't enough to butcher the man, Squall was able to time it perfectly, and his eyes flinched slightly as he pulled the trigger, the bullet unknowingly piercing the right lung, it soon filling up with blood instead of oxygen.
Pulling the sharp edged metal from its deep crevasse, Squall held it by his side, the tip no longer shining but dripping in crimson liquid, causing a puddle to develop where it hit the carpet. The man gargled, failing to supply his body with essential oxygen, slumped back onto the floor. Figuring it was over, the three began to turn around when the body suddenly began to shine and exploded with a blinding light.
"What the...?" Squall said, raising an arm to block the rays, and their eyes widened at the sight that was unfolding before them. It was like an out-of-body experience, watching the monster Gerogero come out of the man's skin as if it was some cheap plastic body suit used and being discarded after a Halloween party.
"Awww, man! I knew that was too easy!" Zell moaned, looking at the undead fiend.
Before the SeeD's were able to start the assault on their real target, Gerogero let out Dark Mist Breath to each person, putting them under a fixture of status ailments, specifically being Poison and Darkness. In Zell's case, he had the misfortune of being confused as well.
"Ahh! I can't see!" Selphie yelled, rubbing her eyes frantically but never being able to rid herself of the black cloud that loomed around her head. But her movements allowed the poison to course through her body, and she recoiled at the sensation of it.
Zell, confused, ran up to Squall and laid a strong punch to his jawbone, which unluckily for Squall, hit its mark this time around. He then flinched as the poison passed through his system as well.
"Zell?! Watch who you're hitting!" Squall let out an irritated groan, massaging his jaw with his hand. Here he was feeling slightly bad about killing the man when he suddenly decided to turn into a stronger beast. Deciding to ignore his blind condition, Squall rushed the fiend.
His gunblade did come in contact of something, but it was nothing more than the stuffed booth chair that the fake president had been sitting in. He, too, cringed as the poison made its way around his body. Thinking he had really hit the fiend, Squall, Zell and Selphie, were hit with Gerogero's Arm Bang, flinging them across the room and onto their backs, putting them all in at the verge of critical conditions.
"Ugh…I don't feel so good…" Selphie moaned, slowly sitting up as to not allow the poison to move rapidly. They had to finish the monster in one hit before it had the chance to finish them off. Reaching into her back dress pocket, Selphie threw a Remedy at Squall.
"Use Scan!" Selphie yelled, then slumped to the floor. That action put her over the edge and into a dangerous state. Squall blinked, relieved he could finally see again, then got to his feet. He was catching onto Selphie's train of thought. Bringing a closed hand to his face, Squall concentrated, letting the magic build up inside him.
Reaching its peak, Squall moved his hand towards Gerogero, opening it to show his palm at it as small lights flew, circling around his outstretched arm and outwards to where he was pointing.
"Scan!" Squall yelled, and soon enough information flooded his mind. Shifting through the information to find what he was looking for, he found it was weak to fire. "Zell! You gotta summon Ifrit!" Squall commanded.
"Dude…I feel like shit." Now free from Confuse for he was struck by the fiend, Zell nodded that he had heard him, and jumped onto his feet, ignoring the searing pain once again. "You…are goin' down!" Zell said in a calm, demonic voice. Zell began to shake, feeling the burning hot power rise up from within him. He punched forward and instantly was engulfed in the image of a raging fire, and all three were no where to be seen.
"Where…where did they go?" Rinoa whispered to herself. She had entirely blocked out the first battle, wanting to throw up herself after seeing the SeeDs slay a human being. But she soon snapped out of it when Gerogero appeared, and she could now feeling her heart beating against its small cage inside her. She was froze to her spot in utter fear, and felt bad that she couldn't assist them in anyway when they got into trouble.
Her answer was soon violently revealed as a pillar of red flames shot up, and Rinoa let out a scream as it shook the car. It threw the roof clear off its place, which was comfortably sitting atop the four surrounding walls, threatening to blow it up whole as the eerie flamed appeared from out of nowhere. A gigantic claw shot from the pit the flames had created, and then a second emerged, pulling itself out like it was coming from the depths of Hell.
The guardian force snorted out fire from its nostrils as it roared, its entire being smoldering with scorching heat. Punching into the ground, it left a massive hole right through the metal of the floor.
And there stood Ifrit, the Fire Beast, in all its devastating glory.
Though performing Hell Fire would have surely decapitated both cars of the still moving train and all its inhabitants, Ifrit did not have to use that attack. Gerogero mindless struck at the creature, and was promptly enveloped in the burning hot flames inside out destroying it on contact.
With the fiend gone, Ifrit's job was done. The three SeeDs reappeared, disappearing due to Ifrit's protection barrier. Looking around, the GF's desolation was apparent, with the roof now gone and smoke rising from fiery debris that lay randomly around what was left of the room.
"Hee! We won!" Selphie cheered, throwing her leg back and creating a 'Z' shape with her weapon.
Squall brushed himself off and noticed Rinoa was still sitting by the door that led to their base, and as they came to help her stand, Rinoa stood on her own, anger now fueling her and bringing her out of her previous daze.
"Let's…go back…to the strategy room," Rinoa said, not wanting to discuss what just happened. It was a bit too much to handle at the moment.
As the quartet boarded the Owls' Base again, Zone came up to them, Watts inside the control room listening to the radio with the other members of the group, where he was getting information from different informants back in Timber.
"Hey, back so soon? We felt a jagged bump a while ago, but it didn't veer us off the tracks. How'd it go?" Zone asked optimistically.
Rinoa put her palms on the table and leaned against it hard, pressing on it. She closed her eyes tightly and spoke bitterly. "It wasn't him, Zone. It was a monster, a decoy. We had false information."
"Man, I can't believe the president was fake!" Zone kicked the metal wall.
"I can't believe we fell for it!" Rinoa shouted, making a fist with one of her hands and pounding it on the table in frustration before squatting down and hanging her head. She felt like greatly disappointed not only them, but also all of the resistance people in Timber.
Just then Watts ran into the room. "Info, sit! New info! It's big news! I found out the real reason why the president's here, sir! The president's going to the TV Station! Security's super tight, sir!"
Rinoa slowly lifted her head and looked over at Watts. "…The TV Station? Why in Timber? They can broadcast just as easily from Galbadia." She didn't want to be caught in another rumor.
"Do you think the Dollet communication tower has anything to do with this?" Selphie asked questionably, looking at Zell and Squall.
"What's that?" Zone said, curious.
"Dollet has a communication tower that can transmit and receive radio waves. It had been abandoned for a long time, but the Galbadian Army got it up and running yesterday," Squall explained.
"Ohhhh…I get it…" Zone said, nodding his head over at Rinoa and Watts so they could follow. "The only TV station that can handle broadcasts over the air is in Timber. Other stations use HD cable, which only supports online broadcasting."
Rinoa raised an eyebrow and stood up, crossing her arms. What they were saying wasn't making much sense. What did that have to do with anything? "So, what's that supposed to mean?"
"They're planning on using radio waves. This way, they can transmit images to regions without cable," Zone said in lamest terms.
"I know that…!" Rinoa trailed off. They acted like she didn't know anything. She did know that…right? Well, I do now. "What I want to know is, what is the president going to broadcast!? Why use radio waves? There must be something they want to say to the whole world. What can it be?"
"Everybody! Love! And Peace!" Selphie chanted, throwing her arms up in the air. The girl was like a walking contradiction. She vouched for love and peace yet loved to blow things into pieces. How that worked was only clear to the green-eyed brunette.
"If I remember correctly, radio waves haven't been used in 17 years," Zone commented.
"It's been that long?" Rinoa asked, then sighed almost happily, going dream mode.
"Wouldn't it be wonderful if the first broadcast could be the declaration of Timber's independence!?"
"Hey!" Zone cried, smiling. "That might be possible."
Rinoa giggled and smiled as well. She was feeling better already. "Let's come up with a plan, then!" She turned to the SeeD's. Can you guys give us a minute?" With that, Zone, Watts and Rinoa huddled together in a squatting position.
"It sounds like you've got something on your mind already, Rinoa," Zone said.
"Heh. Well, it's not much, but we could storm the place, you know? Before they have a chance to say whatever they wanted to say! Then we could do our own broadcast! Declare Timber's freedom! Take down the President and his guards while we're on the air! That'll show 'em!"
"That doesn't sound too bad. We can go with it!" Zone said.
"The TV Station, sir!? It's quite close if you take the local train... But the local and transcontinental trains have stopped running, sir... Nothing to worry about, sir! There must be someone in town who knows." Watts then nodded in agreement.
Squall tapped Rinoa on the shoulder and she craned her head to look up at him.
"Oh, good timing! We've come up with a plan!" Rinoa said, the three of them standing up.
"Before we get into that, can I see your contract with our Garden?" Squall asked, holding out his hand.
"Oh, sure," Rinoa said, walking to the back of the room and handing him the first contract Cid had made.
"What's it say?" Zell asked, and Rinoa crossed her arms once again. Were these people trying to get out of their assignment? So they made one mistake. People made mistakes.
"…SeeD (hereafter referred to as 'Party C' shall be dispatched upon signing of this contract. Party C shall operate under the supervision…" Squall had the same confused look on his face that Rinoa did when she first read it as well.
"…The hell……?" Zell said.
"I don't get it," Selphie voiced.
"Oh yeah, that one's pretty confusing. When I told him I didn't understand, he gave me a different one." Rinoa gave Squall the second contract. "Cid is such a nice man."
"What's it say this time?" Selphie asked, walking over to his side to read off the paper. Squall was silent for some time, reading it first himself before reading it aloud.
"Until Timber's independence!?" Zell yelled in disbelief.
"That is sooo vague!" Selphie said.
Rinoa kept in a laugh. You people won't be going anywhere until we finish what Galbadia started. "Hey, you're paid professionals. No complaining! Ok, let's decide on the parties!"
"Gathering information is my specialty, sir!" Watts was using it as an excuse again. Even it that was he position in the Forest Owls.
"OuuuucHHHHH...... My stomach!" Zone yelled in pain, clutching his stomach once again.
Rinoa rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. Why do I even bother asking? "So, of the 4 of us, the ones who'll be heading to the TV Station will be…" Rinoa looked over at Squall, awaiting his answer. Squall nodded over at Zell.
"Best of luck, sir! I'll be keeping watch here!" Watts said.
"So it'll be Squall, Zell and me, huh?" Rinoa said, then walked over to the door, looking out the small window.
"We should be entering Timber soon."