Second chapter will be longer... REALLY long. This guarantees action and excellent teamwork.
Spanish is in italics.
Chapter 2- Fright Night
Ahh, club One-O-One, the place to be. It is a tall blue building with the words One-O-One over the front doors in big purple neon lights. There are three bouncers at the door and a long line of people that spans all the way around the corner of the block. With that much going on, you can bet it's the spot to go on weekends, a place of fun, excitement and whatever any club-goer does. Only one problem…
"It's too bad that they're strict on i.d.'s here." A hint of sadness to Alis's voice.
"For real, that club is so high-maintenance."
Suly sighed, "It can't be helped sis. We gotta wait a little longer before we can hit that spot."
Out of the corner of her eye, Rosia saw Adrian smirk.
"What is it?"
Adrian chuckled and shook her head.
"Nothing, nothing."
They continued to drive when Adrian turned into an alley.
"AJ, what are you doing? Quinteles is the other way."
"I know, Rose."
She drove deeper into the alley until they pull up to a garage. Adrian flashes her high beams twice and the garage door opens. She pulls in and the door closes behind them.
"This is my cousin's body shop. He's always here late at night on the weekends."
Adrian turned off the ignition and got out of the explorer.
"Come on troops. We're walking the rest of the way there."
"Where!" cried Alis oh so happily and hyperly. Everyone cringed at hearing her voice like that. It was equivalent to an Amazon war cry only… this is Alis, man.
Adrian shook her head again and walked over to a set of stairs.
"You'll see when we get there. Oye! Javier!"
The upstairs office door opens and out walks Adrian's cousin. He was short but was in his 20s. He had dark brown hair that was slicked back and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt and a pale blue jump suit with oil stains here and there and a red rag hanging out one of his pockets.
"Yo. Didn't think you'd be coming out tonight."
"You know you don't be going anywhere. Anyway, could you fix my stereo?"
She threw the keys up at him and he caught them. Javier then gave her a thumbs up.
"Will do, prima. How long you gonna be out?"
"Depends. We'll see you later."
They all headed towards the side door that was next to the big garage door.
"Adios amigas de Adriana."
"Adios!" they all chorused.
When they were out they began following Adrian down the alley. Rosia was getting scared the further they walked and it got darker as well. She huddled closer to Suly and Flori, bumping into them.
"Hey, watch it." Flori hissed.
Suly looked at Rosia and nudged her arm with her elbow.
"You okay?"
"Yeah it's just… it's so creepy here."
Alis looked back at the young girl and smirked.
"Relax Rosie. We'll be fine. Nothing's gonna happen as long as we're all together. Right Adrian?"
Adrian stopped walking. The girls stopped walking also and glare at Alis.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
"You always say something wrong!"
"Not as much as you do Flori!"
"You wanna start something?"
"I'm not the one with the problem!"
"Both of you SHUT UP!"
The two loudmouths stopped and stared at Adrian. She was walking towards a nearby dumpster that was next to a corner of a building. She stopped and stood there for a moment.
"What is she doing?" Suly asked.
"AJ, what are you doing?" Rosia whispered to her.
Adrian side-glanced the girls then reached around the corner and snatched a guy's arm. She spun him around a few times then stuck her foot out and tripped the guy. The girls looked shocked. But for the four black clothed figures that were perched on the roof of another building, they were slightly surprised.
"Great reflexes." Commented the one with short silver hair.
"Better than yours, Loz." Said the one with slightly longer silver hair.
"Shut up, Yazoo."
"Silence, the both of you."
Loz and Yazoo stayed quiet. Sephiroth was glaring at the two then he turned back to the scene below. Kadaj looked at Sephiroth questioningly.
"That ensures nothing, right? I mean, that was just a lucky guess."
"Do you doubt the Prophecy?"
"No, not at all. I mean, we don't even know if the Prophecy is really that accurate."
"Once we obtain them… we'll see."
The guy stood up and dusted off his dark blue jacket. His face was hidden by his hood and he was wearing dark jeans and black tennis shoes.
"Nice moves. How did you know I was creeping?"
"Just a gut feeling. I'm used to it. Now if you'll excuse us, we need to go."
Adrian motions for the girls and they quickly scurry towards her.
"You know… girls like you shouldn't be out here late at night."
Adrian glared at the thug until Flori stepped forward.
"OH we beg to differ. I think there's this thing called strength in numbers, if you haven't heard of it."
Just then, six more thugs appeared throughout various parts in the alley. The silver haired quartet looked around at all of the men.
"Where did they come from?" Loz asked.
"They were hidden well."
Yazoo says softly as he pulls out Velvet Nightmare. Kadaj was also preparing for battle by unsheathing Souba, but Sephiroth held up his hand, signaling them to not take action.
"Let's see how they fare against these pathetic beings."
The three were reluctant but nodded.
"You just had to say something, didn't you Flori?"
"I know. Sorry Suly."
Adrian looked around at all of the thugs. She didn't count on so many being here. And she was not in the mood to start something.
"Culeto Javier, I thought his pit-pulls and Dobermans were loose." She muttered.
Then she remembered that her cousin's dogs were in the pound because they didn't have collars or tags.
"You girls have two options. You can give us all your money and jewelry or you can give us…" he trailed off.
Rosia was hiding behind Alis, Flori and Suly were huddled together and Adrian was just standing there, out in the open then she turned to look at the girls.
"Formation M. stay together."
Alis scratched her head and tilted it to the side.
"Is that Manji formation?"
"No, it's a fetal position- OF COURSE IT'S MANJI FORMATION!" Flori snapped.
The silver-haired quartet anime sweat drop at the scene. Sephiroth mutters to himself as he rubs his temple as if to ease a REALLY bad headache.
"Okay, maybe they can't handle it. But their strategy is good."
Indeed. Ever since they formed the Five Saints, Adrian has come up with some strategies and plans if they ever wound up in a situation like this. Usually that's Suly or Alis's job but Adrian, being the "oh fearless leader of the group", which she really is fearless, is always the one stuck with the planning.
"Just stay to together and don't get separated no matter what. We'll keep on moving. Alis, you're with me on the back. Flori and Suly, you two cover the front. Rosia, you're in the middle. We can't have anything happening to you or your brothers will kill me."
The girls nodded and got into their positions as they continue their trek down the alley. The SHMs are secretly impressed with their plan, more so is Sephiroth.
"…Very good."
The group of thugs followed after the girls, a few fishing out knives and broken bottles. Adrian scowled at their attempt to be intimidating and rolled her eyes in disgust as one of the thugs smiled at her.
'Can this night get any worse?'
"Come 'ere!"
One of the thugs charged at them.
"Rosia, duck! Flori! Suly! Stand by! Alis, spread!"
Rosia ducked and Adrian and Alis stepped away from each other. When the thug passed them, the two moved behind him and shove him forward, making him trip over Rosia. As soon as the guy fell to the ground, both Flori and Suly proceeded to kick him and stomp on him.
"That's it! Get those girls!"
The rest of the thugs charged at them. The girls got back into their Manji formation and began running.
"What's the plan chief!"
"Don't call me that Alis!"
They continued running until one of the thugs threw their knife at them, heading straight for Suly. Yazoo saw this and took aim.
"Sephiroth… permission to fire?"
Sephiroth nodded, "Fire at will."
Yazoo fired and amazingly, the bullet deflected the knife. The thug looked shocked.
"What the hell?"
Flori looked at Suly.
"What was that?"
"Uh, that sounded like gunfire."
"They've got guns too?" Rosia cried in disbelief.
"Keep moving troops!"
They are more than willing to follow Adrian's order and run faster as their legs can carry them. Unfortunately, something totally cliché had to happen. Flori tripped and fell. Sephiroth nodded to Loz who nodded back and leapt from the building they were perched on.
"I got ya!"
"Oh shit! Get away from me!"
Flori swung her fist at the oncoming thug, and it looked like she was going to miss him completely but with great speed, Loz ran in front of Flori and gave the thug a big POW right in the kisser with Dual Hound and ran back up the building to regroup with his brothers. The thug went flying, unsure of what hit him and he slammed into four of his oncoming partners.
"WOW! FLORI! THAT WAS COOL!"
Flori opened her eyes and looked at the pile of thugs down the alley, she then looked at her fist.
"Did I do that?"
"Flori! Let's move!"
Flori quickly got back up and rejoined her friends. Kadaj looked down on some thugs that were catching up to them. He popped a Fire Materia into his Souba and pointed it at the thugs.
"Fire 2."
A small line of red light shot out of his sword and traveled towards the thugs, when it was close enough it flashed and the thugs were now running around on fire. Sephiroth looked at Kadaj with a smirk on his face.
"Nice."
"Thank you."
A few more turns and they will be home free. Alis is in the lead followed by Suly, Rosia, Flori and Adrian taking the rear. Adrian looked back and saw that they were leaving the thugs in the dust. They were going to make it… well, her friends' maybe. As she looked back in front of her she was on a one-way trip into a sewer line that was under construction and the hole looked to be about 12 or 15ft deep.
"…Damn."
She felt the ground disappear from under her feet and the wind pick up in her face. She closed her eyes, waiting to meet the cold dirt or concrete below. Sephiroth was there in an instant, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back up. Adrian felt that she hadn't hit the ground but was in the air somehow and she could also feel something around her waist. She was lowered and she sighed in relief when her feet touched good ole earth again. Her eyes were still closed and she felt really warm all of a sudden.
'What the hell is this?'
She moved her hand up to her waist and gasped when she felt an arm. Sephiroth whispered in her ear from behind.
"Watch your step."
Adrian quickly turned around when she felt the arm disappeared only to find nothing behind her. She could have sworn she caught a glimpse of silver.
"…Okay… I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that… or felt that."
She ran the right way and caught up with her friends. Rosia was the first to speak.
"AJ, where were you?"
"I… uhh…"
"Never mind that, did we lose'em?" Flori was obviously out of breath.
Suly was also. "I think so."
"Finally. Now then Adrian… Where were we going before FLORI got us into some deep shit?"
Flori glared at Alis. Adrian looked around then smiled and pointed at something behind Alis. She and the rest turn around to find a back door of a tall blue building. There was thumping sounds coming from it, music.
The girls turned back around to look at Adrian in disbelief. Suly had her mouth wide open.
"No."
Adrian grinned, "Yes."
They girls looked at each other then squealed in excitement. Adrian walked up to the door and knocked.
"We're rushing the back door, can you believe this Flori?"
Flori smiled at Rosia as she nodded her head.
"Yeah. I work here as a bartender. Now when we get inside, blend in the crowd and don't let the bouncers or my boss see you."
The girls nodded with smiles on their faces that made them look like five year olds. Adrian shook her head and the door opened. A tall man with blonde hair, brown eyes and wearing a black suit stood at the doorway.
"You're late."
"Sorry Rob, we ran into some trouble on the way here. I brought my friends, don't tell my boss, okay?"
Rob looked over the girls then nodded.
"Sure, but only this one time. So you girls better enjoy yourselves while you can."
The four girls saluted and chorused, "Yes sir!"
The silver haired trio watched the girls enter the club then gave each high fives and pats on the backs as they sat with their backs against the wall. Sephiroth returned to the three and cleared his throat to get their attention. When that failed, he unsheathed Masamune and plunged it in front of the trio in the roof. Yep, he got their attention.
"Listen well little ones, I leave their safety in your hands. I need to get back and have a talk with a certain someone. But first, to visit that body shop."
Kadaj raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"So when do we proceed with the plan?"
"What's our time?" he asked, looking at Loz.
"Precisely thirty before twelve."
"Begin pick up in two hours. I will join you shortly."
With that, he sheathed Masamune and disappeared into the night, leaving the young SHMs alone. Yazoo got up and cocked Velvet Nightmare.
"You heard the man. While we wait for the two hours to pass, let's find those thugs that were chasing the saints earlier."
Kadaj and Loz got up as well, weapons poised, facing the dark alleys.
"Good idea, Yaz. It's a fun way to kill time. Right Kadaj?"
Kadaj smiled wickedly.
"Emphasis on kill."
The three clinked their weapons together as if giving a toast.
"Let's hunt."
The hallway was dark and they music grew louder as they walked. They first stopped in the back room to leave their coats and jackets and continued on until they stopped at a door. Adrian turned to face the group as her hand was on the doorknob.
"Remember what I said. Stay out of sight. Everyone got their cell phones on?"
The girls pulled out their cell phones, each beeping and glowing at the same time. Adrian smiled and turned the knob.
"Then let's go."
She opened the door and the girls were practically blown back by the atmosphere of loud music and lights. Again, they chorused, with the exception of Adrian of course.
"WOW!"
They all immediately went their separate ways and Adrian made her way over to the bar. Two girls where behind the bar serving drinks. They both were wearing white tank tops and black pants with black shoes. One of them had curly blonde hair and blue eyes; the other had long brown hair and dark brown eyes.
"Sorry I was late Jaren, Grecia."
"It's all right, just don't do it again." Warned the blonde one known as Jaren.
"I know, tonight's been pretty busy." Grecia complained as she served another drink.
Adrian smiled, got behind the bar and joined her fellow barteneress's in making and serving drinks.
Sometime later…
Alis, Suly and Flori met up at the bar. But Adrian was looking deep in thought.
"So, did you dance with any guys Alis?" Suly asked.
"Yep, and four of them wanted my number. How about you two?"
Flori smirked, "Same. But it was four each."
"Damn. Say, did you guys see Rosia anywhere?"
The two sisters shook their heads.
"Me neither, Adrian, did you see her?"
Adrian didn't pay her no mind as she was thinking back on what happened to them in the alley. First there was the sound of gunfire but she knew from first glance that the thugs didn't have any guns. Second, was Flori's punch. She knows Flori is a good fighter, second to her of course, but she couldn't have had that much power behind her punch to send that guy flying back into the others. Third, a few of them were suddenly on fire. That was strange enough but it just got stranger with the next happening. She was so sure that she would have fallen into that hole but she was saved.
'Hmm… that is strange but… who was that?'
Watch your step.
A flash of silver when she turned around. That sent a shiver up her spine and the voice, it was familiar but she couldn't remember from where. She took a deep breath to gather herself again unfortunately; Alis held a shot glass of tequila under her mouth, which Adrian breathed in.
"ACK!"
Adrian was coughing as the fumes of the strong liquor traveled down her throat. Suly and Flori began laughing but Adrian shot them a death glare. They both squeaked and pointed their fingers at her.
"Sephiroth death glare! Sephiroth death glare!"
She smirked, that always creeped them out, especially Rosia, but she would completely freak out and scream. Alis waved the shot glass in front of her again.
"Are you listening or do you want another wif?"
"Yeah, I'm listening. What is it?"
"I asked if you've seen Rosia?"
"No. Did you?"
The three shook their heads, that's when Grecia came running up to her.
"Adrian, I need you to come to the girls room right away."
Hearing the urgency in her voice, Adrian quickly leapt over the bar and sprinted towards the restroom. The four girls followed. Once they entered the girls' room, they heard loud sobbing noise coming from one the stalls. That's when they saw an open stall near the end of the room. They ran down there to find Jaren kneeling in front of Rosia as she sat on the toilet, crying uncontrollably in her hands.
"It's okay Rosie. It's okay."
"No it's not!"
Adrian kneeled by her.
"What happened?"
"It was a while ago but I saw Rosia walk really fast to the restroom, talking on her cell phone. Forty minutes passed and she didn't come out so I came in here and found her crying."
"Okay," Adrian took Rosia's hands. "Rosia, talk to me. What happened?"
":Sniff: I was just dancing with my cousins Memo and Victoria when my cell phone rang. :Sniff: and it was my boyfriend calling. He was talking very seriously until the conversation got bad and I went to the restroom… then he…"
The four girls outside the stall lean in closer to hear. Adrian and Jaren nodded.
"Then he what?" Jaren asked.
"He… :Sniff… He… Broke up with me."
Grecia, Jaren, Suly and Alis sighed with collective 'I don't believe it' or 'How could he' and 'What a bastard'. Adrian scowled and Flori rolled her eyes.
"IS THAT IT? Oh my god Rosia, get a fucking grip! It always happens!"
Rosia began crying again. The four girls glared at Flori and Adrian shot her Sephiroth death glare at her. Flori remained silent. Adrian looked at Rosia again.
"Look Rosia. Stop crying. Don't waste your tears on him. He's too much of an asshole to deserve them."
The rest of the girls nodded in agreement. Rosia looked up Adrian and smiled at her.
"…I guess… but… I loved him."
She broke down again. Adrian sighed and stood up.
"It's time to go. Troops move out."
Loz and Yazoo meet up at the roof again, both smiling very mischievously.
"How was your hunt?"
Yazoo grinned and pulled out a cloth then began wiping blood off the blade of Velvet Nightmare. Loz grinned also and began wiping blood off of Dual Hound with his own cloth. Kadaj soon joined up with his brothers, throwing away his bloodied cloth, and sheathed Souba.
"That didn't last very long. I'm starting to have second thoughts about these girls if this is what this land has to offer in terms of skill in combat."
Yazoo narrowed his eyes, "You know what Sephiroth would say if you start having second thoughts about the Prophecy."
Loz began imitating Sephiroth with his hands on his hips and his chin held up high as he flicked back imaginary long hair.
"What? I can't believe you. My own little brother oh that is it. I am going to kill you."
"And you better stay away from places that have ceilings." Yazoo added as he and Loz began to laugh.
"And I'll be sure to watch my back." The younger said sheepishly.
They all laughed to themselves until they heard sobbing noises. They ran to the edge of the roof, ducked and peeked over the wall. They saw Adrian walking up front, Alis and Suly in the middle, trying to comfort Rosia and Flori in the back.
"Come on Rosia, it's all right."
"No it's not Suly! I loved him and he loved me!"
"Calm down girl. Don't cry for him. He doesn't deserve your sadness. Just let it go."
Rosia continued to cry. Flori crossed her arms in front of her and huffed.
"You know, you two aren't making it any better."
"You're one to talk sis."
Adrian sighed angrily, stopped and turned to face the group.
"Would you girls knock it off for at least FIVE MINUTES!"
Everyone grew silent. The SHMs blinked, Kadaj chuckled.
"Wow, that's power."
That's when his phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and answered.
"Talk to me."
"…We have a problem." Said the voice on the other line.
The rooftop was empty in an instant.
The rest of the walk to the body shop was silent until they entered it. Alis yawned and Suly stretched.
"Finally, we're here. Gosh, I'm really tired."
"Same."
Rosia was now quiet and had ceased her sobbing and Flori watched as Adrian made her way to the stairs.
"Hey Adrian… I'm sorry about tonight… the way that I was acting."
Adrian didn't say anything but nodded her head. Flori let out a sigh of relief. She thought that she would have a vendetta on her hands, considering the many times she's pissed Adrian and the rest of the girls off.
Adrian sighed again after she nodded her head. She was really not in the mood to deal with Flori at the moment and she just wanted to get home and sleep until 3:00 in the afternoon the next day.
"Javier! We're back!"
There was no answer. Adrian called out to him again.
"Hey! You better not be asleep!"
Still, no answer. Adrian looked back at the girls who had confused looks on their faces then went up the stairs towards the office.
"Seriously, you need to get out more and—"
She stopped in mid-sentence when she entered the office and found the whole place a mess. Papers and pieces of furniture everywhere. That's when she noticed a sword sticking out of the main desk and backed up, almost tripping over a piece of furniture.
"No… fucking… way…"
She can't remember the last time that she's been so scared. It was impossible. It's not real. It's actually the same sword that…
"Adrian! What are you doing? Let's go!"
Adrian was glad that her train of thought stopped when Suly yelled for her. She looked around for the keys and cursed silently to herself when she found them.
"Oh damn, it just HAD to be next to that god awful thing!"
Indeed, the keys were RIGHT NEXT to the blade. She cautiously walked up to the desk and reached over for the keys. When she almost had them she had the sudden urge to turn around and look up at the ceiling.
Gods, this was so terrifying! And ridiculous.
"What the hell am I doing?"
She shook her head, grabbed the keys and practically ran out of the office, down the stairs to the drivers' side of the explorer. The girls gave her questioning looks.
"He probably went home or over his friends house, I don't know. You guys ready to go home?"
The girls nodded, unsure of what happened. They've never seen Adrian so shaken up before. They decided to let it go for they are really exhausted from tonight's events and just want to sleep til 3:00 in the afternoon the next day like Adrian.
Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo stood in front of a wall with strange graffiti on it in an abandoned warehouse. It looked almost like the meteor symbol like on the cover of Final Fantasy 7 game and Advent Children movie. They waited for nearly fifteens minutes until the symbol glowed.
"He's here." Kadaj said quietly.
The wall still looked solid but began to ripple as a gold claw emerged out of it. This made Yazoo and Loz jump back a little but they soon calmed down when the owner of the arm fully emerged from the wall to reveal our favorite gun totting immortal in red. The wall stopped rippling and the symbol had ceased to glow when he fully crossed over.
"I apologize for not coming sooner. Sephiroth was late for our discussion." Vincent said simply.
Both Loz and Yazoo snapped at him.
"DON'T DO THAT!"
Vincent ignored the two older brothers and turned to the youngest.
"Sephiroth told me that 'HE' was here in this world. Has he done any harm to the girls?"
"No. We were… uh… watching over them the whole time."
Vincent stared deep into the young boy's eyes.
"I can smell blood on you three."
Kadaj looked down and shuffled his feet a little like the little kid he was. Yazoo stared at his hair and Loz rubbed the back of his head. After a moment of awkwardness has passed, Vincent walked past the boys.
"As long as they weren't innocent, it's all right. Now then, we have 30 minutes left before we begin the gathering. What's our status?"
"The girls are heading home right now." Explained Loz.
"All right. You know what to do."
They nodded and went their separate ways as they all left the warehouse. Yazoo and Loz in one direction, Kadaj in another, Vincent, a different way.
It's almost time for the gathering of the Five Saints but who is this 'HE' person that Vincent mentioned. That remains to be seen.
The girls are going to be in for a rough night.
(-----------)
That's the second chapter. That was pretty long. Yay, Vincent has arrived. You'll know later on in the story why he's with the SHM. Til next time.