Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy characters. Those that I do own will be posted as they appear.
Characters I and my friends own:
Chi (me)
Hotaru
Jaheira
Chapter 4"Ahhh!" Squall, Jaheira, Hotaru, and Chi screamed landing hard on the ground.
Sitting there charcoaled and hurting the four swayed back and forth, little chocobos running around their heads.
(Look at all the chocobos.) Squall thought, all four passed out.
"Alright." Barret turned back to his group. "Now let's get out of here."
"What about these four?" Wedge asked poking them with a stick.
Barret turned to Cloud, who shook his head.
"I ain't taking them." He replied folding his arms.
"Fine, we will. Rendezvous at the Sector 8 station! Split up and get on the train!"
Barret, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge picked up one of the four and ran off. Cloud stopped Barret.
"H, hey!" Cloud started.
"If it's about your money, wait 'til we get back."
Cloud shook his head and ran into the nearest street. People were running about wildly, one of them knocked a flower girl over. Cloud went and helped her up. It's the girl from the beginning.
"Excuse me." She said as he was about to leave. "What happened?"
Cloud thought for a moment. "Nothing…" he didn't want to scare her. "Hey… Don't see many flowers around here."
"Oh, these?" she held up her flowers. "Do you like them? They're only one gil." Cloud handed her the gil. "Oh, thank you!" She smiled, taking a flower and giving it to Cloud. "Here you are!"
Cloud smiled and walked off. A random person ran up to him.
"Just what the hell's going on?" he ran off again.
Continuing on, Cloud overheard a man talking to himself. "Wonder what that is on the wall over there. Let's see… Don't be fooled by Shinra! Mako energy doesn't last forever! Mako is the planet's life source! The end is in sight! Protectors of the Planet: AVALANCHE."
Cloud moved on, entering the main street.
"Hey you there!" Two soldiers followed him.
Cloud looks back, "Shinra soldiers…"
Two more ran on and opened fire, Cloud dodged the bullets.
"That's him!" Three more soldiers entered on the left and another three entered on Cloud's right cornering him. "That's as far as you go!"
Cloud backed up onto a bridge. "I don't have time to mess with you guys."
"Enough babbling, GRAB HIM!"
"Later." Cloud leapt off the bridge onto a train which entered a tunnel.
Meanwhile….
"Cloud never came…" Wedge shook his head.
"Cloud…" Biggs sighed. "Think he was killed?"
"Of course not!" Chi and Hotaru walked in followed by Jaheira and Squall. "Sephy would never allow that…" Chi and Hotaru giggled.
"Still…" Biggs sighed.
"No way!" Barret cut him off before he could go any farther.
"Cloud…" Jessie looked out the window, tunnel lights flew by.
No one really noticed that the four strangers had woken up, let alone spoken. Realizing that they were being ignored they talked quietly amongst themselves. A thumping sounded and everyone looked up for a moment.
"Say, do you think Cloud's… going to stay on and fight for AVALANCHE?" Biggs asked silently praying he would.
"How the hell would I know? Do I look like a mind reader?" Barret hit a box. "Hmph! If ya'll weren't such screw-ups…"
Wedge, a little preoccupied, called to Barret. "Hey, Barret! What about our money?" Barret hit the box again. "Uh, nothin'… sorry. Ahhh…"
There was another thumping, they all looked up again, Chi and Hotaru smiled. Three more thumps and the door opened. Cloud swung in, shocking Barret. Everyone stood.
"Cloud!" Biggs and Wedge yelled.
"Cloud…" Jessie started, but was cut off when Chi and Hotaru pushed her aside.
Squall apologized for their rudeness.
"Looks like I'm a little late." Cloud dusted himself off.
"Cloud!" Hotaru and Chi ran up giving him a big huge. Squall looked stunned and then looked away, Jaheira took note. "Now the fun begins!"
"So, you're awake." Cloud said removing himself from their hug.
Jaheira and Squall came to stand next to them. Chi and Hotaru grabbed Squall's arms and he rolled his eyes.
"Who are you people?" Cloud asked crossing his arms.
"Well, I guess you wouldn't really reconigize us in skirts now would you?" Chi stared at their outfits distastefully. "I'm Chi!"
"And I'm Hotaru!"
"And we're…"
"Your worst nightmare." Squall stated matter-of-factly, Jaheira nodded.
Cloud noticed Squall and Jaheira and waved. "So we meet again Leon, Jaheira."
"Cloud." Squall and Jaheira nodded.
"Aw, sure you remember them!" Hotaru pouted.
"Sorry, it's just that they… you… the dresses…" Cloud stared at Hotaru and Chi's outfits. "…it's scary…"
Before Hotaru and Chi could say anything Squall spoke, "Hey Cloud, it's Squall for now… Chi can't remember Leon."
Everyone laughed.
"What?" Chi asked. "I don't get it…"
Barret didn't see amused. "You damn right, you're late! Come waltzin' in here makin' a big scene!"
Cloud's smile faded as he spoke to Barret. "It's no big scene. Just what I always do."
"Ain't that the truth." Hotaru whispered.
"…" Squall kept silent remembering Cloud's entrance in Kingdom Hearts.
Chi and Jaheira sniggered. "Riku battle…"
"Psst." Cloud whispered. "How's Riku?"
"He still wants a rematch." Jaheira stated smirking.
Barret cursed. "Havin' everyone worried like that. You don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself!"
"Hmm…" Cloud raised an eyebrow. "You were worried about me?"
"Wha? That's comin' outta your share, hot shot!" Barret retorted angrily. "Wake up! We're movin' out! Follow me!" Barret left entering the next car.
Wedge got up. "Hey Cloud! You were great back there!" He headed after Barret.
Jessie followed. "Careful, I'll shut this." She shut the door behind Cloud.
"Heh, heh… Cloud." Biggs slapped his shoulder. "We'll do even better next time."
After Biggs leaves Jessie turned to Jaheira and the rest. "Aren't you gonna leave?"
"No." Chi said munching on some popcorn Hotaru had made.
"We wanna watch." Hotaru said while Jaheira stole the popcorn from Chi. Hotaru grabbed a handful. "It's a good thing we can still use magic."
Jessie shook her head turning to Cloud. "Oh, Cloud! Your face is pitch-black…" she cleans it for him. "There you go! Say," she blushed, "thanks for helping me back there at the reactor!" She leaves in a hurry, everyone else follows.
The engineer comes on over the intercom. "Last train out of Sector 8 Station. Last stop is Sector 7, Train Graveyard. Expected time of arrival is 12:23 AM Midgar standard time…"
Barret ran into a passenger carriage and scared two people off. He sat in their seats. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge follow.
"This is why I hate the last train. Hoo-boy…" a man shook his head and leaves. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge got comfy.
Cloud walked in followed by Jaheira, Hotaru, Chi, and Squall. Immediately Cloud tried to move to the next car.
"Please!" a man stops him. "Don't bother the other passengers."
Squall looked around and noticed a man lying down right next to him. Squall nudged him to make sure he was okay.
"Huh?" the man blinked. "This is my house, so make yourselves at home."
Hotaru came over and pulled Squall away from the man. "I advise not to talk to him Squally Wally, he's creepy."
"… Squally…" his eyebrow twitched as they sat down.
"You see the headlines in the Shinra times?" A man asked as Chi passed by. She shook her head as he folded his newspaper. "The terrorists that bombed the No.1 Reactor are based somewhere in the slums… Blowing up a Reactor… they sure put some thought into this one. They must have a real calculating leader." Chi cracked up falling to the floor. Jaheira came over to help her up.
"Stop actin' like a damn kid. Siddown and shuddup!" Barret yelled.
"I wonder what they'll do next?" the man asked.
"I know. They're gonna…." Wedge covered Chi's mouth while Jaheira commenced at yelling at Barret for giving her orders.
"Quiet!" he whispered dragging her off. "EW!"
Chi licked his fingers. "That's what you get for silencing me!" Chi ran over to Squall. "Master, I've got Wedge germs!"
Squall looked at Wedge who was running in circles screaming 'I've got Chi germs!' Squall handed her his hanky, telling her to keep it when she was done.
"Blech!" Chi pulled a white feather from her mouth. "Master, you've got feathers all over it."
Squall looked down at his feathery black leather jacket. (Oh, right. I forgot that I was wearing this.) He gave an inward smile, not a muscle moving on his face. (I love my Final Fantasy VIII clothes. I'm surprised that I can still wear these.)
"Us too Master." Hotaru said, Squall looked stunned, Hotaru sighed. "We already went over this, didn't we? Anyways, we know everything that's gonna happen, what you're gonna say, when you're…"
"I know." Squall hung his head. (I'm not even safe inside my mind.)
"Nope," Chi giggled.
(Poor guy.) Jaheira joined their little circle while Cloud walked over to Jessie.
Wedge was still running around in circles, Barret was trying to calm him down, while Biggs slept. Passengers looked on the strange group of companions. To them, half didn't even look like they were from this world, if they only knew how right they were. Cloud's mind wandered while Jessie spoke. As she was going on about using a map he snuck away to talk to Biggs.
"This train hasn't switched to security mode yet. I'm sure that will change by tomorrow." Biggs yawned. "That sure took a toll on me. I'm gonna sleep til we get to the station."
"Hey Cloud, where'd ya go?" Jessie turned around and he headed back.
A few moments later he slinked over to Wedge who had finally wiped off his hand and clamed down.
"Someday AVALANCHE'S gonna be famous… and me too!" he smiled. "Cloud! Don't ya think I got a bright future ahead of me?"
Cloud looked over at Hotaru and Chi for the answer, they shook their heads. "Don't hold your breath." He replied.
"Oh man, that's pretty harsh. Cloud. You really think I won't?" Wedge asked.
"…" Cloud left, sneaking unnoticed back into his conversation with Jessie.
"Alright, I have a question. Why are we here and how did he get here?" Jaheira pointed to Squall.
"Good question." Hotaru said. "I'm guessing that Sephy dragged us in. As for Squally Wally, I guess from when we were creating a character."
(How did they get me from Final Fantasy VII people?) Squall wondered.
"Well, Vincent knows a lot, but never tells you anything." Chi said.
"Reno has interesting thoughts and ideas." Erika added.
"And…" Jaheira started.
"We know. Sephy's got totally awesome fighting skills." Chi and Hotaru laughed, Jaheira smacked them.
(And how does that make me? Let alone make me 17 again.)
They all shrugged.
"…definitely look suspicious, so we're using fake IDs." Jessie finished.
A red alarm flashed in the train and everyone looked around.
"Speak of the devil… That light means that we're in the ID Security Check Area." She starts to whisper. "When the lights go off, you never know what kind of creeps'll come out."
"Yeah, us." Jaheira whispered.
"…We're almost back now. What a relief."
Cloud walked over to Barret finally free from Jessie. He sat down. "Look… you can see the surface now. This city don't have no day or night. If that plate weren't there… we could see the sky."
Cloud leaned on the chair to get a good look. "A floating city… Pretty unsettling scenery."
"Huh?" Barret stared at him. "Never expected ta hear that outta someone like you. …You jus' full of surprises." Barret got up walking around angrily. Chi and Hotaru moved their skirts out of his way. "The upper world… a city on a plate… It's cuz of that &#$# 'pizza' that people underneath are sufferin'! And the city below is full of polluted air. On top' a that, the Reactor keeps drainin' up all the energy."
"Then why doesn't everyone move onto the plate?" Cloud retorted back in his 'I don't care' mode.
Barret turned away. "Dunno. Probably 'cuz they ain't got no money. Or, maybe… 'Cuz they love their land, no matter how polluted it gets."
"I know…" Cloud sighed. "No one lives in the slums because they want to. It's like this train. It can't run anywhere except where its rails takes it."
The train spiraled down the pillar.
End of Chapter 4
Hotaru: Hey Chi, wouldn't we get dizzy on that train?
Chi: Hmm… good point. Never thought of that…
Jaheira: shakes her head