"What do YOU want?" Raijin asked Squall, folding his arms and putting on the biggest frown he could muster. He was trying to give Squall the impression that he wasn't welcome. Unfortunately, Squall wasn't in a mood to play mind games.
"We're looking for Seifer," he said, bluntly.
"NERVE," Fujin exclaimed, threateningly.
"Maybe he don't want to be found," Raijin said, equally threateningly. Squall sighed- this was going to be harder than he first thought.
"We need to find him, guys," he started again. This time, however, Raijin decided he'd heard enough already.
"After what you did to him," he began, angrily, "you think he wants to be found?" Selphie took some exception to this- she stepped forward, getting in Raijin's face.
"Hey!" She shouted. "What do you mean, what WE did to HIM?"
"Don't play dumb with me, little girl," he replied, condescendingly.
"RAGE!" Fujin shouted, drawing her weapon as Raijin produced his quarterstaff. Upon this, Selphie drew her shinobou, closely followed by Irvine and his gun and Squall with his gunblade. Quistis sighed, and pulled out her whip, cracking it between the two opposing sides. Someone's got to make them see sense, she thought, and it may as well be me. The two parties stepped back, while Quistis explained what was going on. When she was finished, Raijin and Fujin were in a state of shock.
"Bomb… the Garden?" Raijin said, confused, before continuing, adamantly, "No! He'd never do that!" He drew his quarterstaff again, but Fujin grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"POSSIBLE," she said, quietly for her. Raijin's head fell- he knew Seifer was disturbed the last time they'd met, and that he was capable of many things. But having two students suicide bomb the Garden?
"When was it?" He asked the SeeDs.
"Two days ago," came the reply, from Squall this time. "Seifer sent a videotape of himself- he said he was trying to hurt me personally."
Raijin and Fujin both nodded at this last bit.
"CONFIRMED," Fujin said.
"It's true," Raijin said, "last time he was here, 'bout two months ago, he was real angry, ya know? Said you took everything away from him. Also said something about "Payback"." Squall nodded- this was exactly what he had expected.
"Where is he now?" Squall asked. However, Fujin and Raijin both shook their heads.
"UNKNOWN," Fujin said.
"Like she says," Raijin continued, "we got no idea. One night, he just packed up and left, ya know? Didn't even leave a note. Weren't there any clues on the tape?" Squall shook his head.
"He was in a room with a bed, a light, and-" Squall paused, remembering the picture of Seifer and Rinoa on the paddleboat. "A few other things," Squall finished.
"Well, I'm stumped," Raijin confessed. "Sorry I couldn't be any more help, guys."
"ME TOO," Fujin said. Squall waved his hand, dismissively.
"That's OK," he said, "we didn't really expect him to leave a forwarding address- he didn't exactly speak highly of you two in the video."
"EXPECTED," Fujin said, sadly. Raijin nodded, equally upset.
"It's true, ya know?" He said. "He was cold with us when he stayed here. I don't think he ever really forgave us for leaving him on the Pandora thing."
"I understand," Squall half-lied. He'd never really understood why the three of them (Seifer, Fujin and Raijin) hung out together in the first place- and he had more pressing matters to attend to now. "Well, then," Squall started, "we'd better be going. We've been told to take Seifer out, and that's what we're gonna do." Fujin and Raijin bristled- obviously they still thought highly of Seifer, but accepted that what must be done, must be done.
"OK," Raijin said, "see you guys."
"GOODBYE," Fujin said also. Squall and his group said their goodbyes, leaving Fujin and Raijin alone on the pier.
"I can't believe it, man!" Raijin started. "Seifer, a terrorist?"
"TRUE," Fujin confirmed, before proceeding to kick him in the shins and throw him back onto the pier.
"Hey!" Raijin shouted. "What was that for?"
"ROD!" Fujin shouted, reminding him of the fishing rod that lay underwater beneath him. Raijin nodded glumly, and resumed his search.
About half a mile out from the pier, a lone figure stood on a speedboat, observing the meeting with a pair of binoculars in his hands. He lowered his binoculars, letting the whole world see all of his bearded, scarred face for a brief instant, before resuming his spying.
So, Seifer thought to himself, chucking, they've taken the bait. He'd deliberately mentioned Fujin and Raijin is the video he'd sent to Squall, in the hopes that they would be his first port of call, but he never for one second actually believed he'd be so stupid as to come all the way out there in the Ragnarok, then leave it unguarded. As the two groups spoke on the pier, Seifer was arranging for a little surprise to be placed just outside the hatch of the spaceship.
It's just a shame, he continued thinking to himself, that he didn't bring HER along. That would have been interesting. Not to mention amusing. Still, if there was one lesson Seifer learned from the Ultimecia incident, it was never to underestimate the intelligence of his enemies.
Nida wasn't paying much attention to the surrounding area whilst standing guard at the Ragnarok. If he had been, he would have seen a hooded figure drop a few metallic-looking stones on the path leading up to the ship's hatch.
"Well," Irvine started, a little frustrated, "that was certainly worth coming out here for." Squall cast a glance behind him, a sort-of non-verbal "shut up", directed towards Irvine. It wasn't that he disagreed with the cowboy- it was just that he wished he'd put it differently. He was about to respond verbally when all of a sudden, he heard a very loud noise and found himself unable to stand.
"Stun grenades!" Quistis shouted, as the others helped her retrieve Squall, who had been standing closest to the blast. They only got a few feet before the next two went off, directly behind them. Selphie, Irvine and Quistis were immediately knocked unconscious by these last two, while Squall was still very fuzzyheaded from the first.
This was a professional hit, he thought to himself, as he tried to shake the cobwebs, but who? He slowly staggered to his feet, only to see a familiar scarred, bearded face in a familiar white coat walk towards him. He was about to draw his gunblade when Seifer pushed a button on a remote he was holding, detonating the fourth, and last, stun grenade directly in front of Squall.
Damn! Squall thought, as he blacked out. Rinoa…
Nida came barrelling out of the Ragnarok as fast as he could, aiming to take Seifer by surprise and from behind, but Seifer had foreseen it- he simply hooked his gunblade under his arm, amused as Nida, unable to stop, simply ran gut-first into the blade. Nida gasped and staggered backwards, collapsing. The wound had not been deep, but it was enough to take Nida off his feet. As he lay prone on the ramp leading to the hatch, he watched, in fear, as Seifer stood over him, letting the tip of his gunblade gently come to rest on Nida's throat. Nida gulped slowly- he didn't want a reflex action to cost him his life. However, Seifer had a surprise for him.
"I don't know you," Seifer said, shaking his head and raising his gunblade, "and I doubt Squall knows you particularly well either. He doesn't make friends easily." Seifer reared back, and then punched Nida on top the head as hard as he could. Nida was immediately knocked out cold. As he flexed his fingers after his knockout blow, Seifer turned to the 4 unconscious men and women behind him.
"These four, however," he started, sinisterly, "I know very well indeed." He summoned forth four more hooded figures, and smiled as they picked up one SeeD each.
"Excellent additions to my mausoleum," he remarked evilly to himself, as he followed his acolytes back to his boat. "This was even easier than I had expected." He was smiling all the way, as the boat left FH and headed west, towards Galbaldia desert, and the former prison he had made his home…
"We're looking for Seifer," he said, bluntly.
"NERVE," Fujin exclaimed, threateningly.
"Maybe he don't want to be found," Raijin said, equally threateningly. Squall sighed- this was going to be harder than he first thought.
"We need to find him, guys," he started again. This time, however, Raijin decided he'd heard enough already.
"After what you did to him," he began, angrily, "you think he wants to be found?" Selphie took some exception to this- she stepped forward, getting in Raijin's face.
"Hey!" She shouted. "What do you mean, what WE did to HIM?"
"Don't play dumb with me, little girl," he replied, condescendingly.
"RAGE!" Fujin shouted, drawing her weapon as Raijin produced his quarterstaff. Upon this, Selphie drew her shinobou, closely followed by Irvine and his gun and Squall with his gunblade. Quistis sighed, and pulled out her whip, cracking it between the two opposing sides. Someone's got to make them see sense, she thought, and it may as well be me. The two parties stepped back, while Quistis explained what was going on. When she was finished, Raijin and Fujin were in a state of shock.
"Bomb… the Garden?" Raijin said, confused, before continuing, adamantly, "No! He'd never do that!" He drew his quarterstaff again, but Fujin grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"POSSIBLE," she said, quietly for her. Raijin's head fell- he knew Seifer was disturbed the last time they'd met, and that he was capable of many things. But having two students suicide bomb the Garden?
"When was it?" He asked the SeeDs.
"Two days ago," came the reply, from Squall this time. "Seifer sent a videotape of himself- he said he was trying to hurt me personally."
Raijin and Fujin both nodded at this last bit.
"CONFIRMED," Fujin said.
"It's true," Raijin said, "last time he was here, 'bout two months ago, he was real angry, ya know? Said you took everything away from him. Also said something about "Payback"." Squall nodded- this was exactly what he had expected.
"Where is he now?" Squall asked. However, Fujin and Raijin both shook their heads.
"UNKNOWN," Fujin said.
"Like she says," Raijin continued, "we got no idea. One night, he just packed up and left, ya know? Didn't even leave a note. Weren't there any clues on the tape?" Squall shook his head.
"He was in a room with a bed, a light, and-" Squall paused, remembering the picture of Seifer and Rinoa on the paddleboat. "A few other things," Squall finished.
"Well, I'm stumped," Raijin confessed. "Sorry I couldn't be any more help, guys."
"ME TOO," Fujin said. Squall waved his hand, dismissively.
"That's OK," he said, "we didn't really expect him to leave a forwarding address- he didn't exactly speak highly of you two in the video."
"EXPECTED," Fujin said, sadly. Raijin nodded, equally upset.
"It's true, ya know?" He said. "He was cold with us when he stayed here. I don't think he ever really forgave us for leaving him on the Pandora thing."
"I understand," Squall half-lied. He'd never really understood why the three of them (Seifer, Fujin and Raijin) hung out together in the first place- and he had more pressing matters to attend to now. "Well, then," Squall started, "we'd better be going. We've been told to take Seifer out, and that's what we're gonna do." Fujin and Raijin bristled- obviously they still thought highly of Seifer, but accepted that what must be done, must be done.
"OK," Raijin said, "see you guys."
"GOODBYE," Fujin said also. Squall and his group said their goodbyes, leaving Fujin and Raijin alone on the pier.
"I can't believe it, man!" Raijin started. "Seifer, a terrorist?"
"TRUE," Fujin confirmed, before proceeding to kick him in the shins and throw him back onto the pier.
"Hey!" Raijin shouted. "What was that for?"
"ROD!" Fujin shouted, reminding him of the fishing rod that lay underwater beneath him. Raijin nodded glumly, and resumed his search.
About half a mile out from the pier, a lone figure stood on a speedboat, observing the meeting with a pair of binoculars in his hands. He lowered his binoculars, letting the whole world see all of his bearded, scarred face for a brief instant, before resuming his spying.
So, Seifer thought to himself, chucking, they've taken the bait. He'd deliberately mentioned Fujin and Raijin is the video he'd sent to Squall, in the hopes that they would be his first port of call, but he never for one second actually believed he'd be so stupid as to come all the way out there in the Ragnarok, then leave it unguarded. As the two groups spoke on the pier, Seifer was arranging for a little surprise to be placed just outside the hatch of the spaceship.
It's just a shame, he continued thinking to himself, that he didn't bring HER along. That would have been interesting. Not to mention amusing. Still, if there was one lesson Seifer learned from the Ultimecia incident, it was never to underestimate the intelligence of his enemies.
Nida wasn't paying much attention to the surrounding area whilst standing guard at the Ragnarok. If he had been, he would have seen a hooded figure drop a few metallic-looking stones on the path leading up to the ship's hatch.
"Well," Irvine started, a little frustrated, "that was certainly worth coming out here for." Squall cast a glance behind him, a sort-of non-verbal "shut up", directed towards Irvine. It wasn't that he disagreed with the cowboy- it was just that he wished he'd put it differently. He was about to respond verbally when all of a sudden, he heard a very loud noise and found himself unable to stand.
"Stun grenades!" Quistis shouted, as the others helped her retrieve Squall, who had been standing closest to the blast. They only got a few feet before the next two went off, directly behind them. Selphie, Irvine and Quistis were immediately knocked unconscious by these last two, while Squall was still very fuzzyheaded from the first.
This was a professional hit, he thought to himself, as he tried to shake the cobwebs, but who? He slowly staggered to his feet, only to see a familiar scarred, bearded face in a familiar white coat walk towards him. He was about to draw his gunblade when Seifer pushed a button on a remote he was holding, detonating the fourth, and last, stun grenade directly in front of Squall.
Damn! Squall thought, as he blacked out. Rinoa…
Nida came barrelling out of the Ragnarok as fast as he could, aiming to take Seifer by surprise and from behind, but Seifer had foreseen it- he simply hooked his gunblade under his arm, amused as Nida, unable to stop, simply ran gut-first into the blade. Nida gasped and staggered backwards, collapsing. The wound had not been deep, but it was enough to take Nida off his feet. As he lay prone on the ramp leading to the hatch, he watched, in fear, as Seifer stood over him, letting the tip of his gunblade gently come to rest on Nida's throat. Nida gulped slowly- he didn't want a reflex action to cost him his life. However, Seifer had a surprise for him.
"I don't know you," Seifer said, shaking his head and raising his gunblade, "and I doubt Squall knows you particularly well either. He doesn't make friends easily." Seifer reared back, and then punched Nida on top the head as hard as he could. Nida was immediately knocked out cold. As he flexed his fingers after his knockout blow, Seifer turned to the 4 unconscious men and women behind him.
"These four, however," he started, sinisterly, "I know very well indeed." He summoned forth four more hooded figures, and smiled as they picked up one SeeD each.
"Excellent additions to my mausoleum," he remarked evilly to himself, as he followed his acolytes back to his boat. "This was even easier than I had expected." He was smiling all the way, as the boat left FH and headed west, towards Galbaldia desert, and the former prison he had made his home…