Chapter Six: Quick Serendipity! Get Into The Portal!
Rikku, Paine and Serendipity flew to the Mi'Ihen Highroad as quickly as they possibly could. When they were over it, Sephiroth's soliders, all dressed in white and armed with Mako guns and shooting at innocent civilians. Rikku watched all of this in shock, but this was everyday life for Serendipity and Paine.
RIKKU (shocked): What's going on?
SERENDIPITY: A code red Yuna alert. I see Sephiroth is going all out. The whole Highroad is surrounded by white coats.
PAINE: I was afraid of this. We're going to have to land somewhere on the oldroad.
????: I don't think that will be necessary.
SERENDIPITY, PAINE AND RIKKU: Huh?
All of the sudden, a teenage boy, wearing a yellow jacket reminiscent of Rin's, appeared on the screen. Serendipity and Paine were relived to see who it was, but Rikku was still in the dark.
PAINE: Oh. It's you, Shinra.
SHINRA: Who were you expecting, Tidus?
SERENDIPITY(scowling): That wasn't funny, Shinra.
SHINRA: Oops. Sorry, Serendipity. I know you get angry whenever you hear that name. Calli told me what...WHOA!
PAINE: What whoa?
SHINRA: Am I seeing things, or is that Rikku?
RIKKU (sarcastically): And hello to you too, Shinra!
SHINRA: It's unreal that YOU are the great prophet that will lead Serendipity to save the world.
RIKKU: Wanna make something of it?!
SHINRA: Now really isn't the time to be arguing, Rikku. Like I said, Calli told me that you guys were on your way here. I left the travel agency with the Time Machine, and I'm in a shack on the oldroad. I suggest that you land your ship down there somewhere in the crevasse leading towards the oldroad. Last time I checked Sephiroth and his goons were nowhere near that area.
SERENDIPITY: Will do.
So Serendipity steered the ship towards Mi'Ihen's lowroads, and to their surprise, Shinra was right. There wasn't a white coat in sight. So the proceeded to land the ship down in the crevasse, where the hover crashed 10 years ago. Shinra was waving his arms, directing them towards a safe landing. When they finally touched down, Rikku, Serendipity and Paine exited the ship and ran towards Shinra.
SHINRA: Quickly! The hideout is this way!
They ran down the oldroad until they reached an old abandoned shack.
RIKKU: Is this it?
SHINRA: Yes. In here!
SERENDIPITY: Hurry! There's no time!
Rikku, Serendipity, Paine and Shinra all entered the shack and shut and locked the doors so Sephiroth couldn't get in. After that was over, the all let out a huge sigh of relief.
PAINE: Glad that's over.
SHINRA: First things first. How'd you get here, Rikku?
RIKKU: Well, Yuna, Paine and I were..
SHINRA: Fighting the Turks, and while Paine was busy with Rude and Yuna was busy with Tseng, Reno shot out a time grenade. You weren't impressed, so she had to do something to lure you in. What better way to tick you off than to say something about Yuna? You charged him and he sidestepped it, throwing you into the portal that eventually landed you here.
RIKKU: How'd you know that?
SHINRA: Serendipity and Paine told me everything. 10 years ago.
RIKKU: So you have the way to send me home?
SHINRA: I sure do. And Sephiroth has no idea that I own the only time machine on Mana!
SERENDIPITY: If he ever found out, he'd kill you, Shinra.
SHINRA: You don't think I know that? That's why I made copies.
RIKKU: How many copies did you make?
SHINRA: That doesn't matter right now. Getting you and Serendipity back to the past is what matters right now. Now let me charge this thing up.
Shinra turned around and pressed a green button, and the whole thing lit up like a Christmas tree. The two plasma towers lit up as blue as the sky, it was protected by bolts of lightning. The console was lighting up all over the place, like a computer with some sort of virus. When it was done charging up, the plasma beams shot from the tower and created a huge blue portal. Rikku, Serendipity and Paine were in awe.
SHINRA: Listen carefully. This portal will lead you 10 years to the past, 15 seconds after Rikku was drawn into Reno's portal.
SERENDIPITY: Great. That will give me plenty of time to stop Kristi Shinra before she and the turks get..
All of the sudden, there was a knock at the door. The person on the other end was not who they expected.
????: Oh, Yu-na! Your friend Sephiroth wants you to come out and play..
PAINE: Dammit! It's him!
SHINRA: Sephiroth? Here? Impossible?
SERENDIPITY: Well believe it. He's here, and he's looking for Yuna. We better do something before we all die.
RIKKU: Here an idea, S.D. Try GETTING IN THE PORTAL??!!
SHINRA: You're right, Rikku. Get in the portal, Serendipity! Quick!
SEPHIROTH: Oh. It's just you, Serendipity. If that IS your real name. Ha, Ha, Ha!
SERENDIPITY: Damn! He knows who I am.
PAINE: Even more reason for you to get into the portal, Serendipity!
RIKKU: Serendipity, what are you waiting for? You wanna die before you can save your people?
SEPHIROTH: Break the door down, and when you get Serendipity in your sights, kill her.
The white coats drew the lasers and pointed them at the door of the shack. It was now time for Serendipity to make a choice.
PAINE: Decision time, Serendipity. Stay here and die, or go into the portal and stop this chaos before it happens.
SERENDIPITY: Hang on, Rikku, I'm comin'!
Serendipity walks towards Rikku and takes her by the hand.
RIKKU: You ready, S.D.?
SERENDIPITY: I've never been more ready for anything in my life.
RIKKU AND SERENDIPTY: FOR MANA!!!
Rikku and Serendipity jump into the portal, and it immediately closes behind them. A split second later, Sephiroth's white coats blast the door of the shack down, and find no one but Paine and Shinra. Sephiroth is highly upset.
SEPHIROTH: UUUGH! How could I have misjudged Serendipity for this white haired nobody! Keep searching the Highroad, and don't stop until Serendipity is caught, DEAD.
SOLIDERS: Yes sir.
Sephiroth and his men leave the shack, and again, Paine and Shinra breathe a sigh of relief. They now know that Serendipity and Rikku are on their way back to the past. They spun through a multicolored vortex, around and around until they finally see the way out. Meanwhile back in the present, The battle between YRP and The Turks was still raging on, and Reno had Rikku right where he wanted her.
RENO: I should warn you, Miss. If I were you, I'd check myself right now. You're in one of those compromising positions. I know you want to attack seeing that I'm wide open. But if you do, it will be consequential for not only you, but your precious cousin "Yunie" as well...
RIKKU: Oh! You are so mine!!!
Rikku spun her chakrams in position so they pointed at Reno, and charged right at him. She ran as fast as she could with the intent to spear him like a pig. But as she got closer, Reno jumped out of the way and Rikku ended up going into the wormhole. As Rikku's feet disappeared, so did the wormhole. Rude and Tseng joined Reno as Kristi's airship flew over and beamed them all up to safety. Yuna and Paine quickly ran to see what was going on, but they were too late. Their friend was gone.
YUNA AND PAINE: RIKKU!!!
While Yuna and Paine watched Kristi Shinra and The Turks get away in horror, another wormhole opened up behind them. Out of it came Rikku and Serendipity. Rikku reunited with Yuna and Paine, while Serendipity pulled out her laser shotgun.
SERENDIPITY: Oh, no you don't! Not this time!
Serendipity pulled the trigger and a huge blast of Mako fired from the double barreled laser gun. A few seconds later, Kristi Shinra's ship started to go down. They all watched as Kristi and The Turks all abandoned ship. The damaged ship would eventually crash land in the waters between Besaid and Kilka.
SERENDIPITY (to herself): There. That should definitely change the future. But I doubt they're in the drink with the ship. Yeah. Kristi must have some backup.
YUNA: RIKKU!
RIKKU: YUNIE!
YUNA: Thank god you're safe!
PAINE: We thought that wormhole had you for good!
RIKKU: Come on, guys! I was only gone for 15 seconds. You can't go that long without your friendly neighborhood Rikku?
Then, Yuna walked up to Serendipity.
YUNA: Thanks for saving our hides back there. I owe you one.
SERENDIPITY: Trust me. Had I not, Mana would be in SERIOUS trouble.
YUNA: Huh? Just what are you talking about?
SERENDIPITY: Allow me to join you, and I'll tell you everything.
Rikku, Paine and Serendipity flew to the Mi'Ihen Highroad as quickly as they possibly could. When they were over it, Sephiroth's soliders, all dressed in white and armed with Mako guns and shooting at innocent civilians. Rikku watched all of this in shock, but this was everyday life for Serendipity and Paine.
RIKKU (shocked): What's going on?
SERENDIPITY: A code red Yuna alert. I see Sephiroth is going all out. The whole Highroad is surrounded by white coats.
PAINE: I was afraid of this. We're going to have to land somewhere on the oldroad.
????: I don't think that will be necessary.
SERENDIPITY, PAINE AND RIKKU: Huh?
All of the sudden, a teenage boy, wearing a yellow jacket reminiscent of Rin's, appeared on the screen. Serendipity and Paine were relived to see who it was, but Rikku was still in the dark.
PAINE: Oh. It's you, Shinra.
SHINRA: Who were you expecting, Tidus?
SERENDIPITY(scowling): That wasn't funny, Shinra.
SHINRA: Oops. Sorry, Serendipity. I know you get angry whenever you hear that name. Calli told me what...WHOA!
PAINE: What whoa?
SHINRA: Am I seeing things, or is that Rikku?
RIKKU (sarcastically): And hello to you too, Shinra!
SHINRA: It's unreal that YOU are the great prophet that will lead Serendipity to save the world.
RIKKU: Wanna make something of it?!
SHINRA: Now really isn't the time to be arguing, Rikku. Like I said, Calli told me that you guys were on your way here. I left the travel agency with the Time Machine, and I'm in a shack on the oldroad. I suggest that you land your ship down there somewhere in the crevasse leading towards the oldroad. Last time I checked Sephiroth and his goons were nowhere near that area.
SERENDIPITY: Will do.
So Serendipity steered the ship towards Mi'Ihen's lowroads, and to their surprise, Shinra was right. There wasn't a white coat in sight. So the proceeded to land the ship down in the crevasse, where the hover crashed 10 years ago. Shinra was waving his arms, directing them towards a safe landing. When they finally touched down, Rikku, Serendipity and Paine exited the ship and ran towards Shinra.
SHINRA: Quickly! The hideout is this way!
They ran down the oldroad until they reached an old abandoned shack.
RIKKU: Is this it?
SHINRA: Yes. In here!
SERENDIPITY: Hurry! There's no time!
Rikku, Serendipity, Paine and Shinra all entered the shack and shut and locked the doors so Sephiroth couldn't get in. After that was over, the all let out a huge sigh of relief.
PAINE: Glad that's over.
SHINRA: First things first. How'd you get here, Rikku?
RIKKU: Well, Yuna, Paine and I were..
SHINRA: Fighting the Turks, and while Paine was busy with Rude and Yuna was busy with Tseng, Reno shot out a time grenade. You weren't impressed, so she had to do something to lure you in. What better way to tick you off than to say something about Yuna? You charged him and he sidestepped it, throwing you into the portal that eventually landed you here.
RIKKU: How'd you know that?
SHINRA: Serendipity and Paine told me everything. 10 years ago.
RIKKU: So you have the way to send me home?
SHINRA: I sure do. And Sephiroth has no idea that I own the only time machine on Mana!
SERENDIPITY: If he ever found out, he'd kill you, Shinra.
SHINRA: You don't think I know that? That's why I made copies.
RIKKU: How many copies did you make?
SHINRA: That doesn't matter right now. Getting you and Serendipity back to the past is what matters right now. Now let me charge this thing up.
Shinra turned around and pressed a green button, and the whole thing lit up like a Christmas tree. The two plasma towers lit up as blue as the sky, it was protected by bolts of lightning. The console was lighting up all over the place, like a computer with some sort of virus. When it was done charging up, the plasma beams shot from the tower and created a huge blue portal. Rikku, Serendipity and Paine were in awe.
SHINRA: Listen carefully. This portal will lead you 10 years to the past, 15 seconds after Rikku was drawn into Reno's portal.
SERENDIPITY: Great. That will give me plenty of time to stop Kristi Shinra before she and the turks get..
All of the sudden, there was a knock at the door. The person on the other end was not who they expected.
????: Oh, Yu-na! Your friend Sephiroth wants you to come out and play..
PAINE: Dammit! It's him!
SHINRA: Sephiroth? Here? Impossible?
SERENDIPITY: Well believe it. He's here, and he's looking for Yuna. We better do something before we all die.
RIKKU: Here an idea, S.D. Try GETTING IN THE PORTAL??!!
SHINRA: You're right, Rikku. Get in the portal, Serendipity! Quick!
SEPHIROTH: Oh. It's just you, Serendipity. If that IS your real name. Ha, Ha, Ha!
SERENDIPITY: Damn! He knows who I am.
PAINE: Even more reason for you to get into the portal, Serendipity!
RIKKU: Serendipity, what are you waiting for? You wanna die before you can save your people?
SEPHIROTH: Break the door down, and when you get Serendipity in your sights, kill her.
The white coats drew the lasers and pointed them at the door of the shack. It was now time for Serendipity to make a choice.
PAINE: Decision time, Serendipity. Stay here and die, or go into the portal and stop this chaos before it happens.
SERENDIPITY: Hang on, Rikku, I'm comin'!
Serendipity walks towards Rikku and takes her by the hand.
RIKKU: You ready, S.D.?
SERENDIPITY: I've never been more ready for anything in my life.
RIKKU AND SERENDIPTY: FOR MANA!!!
Rikku and Serendipity jump into the portal, and it immediately closes behind them. A split second later, Sephiroth's white coats blast the door of the shack down, and find no one but Paine and Shinra. Sephiroth is highly upset.
SEPHIROTH: UUUGH! How could I have misjudged Serendipity for this white haired nobody! Keep searching the Highroad, and don't stop until Serendipity is caught, DEAD.
SOLIDERS: Yes sir.
Sephiroth and his men leave the shack, and again, Paine and Shinra breathe a sigh of relief. They now know that Serendipity and Rikku are on their way back to the past. They spun through a multicolored vortex, around and around until they finally see the way out. Meanwhile back in the present, The battle between YRP and The Turks was still raging on, and Reno had Rikku right where he wanted her.
RENO: I should warn you, Miss. If I were you, I'd check myself right now. You're in one of those compromising positions. I know you want to attack seeing that I'm wide open. But if you do, it will be consequential for not only you, but your precious cousin "Yunie" as well...
RIKKU: Oh! You are so mine!!!
Rikku spun her chakrams in position so they pointed at Reno, and charged right at him. She ran as fast as she could with the intent to spear him like a pig. But as she got closer, Reno jumped out of the way and Rikku ended up going into the wormhole. As Rikku's feet disappeared, so did the wormhole. Rude and Tseng joined Reno as Kristi's airship flew over and beamed them all up to safety. Yuna and Paine quickly ran to see what was going on, but they were too late. Their friend was gone.
YUNA AND PAINE: RIKKU!!!
While Yuna and Paine watched Kristi Shinra and The Turks get away in horror, another wormhole opened up behind them. Out of it came Rikku and Serendipity. Rikku reunited with Yuna and Paine, while Serendipity pulled out her laser shotgun.
SERENDIPITY: Oh, no you don't! Not this time!
Serendipity pulled the trigger and a huge blast of Mako fired from the double barreled laser gun. A few seconds later, Kristi Shinra's ship started to go down. They all watched as Kristi and The Turks all abandoned ship. The damaged ship would eventually crash land in the waters between Besaid and Kilka.
SERENDIPITY (to herself): There. That should definitely change the future. But I doubt they're in the drink with the ship. Yeah. Kristi must have some backup.
YUNA: RIKKU!
RIKKU: YUNIE!
YUNA: Thank god you're safe!
PAINE: We thought that wormhole had you for good!
RIKKU: Come on, guys! I was only gone for 15 seconds. You can't go that long without your friendly neighborhood Rikku?
Then, Yuna walked up to Serendipity.
YUNA: Thanks for saving our hides back there. I owe you one.
SERENDIPITY: Trust me. Had I not, Mana would be in SERIOUS trouble.
YUNA: Huh? Just what are you talking about?
SERENDIPITY: Allow me to join you, and I'll tell you everything.