Final Fantasy: The Chronicles Of Paine: Chapter 6
NOTE: Oops! I seemed to have made a little mistake writing the previous chapter, and I never noticed. Paine left her motorcycle back near Kilika. My bad. Don't worry, I'm going to work this into the story somehow. Well enjoy Chronicles 6!
The next morning, Paine awoke to the sound of shouting. She sat up in bed and gazed around the cabin, rubbing her eyes. It sounded like there were people fighting. Paine climbed out of bed and looked over the railing, and saw Cloud arguing with Barkeep. She didn't say anything, though she watched quietly.
"4000 gil for a Star Pendant!? Are you mad?! We're going into Bikanel Desert, and there's bound to be poisonous fiends there!", Cloud yelled.
"Shorry, but it'sh imposhibibble to shell you thish for lesh?" The hypello spoke in it's odd voice.
"I bet it would be "poshibibble" if I cut off your head!" Cloud threatened, eyes ablaze.
"Enough!" Paine demanded, slamming her fist on the railing. She hopped over the rail and walked up to the hypello. She took the Star Pendant from the counter and handed it to Cloud. She then put 4000 gil in the hypello's paw.
"Welcome to the Gullwings, ingrate," Paine growled, glaring at Cloud. "Rule number 1, no threatening Barkeep, Rule number 2, no hitting on Yuna, and Number 3, after pulling some shit like that, you should sleep with one eye open," Paine said coldly. She evidently scared the hell out of Cloud, because he seemed to be at a loss for words. She shoved him out of the way and stepped inside the elevator. When the door's opened again, she was on the bridge.
"Yuna, where are we?" Paine asked, glancing out the window.
"We're just offshore of Bikanel Island, and we'll be landing shortly.
"Good, I need to get some fresh air. Hey, where's Gippal?" she asked.
"I think he went down to the engine room. There's a problem with the fuel line, so he went to investigate."
Paine said nothing and walked back inside the elevator and descended to the engine room. Sure enough, when she stepped outside, she saw Gippal holding a wrench, trying to fix something. Shinra was there as well, talking his ear off about the technology.
"Shinra, why don't you go up to the bridge and find something else to do?" Gippal asked, annoyed. Shinra shuffled out of the room, and Paine could distinctively hear the disgruntled Shinra utter "I'm just a kid"....Paine walked over to Gippal.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Paine demanded.
"I'm going back home. All the Al Bhed are making a migration back to the desert, because Rikku and some of the other Al Bhed have almost finished restoring it." Gippal explained.
"I see," she sighed. "Have you spoken to Baralai or Nooj lately?" she asked.
"Are you kidding? I haven't seen them since shortly after you guys took care of Vegnagun. Why do you ask?"
"Oh it's nothing. So anyway what else is new?" Paine asked, changing the subject.
"Not much. I heard that Cid is the captain of a secret agent service. I think he's lost his marbles".
"Erm, yeah, he's a crazy guy alright," Paine said, avoiding Gippal's eye-contact.
"So what are you doing now?" Gippal asked.
"Um.....I work for O'aka...", she lied.
"I thought he hung himself after those Al Bhed started hunting him down for their money," Gippal sighed, setting his wrench down on the floor. Paine shrugged.
"So why are you here?" He continued.
"I'm going Yuna to Bikanel because I need to see Rikku," Paine explained.
"She's changed alot since you last saw her, I'm just warning you now," Gippal said darkly.
"What are you talking about?" Paine asked with a quizzical look.
"Oh you'll see. But for now I need to get back to work before this bird falls out of ths sky," Gippal grunted, picking up his wrench and crawling under a piece of machinery. Paine shuffled back to the elevator and returned to the control room. When she entered the bridge, she saw a patch of land approaching through the window. Buddy spoke over the PA, "Gullwings, to your stations. Approaching landing zone at Bikanel Desert. ETA: 5 minutes."
"Hey Paine, I just realized you forgot to bring your motorcycle with us," Yuna called out to her.
"Don't worry, I left a little surprise if anybody decides to steal it," Paine snickered, a gleam in her eye. "I placed a commsphere and a tracking device, similar to the one you have, on the bike's chassis,"
"How did you come accross that?" Yuna asked.
"Let's just say your uncle owed me a few favors," Paine explained. She walked over to the computer where Shinra sat and pressed a button on the console. A moment later, a colour image appeared on the screen, along with two men. She immediately recognised them as Ormi and Logos. Paine pressed another button on the console which activated the audio.
"-which is why we should steal this thing!" Ormi bellowed.
"You idiot, it's probably wired with explosives or something," Logos said, eyeing it carefully. Paine picked up the microphone from the console and spoke into it.
"No, it's not explosives, it releases an Ultima spell with a fifty meter radius. Go ahead, touch it. I dare you," Paine said with a smirk.
"What the hell was that!?" Ormi yelled. Logos took a few steps back.
"Ormi, get away from there, now," Logos warned, a slight quiver among his voice. Ormi pulled his shield off his back and held it in front of him, while backing away slowly.
"Who are you?" Ormi interrogated the motorcycle.
"Moron, it's probably just a recording used to deter thieves. Let's just take it."
Paine pulled a controller unit from her pocket and pressed a button labeled "accelerate". The bike took off with a mighty roar and began to do doughnuts around the duo. "Are you still sure you want to take it?" she asked playfully. The two men ran off screaming like little schoolgirls.
"I didn't think so...." Paine smiled, bringing the bike to a stop.
"Are you sure it's going to be ok just sitting there?" Yuna asked.
"Well, either it'll be ok, or someone stupid enough to take it will NOT be ok," Paine shrugged.
"Brace yourselves for landing, we're making an emergency landing just outside of Home. Seems Gippal couldn't fix that damn fuel line in time, and we're out of gas," Buddy sighed.
"Shit, where's Cloud?" Paine asked. Yuna seemed a bit shocked at Paine's language, but said "He's still up in the cabin,"
"Locking down all access and elevator doors," said Buddy. Paine ran to the front of the bridge and could only stare hopelessly out the window at the approaching ground. The Celsius had fully passed through the clouds, and was maybe a couple of hundred feet from impact. Paine could see a large structure off in the distance, evident'y this was the unfinished Home. "Here we go," she grunted, holding onto the back of Brother's seat.
Fifty feet....................................Twenty feet..............Five feet................................Two inches................................The Celsius slammed into the sand with a crunch of metal. The last thing Paine recalled was a large steel beam hitting her in the back of her head and falling unconcious.
"Paine!" Yuna cried, her voice seemed to be fading out into nothingness.