A/N: awww, no new reviews! I've been trying to keep up with writing this, but school has been pretty grueling lately. Also, I'm co-writing a few gundam wing fan fictions with my brother, so I've also been busy with that. But i havent forgotten this! Please read and review! thank you!
"Sounds pretty bad up there..." Quistis mumbled. "Wait...it could be Rinoa and Irvine!" Selphie said, a worried look stricken across her youthful features. "We should try to get up there, it could be Rinoa...or Irvine..." Squall said, herding them back into the elevator. When they made it to the eigth level, they heard a mix clatter of gunfire and a lone booming sound of a rifle. Marriku cocked her head to the set of stairs leading up and seen someone fall to the ground. "Stop trying to act so cool!" A young voice came from above, and Rinoa walked down the stairs.
"If you would have agreed with me earlier, we wouldnt be in the mess!" She said, kicking Irvine and she turned her head to the right and squeed when she seen Squall. "Squall!" She said, running to him and jumping up and down. "Rinoa! your alright." Quistis said, smiling. "yay," Marriku said, a fake happy smile on her face. "Of course she is, I was her escourt" Irvine said, getting on his feet and brushing dust and sand off his coat. "Whats that supposed to mean?" Zell said, his eyes narrowed at the sharpshooter. "aaaahhh..." irvine said, but Rinoa cut him off.
"My father pulled some strings with the military. He told them to get me and only me out" Rinoa explained. "Then-" Irvine tried to continue, but Rinoa cut him off once more. "So this guy here," She said, a suprised expression on her face, "He came and got me! Just me! Knowing you were all captured!" "aaahhh, thats-" "Isnt that horrible?"
"Alright, Alright! I said i was sorry, thats why I'm here to help!" Irvine said, glaring at her. "After I scratched you to death" Rinoa retorted. "Uh...A-Anyhow, now is our chance!" "The basement door is buried in sand," Squall said. "Of course it is, this place is buried underground." "Buried?" "Thats right. This prison is-" "There they are! Its the escapees!" A guard shouted.
Irvine pulled his rifle from his large brown trench coat and started to fire. "Go! Head up, and ill hold them from here!" He said, his eyes full of determination. "Up?" Squal "So, this guy here...He came and got me! Just me! Knowing you were ALL captured! Isnt that horrible?"
"Alright, Alright! I said i was sorry, thats why I'm here to help!" Irvine said, glaring at her. "After I scratched you to death" Rinoa retorted. "Uh...A-Anyhow, now is our chance!" "The basement door is buried in sand," Squall said. "Of course it is, this place is buried underground." "Buried?" "Thats right. This prison is-" "There they are! Its the escapees!" A guard shouted.
Irvine pulled his rifle from his large brown trench coat and started to fire. "Go! Head up, and ill hold them from here!" He said, his eyes full of determination. "Up?" Squall said. "We dont have time! Just go! Trust me, the exit is up there!" Irvine said, still shooting. "...okay." "C'mon, I think i know the way!" "I'll Stay with Irvine..." Quistis said, not moving. "You sure?" Selphie asked. She nodded. They ran towards the elevator and Rinoa pressed the highest number it could go. "I hope they'll be okay..." Marriku said to no one in particular.
Watching the rest of the team go up by elevator, Irvine said to himself, "My turn to boogie now!" He aimed at the guards and shot. He had never felt a part of a team before, he was an orphan and never really had friends. He could barely remember his childhood, at the age of 6 he came to Galbadia Garden because, still, no one had adopted him. It was heart breaking, but he knew he could help these guys out and maybe then his worthless life would mean something.
"oh crap..." he said, when he heard a dry click from his rifle. "Uh...Im out..." he said, facing the blonde ex-instructor who kneeled next to him. "They've stopped firing! Go up and arrest them! On the double!" A guard barked orders. "Perhaps we should follow everyone else?" She suggested. "Good idea..."
They got up and ran towards the elevator, narrowly missing the hail of gunfire that picked up once again.
When they came up to the last floor, Squall led them towards a large opening and into the outside. A booming voice rang out from the a set of loudspeakers. "Prisoners may not go beyond this point. You'll be terminated." 2 large robot machines and a solider dressed in red came at them, the solider running up and locking blades with Squall. "Attack the machines! I got this..." He said, pushing the guard back and slashing at him.
Marriku crossed her katana blades and whispered, "Dark Messenger." The death black demon Diablos appeared from the sky and attacked the machines, it hardly scratched them! Marriku heard the elevator hum in motion and seen Irvine and Quistis came out from the heavy metal doors and sprang into action. Irvine was almost helpless because his rifle was out of ammo.
Selphie attacked one of the blue machines with her nunchaku, but it wouldnt help much. Marriku tried looking for a type of cord or switch they could push to deactivate the machines, but they wouldnt stop moving. They were twisting and turning and slashing at the team with their metal arms. Squall had taken out the guard and attacked the machines. "Try a thunder spell or something!" Marriku called out to Amaya. She nodded and raised her staff, mumbling something before a strike of lightning came from the clear blue sky and struck one of the machines. It froze and made a loud ringing, crackly noise before springing into action again.
Squall took notice and raised his gunblade and said something and the perfect blue sky turned cloudly and black. A large blast of lightning shook the ground as the god, Quezocotl rose from the lighting. It flapped it wings and struck the two machines with a large electrical beam and both machines froze and clanged nosily to the ground. They were defeated. "whoa..." Zell said, looking below. A sea of sand was below them, not a blade of green grass or a building in view. "We're in the middle of nowhere!" Selphie said, stating the obvious.
"Lets just head for that structure over there..." Squall said, leading them towards the bridge that led to the next building. Marriku was last, her eyes hooked on the screw shaped columns that held this building up off the ground. She didnt notice that she had stopped walking. "C'mon Marriku!" Selphie called, already standing on the platform near the opening towards the next structure. She started walking towards them, as the whole bridge started to shake. "Hurry!" Quistis shouted. Marriku began to run, the the bridge began to fall apart, the metal pieces of the bridge falling like a bullet to the ground. She was running, trying not to look behind her. She grabbed onto the metal sidings of the bridge as the metal walkway completely fell apart.
"Hold on!" Amaya shouted to her, worry and panic flowing through her voice. Marriku tightened her grip on the metal sidings, wishing that she wasnt afraid of heights. She, shakily, started moving slowly towards the platform. She screamed as she seen the screw shaped columns drilling into the ground, she started hurrying towards the platform, bits of sand getting into her eyes. She felt her hands slipping. She pulled herself up onto the sidings and lunged at the platform as the sand blinded her from seeing anything.
When she could finally open her eyes without getting more and more sand in them, she sighed. "That was way too dangerous...are you okay Marriku?" Rinoa said, crawling over to her. 'What? Rinoa actually being nice to me? scary!' "Yep. Thanks. That was way too close, Im glad im alive." She replied. The platform was pushed against the sand ground, the building in front of them was a type of garage. Two tank like trucks were left in there, side by side, one yellow and one black.
"We should just get going..." Squall said, glancing at Marriku and she nodded at him. "Ooh! Ooh! I wanna ride the yellow one!" Selphie said, running up and hugging it. "I'll take that one too..." Qusitis said, jumping into the driver's seat as Selphie got into the passenger seat. "Me too..." Rinoa said, waving at them before getting into the back seat, Zell following. "Guess we get the black one..." Irvine said, getting into the passenger seat. Squall took the drivers seat and started up the large truck as Amaya and Marriku climbed into the back.
The seats were made of cool and comfortable black leather and the windows were tinted. Squall started driving and Marriku closed her eyes. "That was pretty close you know...Why is this happening to us, that was supposed to happen to Squall," Amaya whispered, glancing at the men before looking back at her. "Who knows, I know that I am tired and I want a nap!" She whispered, smiling. "Yeaaah" Amaya said. Marriku noticed her hair that were placed in baos and her dress. "That dress has to go..." She giggled. "Yeah..." Amaya yawned.
As the truck was driving off somewhere in the sand, Marriku placed her head in her hands. She sighed, a headache slowly ebbing in her brain. She was exhausted, the guards were more than happy to try to beat them to a living pulp. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, almost hoping that they would be able to go back to Balamb and she'd be able to lay in her bed, or...Go home. She wanted to. She felt homesick...But. 'Who knows whats happened to our world...' she thought hopelessly, forcefully clenching her eyes closed.
When her eyes fluttered open once more, after a good hour or two of rest, she realized she was the only one in the truck. She unbuckled her seat belt and jumped out. There were at a crossroads, two paths that lead west and north. Selphie was standing on top of a wrecked car, the others stood around it. "Whats going on?" She asked, streching and walking towards them.
"The sorceress is about to launch missles are garden..." Selphie said, her voice quivering from above. "What? Who said?" Marriku said, trying to make herself seemed shocked and horrified. She knew what was going on. "Thats what Rinoa heard from Irvine..." Selphie continued. "the only thing we can really do is go back to garden and warn everyone." Squall said, taking his alpha position. After a moment of silence, Quistis said, "Lets get going..."
Selphie stomped her foot on the metal wreckage and said, "They're targeting both Balamb AND Trabia gardens! We MUST interfere with the launch! We have to stop those damn missles!" She said, her eyes glinted with tears. "I just transfered from Trabia! I cant just sit around knowing that it's in danger! Please decide who is going to the Galbadia Missle Base, hurry! We can make it before its too late!" She pleaded.
Squall looked away. Rinoa jumped up and said, "Squall must decide on the party. he should go to Balamb because he's our leader. Anyone against this plan raise you hand! I dont mind which team you put me on, you know..." She said. "You're the leader Squall, What are the teams?" Quistis asked. Just as Squall turned to them, they heard a loud blast and the ground shook. A group of missles shot into the sky and shot like arrows toward the east. "I...heard they were hitting Trabia first...then Balamb." Irvine said quietly.
"I'm sorry...Trabia..." Selphie said, falling to her knees as tears dropped in the burnt wreckage. "I couldnt stop it! Please let everybody be alright...that was a miss! It has to be! Squall, we have to report to Balamb, who are you taking?" She said, getting up, her delicate body quivering in the wind. Marriku was appalled at her determination. "C'mon Squall!" Zell cheered. "Decide!" Quistis pleaded. Squall shook his head and said, "Amaya, Marriku and Rinoa come with me. The rest of you are going to the base...This mission is unlike any other. Its not an order or a request. Selphie, do you have some type of plan?" Squall questioned.
"I think if we take this truck here, we should be able to make it inside the base. But, thats it ya know. I'll have to think of the rest once we're inside. Do you think that'd be okay? I'm sorry...I mean thanks. there isnt much time, you better hurry to Balamb!" Selphie said, jumping off the wrecked car. Zell, Quistis, and Irvine grouped towards their "leader." Marriku waved goodbye sadly to them, knowing what they would be facing in the longrun. They all, glumly and wordlessly, got into the vehicle.
They drove for almost an hour, passing the sandy dunes of the desert to the emerald green grassy knolls of the forrest. They finally came upon a small town. The town had an up and running train station, but their was Galbadian soliders everywhere. "We've got to get on that train..." Squall said. Amaya, Marriku, and Rinoa followed him onto the only train in the station. Squall started the train and Marriku turned back and seen some Galbadian soliders comming near them. The train huffed and puffed until it started smoothly running. The soliders were running as well.
"Squall! They're comming after us..." Rinoa said. Squall didnt respond. They heard a tired out voice from behind them yell, "S-stop the train! heeeeeey! C'MON!" "Sorry!" Rinoa called to him. The solider was struggling to keep up when he just fell back. Marriku and Amaya burst out laughing, but Rinoa just looked on.