Rawr! I have returned! And now I can indulge somewhat in my love of humour and my Star Wars nerdiness. If you can find one of the Star Wars references (and it isn't easy), you get a cookie! (Waves box of cookies around) If you find the second, you get a plushie as well! (Waves box of plushies) A hint: They're only from episodes one and three. But the rest is classified! XD If you find the "Yellow Submarine" movie reference(s), you get all of the above, and my highest opinion of your tastes! Which is something, cuz most people don't get that. Just scorn. (Laughs mercilessly)
Eee! This update was late! Sorry! Oh well, it was only a week. I have this whole story written, but I went to an anime convention last weekend and couldn't update. I was too busy playing with my plushies and parading my "Naruto" gauntlet and headband. Sound ninjas all the way! XD Orochimaru rocks! Right? I think so. But then, I like villains. (Shrugs)
ooo
Nervously, I stared at the controls. I had never even been inside a ship like this, let alone flown one.
"Should I…?" Ansem began.
"No! You're in no condition," I countered. "Besides, I should be able to figure it out." My hand hovered over a likely looking red button. "Here goes." I pushed it. Lasers shot out and decimated one of the airships. Ansem clapped a hand to his forehead.
"Oops," I muttered sheepishly. I tried a smaller, green button. This time I heard the engines warm up. I frowned. "Why the hell is the ignition less noticeable than the trigger!"
The ship began to rise and turn around with agonizing slowness as I pulled as hard as I could on the controls. To make matters worse, a large number of Wizard Heartless appeared, and began firing thunder spells at us.
"Shields, Lokii!" Ansem shouted.
"I know, I know, I'm trying!" I cried. "Oh, which one?" I hit a button at random. The lasers again. They swept through the crowd of Heartless, slaying most of them instantly. The few remaining disappeared. I turned the ship around, still firing, and destroyed nearly all of the airships. "Might as well do as much damage as we can while we're here, no?"
Finally, I got the thrusters working, and the ship shot through the hangar doors, leaving them charred and twisted, and numerous dents and dings on the ship.
"Oops," I muttered again. We got off the ground, and shot through the atmosphere. I heard Ansem heave a sigh of relief. "I wonder if you can set these heaps to autopilot?" I said.
"Probably," Ansem said, getting to his feet. He came over to the controls, and looked them over. "But which one?"
"I guess you just start pressing buttons and hope for the best," I replied, casting a dubious glance over the rows of buttons. Ansem pushed a button, and some very odd music started playing.
"One, two, three, four/ Can I have a little more…"
I stared at controls. What in the hell possessed them to keep that song around? Hurriedly, Ansem pressed the button again, and the music ceased. I gave him a look, and he shrugged. I tried this time, and a banner appeared out of nowhere that read, "The Rolling Stones!"
"Where the hell did that come from!"
"We need to find the autopilot before anything else happens."
"So press a button."
Ansem hit a yellow button, and the word "Destination?" appeared on the screen. A cluster of worlds, each with their own labels, appeared as well.
"That's more like it," Ansem muttered, as he tried to locate Hollow Bastion. Once he found it, the word "Confirm?" appeared. Ansem pressed the button again, and the direct route to Hollow Bastion appeared. The ship's controls jerked out of my hands, following the course indicated.
I relaxed in the pilot's seat, my hand over my face. "What a hassle," I muttered darkly.
It took us a while to reach Hollow Bastion. When we finally neared, the autopilot abruptly switched off.
"What the hell?" I muttered. Words flashed on the screen: "Danger! Enemy ships within range!" My eyes widened. Large numbers of Heartless ships were clustered around the world, preventing our landing. "Oh shit!" I cried, startling Ansem, who had been asleep.
"Lokii, what?" he asked. I pointed at the screen, and Ansem uttered a string of swears that would have put Sam's pirates to shame.
I grabbed the controls and indicated the seat next to mine.
"You handle firing, I'll handle steering," I said. Ansem gave me a dubious look, and I glared at him.
The first of the Heartless ships charged forward. Ansem hit the triggers, and the ships exploded after a few hits. The next Heartless ships followed suit, and I yanked on the controls again, taking us out of their range. But we hit a meteor, and felt the ship's underside scraping on it. Something broke off, and we couldn't look to see what. Ansem fired the lasers, and the next row of ships exploded. Our path was almost clear. I gunned the engines, and the ship roared towards Hollow Bastion.
Suddenly a massive Heartless ship reared up out of nowhere. It rammed into us, and while we survived, the Heartless ship did not. It exploded, and an alarm sounded on our ship. We had taken critical damage. The ship plummeted out of control towards Hollow Bastion as part of the back end broke off.
"Can we control it like this?" Ansem shouted over the din of alarms.
"Not likely!" I yelled. "The engines are gone!" Nevertheless, I tugged and pulled on the controls with all my might, hoping at least to slow our descent. As we entered the atmosphere, the ship started to catch fire. Soon the entire thing was ablaze.
"Oh shiit!" I yelled as the ground rushed up to meet us at a frightening speed. The ship hit the ground nose-first, plowing a massive, smoking trough in the tiles just outside the main entrance. Miraculously, the ship stopped a mere foot away from the walls.
Shaken somewhat, Ansem and I stumbled out of the wreckage. We looked at the remains, the walls, and each other. We repeated this cycle several times. Then we laughed.
-
A few days later, I found Ansem in the library, deep in discussion with a man with very long silver hair.
"So… is everything proceeding according to plan?" the stranger asked.
Ansem nodded. "The Organization is no longer a threat, so there is nothing hindering us."
"Good. How did you get them out of the way?"
"I had to let them capture me. That was not a pleasant experience."
"I can imagine. I assume you dealt with them thoroughly?"
"Yes, I imagine they're still whimpering at their castle now." The two of them laughed.
"Does she expect anything?" the visitor asked.
"No, she does not. She remains unaware of our plans, the foolish girl," Ansem replied. I noticed he did not seem as convicted as he spoke. He almost seemed depressed about something. "Lokii remains as unaware as ever."
I felt a chill race down my spine. Whatever they were planning, it had something to do with me. I backed up, and called Tsubasa to my side. I handed him the small sketchbook I kept in my pockets for doodles and my pencil.
"Act like you've stolen them," I whispered to him. He nodded, and took to the air, flying away with my book and pencil in his mouth, slamming the library doors open. I ran after him, acting like I was chasing him. "Get back here, you damn Heartless!" I shouted as I entered.
Ansem and the visitor stopped talking immediately, Ansem looking startled. The visitor turned in his chair as I thundered down the stairs after Tsubasa, who crashed into a shelf artfully, dropping my sketchbook and pencil. I retrieved them, and turned to Ansem and the stranger.
"Oops. Sorry. I wasn't disturbing anything, was I?" I said, acting repentant.
"No, Lokii," Ansem said, sighing and running a hand through his hair. The visitor was coldly regarding me. I noted the man's icy blue eyes and lone black wing. "This is Sephiroth, an old acquaintance of mine."
"Charmed, I'm sure," the man said blandly. He stood, his long black coat rustling softly. "Well, I really must depart. Until later, Ansem, Lokii." With that, he turned and left, grabbing a massive katana on his way out.
"What is it, Lokii?" I heard Ansem say. I held up my sketchbook and pencil.
"Tsubasa nicked these. I was trying to get them back," I said.
Ansem didn't respond. He turned to the bookshelves.
I left the library, my thoughts whirling. What had they been talking about? Where did I fit in? It wasn't long before I found out.
A/N: O.o So who found the references? I hope someone did, at least. And I lied. I don't think it'll be fifteen chapters. Maybe more like thirteen, or something, counting the epilogue. Which'll end up being thirteen anyway, I suppose. Blah. And lookit! I succumbed to my former obsessions and put Sephiroth in this. I used to be a Sephiroth fangirl, it's true. Still kinda am… (Sigh) Oh well. I'm an Ansem fangirl now, true and true! Yep, yep, yep! And I don't know why the Organization would be keeping airships around, and I really don't care! XD
On a different note, I beat FF7, and while I was fighting Safer Sephiroth, the word I used the most was "SHIT!" I lost track of how many times I said it. Then, during the last scenes, I kept mumbling, "Sephy-kuuuun…"