Ch 21 – Introducing Dee Dincht
Dee suddenly jumped, her head rested in her arms quickly raised as she was jolted from her sleep by someone clearing their throat, her sight blurry for a second – before she rubbed he sleep out of her eyes, looking around to see who had woken her.
Zell smiled up at her from his bed, his face showing a little more colour then the last time Dee had seen it, drenched in rain and pale as death. "Hey there." He whispered, his deep voice gentle as a kitten's paw – just like she would have thought.
She looked down at him with wide eyes, slightly out of wonder whilst also out of curiosity. She tried to speak, but found that she couldn't find the words. His voice, his body, his eyes – it was all foreign to her, like something out of a fantasy novel – the ones where the Heroin finds the sleeping prince trapped in ice or floating in a space-ship. There were no words to describe what she was feeling, or how she should react, or if she should even begin to speak to the man lying in the hospital bed before her.
She didn't need to. Zell spoke first. "So…you're my kid, huh?" He asked tentatively, as if testing the temperature of a pool with his toe.
Dee nodded dumbly. What else could she say?
Zell grinned then, his face almost lighting up. "That's cool…really cool."
Dee giggled then, her mind yelling her happiness to all the heavens – if they could hear her – before she composed herself. "I'm…my name is Dee." Dee said hesitantly, not sure of how much she should say.
Zell nodded slowly. "That's a nice name. I knew a girl in my universe called Dee. If you're half of what she's like, then I've got a good thing on my hands. Plus, it goes. Dee Dincht. Has a nice ring to it."
Dee nodded, before twisting her face in embarrassment. "Yes…but it's not really my name name."
Zell frowned, doing a double-take. "…Come again?"
Dee shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable and even a little sad as she spoke. "Well, it's hard to explain…you see, I'm not the only child born from you're…"
The door to the hospital room suddenly slid open, revealing Aries and Lorelei, the two women holding hands as they walked in, their white robes flowing around them. Aries smiled at Zell. "Ah. You're finally awake."
Dee seemed relieved, standing and curtsying to the Grand Mistress and her companion. Aries came over and gave her a hug, before sitting her down into her chair and looking down at her, speaking in a scolding tone. "Now, I told you to wait outside for us, hmm?"
Dee looked down at her feet, biting her bottom lip as she scratched he back of her neck with a guilty look on her face. "I know Grand Mistress…but I couldn't wait…"
Aries smiled, shaking her head. "You must follow procedure, Dee. You know the consequences of not following procedure." Her words were soft, much like a mother scolding a child for taking a cookie without asking.
Zell sat up in his bed with a grunt, smiling at Dee and giving her a wink before addressing Aries. "Hey, c'mon Aries…she didn't do anything wrong…"
Lorelei moved forward, rolling her eyes as she placed a gentle but firm hand on Zell's shoulder, pushing him back down to a supine position. "For Gods sake, Mr. Dincht, please keep still. You're a wreak and you need to get well."
Zell smirked at the comment and laughed out loud. "Are you kidding?! I'm a father!! How am I a wreck?!"
"Can I count the ways? How about your broken leg? And your dislocated arm? Not to mention your numerous cuts and bruises you got in your insane act of self-destruction to get to the Holodeck. And lets not forget the hypothermia and possible pneumonia you might get from the rain you created in the Holodeck."
"I've never had pneumonia in my life!" Zell said confidently – before sneezing.
Lorelei threw her hands up in the air and sighed audibly. "Men! Always thinking they're better then everything else."
Zell sniffed, wiping his nose with his good hand. "Well, cant really argue with that…I've been accused of being stubborn more then once in my life…but a wreak I am not."
"And how are you going to show me that, hmm?"
Zell smiled at the girls – before closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, saying the word of power under his breathe. His body suddenly glowed a soft green as the Curaga took hold, healing him of his wounds, mending his broken bones and closing the cleaved flesh. The woman around him gasped in wonder as the glow receded – to reveal a perfectly healthy Zell, the warrior reaching up and tearing off the bandages and gauze covering his body to reveal white scars of healed tissue.
Lorelei and Aries immediately went straight for the monitors surrounding the bedside, taking in the readings of the computers. "This…this is unheard of!" Lorelei gasped, looking at Zell and he sat up in bed with a large grin on his face. "I've…never seen anything like this!!"
Dee looked at her father in complete wonderment, her mouth hanging wide open. Zell looked over at her and winked again before reaching over and closing her jaw for her.
Aries simply shook her head, clearing out the confusion and utter astonishment and pushing them to the side for later pondering and stepped forward. "Obviously you think you're ready to continue in your quest."
Zell nodded vigorously. "You said something about knowing of a way to get to where my friends were going?"
Aries smiled sadly, walking around the bed to stand behind Dee, placing her hands on the back of the chair and looking down at her. "Unfortunately all I have is a theory…nothing like this has ever been thought of, let alone tried…"
Zell smiled at her then, shaking his head. "All I need is hope, hon."
Aries nodded slowly, seeming to be thinking of something – before looking up at Zell. "You said something about training?" She asked, changing the topic.
The SeeD nodded. "Yep. I got my ass handed to me back there – and I'm not going to let that happen again."
Lorelei sat down in the chair on the other side of the bed, looking up at Zell. "You're really going to try and fight him again? You're going to prepare for another battle like that one you died in?"
"Of course. It's not like I'm going to be wading into him with guns blazing – if I can avoid him I will. But…something about this guy makes me think that he's not going to just leave me alone just like that. And besides…he's standing between me and my goal. Me and my home. And nobody threatens my home without paying for it."
Lorelei nodded slowly. "…Okay…it sounds reasonable…"
Zell grinned. "You think I shouldn't fight him, hmmm? I didn't know you cared about me, Lorelei."
Lorelei grinned. "I may be in charge of the Rebirth technology here, Mr. Dincht, but I'm also the leader of the Valkyres, the supreme fighting forces of the Immortals. I probably know fighting techniques you've never even heard of."
Zell frowned, looking Lorelei up and down. The long white silk robes covered her body well, revealing in some places whilst keeping the mind thinking on what else was covered up. From what Zell could see, Lorelei did have the body of a fighter – and the temperament too. "Why doesn't it surprise me that you're a fighter?" He muttered, half to himself.
"Dee's a warrior in the Valkyres too," Aries said, smiling down at the girl. "And she's getting quite adept too. I have to say that she has been the best choice we have made."
Zell frowned in confusion, looking from Lorelei and Aries to Dee. "Hey, yeah, Dee said something about…not being an only child."
Dee suddenly blanched, looking at Zell as if to say oops, you weren't supposed to know that.
Aries and Lore stiffened slightly yet suddenly, Aries looking down at Dee and speaking in a stoic tone. "Dear, could you wait outside, please?"
Dee tried to protest, but Aries gave her a stabbing look, and the girl stood and walked out slowly, looking back at Zell one last time before shutting the door behind her.
Zell was confused. Before it was like Aries and Lorelei were like mother figures to the girl – but then they were suddenly cold, as if Dee had revealed something…important. "Hey, c'mon, what's with the cold shoulder Aries?"
Aries sat down in the chair that Dee had inhabited and exhaled slowly, running a hand through her long blond hair before locking her blue eyes onto Zell's. "Zell…I'm going to tell you something I hoped that I wouldn't have to tell you. Something…you might not want to hear. Dee should not have found out, but she did, and is still coming to grips with it."
Zell's face turned grim, his mind deadly serious and ready. "Okay…"
Aries sighed – before looking at Lorelei, the red-haired woman speaking. "We cultured your sperm with the eggs of a select number of women, the donors picked out from a selection of volunteers. Because of the…volume of our donation, we were able to create and culture several foetuses and grow them in Rebirth chambers within the Rebirth facilities. There were several foetuses – twenty-four to be exact. They were lettered in order – A to Z."
"But…there were complications. It has been years - many, many years – since a baby has been born on this planet, natural or artificial. Our scientists had read up on how to handle them, and even then all contact was reduced to an absolute minimum – but there were still accidents."
Zell felt his jaw tighten. Something cold gripped his spine. "What kind of…accidents?"
Lorelei continued, her voice growing in emotion as she spoke. "There were twenty four. E to Z was stillborn from the weak eggs and universal differences between your biological makeup and the many, many neutralising components, as well as ours in our modern medicines. Some of the volunteers had been with us from the beginning – their reproductive systems simply gave up on the idea of being fertilised after so many Rebirths."
Zell swallowed, his voice hoarse. "What…what about the other ones…the ones who survived."
"Only A to D was left. Four children." Lorelei looked down at her hands. "These children were cultivated from the same egg, one that had been almost miraculously strong, and had been fertilised several times from your sperm. Dee was originally a quadruplet, the fourth of four."
"…And?"
Lorelei let out a breathe. "In order to make sure that we had at least one strong child from your sacrifice…we artificially manipulated the genetic structure of the fertilised egg so it would sustain only one of the children growing within it."
"Wait a second…" Zell said suddenly, his voice forceful. "Are you telling me that you killed off three of the embryos in order to make sure one was strong enough to survive?!"
"It's the way the human structure is born, Zell. It happens all the time. At least, according to the records we have on file…"
Zell shook his head, interrupting the Immortal. "So, Dee was the you chose to survive?"
Lorelei sighed sadly. "No. We chose the A baby – Dee was one to be sacrificed along with B and C. But, in some strange twist, the two babies both fed off the B and C babies, Dee seeming to ignore all the genetic twists and manipulations we could throw at her. And, eventually, she emerged the victor of the genetic battle, rising to overcome the stronger foetus and gestating within the Rebirth chamber ferociously…as if she couldn't wait to be freed."
Zell stared off into space, his mind spinning slightly with the news. He hadn't ever known his birth parents. He had simply been found on the steps of the orphanage when he had been old enough to barely walk, crying and screaming. Thanks to the years and GF usage, Zell couldn't recollect anything regarding his childhood or his birth-parents – he had settled in with the Dincht's nicely, the soft-spoken yet firm Ma and Pa warming to his go-get-em attitude almost as soon as they had laid eyes on him. Had he been like Dee – too full of life, too determined to not give in, even though the odds were stacked against him?
He smiled a small smile then. "She…sounds like a strong woman. I'm sure…the sacrifices…were done justly. But one thing still puzzles me…"
"The fact that it's only been a week since you died, yet Dee is a fully matured woman?"
Zell grinned goofily. "Uh, yeah…it was kinda bugging me. It's only been a week?"
"That's how long it took for us to regenerate your body. And to tell the truth, Dee was up and speaking almost as soon as we came in with your head. The body is aged due to the Rebirth process, so we could pick an age for her. We've artificially inserted several intelligence implants, giving her almost all of our knowledge and as much of our history that we could fit in. Chronologically, she's not even supposed to be an fully matured embryo yet – but technically speaking, she's a fully functional eighteen year old girl."
Aries smiled. "She's more then fully functional, too. It might be your universal difference between our genes, or simply your warrior way of life – but Dee has shown a fantastic increase of strength and stamina within the last few days. In all manner of speaking, she's quite possibly the strongest woman on the planet."
Zell looked at Aries with wide-eyed shock. "Uh…really?" He grinned, looking down at his hands. "I suppose that's cool…I mean, it's a sure-fire sign that she's my kid, alright…"
Aries nodded, smiling. "She has your zest for life, Zell."
Zell nodded once more, suddenly wanting to know more, as if he wanted to catch up on the days he had missed. "Um…where does she stay? What does she do?"
"She has her own apartment, and is being trained in the way of the Valkyre." Lorelei said.
Zell grinned, a plan formulating in his head already and he spoke, his voice giddy with excitement. "Excellent. Then I'll have no reason to not start my training immediately." The warrior then sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, taking the sheet with him to drape over his naked body as he stood.
Aries giggled and stood from her seat, walking to stand beside Lorelei. "Men…always rushing to complete the task. I'll send in some clothes for you, and then we'll discuss living arrangements and what facilities you can use. Until then…" Aries put on a pained face. "…Try not to go anywhere, okay?"
Zell chuckled before giving her a finger-to-forehead salute. "Yes ma'am."
* * *
As the two Immortals exited the room, the door sliding shut behind them, Lorelei turned to Aries, gripping her by the shoulder. "Tell me right now. What do you think?"
"Of what?"
"Of Zell. Do you think he'll be able to do what he says he can do? Defeat that…monster that came through the Arch?" Lorelei looked down at her feet as she whispered, her voice trembling. "I don't think any of my girls could stand up to something like that…"
Aries bit her bottom lip, seeing Lorelei's frightened expression. In front of everybody else, Lorelei was as hard as a rock, never giving an inch – but with Aries, Lorelei was able to let go of all her emotional baggage. The woman took too much responsibility, Aries realised with a heavy heart. Way too much for just one woman.
Aries drew the red-haired beauty into her embrace, squeezing her gently. "He'll be able to do it, baby. Just watch."
Lorelei sniffed, trying not to cry as she gripped her lover tightly. "He's so damned positive…how can he keep trying like that?"
"I don't know, baby…it's just the way he is."
Aries looked over Lorelei's shoulder to see Dee turn the corner then, her hands folded into her robes and her manner sullen and quiet as she approached the ladies. They disengaged from each other, Lorelei facing away from the child to wipe her eyes as Aries walked up to her.
Dee was still looking down at the ground as she spoke, her words coming out in a tone that sounded like that of a child who had been severely punished. "I'm sorry, Aries…I didn't mean to tell Father of…my origins…"
Aries shook her head and lifted Dee's face gently with her hand, looking her in the eye as she spoke. "Don't worry, Dee. Everybody makes mistakes. I'm sure Zell understands."
Dee looked down again, her face and tone still cowed. "Still…I shouldn't have said anything…and now he hates me…"
"Oh please. Zell doesn't hate anybody! At least, not you and me!"
Dee looked up then, smiling a small smile. "You…you think?"
Aries beamed at the Newborn. "I know, hon. Now…go to Trista and get some clothes for Zell. I'm sure the two of you have a lot to talk about."
Dee nodded excitedly, before turning and running down the corridor, vanishing from sight almost instantly, the only thing remaining being her happy giggle that echoed around the hallway.
Aries sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Well Zell…" She whispered to herself. "I hope at least you show her how to control herself."
* * *
Within his hospital room, Zell was having trouble controlling himself.
Now fully revived, he was experiencing some weird sensations in his head. He stumbled into the bathroom, twisting on the taps and splashing himself in the face with crisp cool water, the cold shock seeming to snap his eyes into focus and making the fog in his head clear.
He sighed before looking up at his reflection in the mirror – to jump in surprise. "Whoa!!" What was looking at him through the mirror wasn't his reflection. It didn't even resemble his reflection. The thing in the mirror had organic black armour covering it's face, glowing yellow eyes flashing out from beneath the plates of solid flesh, hard as adamantine and twice as durable. The blackness of the face had a purple-ish sheen to it, and Zell mentally kicked himself for not recognising the face. "Damn you, Diablos! What are you doing?!"
What are you doing, Dincht? Diablos muttered darkly in Zell's head, the reflection cocking it's head to the side as it regarded Zell. You took on Azel and did not even consider calling us for support. Not only that, but you haven't used us once during the mission. Are you trying to get yourself killed?
Zell rolled his eyes, raising his hand to run his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, well, I thought I had it under control, Diablos. If you and Ifrit and Siren don't like that, then I'm sorry. I made a bad judgement call, okay? Sue me."
You died Dincht. We were trapped in your head. We would have never been able to escape if you had remained dead. You took us to the Otherworld with you.
Zell sighed, shaking his head as he began to wash his hands. "The price of being a Guardian Force, Diablos. You knew the rules when you decided to join me, as did the rest of the GF's."
The image of Diablos suddenly twisted and changed to the sultry vision of Siren, her impossibly long blond hair flowing around her as if underwater, her lips moving but her voice entering his mind silently. We knew the rules, Zell, but you don't. We are Guardian Forces. We are here to help you. Use us. It's what we're here for.
Zell sighed, nodding. Diablos annoyed him greatly – but thankfully Siren managed to even out the scales within Zell's mind. "I…I will, Siren. If I am given the opportunity, I will call for your help."
Thank you, Zell. There is no use in fighting a battle that you can easily win if you have a companion.
Zell nodded again…before looking up at Siren with a smile. "What does Ifrit think about all this?"
The Fire-God's reflection didn't come into the mirror, but Zell could feel the warmth of his voice entering his mind. Do not concern yourself with me, human. I am ready to die along with you at any moment.
Zell shook his head as he turned around to face the door – to see Dee standing there, a bundle of clothes held in her arms. Zell blinked, thankful that his blanket was still safely wrapped around his midriff. "Hyne, doesn't anybody knock in this universe?" Zell said with a grin, grabbing a hand towel from the towle rack and wiping his wet face down.
Dee looked confused, her eyes wide. "Who were you talking to?"
Zell grinned as he strode forward and took the clothes from her hands before placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'll tell you later, hon…I'll tell you later…"
He turned to face the bathroom…before turning around again, looking Dee up and down, as if trying to see some kind of difference, a large smile on his face as his eyes twinkled. "You're…you're really my daughter, hey?" He said, his voice a whisper, as if he couldn't say it out loud.
Dee stood there, allowing herself to be examined, her hands clasped before her meekly as she spoke up shyly. "Yes…I was created from your genes and the genes of the woman you described to Miss Aries."
Zell blinked, looking up at Dee suddenly. "The woman I described…what do you mean?"
Dee suddenly blushed crimson, the look of oops, I shouldn't have told you that coming onto her face as she sighed…and reached into a fold of her robe, pulling out what looked like a photograph. "This woman…was a volunteer for the experiment. She…was the one whose egg I grew from. She…is my mother."
Zell's eyes goggled so big it put a look of concern on Dee's face. Zell's shock was so complete that he dropped the blanket surrounding his midriff to grasp the picture with both hands, his naked body open for his daughter to see, the girl gasping and covering her mouth as she turned away...
But he didn't care. At least, not at that moment
For the picture…was of Angel.
* * *
Zell took his stance, curling down almost into a ball as he lifted his left arm and stretched it out before him with his fingers rigid, before raising his right arm low over his head, the fist a loose ball.
His breaths were slow, almost mechanical, as he closed his eyes, waiting, waiting, waiting…
The wait only took less then a second – but to Zell it was a lifetime, before he snapped his eyes open – and blasted from his position, his body screaming forth – to slam his fist into the tree, the trunk shattering from the sheer power of the attack, the massive oak creaking and screaming as it fell, like the attack had caused bodily harm to it.
Zell was under the tree in an instant, his arms held up – to catch the trunk, his hands slamming into the bark and wood, his arms buckling under the pressure of gravity trying to force the gigantically massive oak onto his body – before Zell straightened his legs and arms, lifting the tree clear and off the ground.
Zell was showing off, really. If he really wanted to do some damage to the tree he would have used magic, or gone for a kick instead of a blow. But he wanted to sh0ow off for two things – firstly, because Lorelei had said he couldn't do it when he had suggested it, and secondly – because he loved the way his daughter smiled.
She was giggling happily now, clapping her hands and squealing with her friends as Zell let one of his hands drop, now holding the trunk up with only one hand, a gigantic grin on his face as he watched Lorelei's jaw hit the floor. "How's this for show-boating?" He said to his audience.
He had been invited out for a training session with the Valkryes, the fighting force of the Immortals, the strongest and fastest of all the women on the planet. Lorelei had explained to Zell as they had trekked out into the forest from the city that the Valkyres were really just there for security – in case something came through the arch, or in case one of the few, but insanely strong, monsters happened to wander into the city limits.
"It's rather rare." Lorelei explained as they walked along, passing trees that seemed to have been alive since the beginning of the planet. "But the monsters that had survived have evolved to a point where our biological and organic weapons are no use. They've even been able to cloak themselves from our radars so we can't atomise them if they try to enter the city – which is why the Valkyres are here."
"Right…or if something came through the Arch."
Lorelei had nodded to Zell. "Yes. Before we had no idea of the Arch's existence – but then we were being paid regular visits by those Heart people Rinoa told us about. At first, when a small reconnaissance party stole into our city, we welcomed them with open arms – before they began to kill us off one by one unless we told them how our equipment worked."
"So what did you do?"
Lorelei had smiled at him and simply said, "We fought back.", in a mysterious voice.
So now the small group of about thirty women and one man had reached the training ground, a clearing about the size of four football fields squared together surrounded by the stupidly massive oaks that the SeeDs had seen in their trip to the Ruins. In the clearing were numerous pieces of training equipment – training weights, dumbbells, gym equipment – and racks and racks of combat and training weapons, as well as an extensive shooting range.
After watching Lorelei command her Valkyres into action, Zell had asked her about the strength of the teams. "They are strong, Zell." Lorelei had answered with a small smile. "Their bodies have all been augmented genetically and biologically to make them superior warriors."
"Yeah…" Zell had said with a smirk. "But can they fight?"
But back to the present time, Lorelei had gathered her wits enough to shut her gob and speak. "Very…impressive, Zell. But what is it's advantages in battle?"
Zell smirked at Lorelei again – before pulling his arm back and lancing the tree into the air, a trail of twigs and leaves in the wake of the massive oak as it sailed through the air, over the clearing, and into the horizon. Zell looked down at the woman sitting around him with a smile, slipping into Instructor mode as easily as slipping into a warm bath. "I can lance a person with a spear at the distance of one mile. Think of the destructive properties of that tree if I spear it into a person. Not only that, but as a bat or bashing type weapon, it is ideal in a pinch, though a little unwieldy and slow. That's why I always Slow or Stop an opponent before dealing them blows with a tree." He held his hands out suddenly, almost as if he was correcting himself. "…Not that I do it often, mind you…"
The group of women laughed as one, even Lorelei chuckling at the joke, before turning to the group with a stern look on her face. "Okay ladies, show's over, back to your training."
The women stood as one and moved off to their separate venues, some moving to the hurdles and gym equipment, whilst other moved to the firing range, whilst other went to the melee venue. Zell watched as Dee walked up to him, her face lit up as she spoke. "Oh my god, that was so amazing! How did you get so strong?!"
Zell scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Well, it took a few years…heh…" Not to mention the Junctioning you've got augmenting your body, but we wont go into the details, will we Zell? He thought to himself.
"Do you think I could be that strong, Miss Lorelei?" Dee asked her Leader excitedly.
Lorelei frowned at Dee, her tone strict like a drill-Sergent. "You might if you stopped talking to people and kept training."
Dee blinked – before jumping as the words set in. "Um – right ma'am!!" She said with a surprised expression on her face before scuttling off to the firing range.
Zell couldn't help but laugh as he watched her run. "Having trouble with her?"
Lorelei sighed, almost as if she was tired of the subject. "She has an excruciatingly annoying ability to gather attention to herself and slacking off. I'm finding it difficult to get her attention drawn to a task for any longer then an hour before she begins to, as you so eloquently put it, 'show boat.'"
Zell shook his head, chuckling. He had had the exact same problem with his training, never concentrating on the task at hand for too long before slipping off to go play, Baku having to track him down and drag him back. "I'm not surprised. I was like that when I was a child."
"And yet you say you're a teacher of martial arts in your universe. Tell me, how did you overcome your inability to concentrate?"
"Years of practise…plus, my master, Baku, told me that it was like 'playing' – only a bit rougher. When I first started, Baku had to get me up in the wee hours of the morning, literally force me out of bed. After a year of training with him, I was sitting up all night with anticipation, waiting to 'play' with my bigger, older friend. I had great fun with him..."
Lorelei snorted at the concept. "Ridiculous. This isn't a game, Zell. This is something that might put these girls lives in jeopardy. Are you telling me that I have to tell them to 'have fun', that it's 'just a game'?"
Zell sighed. "No…I was a kid then. When I got a little older and began going to Garden I realised the potential for discipline. I was always a little rough around the edges when it came to controlling myself and my actions – but I learnt that it wasn't a game. I know what I do is very, very real, Lore. That's why I'm so good."
"Not good enough, obviously…" Lorelei muttered – before pursing her lips, mentally biting her tongue at the slip of her tongue, before subtly readying herself for any physical or verbal abuse this male might launch in her direction.
Zell simply smiled, catching Lorelei by surprise. "Tell me Lore, do you have a last name?"
"We did away with last names centuries ago, Zell…but if you really want to know, when I started my Rebirth it was Kinnes. Why?"
Zell smirked as he walked away. "Nothing. It just explains a few things…"
* * *
Dee had skipped away to the firing range, and Zell followed with his hands jammed into his pockets, the cracks of the guns and rifles echoing out across the field. The gunners had one-quarter of the field cut off all to themselves, one end occupied by women standing with handguns or lying prone on the ground with rifles, the other end occupied with what looked to Zell like little discs floating a few inches off the ground.
The weapons Zell saw they had in their hands didn't look much different from the weapons Irvine and his students used. The handguns were black, had stubby barrels and were of the semi-automatic grouping of guns – the top of the gun able to eject the empty shell as the blow-back of the fired bullet pushed the slide back – whilst the rifles were long, elongated and seemed to also be in the automatic section of guns, most of the woman slamming long clips into the stocks of their weapons before charging the bolt, chambering a round into the breech.
"Ready?" The woman on the end of the line of girls yelled, before pressing a button on a little hand-held control in her grasp. "Live fire!!"
Zell blinked in surprise as the little discs on the other end of the range suddenly began to glow a soft blue – before an obviously human figure seemed to roll up from the light emitted, the soft light creating the hologram flicking every now and then as it sustained the image.
The women began to fire at will, the blue holograms flashing a red pulse as a bullet passed through them like a ripple waving across a puddle of water. The woman with the handguns held them with one hand or two, and Zell spotted Dee amongst those women, a stern look on her pretty face as she blasted off several rounds from the gun in her hand before ejecting the spent clip and jamming in a fresh one, the gun in her hand beeping briefly to signifying the auto-chambering round before she began to fire once more.
Zell walked up behind her, waiting for her to finish, before smiling and speaking up. "That's some nice shooting." He called over the gunfire.
Dee turned her head slightly, smiling cheekily at Zell. "Thanks Daddy." She said. Zell blinked hard and shook his head, having to remind himself that she was his daughter. Decked out in a skin-tight leotard of pure white that covered her whole body except for her head and hands, Dee cut a shapely figure, all the curves where they were supposed to be and more. Not only that, but with her golden blond hair, bright blue eyes and luscious lips, Zell couldn't help but feel proud that his little girl looked to-die-for.
Zell smirked, seeing how she held the gun confidently in her hands. "I'll have to introduce you to a friend of mine called Irvine. He's the best shot in Gaia. He once blew away a Bite Bug from three miles away using nothing but a handgun."
"Really? Cool!!"
Zell blinked, suddenly regretting saying the words. He abruptly realised that he didn't want his little girl anywhere near the womaniser, no matter how reformed he said he was – especially seeing that Zell had just recognised how beautiful Dee actually was. Zell frowned again as the thought echoed through his mind. I don't believe it…I sound just like Quistis…
Dee turned to see a bitter tasting look on Zell's face and, mistaking it for discontentment, held the gun out to him. "Do you want to have a shot?" She asked innocently.
Zell looked down at the handgun in her hand, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, sorry honey, but Daddy is a fist-fighter, not a gun-slinger."
"Oh, go on! I bet you're really good!!"
Zell could see the anticipating look in her eyes and sighed. Bugger it. I'm not that bad... "What the hell!" He said with a grin, stepping forward and grabbing the weapon from her hand. "It's been a while though…"
Zell tried to remember all that his Pa and Irvine had told him of guns, searching his mind feverishly as he looked down at the weapon in his hand. The lump of plastic and metal looked foreign in his grasp, and he suddenly found himself remembering how bored he was whenever Irvine had rattled on about 'calibres' and 'wind resistance' and 'trigger mechanisms'. It had almost been as boring as sitting through one of Quistis' lectures, back when Zell had been a student.
He suddenly remembered a little of the stuff that Irvine had told him about handguns and, lifting the weapon up in his hand, squeezed off several shots.
The bullets flew wildly, two missing his intended target by two inches and slamming into a screen at the back, which vibrated wildly with red colour when the bullets hit it.
So far Zell had been the only one to hit it.
His third bullet, however, clipped the edge of the hologram, a loud buzz resonating out to confirm the near-kill.
Zell lowered the smoking weapon and grinned. "Not bad…" He muttered to himself – he had done a lot worse when it came to firing projectile weapons - before turning to see every girl on the range staring at him. "What?" He asked with a shrug. "You've never seen a guy miss before? C'mon, I'm a fighter!!"
The women all seemed to ignore Zell once more and began to fire at their own targets once again, several of them shaking their heads and muttering to themselves and the girl beside them. Dee took the gun away from Zell and patted him on the shoulder, her voice like that of one addressing a child. "Don't worry, Daddy…you cant be good at everything."
Zell bit his bottom lip, feeling the stares of the girls build on him – before he stepped forward and held his hand out, the palm bursting into flame, the Fira blazing out to destroy the hologram completely, the little disc exploding in mid-air as all it's sensors went off the charts because of the heat. Zell turned to Dee and blew smoke off his palm, before winking to her and walking away slowly, grinning broadly as he captured the astonished look on her face in his mind and stored it away for future reference…
* * *
Yo peeps yo! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!
I'm sorry that I haven't been taking advantage of the GFs as much as I ought to – to tell the truth, as I played FF8 I began to rely more and more on my characters and their Junctions beating people/monsters up then Drawing GFs, so that's really why I never use them. But you will be seeing some GF action later in the fic – not only that, but I think a little GF against GF action will be needed. Tell me who you want to go head-to-head and I'll see if I can incorporate it into the story!!
Dee will become a pivotal character in the chapters coming up – plus I couldn't exactly send Zell into the great unknown without some kind of companion! What kind of sadistic maniac do you think I am? Don't answer that…
Well, better get working on Chapter 22!! Oh, and BTW – broke the half-way mark word-count for Tournament in the last chapter! BOOYA!! So technically, if I continue at the same pace I am now, Twist In Time ought to be at least 1/3 bigger then Tournament!! Just…wow. I never thought I had it in me.
Keep reading and reviewing, and tell yer friends to read too!!
