Author's Note:
Reno: And so we're back, from outerspace!
Reeve: Stop. Now.
Reno: Somethingsomethingsomething sad look upon your face!
Reeve: If you're going to sing that wretched song, learn the words first. Please.
Reno: I should have changed that stupid lock... uh...
Reeve: Made you give me back the key. If I knew you'd come back to bother me.
Reno: Riiiight. How'd you know?
Reeve: You'd be surprised at how well I relate to that song.
Reno: So you'll survive?
Reeve: Most likely. I can't say the same about Nida, though.
Reno: Ha! That's a good one! Think there'll be a bigger body count?
Reeve: It's Tyramir. I doubt it. But then again, he labeled this fic a Tragedy.
Reno: I know. Maybe that means most of the cast will survive?
Reeve: Ug. Don't bring up that possibility. Tyramir doesn't own the rights to Final Fantasy or any of its characters.
Chapter Seven
Lion Hunt
More than a thousand things were running through Zell's mind as he raced from the elevator into the hallway, Irvine right behind him. What was happening? Was Nida really dead? Why had Squall done it? What was wrong with him? Would Selphie be all right?
A thousand things, indeed. But first and foremost was a ball of ice in his stomach, a firebrand in his mind.
Even is Squall had done it, would he and Irvine be enough to be able to capture him?
He tried not to think about. He tried to push it out of his mind. He tried to ignore the possibilities. But it always came back to him. Out of the people who had faced off against Ultemicia, Squall had always stood first and foremost, a being who was nearly a force of nature, an awesome destructive force wielding a gunblade in one hand, and iron determination forged of the greatest courage Zell had ever seen in the other. There were few who could stand up to Squall in battle. None at all that could defeat him that Zell knew of.
And he and Irvine were going to face off against him.
Irvine didn't seem to mind at all. Even running down the hallway, he seemed relaxed, calm, cool. Not really bothered at all. Zell envied that. The only thing that really bothered Irvine was getting turned down by a girl, which almost never happened.
They flew by Quistis' old class room, then rounded the corner. Two doors led outside, one closed, the other partially open. It was the emergency exit, a door that wasn't supposed to be opened at all. Of Nida or Squall there was no sign.
"No one here," Irvine said, trying to make the statement sound anything but obvious. "Think Selph might have been exagerating? That Squall and Nida maybe just had a little tussle then went their seperate ways?"
Zell shook his head firmly. "She's a bit flighty and whimsical at times, but she's a warrior, just like us. She knows what a fatal wound is."
He scratched his chin, thinking. If Squall had killed Nida, there'd be blood, or some kind of magical damage to the area. Wait. Magic. Did Squall have any of the GFs Junctioned? With the defeat of Ultemicia, Cid had banned the use of the Guardian Forces because of the ill effects they caused to the human brain.
"I have an idea," Zell said, quickly retreating back to Quistis' old class room. He didn't wait for Irvine, but heard the man following after.
Once inside the classroom, Zell dove to his old desk, turned on the computer, and began a query for all GFs. After a minute, the desk signaled that all GFs were accounted for, and that no one had Junctioned any since Ultemicia's defeat. Heaving out a sigh of relief, Zell began to punch more keys, and started hacking into the system.
"What're you doing?" Irvine asked.
"Getting us some weapons."
"How?"
"I'm bypassing the computer's security protocols and making it allow us to have GFs, but us only."
"You can do that?" The cowboy sounded surprised.
Zell shrugged. "Sure. I mean, I've never done it before, but I figure it can be. I just hope Quistis didn't go berserk trying to make this system impenetrable."
"What? Afraid she's made it too tough for you?"
"Nah. Afraid of the ego blow it'll give her when she's found out I just cracked it in under ten minutes." Zell smirked, then looked over to Irvine. "Computer's still a little touchy, and I couldn't do too much without setting off a dozen alarms, but I've managed to get us one GF apiece."
"All right! Hook me up with Eden or Bahamut."
"No can do. Someone, probably Xu, made those and a couple others completely off limits. I can't even get to them. I can, however..." He hit a few more buttons, and two draw points in the room began to glow purple.
"Leviathan's yours, and I've got Ifrit. Sound good?"
Irvine shrugged, then said, "Don't matter much to me if I can't have the real cool toys. Which draw point is mine?"
"Left."
Zell walked up to his draw point, and focusing, pulled the essence of the GF from the swirl of energy into his own self. A grip of warmth held onto his mind, like a hand clasping the back of his head gently, but refusing to let go. His scalp began to tingle, and his hair actually ached. Junctioning a GF was always a little different each time. Or so he thought. The affects on the user's memory were always subtle, and tended to erase memories if not outright change some.
He felt his muscles surge as the GF's power flooded through his body, and his stamina increase. He felt like he could run a hundred mile marathon and not even break a sweat. Maybe... just maybe he could take on Squall.
The sound of clapping filled the room, and both Zell and Irvine whirled about to the location of the noise. In the doorway stood Squall, a lazy smirk on his face, his eyes hinting at a predatorial gleam. His gunblade hung at his side, still covered in blood.
"I was waiting for you, Zell. Know-It-All-Zell. Waiting for you to try to deal with me yourself. To unlock the GFs. My thanks."
He didn't think. He rarely ever took the time to. Odd thing, too, considering he was considered a smart man in some quarters. Always rash and impulsive. Zell leaped through the air, sailing over Irvine, one fist lashing out, ready to strike Squall down before he even had the time to draw his gunblade. The fist lashed out, a blur of motion as it sailed towards the loner's face. And just like that, his fist stopped, caught by Squall's own hand.
"How-?!" Zell managed, before Squall twisted his arm around, the sound of muscle and bone snapping as it moved in an impossible angle. Zell let out a scream between clenched teeth. He closed his eyes, and willed for the pain to end.
How had Squall caught the blow? With a GF Junctioned, he was faster and stronger than a human could ever possibly be. And yet Squall had not only matched Zell's speed, but he had overpowered him.
Squall released him, letting the martial artist fall to the ground, clutching his arm. Zell rolled to his side just in time to see Irvine point his gun directly at Squall and fire. A shout of panic overwhelmed his cry of pain as shotgun pellets raced through the air, flying at their once-friend. Was Irvine insane?
Just before the pellets hit Squall, a blue shield raised upwards, catching the offending projectiles, and sending them scattering away. A Protect spell! But how? Squall didn't have a GF Junctioned! How could he cast magic?
"I don't know how you did that, but let's see how you handle a GF!" Irvine said.
A look of concentration came over the cowboy's face, and a green aura began to surround him as he began to summon Leviathan.
"Too slow," Squall said. His gunblade whipped out, and he lunged directly at Irvine's chest. The cowboy lowered his rifle just in time to deflect the gunblade. Zell saw Irvine's eyes widen in surprise as the gunblade slid off course from striking his heart and went directly into his gut instead. A shot sounded as Squall's weapon released a bullet to accompany the sword blow.
Zell was back on his feet in an instant. His right hand was useless, but he still had his left and two able feet. One foot struck out, catching Squall in the back of his right leg, followed by a second blow to the back of his head.
A roar sounded out from Squall, like that of an animal, and he tore his gunblade from Irvine's belly, who fell to the floor. The Commander of Garden rounded on Zell.
This is it, Zell thought. I'm going to die.
Something cracked, a small lightning bolt, but not. In a split second, Squall's gunblade was wrapped in Quistis' whip. The two combatants turned to see the blond-haired instructor standing in the doorway. She gave one firm yank, and Squall's weapon came out of his hand, and fell to her feet.
"Enough!" she yelled. "Surrender, Squall. You've been disarmed."
All traces of anger faded from Squall's face, and that arrogant, lazy look returned. "Do you think you can stop me, Instructor? Even without my weapon, I'm more than the two of you can handle."
"Maybe," she said, stepping forward. And from behind her, dozens of students and SeeDs alike followed her. "But maybe together, all of us can stop you."
Squall's eyes tightened, as if considering. And then he was a blur of motion, running, but not towards the door. He pushed past Zell, and raced for the back of the class room.
"Stop him!" Xu yelled.
But it was too late. Squall dove, crashed through the window, and disappeared. Zell raced after him, stopping himself just at the window, and looked outside. Squall was on the train tracks leading to Esthar. The SeeD gave Zell a small bow, and then turned, loping with great strides towards Esthar.
"Irvine!" Selphie cried.
Zell turned to see Selphie hunching over Irvine's form, a small crowd already surrounding him.
"Is he...?" He left the question up in the air, not sure if he could finish it. This was all his fault, racing off to confront Squall, trying to be the hero of the hour.
"No," Quistis said. "But we have to get him to Doctor Kadowaki, quickly. Or he won't last."
Xu stepped from the crowd, moving in towards Irvine. "I just paged Kadowaki now. She said not to move him until she gets here, or we could kill him ourselves." She looked as if she were about to say something else, then stopped, looking directly at Zell. "We'll talk later. In the mean time, have that arm looked at."
Zell nodded, too numb to say anything in return. He knew what Xu would want to talk to him about. He had acted impulsively, and without thought or consequence of his actions. And Irvine could very well die because of it.
Xu would expect his resignation from SeeD.