Ch 2 – Recruit Number One

Night time, stars filling the inky black blanket that was the sky. Not all the stars, however, were from space.

A city, tiny from infinity above, gigantic from below. Named after a dead dictator, it's the city of Gaia that never sleeps, the people within it always hustling and bustling, having places to go and things to do within as short a time as possible. Not all the people, however, do things on the run. At least, not on their feet.

Within the seedier parts of Deling, stuck just a few metres off one of the major roads, was an abandoned apartment block. To say it was abandoned, however, was a bit of a generalisation. At least fifty of Deling's less fortunate lived within the dank recesses of the apartment building. Most with no jobs, no life, no hope.

One, however, was with a single ray of hope. Down, down into the earth, into a secret room cut into the wall after a good week of toil, sat a man and his computer. The room smelled of dirt, the only light the gentle glow of a computer monitor. The phone line dug out of the wall and illegally tapped into lay in a mound of dirt, used then forgotten like a rape victim.

Hunched over a keyboard, his fingers slashing away at the keys with unerring accuracy and speed, the man is considered the king of the web. The Count of Crackers. The Hun of Hackers.

Long blond hair tied back hastily into a ponytail, wire-framed glasses perched on the end of his button nose, his sea-blue eyes reflected the images of the screen perfectly as the data reeled up to the monitor. Pictures, dates, words, charts, his eyes moving like scanners as he gorged himself on the information that he had…shall we say, 'found', within the Garden Council files.

Garden. The mercenary forces training school, nigh-to unbeatable around the world, fighting people's battles for a good fifty years now. SeeD, their squadron of warriors, trained in the ability's of Junctioning and Paramagic, as well as the ultimate military weapons – Guardian Forces.

His old home.

His blue eyes widened slightly as he opened yet another 'unauthorised' folder, his hands moving like blurs to keep the security systems away from his worm. The contents of the folder spilled onto the monitor like someone spilling milk, and his breath became to come in short gasps. "Universal…" he breathed…

He paused suddenly; his ears peaking slightly, his hunched back straightening. His fingers slowed their typing to a stop as he turned his head slowly to the single wooden door leading to his hidden room. Narrowing his eyes, he quickly pressed a few keys, saving the data he had 'liberated' before anything could happen.

The door suddenly exploded inwards, shards of wood slamming into the earth walls as the man quickly shielded the computer's tower with his body. Monitors were a dime a dozen. The information within the tower, however, had taken him a good four years to gather – and was priceless to him.

Three men were within the room in an instant, one wielding a long rifle, the other a large serrated sword, the final one carrying twin knives. The way they executed the entrance and eliminated any possible chance of exit, as well as their military-esque calls and dress confirmed their identity's to the hacker.

SeeDs.

He sat back upright in his chair, brushing woodchips off his shoulders as the SeeDs relaxed – no hostile bogies in sight. No men grasping for Uzi's or charging a Fire spell. "Clear." Someone said, the tension within the room that had suddenly risen lowering slightly – but only slightly.

"Julius Garner?" One man asked, his voice cold as steel.

The blond hacker brushed his fingers through his hair and smiled. "Sorry, pal." He muttered, his words cool and smooth as they eased out of his mouth. "I don't know anybody by that name."

"You are Julius Garner." A different man said confidently, walking up close to the hacker and placing his rifle-barrel to the hacker's long blond hair. "6'1", long blond hair, blue eyes, Balamb accent."

The hacker smiled, raising his hands above his head. "Sorry pal. I've never heard the name before."

The third man walked up to the blond man, slamming a knife into the desk before leaning against it casually. "C'mon, Garner. We traced your signal right back here. You've been diving in and out of the Garden's internet connections for some time now." He leaned a little closer, his breath washing over the hacker's face. "You didn't expect that you got in there all by yourself?"

The hacker's smile turned into a smug smirk. "Ok. You got me. What do you want?"

The man with the knife stood straight, pulling his shiny blade from the wooden desk. "You're to come with us. Now."

"What for?"

Dead silence was his answer.

Garner's smile didn't waver one bit. "Oh. That's the way it's gonna be, huh?"

"That's the way it's gonna be." The man with the gun said, his voice full of venom. "I've heard of you, Garner. They say you were the best at hand to hand at SeeD, way back when. They say you've never been defeated in a fight, weapons or no. So that's why we're going to take this nice and easy…"

His voice was cut off suddenly as Garner suddenly span in the chair, his hand slapping the barrel of the gun away as it blasted off a round, the bullet slashing through the dank basement atmosphere and slamming into the computer tower.

"No!!" Garner cried, ripping the gun from the man's hands and smashing it across his face, the gunman toppling to the floor with a resounding crash. Garner turned to the knife-man, throwing the rifle at him. It twisted through the air, the butt connecting with the man's head with a resounding crack. He hit the floor at the same time as the gunman.

The swordsman slashed forward, his feet skidding on the earthen floor as his razor sharp sword swished out – to cut the chair, desk and monitor in twain, the items collapsing noisily as he blinked.

Garner had been sitting in the chair. He couldn't have possibly missed him.

A small tap on the shoulder was all the warning the swordsman got, and then he was out of the fight.

Quickly crouching down next to the shattered remains of the tower, Julius ripped one of the sides off. Looking into the smoking remains, his worst fears were correct. The bullet had smashed straight through the main hard drive, permanently destroying all the data he had retrieved from his latest dive. Screaming with rage, he threw the heavy piece of hardware at the wall, the machine shattering with contact against the soft dirt.

He collapsed to his knees, clenching and unclenching his fists, tears barely held back. "Veronica…" he whispered, slamming a fist into the dirt…

Before blinking. "You can come down now." He called out, his voice surprisingly calm as opposed to the rage within him. "Your foot-soldiers have accomplished their mission."

There was the silent decent down the make-shift stairs, and the soft clump of military boots on the soft earth. "We knocked at the front door, but there was no answer." A voice said sympathetically.

"I know. I heard."

There was a snort. "Figures. You were an A Grade, after all."

Julius stood slowly, flexing his lean muscles, the small singlet he wore barely concealing his muscular form. "What do you know about me…?" He said vehenemously, his voice trailing off as he saw who he was speaking to.

The man was just a little shorter then Julius, with a lacy black tattoo that snaked across the left of his face, red and silver adamantine gauntlets on his fists. The SeeD uniform he wore was worn untidily– sleeves rolled up, white shirt unbuttoned slightly at the top. The man's own blue eyes were full of cheeky humour – like he was about to burst into laughter at any moment. His smile was genuine. "I knew that you still had it, man." Zell Dincht said, crossing his arms. "I'm impressed!"

Julius tensed slightly. Zell Dincht! The Sorceress Hunter!! He's been killed more then five time – and he's been brought back from the point of no return! "Thanks…I suppose that's a compliment coming from the Hunter."

Zell's smile turned into a smirk. "Yeah…but it didn't have to go down that way, you know. They were just being cocky, that's all. They underestimated you."

"And what about you?" Julius asked, his own smirk growing on his face.

Zell's smile turned deadly serious. "Trust me when I say, Julius, that you're no match for me."

Julius shrugged, pushing his wire-frame glasses onto the bridge of his nose once more. "Okay. I'm at your mercy. Do you put the cuffs on me now, or when we get outside?"

Zell shook his head. "Nah nah man. You got me all wrong. This isn't a bust…sort of. This is a…a job offer. Yeah, that'll do. A mission."

Julius narrowed his eyes, his fists clenching. "Maybe you've got your wires crossed, Hunter. I've abandoned SeeD. I abandoned SeeD five years ago…when Trabia happened."

Zell nodded sadly. "I know." The Trabia 'incident' had ruined the lives of hundreds of SeeDs and students. Many people had lost their lives and the lives of their loved ones. It had been a great tragedy when the bombs struck. "They told me you lost your girlfriend…it must've sucked, man."

"Sucked? You think it sucked?" Julius spat incredulously. "What do you know about pain? About suffering? My Veronica was stuck under an unexploded missile for days, bleeding to death, and nobody helped me. They were too busy with their own worries, their own skins, and the officials, Hyne, don't get me started on them!" His eyes blazed as he spoke, his hands clenching and unclenching as the words spilled out, his emotions barely held in check. "I held her hand as she died, watching her grow paler and paler. When I tried to draw some magic to junction to my strength in order to save her, they threw me in the cells. I've got nothing left with SeeD, or Garden."

"Is that why you work for anti-SeeD terrorists? Is that why you hack the Council's computers?"

"Yes!! And that's what I'll keep doing until…" he stopped himself suddenly, blinking.

Zell narrowed his eyes. "Until what?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." Julius stammered, obviously nervous. "Just…just let me go, man. I-I promise I'll stop the cracking."

Zell shook his head, walking up to the taller man. "Sorry dude. No-can-do. This is a mission that's top priority. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

Julius nodded slowly. "Universal Compression."

"Right. You're better then I thought! The Council assured me that the Compression files were guarded religiously."

"They were. I had to write script for the hack as I downloaded. It wasn't easy, you know…" Julius stopped, forcing himself to recognise the SeeD tactics Zell was using. He's appealing to your good side, getting into your mind – leave him out!!

Zell shook his head, continuing. "I never understood that technical crap. It's always me that needs to be helped when it came to computers. I remember the first time I used a Desk, I had no idea how to work it! I ended up putting a fist through the screen in frustration!"

"Can it, Dincht. I know what you're doing."

Zell sighed and shook his head once more. "Damn, but you're good. How old are you? Twenty-five? Twenty-six? You would have been about twelve when I joined SeeD. I remember you, man. Damn, you were good. Best in the field of martial arts, top of your classes, the full deal. It's too bad we lost you."

"It was when I learn compassion isn't in the rulebook that you lost me." Julius murmured.

"It's in there, man…it's in there…" Zell sighed again, before putting a reassuring hand on Julius's shoulder. "I'll be blunt, man. I need you for a very dangerous mission. Not only for your fighting ability, but also for your hacking skills. I've been through Time Compression, and from what I've heard, Universal Compression isn't going to be a picnic either. If you don't agree to the offer, I'll leave and we'll just have to ask someone who isn't as good, and most probably fail because of it."

Zell squeezed the man's shoulder gently, making him look him in the eyes. "I chose you, man, because you have a heart. I know that you're fighting a noble cause. I know that they couldn't find Veronica's body after you went AWOL. You're trying to revive her, aren't you? And you've been researching ways to do it for five years, stealing vital info from Garden and Esthar the whole time. If you help me, I assure you that you'll have full admittance to the best scientists and laboratories that Garden and Esthar have to offer."

"Re…really?" Julius asked in wide eyed shock.

"For real, man." Zell let go of Julius's shoulder and walked over to the doorway, looking up the stairs. "But…the minute I walk out of this room, you'll be surrounded by more SeeDs then you'll be able to count. You're still a dangerous man, Julius. Even though I sympathise with you, I can't just let you walk out of here. Your stolen information has hurt and permanently killed a lot of good soldiers…me included."

Julius blinked. "You don't mean..."

Zell nodded, not turning to look around. "That's right. The sniper in the martial arts tournament shot me seven times in the chest, effectively killing me on the spot. It was only luck that I survived." He turned his head slightly. "But we've caught up with the rest of the cell. Nobody else was there to accept the information you sent from here the last time you contacted them. That's how we found you."

He placed a foot on the bottom step. "I'll give you five minutes to decide how we're going to do this. Then I'll come down for you myself. And there'll be no negotiations, dude. I'll mean business."

With the ultimatum delivered, Zell walked up the steps into the light upstairs.

*          *          *

Julius kicked at the dirt, his mind tying itself in knots. He had vowed, after escaping from SeeD, to never allow himself to be sucked into their clutches again. He had never allowed himself to think that the information he had been giving the terrorists would be used to hurt people – he hadn't thought at all. All he thought about was the frozen body of his loved one, permanently encased in the block of ice he had cast on her as he stole away from the Trabia ruins.

Walking over to one of the dirt walls, he moved to a section and scrubbed at it, digging with his hands until he hit ice. Scratching away the chunks of dirt, he looked at her, her milky skin and raven-black hair almost illuminated by the blue ice surrounding her slim frame.

Sighing, he reached around the sides of the frozen statue, pulling the block of ice out from it's hiding place, pulling the large brown sack that had been hidden behind it too...

*          *          *

Squall turned to Zell, who was standing next to the entrance down, arms crossed, his face unreadable. "He's not coming up, Zell. He'd rather go down in a blaze of glory then to come back to us."

"Have a little compassion, Squall. How would you like it if you watched Rinoa die right in front of you?"

Squall slammed a fist into the steel wall beside Zell's head. "I have, dammit! I watched her as she ran out of oxygen in space! As she slipped away out of my grasp! I know how he feels!!"

Zell looked away. "Sorry, man." He said sadly.

Squall blinked, turning and crossing his arms. "I…I sympathise with him, if that's what you mean." He said apologetically. "But sympathy won't bring back the dead SeeDs his work has resulted in."

Someone cleared their throat, and Zell and Squall turned around to see Julius walking up the stairs, a large sack slung over his shoulder. "I'll…I'll accept the mission." He said, his voice wooden as he walked past the two SeeDs into darkness.

*          *          *

"So…you've got your first recruit." Angel said, looking up at Zell from his grip around her. The Librarian loved sitting with Zell in the Training Centre, even if it was to watch how the recruit settled back into SeeD life.

The Training Centre was full of students and SeeDs who had followed Julius in from when Balamb Garden had picked them up outside the city gates. Many people had wanted to see the man who had beaten and created many of the martial arts records that the Gardens had today…but many had also come to see the man who had abandoned SeeD in their darkest hour, leaving them to selfishly follow his own goals.

Zell and Angel sat upon a large rock that overlook the Trainings Centre's trees. A large wave of foliage spanned over their view, the small clearing the only break in a good hundred metres. Zell sighed, watching Julius as he stripped down to the waist, working through his arms and torso in training, the wire-frame glasses still perched on the bridge of his nose. "Yeah…but I wish he had come on his own free will. I wish I didn't have to use the strong hand tactics."

"It's part of being a SeeD, hon." Angel reassured. "It was either this, or the court-martial before the Garden Council. At least this way he'll be able to help his girlfriend…" Her voice trailed off.

Zell nodded, silent for a moment, before pulling her closer in. "You think she's too far gone."

"I…I checked the records when you were gone. Even with the freezing process, she had been dead for a good day before he had been able to escape with her. Nobody's ever been revived after the initial ten-minute period…and the only person ever revived longer then that was you. And you were only gone for half and hour." She sniffed. "It's sad…to know that he won't achieve his goal…"

Zell gave her a gentle squeeze. "Oh, come on. Don't say that. Who knows what we'll find when we go through the Arch. We might find a universe that's mastered immortality! He'll achieve his dream then! Or maybe I'll talk to Rinoa! If she could heal me when Sam got me back then, I'm sure she could do something for Julius…"

Angel's heavy sigh showed her obvious doubt, and Zell kissed the back of her neck. "It'll be fine, hon. Trust me…"

Suddenly there was a shout, and Zell looked down to see Julius standing upright, his training forgotten as he watched at a man in the crowd. The man surged forward, pushing the others out of his way to stand before Julius. "You're Julius Garner, right?"

"That's me." Julius said quietly.

"You're the one who took the files from my brother's unit modules. They walked into a warehouse in Timber expecting to go up against ten men!"

"What's that got to with me?" Julius said in a bored tone.

"It was a hundred men, you fucker! My brother was captured and tortured before they were able to rescue him – and even then, he died! You gotta pay!!"

Julius shook his head. "I…I'm sorry." He muttered, turning to walk back to where he had been.

The man was enraged. "Hey! Don't walk away from me, you son-of-a-bitch!! I got a score to settle with you!!"

Zell looked down at Angel. "Hon? Do you mind if I…?"

"No. Go do your thing. I'll be waiting here." Angel said with a smile, giving him a small kiss on the cheek as he crawled past her.

Down below, things were getting hairy. Zell recognised the angry man as Notie, one of his student best fighters. And he was getting angrier by Julius's lack of emotion. "Come on, you chicken shit! Fight me! Come on, hit me! I dare you!!"

He pushed Julius, making the smaller man stumble back. The eighteen-year-old Noties had a good hundred pounds on the thinner Julius, whose tanned body was lean and muscular, not big and bulky like Noties. Noties was good at fighting not only because he was stronger then most opponents, but also because he used his bulk to his advantage, allowing his weight to add speed to his punches when he threw them. His size disguised his speed, and even though Zell figured that Julius could stand up for himself, he also figured Noties would take a few chunks out of the older fighter before Zell got there to break them up.

"Hey…" He called out – too late.

Another push from Noties set Julius off. Spinning around Noties with the attack, Julius slammed his shoulder into the larger man's back, making him stumble forward. Taking advantage of the larger man's disadvantage, Julius crouched low and swept the floor with his foot, slashing the chunky man's feet out from under him.

There was a loud boom as Noties landed on his belly, and he rolled onto his back to get back up – to receive a knee to the stomach as Julius's launch up into the air ended with the desired attack. Noties coughed some blood up, the red spray making the small crowd gasp in shock as Julius rolled off his opponent, confident in his victory.

As he turned to move away, however, Noties jumped to his feet, his injury seeming not to faze him as he grasped the smaller man in a bear hug, lifting him up off the ground. There was a taut moment as his laughter echoed around the clearing, small cracking noises coming from the torso of Julius's body as Noties began to slowly squeeze the life out of him…

Before Julius seemed to brush the larger man off, easily pulling his arms out of the hold and landing on his feet. Noties could only watch in amazement as Julius turned, his fist pulled back – before it powered forward in one spectacular sucker-punch to the face, the hit sending the heavier man flying off into the foliage to slam into the Centre's wall, smashing straight through several trees and ricocheting off the adamantine-reinforced wall and skidding to a stop within the bushes.

Julius, seemingly unfazed from the attack, shook his hand and walked over to the large sack he had propped against a boulder on the edge of the clearing.

Zell watched as several students bent to pick up some rocks, and he moved over to one, grabbing him by the shirt and lifting him up off the ground. "Do it! I dare you to throw it! Go on! Just give me an excuse!!"

His own anger amazed him, but the boy, trembling, dropped the rock, his friends following suit.

Zell dumped the boy into his friend's arms, his voice a brutal snarl. "Go get Noties to the Infirmary, and tell him that if he ever does something like that again, he'll have to answer to me." He watched as the kids nodded ferociously, before running to where Noties lay unconscious.

Zell felt a small hand on his shoulder, and grabbed it, gripping it like a lifeline. "I'm sorry you had to see that, baby." He muttered, hearing Angel's sigh behind him.

"It's okay…" she said, squeezing his shoulder. "Are you going to go talk to him?"

He nodded. "Yeah…yeah I will."

*          *          *

Julius was moving through some hand movements, the fight forgotten already, when Zell walked up to him. "Sorry about that, man…" Zell said apologetically. "You know how it is…"

"I know all too well, Dincht." Julius muttered, stealing a glance at the smaller warrior. "But thanks for the sympathy."

Zell stood there, still feeling a little uneasy as he watched Julius move from hand movements into punches, his fists moving in blurs as he flicked them out at invisible opponents. Zell watched this for a few minutes, before clearing his throat. "Uhh…wanna spar?"

Julius paused in his routine, looking at the smaller man. "I've seen you on the TV, Zell. You're the best fighter in the world. And you wanna fight with me?"

"I didn't say fight. I said spar. There's a difference. You know, fight you connect, spar you don't?"

"I know what sparring is, Dincht. I knew before you were a seed in your father's sack."

Zell grinned. "Then let's go."

Julius looked at Zell, his eyes full of sadness – before a fist suddenly appeared in front of Zell's face, stopping mere millimetres from connecting. The gust of wind that followed the attack ruffled Zell's hair, but he didn't flinch – he simply crossed his arms. "Ok. How about some handicaps? I don't use my arms – that seem fair?"

Julius's smile grew larger as he lowered his fist. "You're the real thing, Dincht. Fine. You don't use your arms. I'm all out."

*          *          *

Angel shook her head like a disappointed mother as Julius backed away from Zell, rolling his head on it's base and taking his stance. Zell simply stood still, his arms tightly crossed, smiling at the taller man. "You're such a show off some times, Zell…" She muttered, before sighing and raising her eyebrows. "I'd better go get Irvine and Selphie – if they miss this we'll never hear the end of it."

*          *          *

Julius took off, his fists flying in short flurries, the bursts of jabs easily dodged by Zell as he jumped and twisted away from the attacks, his body seeming to bend and duck with the rhythm of Julius's attacks. A sprawling dance, a myriad of movements, their bodies moving like liquid as the spar progressed, Julius's tireless attacks forcing Zell back inch by inch, until he had finally backed up against a tree…

Which was when he finally retaliated, a left hook suddenly stopped by Zell's shin as he lifted up, the block pulled off perfectly. They stood like that for a second, Julius's arm perfectly defended by Zell, who stood on one leg like he had been born that way. "Was wondering when you were going to get started." Julius muttered.

Zell's smile was huge. "Oh, you have no idea."

The blocking shin suddenly whipped out, the foot slashing across Julius's face cleanly, the perfect score. Julius stumbled to the side, whipping his body up to retaliate – to deflect a straight kick at the very last second!

Zell moved like greased lightening, his smile not wavering a bit as his feet moved in blurs, the right leg stabbing out in a mule kick before he attacked again with a double-whip, the calf rising to allow the shin to whip the foot out twice, the deadly attack just barely blocked by the now sweating Julius.

Spinning to the left, Zell crouched low – before jumping high in the air, his foot coming down on Julius's left shoulder. Julius only just read the attack, however, and rolled with it, the boot scraping down his back but not connecting completely.

Now behind Julius, Zell slashed out with a back kick, the attack slamming right into the hacker's back and sending his flying, skidding across the ground on his belly before gaining control of the skid, rolling with the momentum and flipping to his feet – to run forward, his feet pummelling the ground as his fist slashed through the air…

Zell turned, blinking in surprise as the fist smashed straight into his cheek, a look of shock on his face as he began to fall to the ground, everything moving slowly as the dirt came closer and closer…then everything sped back up again, his hand moving out and slapping against the floor, causing him to spin back to his feet – and smash a palm into Julius's chest.

The hacker went flying with the attack, not expecting such a quick recovery from such a powerful attack. Slamming into a tree trunk, he slid down to the ground, his breaths heavy, his face covered in sweat. He shook his head, looking up at Zell who looked down at his hand in mute shock, still in the same position he was in when the attack connected. "Hey…" Julius said, getting to his feet painfully. "I thought you said no hands."

Zell frowned, before shrugging with a smile. "Sorry, man. Reflex action, you know."

"Well, I know one thing. You're good. You're better then I expected. I threw everything I had at you, and still couldn't hit you."

Zell pointed up at the large bruise that was beginning to form on his face and grinned. "I don't know about you, but this friggin hurt."

Julius smirked. "Sorry, man. Reflex action, you know."

Zell shook his head, chuckling as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He began to turn to see Irvine and Selphie run up behind a speechless crowd of spectators, Angel following breathlessly behind them.

"Oh! We missed it!!" Selphie squealed unhappily, stamping the ground with her foot.

Irvine scratched the back of his neck, before encircling the pouting Selphie in his embrace. "You win some, you lose some, babe. But I bet it was pretty good!!"

Angel ran up to Zell, placing a gentle hand on his bruise. "My gods! What happened!?"

Zell smiled down at her. "Nothing…we just got a bit carried away, that's all…" He turned to Julius, standing a way behind him, his chest heaving from the fight. "Hey Julius? Fancy grabbing a bite to eat with us?"

Zell frowned as Julius's expression changed from acceptance to a hollow emptiness as he looked at Irvine and Selphie, then Zell and Angel. "No thanks. I still have some stuff to do here." He muttered, before walking slowly back to the large swag he had left near the boulder.

"What's his problem?" Selphie muttered, looking up at Irvine, who shrugged.

Zell knew the look. He had seen it before…in the mirror. "Hey Zell, Irvine and I are going to the movies! Wanna tag?", "Zell, Squall and I are going to lunch. Wana come?" Julius didn't want to be with other happy couples when he had no-one himself. Third-Wheel Syndrome, Zell called it. It was like having an empty place in the pit of his stomach whenever he went out with a happy couple – the knowledge that you had nobody to hold yourself almost unbearable.

"Leave him alone, Selphie…" Zell muttered, turning to his old friend. "He's had a rough time…"

Selphie shrugged, before dragging Irvine in the direction of the doorway. Angel simply looked up at Zell with a knowing nod and a gentle smile before following her friends, beckoning for Zell to follow.

Zell lagged back slightly, looking back at Julius. Taking a swig from his water bottle, the hacker seemed to place a gentle hand on the person-sized swag…before spitting the water out as if it had a bad taste and resumed his training.

*          *          *

In a dark room, a man and his commander looked down at the screen as Zell walked off.

"Commander Carpenter, tell me you saw that!" The man who was sitting said excitedly. "He actually punched Zell Dincht!!"

"Don't get too excited, boy." Carpenter said with a smile, patting the boy on his shoulder. "They got carried away, and Zell was handicapped. If it were a full out battle, Zell would definitely win. This only reinforces Garner's placing in the team."

"Yes sir…but do you think he'll be able to handle the pressure? I mean…I've heard he's pretty unstable, sir. I hear he carries his dead girlfriend in that big sack…I've heard he's on a quest to revive her."

"I've heard it too, son." Carpenter said solemnly. "And there's no way he'll succeed in this lifetime. But he's sound in the mind enough to be a good asset to the mission…and he'll follow his orders through. I'm sure of it. A SeeD will always be a SeeD."

*          *          *

Off in a distant Universe, a raven-haired beauty sat upon a throne, her elegant hands draped casually on the intricately carved armrests, surveying all she ruled, her large white wings ruffling impatiently every now and then. Her dress was the softest blue silk, draped over her slim figure, allowing enough to entrance and covering enough to entice.

A man clad in shining armour, a lion's head on his left shoulder-plate. A large gunblade strapped to his waist, walked up to her confidently, removing his helm to reveal a shock of wavy brown hair and a handsome face with a scar crossing from the left down between his eyes. His grey eyes locked on her smoking white ones as he bowed to kiss her delicate hand, his long flowing red cape billowing out behind him.

Her voice simply entered his mind – What is your report, my Knight?

"We've conquered yet another Universe, my lady." Squall muttered, his lifeless voice spilling the information out. "They fell without resistance."

And the one who plans to deter us?

"They have been infiltrated, as you have ordered, and will be led astray. News from the spy suggests of a force being built of powerful warriors."

They will not succeed without weapons.

"Their force will be made of fighters, my lady, martial artists of the highest skill. One of which is said to be the most powerful in that universe."

The Sorceress narrowed her smoking white eyes before standing, the Knight standing as she did. Moving forward, the Sorceress walked out into the sunlight, the rays making her silky dress shimmer like magic. Walking to the battlements she looked down, her Knight standing vigilantly beside her. Her wings beat slowly, almost in thought, before she turn to him and placing a gentle hand on his chest plate, her smoking white eyes turning up to him lovingly. You love me, do you not? Her voices pulsed, a small amount of timidness within the commanding words.

The Knight looked down at her, taking the small hand in his shining silver gauntlet. "With all my heart and soul, my lady, forever and ever." He said, staring deep into her eyes.

The Sorceress nodded slowly, before easing herself gently into his metallic embrace, her white wings folding behind her in content as she looked down at the world below her.

*          *          *

Well, how did you like that? Got you hooked yet? Got a mission to cover, a mole to uncover, and a kind of twisted love story happening…yeesh, this is going to be good!!

To ShootingStar – the way I write my novels is the way I write them. You cannot change that…however, I do see where you're coming from. In Tournament the only really graphic scene that comes to my mind is Grey's death – and even then I could have really made it chunky. I do not go over the top with blood and guts, but that kind of violence will feature in this fic. I mean, it's one of the few real things I can hold onto in this kind of story…beside gravity and human emotion.

I myself aren't a very violent person – I'm actually quite placid, favouring to talk my way out of a volatile situation before resorting to using my knuckles. But, if pushed too far, I have been known to fight – and win –most battles. That is why Zell gets injured in my fics, and why violence is a part of my repertoire. It adds a sense of realism to the story.

To everybody else, know this – you've read my warning in Questions Questions. I say again – you don't like graphic violence, do not read this fic. If you don't mind a little blood and bone, then read on.