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Surprise Party: Part Two

"I am going to kill Zell."

"Are you going to join?"

"No."

"Well, I don't want to alarm you, but there are a lot of people coming this way."

Squall looked up. "Damn," he said, and hurried out of the quad. Rinoa followed.

"Come on, stay at your party!"

"No way."

"At least come back in five minutes, after the contest starts."

"Maybe."

"Thanks!" She gave Squall a big hug, then ran off. Squall started to leave, but Selphie stopped him.

"There you are, Squall. I was wondering if you could do a job for me, because you're probably trying to avoid the quad for a couple minutes."

"Maybe."

"Check on Irvine for me. He's overseeing the children's games in the cafeteria."

"Okay."

"Tee hee, thanks. Happy Birthday!" she said, then ran off. Squall sighed, and started toward the cafeteria.

Inside, pandemonium reigned. (A/N: Not Pandemona, the GF, unfortunately. Although I personally like Leviathan and Diablos.) Kids were running around screaming as they dragged streamers behind them.

"Look at me, I'm King of the Cafeteria!" shouted one kid.

"But that's Zell."

"No fair! Waaaaah!"

Several of the kids had let several rabbits loose (Selphie did get a rabbit petting zoo.), and they were being chased by several kids. Two kids were using chairs to battle, and several were behind the counter stuffing their faces with candy. Irvine raced into the room.

"Put that fork down!" he shouted at a kid using a fork like a dagger. "You, get away from the counter!" He looked over at Squall. "Whoa! Why are you here?"

"Selphie asked me to look in on you." Squall said. "I think she was right to worry."

"Tell her to get in here! I need serious help!"

"Yeah, I could tell."

"Why aren't you at the party?"

"Because Zell promised to give 100 gil to whoever convinced me to join the Hot Dog Eating Contest."

"Oh, yeah. Wait, the contest! That starts in a minute! Get me some serious help! I really want to see that!"

"Don't worry, Selphie said she was going to tape it."

"Good. But I still need help."

"After the contest. Everyone else is going to see it."

"You're not."

"Irvine, between watching these kids and see that stupid contest, I think you know which I would prefer."

"Yeah. See ya!" He started toward the door.

"And I pick the contest." Squall said. "I'll tell Selphie what you said." He walked back toward the quad, and entered just as the contest was about to start.

"Okay, are the contestants ready?"

"YEAH!"

"Is the camera ready with a fully charged battery?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. On your mark, get set.go!" And Zell dived into the stack of hot dogs like there had been a five-year famine. Selphie was watching this with amusement from behind the camera.

"This is so funny! Zell has finished his hot dogs way before anyone else, and he's stealing some from that poor fourteen year old!" Sure enough, Zell was threatening a teen with a fork while he ate his hot dogs. Irvine stuck his head in the camera lens just as the end bell sounded.

"Hi!"

"Irvine! Who's watching the midgets?"

"I got Nida to do it, because he hates hot dogs. I promised I'd be back soon, though. I really, really, really need help."

"Mental help?"

"No, with the midgets! They're fighting with chairs and forks and eating the candy and using the streamers and one kid just discovered you can throw people off tables and hit them with bottles. Fortunately, they haven't found the glass ones yet."

"Wow. They're learning to bar fight at an early age. I need to see this." She picked up her camera, and left with Irvine. Squall just stared. 'This is not happening, this is not happening.'

"So, now what?" Rinoa asked.

"I can leave?" he asked hopefully.

"No, silly, not until eleven."

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me. The little people go to bed at ten, then we all party until eleven."

"Great."

"Come on, let's get some food." She looked over at Zell, who was lying on his back, fork still grasped firmly in his hand. "Or we could check on Zell."

"That might be a good idea." Quistis said, coming over to join them. "He's either paralyzed, or he passed out with his eyes open. Either way, it isn't a good sign." They walked over. Quistis waved her hand in his face.

"Hey Zell, are you alive?"

"No."

"Good. Now, can you get up?

"No."

Quistis grinned. "Do you want a hot dog?"

"NO!" he shouted, with more force.

"Yeah, the chicken-wuss wants a chicken dog." a voice behind them said. They turned around to face Seifer, Fujin and Raijin.

"WHAT?!" Zell said.

"Chick-en.wuss.wants.a.chick-en.dog."

"Be glad they placed a weapon ban on the party." Zell growled.

"I thought you fought with your fists." Seifer said, smirking.

"Yeah, but if I did fight I'd get in trouble."

"Oh, and then they would tell your mommy. How sad."

"Argh!" Zell shouted, and kicked Seifer in the shin.

"Hey! Watch it!" Seifer shouted.

"NOT GOOD." Fujin said.

"Yeah, ya can't do that to the leader of the Disciplinary Committee, ya know? That's not allowed, ya know?" Raijin added.

"Why are you guys on the Disciplinary Committee?" Rinoa asked. "That is about the stupidest thing I have ever heard." (A/N: Remember, she isn't from Garden.)

"Good thing we didn't ask your opinion then." Seifer said.

"I'll hit you!" Zell threatened.

"So, you do fight every once in a while.I didn't know that."

"What, do you think I helped beat Ultimecia with my breath?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Argh!" he shouted again, and tried hit Seifer in the shin again. But he was ready this time. He grabbed his foot and twisted.

"Seifer, stop!" Quistis commanded.

"Sure thing." he said, and dropped Zell's foot so fast it impacted with the floor.

"Ouch!" Zell howled in pain.

"Seifer!"

"See you losers later." Seifer said, and disappeared into the crowd. Fujin and Raijin headed toward the buffet.

"Man, I am so hungry, ya know? And this looks really good, ya know?

"SILENCE!"

"Ow! Sorry!"

"You have no idea how many times today I have heard the word sorry." Selphie said as she came back with her camera, minus Irvine.

"Where's Irvine?" Quistis asked.

"He's with Nida watching those kids. Man, they sure are a handful. But I got a great scene of them being chased by Irvine and Nida after their little 'bar fight'. You guys have to see it. Oh, and I need to get a picture of you Zell. Don't move."

"I don't think he could even if he wanted to." Quistis said.

"We'll see the film later." Rinoa said. "We were just on our way to the buffet." She looked over the buffet, to where the paintballs had once been. The weapons were still there, but the actual ammo was gone. "Where did all the paintballs go?"

"Oh man, I need to get this on film!" Selphie said, and they looked to where she was taping. Raijin had the paintballs and was taking careful aim at Fujin, who was talking to Seifer. (A/N: Well, she was giving sentences with five or less words in them as opinions, but that the same as talking for Fujin.)

Splat.

Fujin looked up as a huge glob of paint impacted with her head.

"RAGE!" she shouted, and grabbed the bucket of ammo he had left near her, in complete stupidity. (A/N: Then again, we are talking about Raijin.) She pulled it up, and shoved the whole thing on his head. It all oozed out from under the bucket in a multicolored mass.

"REVENGE." she said.

"Oh, that was so stupid. Glad I got that on film. Of course, that means no paintball tournament, but I couldn't care less. I'll go break the great news to Irvine, and tell him it's finally ten." She was about ten steps toward the door when they burst open, and a figure in a black robe walked in.

"Doom!" he shouted, and fired at the surprised people, who ducked.

(A/N: Cliffhanger? Nah.)

Suddenly the figure burst out laughing, and pulled the robe off.

"Surprise!" shouted Laguna.

"The hell was that about?!" Zell said from the floor.

"You mean the bullets? They were blanks. Fooled ya!" he said, and collapsed to the floor, laughing. Kiros, Ward and Ellone walked in.

"When you said 'Give them a surprise', we thought you were going to jump in and say 'Surprise!', not give them a heart attack."

"." said Ward.

"Even Ward agrees."

"How can you know what he's saying?"

"Remember the elder in Winter Village who was telling us about the wordless language.? Do you remember that at all, or were you too busy watching the toy Moomba walk around?"

"Um."

"Really, Uncle Laguna, you should try to be calmer. You are the president of Esthar, after all."

"Yeah, I'll calm down a little when I reach 90 or so."

"Um, Laguna.never mind." Kiros decided.

By now everyone was up (with the obvious exception of Zell), and they had gone back to whatever they had been doing. Laguna, Kiros, Ward and Ellone came over to Squall.

"Happy Birthday." Laguna said.

"Why are you here?" Squall asked.

"Because Quistis told me to come."

"Ah. And that display with the machine gun.?" Squall questioned.

"Just some entertainment."

"Ah."

"Great looking party." Kiros said.

"." Ward added.

"Thanks." he muttered. Finally, Laguna left to bet on the Mesmerize races, Kiros and Ward left to keep him out of trouble (and they sure had to work at it.), and Ellone went to speak to Edea after wishing Squall a happy birthday.

"Now what?" Squall asked Rinoa.

"Well."

Rinoa was cut off when Quistis ran into the room. "We're watching Rampaging Ruby Dragons in the library!" she shouted. Nearly everyone raced for the door.

Rampaging Ruby Dragons was a popular movie about Ruby Dragons rampaging through the Island Closest to Hell in search of ham sandwiches. It was a humor/horror movie, which was a rare combination. But apparently it could happen, and thus became popular. And the movie was very rare. People had been trying to get Quistis to sell it for about eight years now.

Rinoa surveyed the now empty room. "Well, let's go see about that movie." She started toward the door.

"Wait up! I love that movie!" Laguna shouted, and raced to catch up. Unfortunately for him, he passed right by where Fujin and Raijin had been with the paintballs. He slipped, did a flip in mid-air, and fell onto his back.

"Ow." he said.

"Wow! Glad I got that on film!" Selphie said. "And the paint thing." Laguna pushed himself up. His back was covered a multicolored blob.

"Oh great." he muttered, and left the room. Selphie followed, with Rinoa and Squall running to catch up. They all met in the library, which was quickly turning into a scene of laughter and screams.

"Ahhh! Hahahahahaha! Ahhhh! Hahahahaha!" was what was generally heard during the movie.

"Can we leave yet?" Squall asked.

"No." Rinoa said, and pushed forward. "I love this part!"

The part was when a ruby dragon crashed into an insane facility and started to free the pigs, in hope that they would lead it to the ham sandwich. Personally, Squall thought it was the stupidest thing he had ever seen, but he couldn't escape.

Finally, after many popcorn fights and some apple throwing (the people in the library were doing this, not the rampaging Ruby Dragons), it was over. Squall hastily departed.

"Thank god that's over with." he said, but he spoke a little too soon.

"RUN!" Irvine shouted as he raced out of the quad followed by stampeding Mesmerizes. Squall took one look and ran to the elevator, pressing the second floor. Once up there he looked over the edge of the walkway, and surveyed the scene below.

Awoken by the confusion, the kids had gotten out of bed and were riding the Mesmerizes. Irvine was chasing them, yelling at the top of his lungs. Zell was attempting to tackle one, but he missed and fell into the water. (Remember, the water surrounding the elevator.?) Quistis was trying lasso them, but she wasn't having any luck. Rinoa, with the help of Angelo who had also been woken up, were herding them back toward the pens. Laguna was generally running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, but that was normal. Selphie had come up in the elevator to stand next to Squall, and was taping the whole thing.

Finally, they were all in their pens, having been lured there by the extra hot dogs (much to Zell's horror), and the kids were being forced back to bed. The others looked up at Squall and Selphie, who were watching them.

"Night." Squall said, and walked to the elevator. He went down to the first floor, and went to his dorm to hide.

Epilogue

The next morning everyone was sitting at the table, staring at their eggs and toast.

"Never again." Squall said to them as he walked in a settled down. He had slept well last night, while Rinoa, Zell, Selphie, Quistis and Irvine.

"Yeah." muttered Zell, and everyone else nodded general agreement.

"Look what I got!" Selphie said as she ran in. She was the only one awake. "The tape from last night."

Everyone watched as she started the tape. They watched the film in horror. Squall slapped his head as the canvas fell. Irvine shuddered as they watched the kids running around.

"What?! I am not the King of the Cafeteria!" Zell shouted indignantly.

"Remember the hot dogs, Zell."

"Don't say that near me until lunchtime."

They also watched as the Hot Dog Eating Contest began. Zell groaned as they watched him gobble the hot dogs and steal some from the poor kid. Then Zell attempted to punch Seifer as he laughed at the 'defeating Ultimecia with your breath' thing. Everyone had to laugh as Fujin dumped the paintballs on Raijin's head. Everyone looked back at them. The back of Fujin's head was blue, and Raijin was mulitcolored.

"That scared me!" a student said as she watched Laguna ran in with the machine gun. They watched the people watching Rampaging Ruby Dragons fighting with popcorn and throwing apples at the ceiling. And, finally, they watched the Mesmerizes stampede the main hall. Everyone had to laugh as Zell fell into the water. Zell blushed and hid his head in his hands.

"Oh, watch this next part! This takes place during the planning."

Everyone watched in stunned silence as Squall ran into Rinoa when she was carrying the jello, and then again with the confetti. There was a film of Irvine jumping on the balloons and shooting them with this shot gun, then lying about it. They also watched him throw the streamers like a football, then drop it over the side. Quistis was shown dropping the confetti in the water as she tripped, then asking Rinoa to get some more. Selphie tripped over some chairs and dropped the confetti she was getting into the water. Fujin and Raijin were shown arguing about the cake, which Rinoa had asked them to sample.

"MOIST."

"No way, ya know? It's way to dry. They need to watch the cooking, ya know?"

"IGNORE."

"Fine, whatever, ya know?"

"Um, try this jello." Rinoa said, obviously nervous.

"FRUIT BAD."

"No way, ya know? The fruit is fine."

"SLIMY."

"No way! It's very soft instead of hard, ya know?"

"SILENCE."

"And, um, then the, um, cookies."

"GOOD."

"I agree with Fujin, ya know? They're good and chewy, ya know?"

"Yes, well, glad you think so. Um, I don't really need anymore help."

"Call if you do, ya know?" They left.

"Yeah, right." Rinoa muttered.

Then they watched Seifer arguing with Zell.

"You don't carry the cake that way. And the cookies shouldn't be randomly thrown in there."

"And what do you know about culinary arts?"

"Nothing, but you know even less. About everything."

"How dare you?"

"Well, seeing as I'm on the Disciplinary Committee, and you aren't."

"Argh!" Zell shouted, and threw the cake at him. He ran off before he could react.

"That explains why there wasn't any cake." a student said. "You need cake at a birthday party."

Then film ended with them all walking to the library, muttering.

"Wasn't that great?" Selphie asked, jumping up and down. "I loved it!"

"REVENGE!"

"You shouldn't do that, ya know?"

"That really isn't the best thing to do." a random cadet said.

"You guys shouldn't hurt her. That isn't very nice." Rinoa said.

"Where did you get those scenes anyway? You weren't there with the camera." Quistis said.

"I have all of Balamb Garden bugged to see everything." Selphie informed them.

There was a silence. Fujin moved first.

"ATTACK!" And this time, no one stopped her.