Welcome to my favorite chapter!!! I love this chapter...it's one of the ones I worked the hardest on (well...okay, I worked the hardest on this one and the next three) and it's probably the one I'm most satisfied with. (Not to mention I love the title...giggle) It's a rather lengthy chapter...but it goes by rather quickly. ) Oh yeah, by the way the Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time OST is absolutely amazing. (I'm playing the game as well...but I got the soundtrack today!) Also, thank you for all the wonderful reviews so far!
8. Y.R.P…Without The Y?
"So, where do we start looking?" Paine asked when they arrived on Luca's streets. Rikku was about to complain that they would've been down here three minutes earlier if Paine hadn't been so adamant to go back into Rikku's room for something, but she decided three minutes wouldn't kill her. "Us carrying around swords does not make us stick out at all."
"I guess it does," Rikku shrugged as she eyed the parameter of the town, looking for a clue to her other self. "But the way I look at it, the people who knew us a year ago never thought twice about it, so what makes things different now?"
"Wow, Rikku, for once in your life, you have a decent point." Rikku ignored Paine's sarcasm and smiled at her. "Okay, so where did you see yourself last?"
"Me me or the other me me?" Rikku asked as Paine rolled her eyes. "Oh, the other me me. Well, Tidus and I were at the docks, but that was probably about a half hour ago. She could be anywhere. If we find Gippal first, that might be nice."
"How come every time I talk to you, you have to find Gippal?" Paine asked as Rikku looked at her in confusion.
"That's not true," Rikku said as they started to walk to the center of town.
"This morning when I first saw you, you said that you had to find Gippal."
"Nuh uh!" Rikku said as Paine groaned.
"Yes."
"Nuh uh!"
"Yes!"
"Nuh—"
"Finish that and I'll hurt you," Paine said as Rikku shut her mouth. "Thank you."
"You're no fun," Rikku protested.
"Wait, I understand what's going on now," Paine said as crossed her arms. "Once again I think you were right. So it really wasn't you who greeted Baralai and I at the docks, it was the other Rikku. Listen to me; 'other Rikku.' Sorry Rikku, but I shudder at the thought of there being two of you."
"It scares me more," Rikku replied as Paine shook her head.
"I highly doubt that. Trust me." Paine followed Rikku as she looked around in an alleyway. "Anyway, why do you want to find Gippal? I thought you broke up with him."
"I did break up with him, but let's not talk about that," she stated as they hit a dead end. "Aw nuts. Dead end. I want to find Gippal because I think he's behind all of this."
"What do you mean by that?" They turned around and walked out of the alleyway and onto the main streets again.
"I saw him talking to the me clone earlier today," she replied.
"And questioning him about it didn't come into your mind at the time?" Paine smacked her hand against her forehead as she shuddered. "Yep, more scary thoughts of there being more than one of you."
"Well, I was spying on him so I didn't want him to know that I knew about the two mes, ya know?" Rikku scratched her shoulder as she saw something move up ahead. "Oooh, jackpot!"
"Let's go!" Paine drew out her sword and Rikku grabbed her two daggers as they moved toward the shadowed figure that was behind the café. When they saw the shadowed figure move behind some boxes that were left behind by a careless bartender, Rikku jumped on top of one, Paine not far behind.
"Leave it to me!" Rikku called out as her battle cry.
"It's all yours, Rikku." Rikku heard Paine scoff and hop down the box that she was standing on.
"What?" She looked down at what the shadowed figure was—a poor defenseless kitten. Rikku squealed at the sight of it and lowered her daggers. "Aww, kitty!"
"Guess our techniques getting a bit rusty," Paine announced with a huff. "Has it really been that long?"
"I'm starting to believe so," Rikku said as she put her daggers back in their holsters. "Now I'm kind of afraid of what's going to happen if we really are going to have to fight."
"With any luck, our enemy might laugh in our faces and that'll lower its defenses," Paine suggested as Rikku giggled. "The sad part is that this is what I do, ya know? I teach younger boys at the Bevelle Temple how to defend themselves and become better swordsmen."
"But you haven't had any real competition since Shuyin," Rikku couldn't help but giggle because she knew she had a point.
"Hey, today might be my lucky day. I can stab two Rikkus tonight if all goes according to plan!" Paine drawled as she continued to walk past the buildings, leaving Rikku dumbfounded.
"You're kidding, right?" She asked.
"Am I?" Paine replied without breaking her stride.
"That's not very funny, you know!" Rikku retorted as she caught up with Paine.
"Hey, I haven't picked on you in quite some time. I gotta admit, I miss it." She turned to Rikku and gave her a half smile.
"Just think! Now that there's two of me, you can make fun of us both!" Paine shuddered and Rikku burst out into a giggle fit.
"Yeah, then there will be two Rikkus to annoy me and make me want to kill myself," she replied, only causing Rikku to laugh harder. "I couldn't imagine if I had to deal with two of you instead of just you and Yuna when we were all in the Gullwings. Or—" another shudder, "—two of you and Yuna. Sweet Yunalesca."
"Oh, you love us, don't deny it!" Rikku said as she patted Paine on the back.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she admitted as they continued to search through Luca.
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"Do you think that'll work then?" Nooj asked as he, Baralai, and Gippal went over their speech. "I mean, I guess it sounds okay."
"It could use some major tweaking though," Baralai sighed as he looked at the pile of note cards in his hand. "The three of us know that we've formed an allegiance already, but we're supposed to be announcing it to all of Spira. We don't want to make fools out of ourselves."
"I hear it'll be on the sphere screen and everything." Nooj said as he fixed his glasses.
"Yeah, therefore we want it to be perfect." Baralai and Nooj both flipped through their note cards to see if anything needed to be changed. Baralai stopped frantically reading to look over at Gippal; who was starring into space and holding his note cards in one hand and a pen in the other. "Gippal?"
"Gippal?" Nooj echoed when he realized that Gippal still wasn't paying any attention. Baralai gestured toward Nooj to tap Gippal, and Nooj followed through. Gippal leaped about a foot into the air, throwing his note cards in every direction.
"Oh vilg!" Gippal cursed as he started to pick up the cards. "I didn't even have these numbered yet!"
"What were you thinking about, dreamer boy?" Baralai asked as he bent over to help pick up the pieces of paper.
"Are we almost done here?" Gippal asked impatiently as he stood up. "I really think I need to get some sleep. I mean, the signing isn't until 8 tomorrow night. We can do the finishing touches in the morning or afternoon, whichever is better for you guys."
"If you're in that much of a hurry to get out of here, Gippal, you could've just told us an hour ago that you were tired," Nooj said as Gippal scratched the back of his head. "Like you said, we can work on it tomorrow. It's not that big of a deal that we delay this for 12 hours."
"Yeah, I know. I just thought that if we got this done in one night, it would've been less of a hassle." He let out a sigh as he looked at the disheveled papers in his hand. It's going to take me an hour to get these all back in order…He thought to himself. "Okay, I'm off."
"I'm gonna stay here a little bit longer," Baralai said as he looked back at his cards. "I know that I won't get any work done if I go back to the hotel room."
"Why? You would be too busy using your navigational skills on our pilot?" Gippal teased as Baralai blushed.
"Yes, if you must say it like that." Gippal loved joking around with Baralai. His fawn colored skin always turned pick around the cheeks and he would nervously smile. Ever since the Crimson Squad days, Gippal had always been the carefree one, Baralai was the prim and proper one, Nooj was the older and strict one, and Paine was the quiet one who mostly kept to herself. Ah, the good old days…Gippal thought with a smile.
"Good night, Gippal," Nooj said, obviously meaning, 'that's enough, Gippal.' That was another characteristic of Nooj; he was always the father figure for the three of them; so Gippal always obeyed. Usually he gave Nooj a hard time before giving in, but tonight he wasn't in the mood or the state of mind for games. He had to find his experiment.
"Night, guys," Gippal replied as he left the café where they were having their meeting. He quickly looked at his note cards, then just shoved them in his pocket. I'll deal with them later… He figured as he started to walk in the opposite direction of the hotel. I'll start this way, then make my way toward the hotel so I won't miss her…
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"Where do you think this skank is?" Paine asked as Rikku huffed.
"Hey! That is me you're talking about!"
"Sorry, let me rephrase; where do you think this skank is?" Paine smiled and lifted her eyebrows at Rikku, who was trying her hardest to give Paine a death glare. Unfortunately, Rikku was trying not to laugh at the same time, so her death glare wasn't so harsh.
"Anyway, I don't know where I am, I seem to be hiding. I'm a good hider, too," Rikku said as she thought about it. "I just figured out who I would never want to play hide and seek with."
"Ooh, an idea just hit me," Paine said as Rikku looked at her. "I forgot temporarily that we're looking for you. Hide and seek. Okay, Rikku, where would you be hiding right now?"
"Too bad it's late or else I would be in the store with the cute red dress. It was so cute." Rikku sighed at how Gippal pulled her away from her window shopping earlier in the day. I'll just have to buy it tomorrow… "Wait! I went to the docks earlier. That's where I found my sanctuary thinking place, if that's what you want to call it."
"Now that I think about it, it would make sense because that's where Baralai and I saw your clone earlier."
"And that's where Tidus and I saw me earlier as well!" Rikku started to sprint to the other side of town where the docks where. "I should've looked into the inner me to find out where I would be hiding!"
"Whatever works," Paine muttered as she ran to keep up with Rikku.
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Now, where is she going to be? Gippal sighed as he looked around him. Luckily, since it was late, not many people were out. Just the few occasional couples taking a nice night walk and the occasional drunk sleeping on a bench. All the stores in town are closed or else she would be shopping…why can't I remember what her programs are? Think, Gippal, think! What did I make her like? Me, chocolate, me, clothes, me some more, shopping, Yuna, Tidus, Paine, me, yadda yadda yadda…Oh! The docks!
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"Now, which dock would you be hiding at, Rikku?" Paine asked as Rikku shrugged.
"I have no idea, I would just be here admiring the scenery," she said as a loud whisper. "Like that person over there!"
"Is that you?" The figure was leaning against the railing with their chin placed in the palms of their hands.
"Yeah, I think so. How are we going to sneak up on her?" Rikku asked as they quietly walked over to the deck next to it. "It's not like we have anything to tie her up in, and I think she'll go all spazzy if she sees me because she's me, I'm me, and I'm her."
"I had a feeling it was going to come down to this," Paine said as she pulled out something from her garment grid, and held it up between her thumb and forefinger so Rikku could see it. Rikku noticed that it was orange and she cringed. "It's yours."
"What's that?"
"Don't act like you've never seen a dressphere before, Rikku," she said as she held out Rikku's hand and placed it in her palm.
"I know it's a dressphere, but which one is it?" She inspected it closely and slightly growled when she realized which one it was. "My Mascot Dressphere? You've gotta be kidding me!"
"I figured it was going to come in handy," Paine confessed as she tapped Rikku on the head. "Why else would I go into your room?"
"First of all, I'm hostile that it's not a cactuar, and secondly, a big walking Cat Sith won't look suspicious?" Rikku's whisper turned into a quiet shrieking sound, letting Paine get more enjoyment out of this.
"Stop being such a baby," she said as Rikku continued to glare. "Put it on."
"Arg! Fine! Yunie is going to be upset when she finds out that she had to miss this." Rikku was just about ready to put it in an empty slot in her garment grid, but stopped. "So what, are we both going to walk her back, or am I going to like follow you?"
"I'm going to walk up to her, tell her that Gippal is waiting for her at the hotel, then we're going to drag her into an alley and tie her up."
"Tie her up with what? I don't have any rope on me!" Rikku said as she pointed out that she was wearing minimal clothing.
"Hopefully we find something," Paine replied as she pushed Rikku behind the wall of the dock.
"That's your brilliant plan?" Rikku asked as Paine nodded.
"I don't see you coming up with any of your own ideas," Paine retorted as she crossed her arms over her chest. "For that reason, we're going to do my plan."
"I'll never fall for it," she said as she threw her hands in the air.
"Believe me, you will," Paine said as she ripped the dressphere out of Rikku's hand and put it into her garment grid. Unfortunately, the magic that surrounded Rikku as she changed caused quite a bright light, distracting the Rikku clone to look over in the direction of Rikku and Paine.
"I hate you right now," Rikku said when she was placed back on the ground, now in her Mascot Dressphere.
"Who's there?" The Rikku Clone asked, her voice wavering in fright.
"No, you don't, don't lie," Paine said to the Cat Sith clad real Rikku as she tried to suppress her laughter. Rikku did look fairly ridiculous. "Now, you be a good kitty and let Paine do her work."
"Please stop," Rikku pleaded. "This is more embarrassing than it looks."
"Don't speak, only follow." She said with a short laugh. "Hey, Rikku!" The real Rikku whipped her head toward Paine, only to forget that Paine was talking to the Rikku Clone and not her. Good going, Rikku! She said to herself as she shook her head in the huge costume.
When the Rikku Clone saw Paine, she instantly forgot all sense of fright and her sphere star smile appeared on her face again. "Hi…" she stopped and looked like she was thinking really hard for a second before she added, "Paine."
She's like the real Rikku, only more so…Paine thought as she half smiled at the Rikku Clone. "Hey, I was just with Gippal and he sent me out to find you."
"Gippal?!" She exclaimed as she looked around. "Where is he?"
"He's waiting for you at the hotel." Rikku Clone started to bounce on her toes, making Paine cringe. Why did I get myself involved in this? She asked as she started to lead the Rikku Clone toward the hotel.
"Yay! I miss Gippal," she said as Paine nodded in annoyance. She looked back over her shoulder to where the real Rikku was and motioned her to follow them. Unfortunately, the tiny holes in the dressphere prevented Rikku from seeing Paine's wave. "Gippal means the world to me. Gippal's perfect."
"I'm sure he is in your eyes, Rikku," Paine said as she tried not to laugh. What the hell did Gippal get himself into?
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Gippal made his way through the docks when he saw a bright flash of light about a hundred yards away. What the…He asked himself as he picked up his pace to a jog. What is going on? He saw two shadowed figures against the walls of one of the docks; one was tall and skinny, and one was tall and…lumpy? That was the only word Gippal could use to describe it. However, the situation looked highly suspicious.
When one of the figures walked away, he figured this was his chance to attack the lumpy shaped one. Uh, it looks slightly bigger than me…so I should probably be careful…He cautiously walked closer and when he realized that the lumpy shaped one was watching the skinnier one, he figured this was his best chance to make his move.
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Wow, she was right…I did fall for the bait…Rikku thought to herself as she watched what was going on through two tiny peep holes that were in the head of the dressphere. You would've thought that Shinra would have made this costume more fight friendly…She shuffled her feet and tried to make herself more comfortable, but it was no use. The dressphere was large, oddly shaped, and, not to mention, hot. I'm going to sweat to death in this thing!
She felt a slight twinge in the back of her head, so she went to scratch it. However, knowing that she had the huge Cat Sith head on, she knew it was quite impossible to have her real hand touch her real head. Wait, that's not an itch, that's my Gullwing sense tingling! She whipped around just in time to see a fist that was aimed right for her head.