Chapter 3- Familiar?

"Have you ever done something like this before?"

"No... what the problem is it's a normal SeeD routine, but we don't even get training for it."

Squall nodded in agreement. "I heard someone in Congress put in a bill to make it a law to train us for this, and it almost passed."

"But it didn't," Irvine sighed. "At least it'll go away one day, when we're old, and the poor young SeeDs won't have to do this. Someday."

"Well... let's get started." Squall turned on the walkie talkie, whispering, "B-SeeD team Leonhart, team Leonhart, going in for mission type 0001."

"Ooh that sounds cool!" Rinoa shouted from the other line. "Wait, I'm supposed to say something. What is it again?"

"Say, team Leonhart, you are OK for mission. Proceed."

"Team Leonhart, you are OK for mission. Proceed."

"Well it's best you say it twice."

"Proceed, proceed."

"No, the team name."

"Why, so if you forget and don't here me the first time then you'll know?"

"Just... just give Quistis the walkie talkie. Forget it, we're starting the mission. Well... let's get to it." And with that, they began one a long, tedious mission.

Waking up Zell.

"Zell! Wake up!" Quistis rocked his shoulder.

"Like that'll work."

"One day, Squall."

"After you win the lottery three days in a row. Okay, let's get the megaphones and the jackhammer. It's gonna be a long morning."

(1 hour later in Cid's office)

"Where are Squall and Irvine?" Quistis asked.

"They're in the infirmary," Cid answered. Everyone glared at Zell.

"Sorry if I'm a heavy sleeper. And if I am a little cranky when woken up..."

"You threw Squall into the wall! There were cracks in it!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Anyway, what's the mission?"

Cid heaved a sigh. "Fate has conspired to bring an unfortunate event upon us. I..."

"Yes?"

"I... went to Balamb and forgot to do my grocery shopping. Can you go for me?"

"Well, sir, we're nowhere near Balamb now." The garden had, in fact, taken flight from the Balamb area early that morning.

Nida called from his piloting platform above, "We're almost directly above Deling City, sir, why don't we just go there?"

"Well you see, there's this bakery in Balamb that makes just the right kind of crullers that you can't find anywhere else."

"So you expect us to travel halfway around the world just for some donuts?"

"Would you mind?"

(1 week later)

"Finally... couldn't he've at least dropped us off?"

Squall, in his SeeD uniform like he's SUPPOSED to be, the punk thinking he doesn't have to just because he saved the world, curled his fingers around the pistol of the gunblade slung on his back. "Don't worry about it Selphie... don't worry about it."

They left the Balamb Train Station and made their way down a road that they never noticed until the day right after they defeated Ultimecia, and entered a nearby bakery. After they'd bought the crullers, and they left, Selphie noticed a man in a lobster suit in front of a seafood restaurant, which was strange, because the lobster had 7 inteannas.. She approached him.

In a reluctant voice, he said, "Come in for a swashbuckling, lobster-ific time at Lucky Sevens Skippy's with 7 off all defected crayfish. That does not include those with cancer or extra legs."

"Crayfish don't have legs."

"These ones do... unfortunately, the extra legs rule only counts for those with more than seven legs. So far there've been seven."

"Okay... so, what's your name?"

Another reluctant sigh. "Carl the Crab..."

Selphie chuckled. "How about this... I'll be in town for awhile... why don't we hook up sometime?"

"Um... sure, okay. I get off work in seven hours."

"Wait... is there some kind of theme here?"

"Um, fish?"

"No, another one... seven."

"Seven?"

"Seven."

He shrugged. "I don't know, it's not supposed to be like that."

"I had a dream about 7... and the letter F."

"7F?"

"More like FF7... what does it mean though?"

"I have no idea."

"Anyway... here's my number. Call me when you get off, okay?"

(later)

Zell kicked off his shoes and rested on the bed. "I always liked this hotel. I always asked my mom if we could stay here even if it is down the road from our house. So, Squally boy, when are they coming back for us, you know?"

Squall sat at the window, looking outside. "Zell, sending us halfway around the world for donuts, I'm not sure if they want to come back for us."

"Oh, come on," Quistis waved. "You know the Headmaster and his crullers. You're acting weird... you miss Rinoa, don't you?"

"Haha!" Zell laughed, pointing. "Squall has a girlfriend!"

"And you don't."

Zell turned his head to Selphie at the exact same moment she turned her head in the other direction because she knew he would look at her. "I'm working on it, okay, Squally boy?"

"Will you stop calling me that!"

"Why does Rinoa even hang out at Garden anyway? She's not a student, she never will be. Why doesn't she move to a town and get a job?"

"I just pulled some strings with Cid," answered Squall, shrugging. "It's not that hard when he's your foster father."

"Father?" Everyone was confused.

"Well, think about it. His wife owned the orphanage, we were her beneficiaries because we lived in the orphanage."

"But..." Irvine pondered. "But that would mean we're all in a way siblings."

Squall chuckled. "Which is why it's funny you four are doing stuff, you sickos."

"WHAT?"

"Oh come on! It's the same story every time." Squall turned around. "One of these two idiots try to get some with Selphie. They fail, and then they go to Quistis and she gets sloppy seconds. And then you do it again! And again and again! You people are so repetetive!"

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Squall's sudden outburst. "I mean... whatever." He turned back to the window. "Anyway, uh Zell, they said they'd come get us in three days."

"Yeah... thanks."

Quistis frowned. "Wait... then we'll miss the dance."

"Yeah, and?"

"And? AND? I'll tell you what's and, Squally boy, have you forgotten what this dance commemorates?"

"People who use too big words?" Zell put in.

"It's for us! We defeated Ultimecia, and this is what it celebrates!"

"Oh come on, Quistis, like anyone cares. This is just an excuse for Cid and Edea to party hardy, you know that, right? And besides, why is it that I'm the only one who doesn't care about the dance, yet I'm the only one who heard it was postponed?"

"What?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, it's a week from tomorrow now."

So they still had a chance. That night Selphie left and waited outside the hotel. Soon after, a man covered in a deep red cloak approached her. "Uh... I'll give you all my money, just please don't hurt me!"

"Selphie, it's me."

"How do you know my name?"

"It's me, Vin- uh, Carl the Crab."

She relaxed. "Oh. Come on, let's walk, let's talk. So where are you from?"

"Um... far, far away. I'm from far, far away. And you?"

"I'm from Garden. Balamb Garden."

"Right, the uniform you had on earlier today."

They walked down the road into downtown. If they had looked behind them, they would have known that a bush that they had passed was following their every move. People stared, but didn't do any much else. Guess who? Yeah, it was Zell.

Irvine, on the other hand, watched above on the rooftops. "They're holding hands? This is serious... to the Irvine mobile!"

"AAAACHOOO!"

"Was that you, Carl?"

"I think it came from behind." They turned around.

"Since when was this bush in the middle of the road?" Selphie looked behind to see a man down the street. "God bless you!"

His eyes moved side-to-side. "Um... thank you?"

Snap! "Ow!"

They turned around again. "I swear this bush just shouted in pain..."

Irvine chuckled with his rock stash from above. But his laughs were cut short when Zell threw the rock back up. Having a stronger arm than Irvine, he hit him hard, startling him and causing him to fall off the 2-story building.

"Irvine?" She turned around and saw Zell's head protruding out of the bush. "Zell? What are you-?" Then something happened that never happened before. Selphie... got... angry. "What are you two DOING! WHY HAVE YOU TWO BEEN FOLLOWING ME! DON'T YOU GET IT! I... DON'T... LIKE... EITHER... OF... YOU! NOW GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I GO NUMCHUCK ON BOTH YOUR ASSES!"

Zell and Irvine slowly scuttled out of sight. "AND YOU BETTER STAY AWAY FROM MY DATE AND ME! So Carl where do you want to go for dinner?"

"I... uh... well... um... crabs."

"You want to eat crabs?"

"No, I don't... but do you! Because if you want to then we can-"

"Actually I wanted to eat at this new burger place."

"Okay, okay, anything..." And so they went happily along.

A new evil had just been unleashed into the world. And its name was Selphie.

Review please! Chapter 4 coming soon.