Chapter 24: Behind Bars
Darkness gave way to a dim gray pall as Squall cracked his eyes open. He inhaled, and caught a scent of stale air tinged with industrial chemicals as his eyes began to fully open. He found himself staring up at some type of gunmetal gray ceiling.
A quick inventory of his senses as he regained consciousness informed him of his surroundings; he heard the distant clanking of machinery somewhere beyond the metal walls of the small room he was in; the semi-soft surface he lay on resembled a bed of some kind, and the dull, gummy feeling in his mouth told him he'd been out for at least a day or so. He felt cool air across his chest, and realized he was clad only in his black pants, still stained with Iguion blood. All his gear was gone, and that, combined with the blank metal walls of the spare, empty room told Squall all he needed to know.
He was a prisoner.
Squall shook his head groggily as he sat up, recalling the circumstances behind his last conscious thoughts. He'd been facing Edea, and she had speared him with a magical icicle . . . .
Squall reached up to check his chest wound, and found that his injury was mysteriously gone. That didn't comfort him much, however; Galbadia took excellent care of individuals they intended to interrogate, in order to ensure their survival through the process. Still, being at something resembling full health was good; he'd need as much strength as he could if he was given an opportunity.
He thought back to the battle in the archway, recalling Edea's face as she had speared him, along with Rinoa's scream, and Seifer's leering grin as they had fought. Anger welled up in Squall for a moment as he recalled his rival's betrayal. Squall had only hoped that Seifer was under Edea's influence, but it almost seemed as if Seifer had turned to her side of his own free will.
"Damn, you, Seifer," Squall hissed as he began to stand. At that moment, however, the floor bucked underneath him, and he partially lost his balance, falling back onto the bed. He immediately got the sensation of his cell moving to the side, and heard machinery working above and in the direction his cell was moving. A moment later, Squall felt gravity tug at his innards as his cell seemed to rise into the air. He frowned, confused. Did this place operate with movable prison cells?
That thought led Squall back down to something he'd read back at Garden about Galbadia operating an ultra-secure prison out in th deserts in the southwest of the country, a high-tech prison that involved isolation cells that could be moved with a robotic arm. The D District prison, it was called. Well, at least he had a name and a rough location.
The moving cell jolted to a stop, and directly across from his bed, a door slid open. Squall looked up at whomever was standing there, and immediately tensed, fists clenching.
Seifer stepped into the prison cell, shaking his head.
"Squall, you're looking terrible," he commented, smiling. Squall's response came in the form of a right hook, which Seifer caught and deflected easily enough. As Squall's arm was pushed aside, Seifer's other hand shot over that arm and slugged Squall hard. The SeeD fell back under the power of that hit, and at that moment realized his Guardian Forces were silent. Damn, Seifer must have Drawn them.
Squall didn't give in, even with the realization that Seifer was junctioned and he wasn't. The SeeD rushed forward, launching another punch. Seifer moved to block, but the punch was a feint, as Squall shot up his left leg in a quick snapping kick aimed at Seifer's ribs. The foot slammed hard into Seifer's side, and the knight grunted slightly. Seifer then rushed forward himself, tired of playing games, and his fists shot forward with shocking speed. Squall was slugged once, twice, then three times across the face, before Seifer grabbed him by his hair and slammed Squall's skull against the unyielding metal wall.
Stars exploded across Squall's vision, and he felt himself being hurled across the room. He smashed hard against the opposite wall, and distantly heard Seifer ordering someone to take Squall away. Several hands roughly grabbed Squall beneath his armpits and hauled him to his feet, and he was dimly aware that he was being dragged out of his cell. A metal door slid open behind him as he began to recover from the daze.
Squall's feet were being dragged across the floor, but then they were suddenly not being dragged as he pressed them hard against the metal, resisting the two guards who were dragging him. The two men stopped for a split second, surprised at his momentary resistance, and Squall snapped his body backwards, along his original route. The two guards were not expecting the swift breakout maneuver, and lost their grip on their prisoner for the instant Squall needed. He shot forward, out of their grasp, and planted his feet firmly on the metal deck.
The guards began to shout something when Squall ducked low, spinning around, one leg leading in a swift sweep that dropped both men. Squall spotted what looked like a heavy baton on one prison guard's belt, and snatched it up off the prone man. The baton rose quickly and smashed into one guard's temple, knocking him out cold. These men wore simple uniforms, with no armor or helmets, and it took Squall only a second swing to drop the other guard. He rose quickly, brandishing his new weapon, when something smashed hard into the back of his head, and he flopped to the cold metal floor.
"Valiant effort," Seifer commented from somewhere above and behind Squall as the SeeD blacked out.
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Zell stirred, rising from where he'd simply collapsed an hour ago, and sat up. The walls of the large, sparse room were still just as cold and bare as before, and Rinoa, Selphie, and Quistis still sat scattered around the large prison cell. Selphie was examining the large blast door, obviously looking for a way to force it open, while Quistis leaned against a wall near Zell. Rinoa was also sitting near Zell, but was looking down at the floor silently.
The martial artist shook his head as he came around, and rubbed the spot on the back of his head where the soldiers had beaten him with the butts of their rifles on the way into the prison. At least, he assumed it was on the way in, as the entire group had been brought in with hoods over their heads after the battle in the archway yesterday. The three SeeDs had begun to descend the ladder to help Squall in his battle with Edea when a small army of police and soldiers had arrived. They'd taken the only available route out, which was through the sewers, but after a long, merry chase beneath Deling City's streets, the SeeDs had been caught between a wall and about a hundred very angry soldiers.
"Welcome back, Zell," Quistis said, noticing Zell was regaining consciousness. "Was it the 'dream world' again?" The martial artist nodded and shook his head completely free of the cobwebs. He had collapsed and descended into the "dream world" of Laguna maybe an hour after arriving in the prison. Apparently, Rinoa had been shuffled into the same cell with the SeeDs, as she had already been waiting for them in this cell when they'd been pushed inside. She hadn't said much during the brief time they'd been jailed, but everyone could tell she was worried. The rest of the team was equally worried about the same thing: where was Squall?
"How's Laguna doin'?" Selphie asked, an expectant look in her eyes, as if waiting for the latest news about her favorite celebrity. Zell shrugged, not having a definite answer.
"Actually, I never saw Laguna," Zell explained. "I don't know much about Ward, but I know when he's frustrated. He's working as a janitor in some prison, and he's bored out of his mind!" At that, Rinoa looked up, suddenly interested.
"All he wants is to find Laguna and be with his buddies," Zell added, shaking his head. He felt for the big man and his frustrations.
"So, what is this we've been experiencing?" Quistis asked, stroking her chin thoughtfully.
"How the hell should I know?" Zell growled, standing up. At that moment, he wished he had his Guardian Forces, but there was something weird about this prison that suppressed both GFs and magic in general - even Quistis could barely even get her innate blue magic to operate, and that was so weak as to be nothing more than a light show.
They sat there for several long minutes, until Rinoa suddenly broke the silence.
"Hey, Zell," Rinoa said. The martial artist glanced her way.
"Yeah? What's up?" he asked.
"You said Ward worked in some prison, right?" she asked, and Zell nodded.
"Does this room look familiar?" she asked. For an instant, Zell wondered what the hell Rinoa meant, but then, her meaning clicked in the brawler's mind.
"Yeah!" Zell shot to his feet, suddenly trying to remember as much as he could from his dream. Rinoa was right, this prison was familiar! It was the same prison Ward worked at, and even more importantly, as a staffer, Ward had been tasked with not just cleaning but also maintenence and operations in the control room at the top floor. Zell recalled the schematics of the prison, though his experiences as Ward had only been for a short while. Still, he quickly composed a map of this section of the prison from Ward's experiences as a janitor.
Even as Zell's mind was racing with the new information, a shudder ran through the prison. Everyone looked up, confused, as they heard the rumbling of distant machinery.
"What was that?" Selphie asked, jumping to her feet. At that moment, one section of the wall slid open, and a group of at least ten or more uniformed prison guards strode into the cell, led by a rough-looking, burly officer with a sadistic gleam in his eye. Zell frowned at the leader of the bunch, not liking him at all.
"That's the sound of your friend getting what you scum should all deserve," the guard said, laughing. He crossed his arms as he looked over the group, and Zell caught the very base expression in his eyes as he looked at the women. Zell clenched his teeth and his fists in fury, but barely managed to keep himself under control, though control came more easily as he saw several of the guards carrying sub-machineguns.
The lead guard turned to look at Zell, and sneered. He strode over to the martial artist, and grinned. Zell grimaced as he felt the foul breath of the brute.
"You got a problem, punk?" the guard growled, his sneer growing. Zell responded by standing straight and stamping a foot down, meeting the vicious guard's gaze. The sadistic guard laughed again, then smacked Zell across the face with a baton. Zell staggered under the hit, but rose defiantly, only to get beaten again. Zell shrugged off the heavy blow, and caught the next swing on his forearm.
In response, over half the guards rushed forward, brandishing batons and either beating Zell with the heavy clubs or with the butts of their sub- machineguns. The martial artist took a dozen hits to the face and torso, and several painful jabs to the stomach. He began to double over, and two sub-machinegun butts and a baton smashed into his exposed back. Another baton cracked into the back of Zell's skull, and even he couldn't hold out in the face of the brutal attack. Zell collapsed to the floor, and was kicked three or four times in the ribs, before the lead guard leaned down and grabbed him by the op of his hair. The guard pulled back, dragging Zell's face up so the SeeD could look the guard in the eyes.
"That should be all the telling you punks need," the guard growled, grinning again. "Don't screw with me!" He then dropped Zell's head back to the deck and kicked him again for good measure.
"Now, before I forget," he said, turning back to the women. "I'm looking for someone named Rinoa. Which one of you is her?"
There was a moment of hesitation, and the sadistic guard spun back toward Zell and soccer-kicked him in the side, drawing a groan from the dazed brawler.
"Stop!" Rinoa said, unable to bear watching Zell mercilessly beaten. "I'm Rinoa."
"Good," the guard said, though he actually sounded unhappy that he couldn't beat on Zell anymore. "You're coming with us."
"What are you gonna do to Rinoa, you bastard?" Zell growled, standing up. Two batons and a sub-machinegun butt sent him back to the floor, and the lead guard kicked Zell just because he could.
"Come on!" the guard growled to Rinoa, who reluctantly nodded and began to walk toward the door. She looked back to her comrades and gave them a nod, as if to tell them she'd be fine.
Quistis and Selphie weren't convinced, but they said nothing as the guards filed out with Rinoa. The door slid shut, sealing them once more into their blank metal prison.
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Squall felt an aching pain in his arms as he came to once again. His head was hanging forward, and he sensed a tight pressure around his wrists and ankles. He opened his eyes, and then understood.
His arms were manacled to the wall above his head, and his feet were similarly restrained. He was strapped to a cold metal wall about five feet above the floor, though judging by the ache in his wrists he hadn't been there for too long. The room was a dull brown, all metal, though Squall spotted a pair of large electrical generators across the room. He glanced around the chamber, and spotted another prison guard, with a black mustache special insignia on his shoulder indicating he was the prison warden. The warden was talking with Seifer, but paused as soon as Squall began moving. Seifer nodded to the man and strode over to Squall. The knight paused beneath him, and looked up, sneering just as he had during the battle in the archway.
"I'm sure you know what's going to happen next," Seifer stated, crossing his arms. Squall said nothing, only setting his teeth and gaze. Garden had given instructions on how to resist torture, and Squall ran them through his mind. He knew what he should and shouldn't give up, and recalled the proper mental state one needed to be in to resist pain and withstand the tortures.
Squall flexed his muscles, testing the manacles, and understood how solid they were. Maybe if he'd had his Guardian Forces, he might have stood a chance . . . .
"What do you want?" Squall asked after a moment.
"Edea wants to know what SeeD is," Seifer replied, drawing Hyperion and pointing it at Squall.
"You could tell her that yourself," Squall replied, not understanding the question. "Don't you already know? Its common knowledge."
"I'm not a SeeD," Seifer explained. "That's the problem. There's some kind of secret they tell you once you make SeeD, isn't there? What is it?"
"There isn't," Squall replied, shaking his head. What was Seifer getting at? "And even if there was, you'd be stupid to think I'd tell it to you."
Seifer nodded, as if he'd been expecting this all along.
"I figured as much," Seifer said, resting Hyperion on his shoulder. "You're on my tough-nut-to-crack list. I knew you wouldn't talk that easily, and to tell the truth, I'm glad you're being stubborn. Makes me proud!"
"I'm honored," Squall replied without emotion, understanding what would happen next. He closed his eyes and distanced himself from his body and the sensations he was receiving.
"That's why I've got a little something for you!" Seifer said, and Squall heard the knight's fingers snap, and the warden flip a lever.
A guttural roar that Squall wasn't even aware he was making escaped from his lips as agony shot through his body. Squall went into a series of violent convulsions as pain racked his entire body, electricity sparking and arcing across his skin.
It ended sooner than Squall could have hoped, and he slumped in his shackles, but quickly recovered, flexing his muscles. He looked back down at Seifer, giving him a defiant glare that mocked the brief torture as something trivial.
"Even if you don't talk, others will," Seifer commented, seeming unfazed by Squall's easy resistance to the interrogation. "The instructor, the little messenger girl, Chicken-Wuss . . . hell, he wouldn't last three seconds!"
Squall's eyes widened, and Seifer grinned, knowing he'd hit Squall in a spot no physical torture could touch.
"They're here?" Squall asked, but even as he spoke, Squall realized that he should have known they'd be here all along.
"Oh, you bet," Seifer replied, enjoying the moment. "They're all down on the seventh floor, waiting their turn. But since I like you so much, I thought you should go first."
"Always doing favors for a friend, huh?" Squall asked, managing a slight chuckle. Seifer nodded, chuckling as well.
"Where is my gear?" Squall asked, more to delay Seifer from repeating the torture and give him more time to prepare. Seifer gestured to a nearby box by the door.
"Don't worry, its all right there," Seifer replied, smiling. "Well, your clothes, at least. I'll have to get your gunblade from the confiscated materials room later. Regulations."
"You want a rematch?" Squall asked, laughing. "You were the one to get your ass kicked this time." Seifer didn't laugh at that, but after a second, he did smile.
"As long as we're on that subject, Squall, tell me," Seifer asked, sheathing Hyperion. "How did I look in my moment of triumph? My childhood dream fulfilled! I've become the Sorceress' knight, and the ultimate warrior!"
Squall blinked, recalling Seifer's words only a short while ago at the graduation ceremony. Seifer's dream . . . to become the greatest warrior of all time? Was that what Edea had promised him through becoming her knight? But yet, he'd become something less than that now. He was just a sadistic torturer for the Sorceress.
"Come on, Squall, say something!" Seifer added, laughing. "This is the scene where you swear your undying hatred for me! The evil mercenary against the Sorceress' knight! Don't disappoint me!" Squall said nothing during Seifer's strange, insane rant, until Seifer snapped his fingers again.
Squall tried to distance himself from physical sensations as the lever snapped down, and agony shot through his body once again.
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Selphie had tried casting curative magic on Zell's wounds, but the bruises and cuts barely showed any improvement. Her magic was still somehow suppressed by the environment, just like their Guardian Force junctions. Zell had heard of some technologies that could contain and disable magic, and if something like that was in effect here, it would explain a lot.
So, the SeeDs had sat around, Zell occasionally rubbing his bruises, and began forming escape plans. They didn't have much, just Zell's experiences as Ward, which would come in handy if they ever got out of the cell. Unfortunately, the walls were made of solid, virtually impenetrable metal, and there appeared to be no way to open the doors from the inside, nor any means by which to access the mechanisms short of ripping apart the metal floors and walls. There was a card reader inside the cell, but it was well-armored, with recessed screws, and Zell suspected that the actual circuitry for the panel was buried too deep to get to even if the panel was removed.
They were still planning with what little they had when the metal door swung open. The SeeDs looked up to see a strange creature enter the room. It was about four feet tall, with bright orange fur that turned red along its long, whip-like tail. The creature had huge, four toed paws with short, stubby claws, and a face that strangely resembled a combination of both humanoid and leonid features. The fur on top of its head stuck straight up and back, and the tips of the fur were a deep crimson.
The creature was carrying a plate with what looked like a large, if not completely appetizing, meal, but the SeeDs were entranced by the little red and orange creature. None of them had seen a Moomba in the flesh. the creatures were native to Selphie's home of Trabia, and were the one of the evolved versions of the strange race of nonhumans in that region known as the Shumi. Moombas were sentient, but their actual mental powers were less than those of an ordinary human or an unevolved Shumi. However, the creatures made for great laborers, and Galbadia was notorious for kidnapping Moombas as slaves.
The Moomba walked in with the plate, and strode toward the SeeDs, though its eyes were downcast and it moved with what seemed to be broken resignation, which was as telling as the pair of manacles around its lower legs. All three SeeDs felt the Moomba's pain, and knew that it was as much a prisoner as they were.
The Moomba approached the SeeDs and was about to set the tray down when it mis-stepped and fell forward, spilling the food tray with a resounding clatter of metal on metal. Almost immediately, the vicious, sadistic guard stepped in through the open door, alerted by the sound.
"What happened?" he asked, rushing across the room to stand over the Moomba. The little orange creature immediately scrambled to its feet, but cowered slightly before the brutal guard. The guard scowled at it, and saw the spilled food tray.
"Dumbass Moomba!" he shouted, kicking the Moomba in the face so hard it flipped over into its stomach.
"Bastard!" Zell roared, too angry to hold back his wrath anymore. He snapped to his feet, and as the sadistic guard spun to smack him with the baton, Zell deflected the blow off his forearm. The man's eyes widened as Selphie and Quistis jumped up as well.
"Yeah, leave him alone you big meanie!" Selphie complained, putting her hands on her hips. The guard raised his baton to strike again, but Zell caught it and held it fast. The sadistic guard tried pulling his hand free, but Zell's grasp was iron hard. The man opened his mouth to call for help, but Zell silenced him with a powerful uppercut into the stomach. The guard wheezed as the air was ejected from his lungs, and doubled over, giving Zell an excellent shot into the back of his head. The vicious guard promptly dropped.
"Heh, he went down easy," Zell remarked, clapping his hands as if to clean them. Even as he did so, Selphie ran to the still-open cell door, and peeked out. From her vantage point, she could clearly see that this floor was circular, with a walkway encircling the chamber and a wide hole in the center. She spotted a staircase near their cell, leading to the levels above and below this one, and from what she could see, the entire prison was shaped similarly to this level.
By that time, Quistis - and a second later, Zell - had moved to the door, the rescued Moomba tagging along.
"Where are all the guards?" Quistis asked, scanning the floor. With the exception of the sadistic bastard Zell had taken out, there were no other uniformed prison guards on this floor. At the far end of the room was a pair of baton-wielding Galbadian soldiers escorting a group of Moombas going about the food delivery task, but that was it.
Zell leaned out of the door and caught a number marked above their cell door. 7-B2. He nodded, then looked back to his fellow SeeDs.
"Seventh level. If I remember correctly, the storage and evidence lockers are on the ninth level, and that's where all our weapons and gear will be." Zell nodded toward the soldiers. "And if I also remember correctly, the guards usually take breaks around feeding time, so there shouldn't be very many of 'em around."
"Even so, we're unarmed," Quistis said. "Not to mention it won't be long before that man you decked is missed."
"Don't worry," Zell replied with a smile. "My weapons are my fists, remember? I'll head up alone, it'll be easier for me to hide. And besides, I know this place a lot better."
"Better shut the door so the guards won't get suspicious," Selphie added. The Moomba had apparently understood the conversation and bounded over to the unconscious guard. It returned a second later with a pair of card keys. Zell nodded and took one, while Quistis took the other.
"Be back soon!" Zell said, and stepped outside the cell. Behind him, the cell door slid shut.
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The agony ended, but Squall's body still ached with pain from the electricity. He panted hard, head hanging with exhaustion, his throat raw from the pain-filled scream he was dimly aware aware he'd been making. Stubbornly, the SeeD raised his head, and glared at Seifer.
"I'll ask again," Seifer said, leaning back against the far wall. "What is SeeD? Why do they oppose the Sorceress?"
"Oppose?" Squall muttered hoarsely, not understanding. If Seifer was referring to the assassination attempt, that was an act of self-defense. Surely Seifer knew that. But it almost seemed as if Seifer meant that SeeD was actively opposing Edea for some other reason.
"Sir Seifer," a guard called from the doorway to the room. Squall looked that way, as did Seifer.
"Yeah?" Seifer asked, annoyed at being interrupted.
"The missiles are nearly ready for launch, sir."
"Good," Seifer replied. "Send the word to the base commander that I will be meeting with Edea to confirm the missile launch immediately." The guard nodded and left quickly. Seifer turned back to Squall and drew Hyperion.
"That was part of Edea's plan to deal with SeeD," Seifer explained, almost conversationally. "Missiles are about to be fired at both Trabia and Balamb Garden."
Squall jerked as if he had been slapped. Galbadia was going to fire on Garden?
"Too bad, too," Seifer added, shrugging. "I grew up there too, but orders are orders. Garden is to be destroyed on grounds of training SeeDs to oppose the Sorceress."
"No . . . ." Squall muttered, shaking his head.
"After Garden has been annihilated, the SeeD hunt will begin," Seifer added, holding up and aiming with Hyperion like a hunting rifle. "I'll hunt down every one of your kind. It'll be fun." Seifer laughed openly, and spun toward the door. "Don't die on me, Squall." With that, Seifer swept out of the room, the door sealing behind him.
The mustached warden crossed the room and looked up at Squall, arms folded across his chest.
"Ready to talk?" the man asked, and Squall glared at him.
"I don't know what it is you want," he replied truthfully.
"Don't give me that shit!" the warden shot back, crossing the room to the switch. "Edea says you know something about SeeD! Spit it out!"
Squall endured several long, agonizing seconds as electricity coursed through his body, before the warden cut the power. Squall panted again, slumping in his shackles, as the warden walked back over to him.
"Hm? Had enough yet?" he barked, and waited as Squall spent several long seconds slumped in pain. Finally the SeeD's head rose. The warden's eyebrows arched, expecting Squall to speak.
A wad of spit struck him between the eyes instead.
"Go screw yourself," Squall added, giving the warden a venomous and defiant glare.
The warden's jaw clenched in fury, and he ran over to the control panel and flipped the switch. By that time, though, Squall was ready, bracing himself and distancing his mind from his body as the pain erupted along his body. The warden jumped the power level to extremes, and Squall screamed in agony. Then, mercifully, he slipped into unconsciousness.
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When Rinoa had been led to the top level of the prison, she had been expecting torture, or something even worse. She was not expecting to be led to the entrance to the D District Prison, nor who would be waiting there for her to take her home.
"What are you doing here?' she demanded after the guards had cleared her to leave. She had stepped onto an elevator that was fast descending to the vehicle hangar, standing beside the one who had come to take her away.
"To get you," Irvine Kinneas replied with an uncomfortable shrug. "Your father asked me to pick you up."
"And the others?" Rinoa asked, angry that Caraway hadn't included them.
"He didn't say anything about that," Irvine replied as the speedy elevator stopped outside the hangar.
"But we can't just leave them!" Rinoa complained, but Irvine would hear none of it. He crossed the hangar to a waiting army truck and opened the door. Rinoa followed, despite her anger. She doubted she would be able to help rescue Squall without Irvine's help.
"Get in," Irvine added, opening the passenger door. Rinoa complied, sitting down and glaring at Irvine mercilessly. The sharpshooter ignored her and started the vehicle. Moments later, they were outside the prison, under the glaring light of the desert sun and yellow sands.
"You can't be serious about just leaving them behind!" Rinoa stated after several minutes. Irvine did not look up, which was something Rinoa was counting on. She knew he didn't want to leave his comrades behind, and she played on that as much as possible.
"Orders are orders!" Irvine snapped back. "Your father wants you safe, and he's taking a massive risk just springing you."
"I don't care!" Rinoa replied, shaking her head forcefully. "We have to go back to the prison!" When Irvine reluctantly shook his head, Rinoa grabbed the door handle for the car and swung it open. Irvine yelped in surprise and jammed the brakes, stopping the vehicle in mid-movement. Rinoa leaped out of the car and stood to the side of the vehicle, arms folded across her chest, while Irvine rushed out.
"What the hell are you-" he began.
"We're going back." Rinoa stated defiantly. Irvine shook his head.
"Squall and the others will be fine. They'll get out of there when the time comes."
"You don't know that!" Rinoa replied. "Squall may stay, saying no one's ordered him to escape. We have to go help them." While the jab at Squall was mostly just exaggeration, Irvine got the message. He seemed uncertain, until Rinoa strode around the vehicle and roughly shoved the sharpshooter back inside.
"Hey! No pushing, and - ow!" Irvine cringed as Rinoa scratched him across the face with her fingernails. "Hey! Quit that!"
"Turn this thing around, now!" Rinoa demanded, scratching him again.
"Okay! Okay! Stop that!" Irvine pleaded in the face of Rinoa's unorthodox, but effective, tactic. "Get in the passenger seat!"
Rinoa did so, circling around the vehicle and climbing in. Irvine threw the vehicle into reverse, and spun around. He shook his head as they drove back toward the prison, then looked over his shoulder to the rear of the vehicle.
"Look, I was gonna go back anyway after I got you out," Irvine explained, which surprised Rinoa. "While we're headed back, could you open that big box in the cargo compartment?" he added. Rinoa looked behind her seat and saw a large plastic crate there. She leaned over and popped it open, then blinked in shock at the contents.
"A personal collection I managed to procure from Garden when I said things might get dicey," Irvine explained with a grin as the D District Prison loomed above them once more.
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Zell peeked his head around the corner, just enough so that he could see onto the ninth floor. A quick scan showed no guards near the stairs, so he moved a bit further up. As with the level below, Zell did spot pair of soldiers escorting Moombas going about their business, but those men were at the far end of the chamber, and Zell went unseen. Nonetheless, he stealthily crept forward, making sure that there were no surveillence devices watching him or guards taking smoke breaks in inconveniently located corners.
Zell made it to the confiscated materials room easily enough, and used the stolen card key to open the door. The metal door swished open quietly, and Zell peeked inside. The room consisted of a large number of freestanding shelves upon which were piles all sorts of items. Lockers, some with heavy-duty safe locks on them, occupied three of the walls. The martial artist froze when he heard voices inside, but they were coming from behind a shelf to the left, out of sight. Quietly, the brawler crept in, staying low and trying not to make any noise.
He needn't have bothered, as the two men were speaking loudly, muffling Zell's footsteps. He edged around the shelf the men were standing behind, attracted by the subject of their conversation.
"So, these are SeeD weapons?" one of the men asked. Now that Zell had a good look at them, he saw that they were clad like regular Galbadian infantrymen, though they were armed with batons instead of swords, and had large black "MP" insignia over the Galbadian crest on their shoulder guards. Galbadian military police and prison guards, apparently.
"Interesting stuff, too," the second MP offered. "Nunchaku, chain whip," the man reached into the locker they were inspecting and drew out Squall's Revolver. "Is this a gunblade?"
"Never seen one for real," the first MP added, inspecting the intricate craftsmanship. Unnoticed behind them, Zell slipped silently forward.
"Heard they used some type of high technology involving concussive energy," the second said, opening the chamber on the gunblade. He never got a chance to look into them however, as Zell's left hand snaked around his neck, grabbed his chin, and pulled up and back while the other hand pushed hard against the back of the MP's neck. The soldier's vertebrae popped like a dry twig, and even before the man had hit the floor, Zell had spun on the second guard. The man snatched his baton off his belt, but Zell grasped the man's wrist and twisted, sending a searing hot pain down the soldier's arm. He dropped the baton, and Zell's other fist smashed into the guard's throat, crushing his windpipe.
The man fell to the floor, trying to breathe through a throat that couldn't handle air anymore, while Zell snatched up the weapons and emptied the lockers of their gear and hurried out of the room. He didn't like having to kill like that, but considering the situation, Zell knew he'd had no choice. In a fair fight, he might not have won, especially with his magic supressed.
A few tense minutes of evading guard patrols later, Zell had made his way back to the cell where Quistis and Selphie waited. He stepped in, closing the door behind him to cut out prying eyes.
"I come bearing gifts!" Zell crowed, handing Selphie her nunchaku and Quistis her rante. They quickly took their weapons, and also their extra gear, including various potions and backup knives. The little Moomba, who had opted to stay with the women, growled its approval.
"Okay, now we've got our gear back," Quistis said, checking her rante to make sure it was undamaged. "But without our junctions, we're not too much better off."
"Sorry, didn't think of that," Zell replied, shrugging. "I don't know where the anti-magic generator is located. They must have installed that after my experience with Ward."
As Zell was speaking, however, the cell door swept open. The SeeDs turned to face the two men stepping into the room, both clad in MP uniforms, though one wore the red of an officer.
"So, private, is this the cell with the new prisoners?" the officer asked, with a strangely familiar voice.
"Yes, sir, Lieutenant Biggs sir!" replied the lower-ranking officer, with an equally familiar voice. The name "Biggs" was all Selphie and Zell needed to remember the incompetent duo of Galbadian soldiers in the Communication Tower from a little over a week ago.
Biggs and Wedge apparently recognized Selphie and Zell as well, as the two soldiers froze immediately upon seeing the familiar SeeDs.
"Hey! What an unexpected bonus!" Biggs crowed as soon as he realized who the prisoners were. "I didn't expect to be able to pay you punks back so soon after what you did in Dollet!" The demoted Biggs threw his head back and laughed. "I know it may seem cowardly to beat up on unarmed prisoners, but it's a dog-eat-dog world, and-"
Quistis snapped her whip, and the chains of Selphie's nunchaku rattled as their weapons came out, cutting Biggs off in mid-sentence. The officer stopped, and looked back and forth between the armed SeeDs, and the tatooed kid who needed no weapons.
"Sir, they seem fully armed," Wedge commented, hand dropping to his baton.
"You don't think I know that!" Biggs shot back. He loaded his arm- mounted guns. "Armed or not, you kids are dead! You hear me! Dead!"
Quistis' whip wrapped around Biggs' foot even as he spoke, and a quick tug threw the officer off his feet. Biggs hit the floor heavily, and then his breath was blasted from his lungs as nearly two-hundred pounds of Zell Dincht jumped onto his stomach. Biggs groaned and black out from the impact.
Wedge had only just begun to draw his baton when Selphie's nunchaku entangled the club. A quick tug by the tiny SeeD yanked the baton from Wedge's grasp, and the soldier began to back away, only to take his own baton in the face as Selphie snapped her nunchaku back around, throwing the club at the soldier. Wedge staggered under the hit, and then was knocked off his feet as Selphie closed the distance and smashed him with both bars of her weapon.
"Simple enough," Zell commented, stretching after hopping off the unconscious lieutenant. "Now its time for the breakout!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------
Whoo. I liekd doing that chapter. Reminded me of Metal Gear in several ways. I almost did the ketchup escape trick, but decided not to. You may find some Metal Gear lines here and there too.
Obviously, in this chapter, there was some signifigant deviation from the established script, especially in when the scenes were presented. I also added in the scenew ith Rinoa and Irvine, not only to show that was happening, but also as to lead into the next chapter. The next chapter will be, quite simply, Irvine's chance to be all he can be! A good way to describe the upcoming chapter is with a great movie quote.
"Guns. Lots of guns."
Also, I'm discontinuing shout-outs in my chapters. I'll submit reviews which will contain shout-outs instead.
Darkness gave way to a dim gray pall as Squall cracked his eyes open. He inhaled, and caught a scent of stale air tinged with industrial chemicals as his eyes began to fully open. He found himself staring up at some type of gunmetal gray ceiling.
A quick inventory of his senses as he regained consciousness informed him of his surroundings; he heard the distant clanking of machinery somewhere beyond the metal walls of the small room he was in; the semi-soft surface he lay on resembled a bed of some kind, and the dull, gummy feeling in his mouth told him he'd been out for at least a day or so. He felt cool air across his chest, and realized he was clad only in his black pants, still stained with Iguion blood. All his gear was gone, and that, combined with the blank metal walls of the spare, empty room told Squall all he needed to know.
He was a prisoner.
Squall shook his head groggily as he sat up, recalling the circumstances behind his last conscious thoughts. He'd been facing Edea, and she had speared him with a magical icicle . . . .
Squall reached up to check his chest wound, and found that his injury was mysteriously gone. That didn't comfort him much, however; Galbadia took excellent care of individuals they intended to interrogate, in order to ensure their survival through the process. Still, being at something resembling full health was good; he'd need as much strength as he could if he was given an opportunity.
He thought back to the battle in the archway, recalling Edea's face as she had speared him, along with Rinoa's scream, and Seifer's leering grin as they had fought. Anger welled up in Squall for a moment as he recalled his rival's betrayal. Squall had only hoped that Seifer was under Edea's influence, but it almost seemed as if Seifer had turned to her side of his own free will.
"Damn, you, Seifer," Squall hissed as he began to stand. At that moment, however, the floor bucked underneath him, and he partially lost his balance, falling back onto the bed. He immediately got the sensation of his cell moving to the side, and heard machinery working above and in the direction his cell was moving. A moment later, Squall felt gravity tug at his innards as his cell seemed to rise into the air. He frowned, confused. Did this place operate with movable prison cells?
That thought led Squall back down to something he'd read back at Garden about Galbadia operating an ultra-secure prison out in th deserts in the southwest of the country, a high-tech prison that involved isolation cells that could be moved with a robotic arm. The D District prison, it was called. Well, at least he had a name and a rough location.
The moving cell jolted to a stop, and directly across from his bed, a door slid open. Squall looked up at whomever was standing there, and immediately tensed, fists clenching.
Seifer stepped into the prison cell, shaking his head.
"Squall, you're looking terrible," he commented, smiling. Squall's response came in the form of a right hook, which Seifer caught and deflected easily enough. As Squall's arm was pushed aside, Seifer's other hand shot over that arm and slugged Squall hard. The SeeD fell back under the power of that hit, and at that moment realized his Guardian Forces were silent. Damn, Seifer must have Drawn them.
Squall didn't give in, even with the realization that Seifer was junctioned and he wasn't. The SeeD rushed forward, launching another punch. Seifer moved to block, but the punch was a feint, as Squall shot up his left leg in a quick snapping kick aimed at Seifer's ribs. The foot slammed hard into Seifer's side, and the knight grunted slightly. Seifer then rushed forward himself, tired of playing games, and his fists shot forward with shocking speed. Squall was slugged once, twice, then three times across the face, before Seifer grabbed him by his hair and slammed Squall's skull against the unyielding metal wall.
Stars exploded across Squall's vision, and he felt himself being hurled across the room. He smashed hard against the opposite wall, and distantly heard Seifer ordering someone to take Squall away. Several hands roughly grabbed Squall beneath his armpits and hauled him to his feet, and he was dimly aware that he was being dragged out of his cell. A metal door slid open behind him as he began to recover from the daze.
Squall's feet were being dragged across the floor, but then they were suddenly not being dragged as he pressed them hard against the metal, resisting the two guards who were dragging him. The two men stopped for a split second, surprised at his momentary resistance, and Squall snapped his body backwards, along his original route. The two guards were not expecting the swift breakout maneuver, and lost their grip on their prisoner for the instant Squall needed. He shot forward, out of their grasp, and planted his feet firmly on the metal deck.
The guards began to shout something when Squall ducked low, spinning around, one leg leading in a swift sweep that dropped both men. Squall spotted what looked like a heavy baton on one prison guard's belt, and snatched it up off the prone man. The baton rose quickly and smashed into one guard's temple, knocking him out cold. These men wore simple uniforms, with no armor or helmets, and it took Squall only a second swing to drop the other guard. He rose quickly, brandishing his new weapon, when something smashed hard into the back of his head, and he flopped to the cold metal floor.
"Valiant effort," Seifer commented from somewhere above and behind Squall as the SeeD blacked out.
-------------------
Zell stirred, rising from where he'd simply collapsed an hour ago, and sat up. The walls of the large, sparse room were still just as cold and bare as before, and Rinoa, Selphie, and Quistis still sat scattered around the large prison cell. Selphie was examining the large blast door, obviously looking for a way to force it open, while Quistis leaned against a wall near Zell. Rinoa was also sitting near Zell, but was looking down at the floor silently.
The martial artist shook his head as he came around, and rubbed the spot on the back of his head where the soldiers had beaten him with the butts of their rifles on the way into the prison. At least, he assumed it was on the way in, as the entire group had been brought in with hoods over their heads after the battle in the archway yesterday. The three SeeDs had begun to descend the ladder to help Squall in his battle with Edea when a small army of police and soldiers had arrived. They'd taken the only available route out, which was through the sewers, but after a long, merry chase beneath Deling City's streets, the SeeDs had been caught between a wall and about a hundred very angry soldiers.
"Welcome back, Zell," Quistis said, noticing Zell was regaining consciousness. "Was it the 'dream world' again?" The martial artist nodded and shook his head completely free of the cobwebs. He had collapsed and descended into the "dream world" of Laguna maybe an hour after arriving in the prison. Apparently, Rinoa had been shuffled into the same cell with the SeeDs, as she had already been waiting for them in this cell when they'd been pushed inside. She hadn't said much during the brief time they'd been jailed, but everyone could tell she was worried. The rest of the team was equally worried about the same thing: where was Squall?
"How's Laguna doin'?" Selphie asked, an expectant look in her eyes, as if waiting for the latest news about her favorite celebrity. Zell shrugged, not having a definite answer.
"Actually, I never saw Laguna," Zell explained. "I don't know much about Ward, but I know when he's frustrated. He's working as a janitor in some prison, and he's bored out of his mind!" At that, Rinoa looked up, suddenly interested.
"All he wants is to find Laguna and be with his buddies," Zell added, shaking his head. He felt for the big man and his frustrations.
"So, what is this we've been experiencing?" Quistis asked, stroking her chin thoughtfully.
"How the hell should I know?" Zell growled, standing up. At that moment, he wished he had his Guardian Forces, but there was something weird about this prison that suppressed both GFs and magic in general - even Quistis could barely even get her innate blue magic to operate, and that was so weak as to be nothing more than a light show.
They sat there for several long minutes, until Rinoa suddenly broke the silence.
"Hey, Zell," Rinoa said. The martial artist glanced her way.
"Yeah? What's up?" he asked.
"You said Ward worked in some prison, right?" she asked, and Zell nodded.
"Does this room look familiar?" she asked. For an instant, Zell wondered what the hell Rinoa meant, but then, her meaning clicked in the brawler's mind.
"Yeah!" Zell shot to his feet, suddenly trying to remember as much as he could from his dream. Rinoa was right, this prison was familiar! It was the same prison Ward worked at, and even more importantly, as a staffer, Ward had been tasked with not just cleaning but also maintenence and operations in the control room at the top floor. Zell recalled the schematics of the prison, though his experiences as Ward had only been for a short while. Still, he quickly composed a map of this section of the prison from Ward's experiences as a janitor.
Even as Zell's mind was racing with the new information, a shudder ran through the prison. Everyone looked up, confused, as they heard the rumbling of distant machinery.
"What was that?" Selphie asked, jumping to her feet. At that moment, one section of the wall slid open, and a group of at least ten or more uniformed prison guards strode into the cell, led by a rough-looking, burly officer with a sadistic gleam in his eye. Zell frowned at the leader of the bunch, not liking him at all.
"That's the sound of your friend getting what you scum should all deserve," the guard said, laughing. He crossed his arms as he looked over the group, and Zell caught the very base expression in his eyes as he looked at the women. Zell clenched his teeth and his fists in fury, but barely managed to keep himself under control, though control came more easily as he saw several of the guards carrying sub-machineguns.
The lead guard turned to look at Zell, and sneered. He strode over to the martial artist, and grinned. Zell grimaced as he felt the foul breath of the brute.
"You got a problem, punk?" the guard growled, his sneer growing. Zell responded by standing straight and stamping a foot down, meeting the vicious guard's gaze. The sadistic guard laughed again, then smacked Zell across the face with a baton. Zell staggered under the hit, but rose defiantly, only to get beaten again. Zell shrugged off the heavy blow, and caught the next swing on his forearm.
In response, over half the guards rushed forward, brandishing batons and either beating Zell with the heavy clubs or with the butts of their sub- machineguns. The martial artist took a dozen hits to the face and torso, and several painful jabs to the stomach. He began to double over, and two sub-machinegun butts and a baton smashed into his exposed back. Another baton cracked into the back of Zell's skull, and even he couldn't hold out in the face of the brutal attack. Zell collapsed to the floor, and was kicked three or four times in the ribs, before the lead guard leaned down and grabbed him by the op of his hair. The guard pulled back, dragging Zell's face up so the SeeD could look the guard in the eyes.
"That should be all the telling you punks need," the guard growled, grinning again. "Don't screw with me!" He then dropped Zell's head back to the deck and kicked him again for good measure.
"Now, before I forget," he said, turning back to the women. "I'm looking for someone named Rinoa. Which one of you is her?"
There was a moment of hesitation, and the sadistic guard spun back toward Zell and soccer-kicked him in the side, drawing a groan from the dazed brawler.
"Stop!" Rinoa said, unable to bear watching Zell mercilessly beaten. "I'm Rinoa."
"Good," the guard said, though he actually sounded unhappy that he couldn't beat on Zell anymore. "You're coming with us."
"What are you gonna do to Rinoa, you bastard?" Zell growled, standing up. Two batons and a sub-machinegun butt sent him back to the floor, and the lead guard kicked Zell just because he could.
"Come on!" the guard growled to Rinoa, who reluctantly nodded and began to walk toward the door. She looked back to her comrades and gave them a nod, as if to tell them she'd be fine.
Quistis and Selphie weren't convinced, but they said nothing as the guards filed out with Rinoa. The door slid shut, sealing them once more into their blank metal prison.
-------------------
Squall felt an aching pain in his arms as he came to once again. His head was hanging forward, and he sensed a tight pressure around his wrists and ankles. He opened his eyes, and then understood.
His arms were manacled to the wall above his head, and his feet were similarly restrained. He was strapped to a cold metal wall about five feet above the floor, though judging by the ache in his wrists he hadn't been there for too long. The room was a dull brown, all metal, though Squall spotted a pair of large electrical generators across the room. He glanced around the chamber, and spotted another prison guard, with a black mustache special insignia on his shoulder indicating he was the prison warden. The warden was talking with Seifer, but paused as soon as Squall began moving. Seifer nodded to the man and strode over to Squall. The knight paused beneath him, and looked up, sneering just as he had during the battle in the archway.
"I'm sure you know what's going to happen next," Seifer stated, crossing his arms. Squall said nothing, only setting his teeth and gaze. Garden had given instructions on how to resist torture, and Squall ran them through his mind. He knew what he should and shouldn't give up, and recalled the proper mental state one needed to be in to resist pain and withstand the tortures.
Squall flexed his muscles, testing the manacles, and understood how solid they were. Maybe if he'd had his Guardian Forces, he might have stood a chance . . . .
"What do you want?" Squall asked after a moment.
"Edea wants to know what SeeD is," Seifer replied, drawing Hyperion and pointing it at Squall.
"You could tell her that yourself," Squall replied, not understanding the question. "Don't you already know? Its common knowledge."
"I'm not a SeeD," Seifer explained. "That's the problem. There's some kind of secret they tell you once you make SeeD, isn't there? What is it?"
"There isn't," Squall replied, shaking his head. What was Seifer getting at? "And even if there was, you'd be stupid to think I'd tell it to you."
Seifer nodded, as if he'd been expecting this all along.
"I figured as much," Seifer said, resting Hyperion on his shoulder. "You're on my tough-nut-to-crack list. I knew you wouldn't talk that easily, and to tell the truth, I'm glad you're being stubborn. Makes me proud!"
"I'm honored," Squall replied without emotion, understanding what would happen next. He closed his eyes and distanced himself from his body and the sensations he was receiving.
"That's why I've got a little something for you!" Seifer said, and Squall heard the knight's fingers snap, and the warden flip a lever.
A guttural roar that Squall wasn't even aware he was making escaped from his lips as agony shot through his body. Squall went into a series of violent convulsions as pain racked his entire body, electricity sparking and arcing across his skin.
It ended sooner than Squall could have hoped, and he slumped in his shackles, but quickly recovered, flexing his muscles. He looked back down at Seifer, giving him a defiant glare that mocked the brief torture as something trivial.
"Even if you don't talk, others will," Seifer commented, seeming unfazed by Squall's easy resistance to the interrogation. "The instructor, the little messenger girl, Chicken-Wuss . . . hell, he wouldn't last three seconds!"
Squall's eyes widened, and Seifer grinned, knowing he'd hit Squall in a spot no physical torture could touch.
"They're here?" Squall asked, but even as he spoke, Squall realized that he should have known they'd be here all along.
"Oh, you bet," Seifer replied, enjoying the moment. "They're all down on the seventh floor, waiting their turn. But since I like you so much, I thought you should go first."
"Always doing favors for a friend, huh?" Squall asked, managing a slight chuckle. Seifer nodded, chuckling as well.
"Where is my gear?" Squall asked, more to delay Seifer from repeating the torture and give him more time to prepare. Seifer gestured to a nearby box by the door.
"Don't worry, its all right there," Seifer replied, smiling. "Well, your clothes, at least. I'll have to get your gunblade from the confiscated materials room later. Regulations."
"You want a rematch?" Squall asked, laughing. "You were the one to get your ass kicked this time." Seifer didn't laugh at that, but after a second, he did smile.
"As long as we're on that subject, Squall, tell me," Seifer asked, sheathing Hyperion. "How did I look in my moment of triumph? My childhood dream fulfilled! I've become the Sorceress' knight, and the ultimate warrior!"
Squall blinked, recalling Seifer's words only a short while ago at the graduation ceremony. Seifer's dream . . . to become the greatest warrior of all time? Was that what Edea had promised him through becoming her knight? But yet, he'd become something less than that now. He was just a sadistic torturer for the Sorceress.
"Come on, Squall, say something!" Seifer added, laughing. "This is the scene where you swear your undying hatred for me! The evil mercenary against the Sorceress' knight! Don't disappoint me!" Squall said nothing during Seifer's strange, insane rant, until Seifer snapped his fingers again.
Squall tried to distance himself from physical sensations as the lever snapped down, and agony shot through his body once again.
--------------------
Selphie had tried casting curative magic on Zell's wounds, but the bruises and cuts barely showed any improvement. Her magic was still somehow suppressed by the environment, just like their Guardian Force junctions. Zell had heard of some technologies that could contain and disable magic, and if something like that was in effect here, it would explain a lot.
So, the SeeDs had sat around, Zell occasionally rubbing his bruises, and began forming escape plans. They didn't have much, just Zell's experiences as Ward, which would come in handy if they ever got out of the cell. Unfortunately, the walls were made of solid, virtually impenetrable metal, and there appeared to be no way to open the doors from the inside, nor any means by which to access the mechanisms short of ripping apart the metal floors and walls. There was a card reader inside the cell, but it was well-armored, with recessed screws, and Zell suspected that the actual circuitry for the panel was buried too deep to get to even if the panel was removed.
They were still planning with what little they had when the metal door swung open. The SeeDs looked up to see a strange creature enter the room. It was about four feet tall, with bright orange fur that turned red along its long, whip-like tail. The creature had huge, four toed paws with short, stubby claws, and a face that strangely resembled a combination of both humanoid and leonid features. The fur on top of its head stuck straight up and back, and the tips of the fur were a deep crimson.
The creature was carrying a plate with what looked like a large, if not completely appetizing, meal, but the SeeDs were entranced by the little red and orange creature. None of them had seen a Moomba in the flesh. the creatures were native to Selphie's home of Trabia, and were the one of the evolved versions of the strange race of nonhumans in that region known as the Shumi. Moombas were sentient, but their actual mental powers were less than those of an ordinary human or an unevolved Shumi. However, the creatures made for great laborers, and Galbadia was notorious for kidnapping Moombas as slaves.
The Moomba walked in with the plate, and strode toward the SeeDs, though its eyes were downcast and it moved with what seemed to be broken resignation, which was as telling as the pair of manacles around its lower legs. All three SeeDs felt the Moomba's pain, and knew that it was as much a prisoner as they were.
The Moomba approached the SeeDs and was about to set the tray down when it mis-stepped and fell forward, spilling the food tray with a resounding clatter of metal on metal. Almost immediately, the vicious, sadistic guard stepped in through the open door, alerted by the sound.
"What happened?" he asked, rushing across the room to stand over the Moomba. The little orange creature immediately scrambled to its feet, but cowered slightly before the brutal guard. The guard scowled at it, and saw the spilled food tray.
"Dumbass Moomba!" he shouted, kicking the Moomba in the face so hard it flipped over into its stomach.
"Bastard!" Zell roared, too angry to hold back his wrath anymore. He snapped to his feet, and as the sadistic guard spun to smack him with the baton, Zell deflected the blow off his forearm. The man's eyes widened as Selphie and Quistis jumped up as well.
"Yeah, leave him alone you big meanie!" Selphie complained, putting her hands on her hips. The guard raised his baton to strike again, but Zell caught it and held it fast. The sadistic guard tried pulling his hand free, but Zell's grasp was iron hard. The man opened his mouth to call for help, but Zell silenced him with a powerful uppercut into the stomach. The guard wheezed as the air was ejected from his lungs, and doubled over, giving Zell an excellent shot into the back of his head. The vicious guard promptly dropped.
"Heh, he went down easy," Zell remarked, clapping his hands as if to clean them. Even as he did so, Selphie ran to the still-open cell door, and peeked out. From her vantage point, she could clearly see that this floor was circular, with a walkway encircling the chamber and a wide hole in the center. She spotted a staircase near their cell, leading to the levels above and below this one, and from what she could see, the entire prison was shaped similarly to this level.
By that time, Quistis - and a second later, Zell - had moved to the door, the rescued Moomba tagging along.
"Where are all the guards?" Quistis asked, scanning the floor. With the exception of the sadistic bastard Zell had taken out, there were no other uniformed prison guards on this floor. At the far end of the room was a pair of baton-wielding Galbadian soldiers escorting a group of Moombas going about the food delivery task, but that was it.
Zell leaned out of the door and caught a number marked above their cell door. 7-B2. He nodded, then looked back to his fellow SeeDs.
"Seventh level. If I remember correctly, the storage and evidence lockers are on the ninth level, and that's where all our weapons and gear will be." Zell nodded toward the soldiers. "And if I also remember correctly, the guards usually take breaks around feeding time, so there shouldn't be very many of 'em around."
"Even so, we're unarmed," Quistis said. "Not to mention it won't be long before that man you decked is missed."
"Don't worry," Zell replied with a smile. "My weapons are my fists, remember? I'll head up alone, it'll be easier for me to hide. And besides, I know this place a lot better."
"Better shut the door so the guards won't get suspicious," Selphie added. The Moomba had apparently understood the conversation and bounded over to the unconscious guard. It returned a second later with a pair of card keys. Zell nodded and took one, while Quistis took the other.
"Be back soon!" Zell said, and stepped outside the cell. Behind him, the cell door slid shut.
--------------------
The agony ended, but Squall's body still ached with pain from the electricity. He panted hard, head hanging with exhaustion, his throat raw from the pain-filled scream he was dimly aware aware he'd been making. Stubbornly, the SeeD raised his head, and glared at Seifer.
"I'll ask again," Seifer said, leaning back against the far wall. "What is SeeD? Why do they oppose the Sorceress?"
"Oppose?" Squall muttered hoarsely, not understanding. If Seifer was referring to the assassination attempt, that was an act of self-defense. Surely Seifer knew that. But it almost seemed as if Seifer meant that SeeD was actively opposing Edea for some other reason.
"Sir Seifer," a guard called from the doorway to the room. Squall looked that way, as did Seifer.
"Yeah?" Seifer asked, annoyed at being interrupted.
"The missiles are nearly ready for launch, sir."
"Good," Seifer replied. "Send the word to the base commander that I will be meeting with Edea to confirm the missile launch immediately." The guard nodded and left quickly. Seifer turned back to Squall and drew Hyperion.
"That was part of Edea's plan to deal with SeeD," Seifer explained, almost conversationally. "Missiles are about to be fired at both Trabia and Balamb Garden."
Squall jerked as if he had been slapped. Galbadia was going to fire on Garden?
"Too bad, too," Seifer added, shrugging. "I grew up there too, but orders are orders. Garden is to be destroyed on grounds of training SeeDs to oppose the Sorceress."
"No . . . ." Squall muttered, shaking his head.
"After Garden has been annihilated, the SeeD hunt will begin," Seifer added, holding up and aiming with Hyperion like a hunting rifle. "I'll hunt down every one of your kind. It'll be fun." Seifer laughed openly, and spun toward the door. "Don't die on me, Squall." With that, Seifer swept out of the room, the door sealing behind him.
The mustached warden crossed the room and looked up at Squall, arms folded across his chest.
"Ready to talk?" the man asked, and Squall glared at him.
"I don't know what it is you want," he replied truthfully.
"Don't give me that shit!" the warden shot back, crossing the room to the switch. "Edea says you know something about SeeD! Spit it out!"
Squall endured several long, agonizing seconds as electricity coursed through his body, before the warden cut the power. Squall panted again, slumping in his shackles, as the warden walked back over to him.
"Hm? Had enough yet?" he barked, and waited as Squall spent several long seconds slumped in pain. Finally the SeeD's head rose. The warden's eyebrows arched, expecting Squall to speak.
A wad of spit struck him between the eyes instead.
"Go screw yourself," Squall added, giving the warden a venomous and defiant glare.
The warden's jaw clenched in fury, and he ran over to the control panel and flipped the switch. By that time, though, Squall was ready, bracing himself and distancing his mind from his body as the pain erupted along his body. The warden jumped the power level to extremes, and Squall screamed in agony. Then, mercifully, he slipped into unconsciousness.
--------------------
When Rinoa had been led to the top level of the prison, she had been expecting torture, or something even worse. She was not expecting to be led to the entrance to the D District Prison, nor who would be waiting there for her to take her home.
"What are you doing here?' she demanded after the guards had cleared her to leave. She had stepped onto an elevator that was fast descending to the vehicle hangar, standing beside the one who had come to take her away.
"To get you," Irvine Kinneas replied with an uncomfortable shrug. "Your father asked me to pick you up."
"And the others?" Rinoa asked, angry that Caraway hadn't included them.
"He didn't say anything about that," Irvine replied as the speedy elevator stopped outside the hangar.
"But we can't just leave them!" Rinoa complained, but Irvine would hear none of it. He crossed the hangar to a waiting army truck and opened the door. Rinoa followed, despite her anger. She doubted she would be able to help rescue Squall without Irvine's help.
"Get in," Irvine added, opening the passenger door. Rinoa complied, sitting down and glaring at Irvine mercilessly. The sharpshooter ignored her and started the vehicle. Moments later, they were outside the prison, under the glaring light of the desert sun and yellow sands.
"You can't be serious about just leaving them behind!" Rinoa stated after several minutes. Irvine did not look up, which was something Rinoa was counting on. She knew he didn't want to leave his comrades behind, and she played on that as much as possible.
"Orders are orders!" Irvine snapped back. "Your father wants you safe, and he's taking a massive risk just springing you."
"I don't care!" Rinoa replied, shaking her head forcefully. "We have to go back to the prison!" When Irvine reluctantly shook his head, Rinoa grabbed the door handle for the car and swung it open. Irvine yelped in surprise and jammed the brakes, stopping the vehicle in mid-movement. Rinoa leaped out of the car and stood to the side of the vehicle, arms folded across her chest, while Irvine rushed out.
"What the hell are you-" he began.
"We're going back." Rinoa stated defiantly. Irvine shook his head.
"Squall and the others will be fine. They'll get out of there when the time comes."
"You don't know that!" Rinoa replied. "Squall may stay, saying no one's ordered him to escape. We have to go help them." While the jab at Squall was mostly just exaggeration, Irvine got the message. He seemed uncertain, until Rinoa strode around the vehicle and roughly shoved the sharpshooter back inside.
"Hey! No pushing, and - ow!" Irvine cringed as Rinoa scratched him across the face with her fingernails. "Hey! Quit that!"
"Turn this thing around, now!" Rinoa demanded, scratching him again.
"Okay! Okay! Stop that!" Irvine pleaded in the face of Rinoa's unorthodox, but effective, tactic. "Get in the passenger seat!"
Rinoa did so, circling around the vehicle and climbing in. Irvine threw the vehicle into reverse, and spun around. He shook his head as they drove back toward the prison, then looked over his shoulder to the rear of the vehicle.
"Look, I was gonna go back anyway after I got you out," Irvine explained, which surprised Rinoa. "While we're headed back, could you open that big box in the cargo compartment?" he added. Rinoa looked behind her seat and saw a large plastic crate there. She leaned over and popped it open, then blinked in shock at the contents.
"A personal collection I managed to procure from Garden when I said things might get dicey," Irvine explained with a grin as the D District Prison loomed above them once more.
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Zell peeked his head around the corner, just enough so that he could see onto the ninth floor. A quick scan showed no guards near the stairs, so he moved a bit further up. As with the level below, Zell did spot pair of soldiers escorting Moombas going about their business, but those men were at the far end of the chamber, and Zell went unseen. Nonetheless, he stealthily crept forward, making sure that there were no surveillence devices watching him or guards taking smoke breaks in inconveniently located corners.
Zell made it to the confiscated materials room easily enough, and used the stolen card key to open the door. The metal door swished open quietly, and Zell peeked inside. The room consisted of a large number of freestanding shelves upon which were piles all sorts of items. Lockers, some with heavy-duty safe locks on them, occupied three of the walls. The martial artist froze when he heard voices inside, but they were coming from behind a shelf to the left, out of sight. Quietly, the brawler crept in, staying low and trying not to make any noise.
He needn't have bothered, as the two men were speaking loudly, muffling Zell's footsteps. He edged around the shelf the men were standing behind, attracted by the subject of their conversation.
"So, these are SeeD weapons?" one of the men asked. Now that Zell had a good look at them, he saw that they were clad like regular Galbadian infantrymen, though they were armed with batons instead of swords, and had large black "MP" insignia over the Galbadian crest on their shoulder guards. Galbadian military police and prison guards, apparently.
"Interesting stuff, too," the second MP offered. "Nunchaku, chain whip," the man reached into the locker they were inspecting and drew out Squall's Revolver. "Is this a gunblade?"
"Never seen one for real," the first MP added, inspecting the intricate craftsmanship. Unnoticed behind them, Zell slipped silently forward.
"Heard they used some type of high technology involving concussive energy," the second said, opening the chamber on the gunblade. He never got a chance to look into them however, as Zell's left hand snaked around his neck, grabbed his chin, and pulled up and back while the other hand pushed hard against the back of the MP's neck. The soldier's vertebrae popped like a dry twig, and even before the man had hit the floor, Zell had spun on the second guard. The man snatched his baton off his belt, but Zell grasped the man's wrist and twisted, sending a searing hot pain down the soldier's arm. He dropped the baton, and Zell's other fist smashed into the guard's throat, crushing his windpipe.
The man fell to the floor, trying to breathe through a throat that couldn't handle air anymore, while Zell snatched up the weapons and emptied the lockers of their gear and hurried out of the room. He didn't like having to kill like that, but considering the situation, Zell knew he'd had no choice. In a fair fight, he might not have won, especially with his magic supressed.
A few tense minutes of evading guard patrols later, Zell had made his way back to the cell where Quistis and Selphie waited. He stepped in, closing the door behind him to cut out prying eyes.
"I come bearing gifts!" Zell crowed, handing Selphie her nunchaku and Quistis her rante. They quickly took their weapons, and also their extra gear, including various potions and backup knives. The little Moomba, who had opted to stay with the women, growled its approval.
"Okay, now we've got our gear back," Quistis said, checking her rante to make sure it was undamaged. "But without our junctions, we're not too much better off."
"Sorry, didn't think of that," Zell replied, shrugging. "I don't know where the anti-magic generator is located. They must have installed that after my experience with Ward."
As Zell was speaking, however, the cell door swept open. The SeeDs turned to face the two men stepping into the room, both clad in MP uniforms, though one wore the red of an officer.
"So, private, is this the cell with the new prisoners?" the officer asked, with a strangely familiar voice.
"Yes, sir, Lieutenant Biggs sir!" replied the lower-ranking officer, with an equally familiar voice. The name "Biggs" was all Selphie and Zell needed to remember the incompetent duo of Galbadian soldiers in the Communication Tower from a little over a week ago.
Biggs and Wedge apparently recognized Selphie and Zell as well, as the two soldiers froze immediately upon seeing the familiar SeeDs.
"Hey! What an unexpected bonus!" Biggs crowed as soon as he realized who the prisoners were. "I didn't expect to be able to pay you punks back so soon after what you did in Dollet!" The demoted Biggs threw his head back and laughed. "I know it may seem cowardly to beat up on unarmed prisoners, but it's a dog-eat-dog world, and-"
Quistis snapped her whip, and the chains of Selphie's nunchaku rattled as their weapons came out, cutting Biggs off in mid-sentence. The officer stopped, and looked back and forth between the armed SeeDs, and the tatooed kid who needed no weapons.
"Sir, they seem fully armed," Wedge commented, hand dropping to his baton.
"You don't think I know that!" Biggs shot back. He loaded his arm- mounted guns. "Armed or not, you kids are dead! You hear me! Dead!"
Quistis' whip wrapped around Biggs' foot even as he spoke, and a quick tug threw the officer off his feet. Biggs hit the floor heavily, and then his breath was blasted from his lungs as nearly two-hundred pounds of Zell Dincht jumped onto his stomach. Biggs groaned and black out from the impact.
Wedge had only just begun to draw his baton when Selphie's nunchaku entangled the club. A quick tug by the tiny SeeD yanked the baton from Wedge's grasp, and the soldier began to back away, only to take his own baton in the face as Selphie snapped her nunchaku back around, throwing the club at the soldier. Wedge staggered under the hit, and then was knocked off his feet as Selphie closed the distance and smashed him with both bars of her weapon.
"Simple enough," Zell commented, stretching after hopping off the unconscious lieutenant. "Now its time for the breakout!"
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Whoo. I liekd doing that chapter. Reminded me of Metal Gear in several ways. I almost did the ketchup escape trick, but decided not to. You may find some Metal Gear lines here and there too.
Obviously, in this chapter, there was some signifigant deviation from the established script, especially in when the scenes were presented. I also added in the scenew ith Rinoa and Irvine, not only to show that was happening, but also as to lead into the next chapter. The next chapter will be, quite simply, Irvine's chance to be all he can be! A good way to describe the upcoming chapter is with a great movie quote.
"Guns. Lots of guns."
Also, I'm discontinuing shout-outs in my chapters. I'll submit reviews which will contain shout-outs instead.
