Pleasantly Depressed – Ch 26 "Of Glass"
Warning – Much violence
When they got to Deling, the city was inching towards madness. Thousands of people crowded the streets, of all nationalities, some with signs, most shouting. There were men in armor trying to give orders over the crowd, but no one cared. There were vendors trying to take advantage of the population swell, but they too were ignored. Everyone was angry, and wanted to be heard. All at once.
There was no way the car was going to get through. Already people were marching around it, and even over it if they had to. There was also no way they were going to get Irvine, who was blissfully unconscious sprawled out in the back seat, to any sort of safety in this chaos.
Squall got out and tried to yell "Get the fuck away from the car!", but no one heard him. He tried yelling that he was SeeD. Still no attention. He tried actually hitting someone. They fell back into the crowd, which surged forward to fill the gap.
Selphie hopped to the front of the car, and perched on the hood. "Get in and steer! I'll clear the way!"
He nodded, and got in. He couldn't get the door closed because some idiot had decided to grab it. He kicked the guy until he let go.
Selphie shot a Water into the throng. It gushed like a fire hydrant, knocking back whoever it hit. Squall moved the car forward the inch or two that had gained them. "It's not good enough! We need something stronger!" But now even Selphie couldn't hear him, and shot out another Water. Before he could move the car again, he heard glass shatter, as a protestor hit a window.
"Fucker!" Squall bellowed and bolted for him, dragging him inside the car to pummel until he was unrecognizable.
"Squall!" Selphie was leaning back into the car now, and another window was breaking. Irvine's eyelashes flickered as a piece of glass fell onto his cheek.
"Keep them back!" he roared, and shoved the protestor back out the window. He saw a picket sign being aimed for the window nearest the gunner, and dove to shield his partner's face before the glass fell.
Then sirens began wailing, and people began screaming instead of shouting. The crowd thinned.
The soldiers were using crowd control now. They fired status spells into the group. Some ran in circles after being Confused. Others fell to the ground after a Sleep, and were probably trampled. Others waved their arms about, blinded by Darkness. Selphie got smacked with a Silence.
(Esuna!) She mouthed to him.
He shook his head. They had none left.
(Fuck) she mouthed.
The crowd broke up around them and ran in every direction. But the tactic wasn't perfect; it confused and frightened the protestors, but it also made them panic. Panicking people make really stupid decisions.
A nearby girl rushed the line of soldiers, wielding her sign over her head like a sword. She never reached them. Threatened, they opened fire for real.
That pretty much sealed it. The protest turned into a riot.
It was only seconds before gunfire, bricks, and fire cocktails were flying overhead. Police were ripping holes into little children. Little children were bludgeoning policemen's heads in. Everything made of glass got broken. A lot of things that shouldn't have been breakable got broken too. Squall took a cinderblock to the head, and saw red.
Fucking dogs, make you beg…
He rammed into the crowd with all his power behind him. His gunblade whipped and flashed, and crimson droplets rained from the sunny sky. He tore out throats with his bare hands. He cracked skull with his bare knuckles. He ground ligaments beneath his feet. And it felt so good. So right. Make them fucking BLEED.
Squall, don't!
The soldiers were nothing. The police were nothing. He gutted them and flung their entrails around like confetti. He gutted the children too. And then he turned on the protesters.
And found himself facing down Quistis.
Bitch. What's she doing here?
She had her whip out. She had a hand aimed at him. "Leonhart, stand down."
He sneered. "Bitch. Don't tell me what to do."
"Leonhart, stand down or else."
He had her neck pinned to the asphalt beneath his boot in mere moments. "Or else is me snapping your spine."
The blow from behind he didn't see coming. He had to step off Quistis to keep his balance. She twisted out from underneath him, and like a smart woman, ran for her miserable life. Oh yeah, he was killing whoever just did that.
"Why don't you just settle yourself down, Squall."
Oh fuck NO. Not that fucker. Squall turned slowly, and pinned down Laguna with contempt in his gaze. "Hello daddy."
Laguna smirked grimly. "Figures you'd have to be out of your mind before you called me that."
"You let that Trepe bitch get away. I'm thinking I'm going to force feed you your gallbladder."
"Son, don't make me abort you; it's a bit late into the trimester. There'll be complications."
"Should've worn a condom." He eyed the automatic Laguna was packing, and started circling. His father kept step with him.
"I did. Fun fact… petroleum can disintegrate latex."
"Knew you didn't want me." Squall smirked. "Sis was always your favorite."
"You can quit with the trying to get me all choked up. I know that look. I'm not going to let you kill me."
"I'd like to see you stop me."
"Wish granted." Laguna fired a volley at his knees. They buckled under him. He caught himself by grinding his gunblade into the ground, but now the older man was rushing him, aiming for an uppercut to the jaw with the butt of his rifle.
He grabbed the man's lapels and pulled him past so the blow didn't connect. He punched him square in the back, to break the spine. But Laguna was familiar with such techniques, and yielded into the blow until he was nearly bent backwards, and used the angle to knee Squall in the face.
That's it. Death's too good for this fucker.
Squall grabbed the knee before it could retreat, and pulled. Laguna was thrown off, and began falling. But he had a fist clenched in Squall's hair… my HAIR of all things… and dragged him down as well. Face hit asphalt. But that was secondary. There were more important things. Like making the fucker scream. And his fingers, locked straight and jabbed into an abdominal pressure point, were doing a good job of it. He reached with his other hand to cup Laguna's chin, with his thumb arching up into the soft place beneath the bone. All it would take was a simple press, and half the skin on the face could be ripped off, if he timed it right.
Laguna didn't give him the time. They rolled over, and his father went for the eyes. He blocked, but that left his stomach open. It got a knee rammed into it hard.
We're playing dirty now? I can play dirty. He went for the throat. Bit into the soft flesh around the base. Tore it with a head jerk.
A headbutt sent him reeling, and he cursed. Laguna had set him up for that. Fucker! He bucked and scratched at the limbs that were suddenly holding him hostage. Another headbutt before he could recover. A knee to the crotch. A solid punch to the jaw.
Selphie walloped Laguna over the head with a stop sign. (You okay?) she mouthed.
Bitch! I didn't need your fucking help! He debated whether to kill Selphie or concentrate on the greater threat.
Laguna bashed Selphie in the jaw with a wild swing of his rifle. She dropped instantly.
Squall took advantage of the distraction to punch Laguna in the groin. Fuck! Asshole's wearing a jockstrap. He backed up to lick his wounds and tack stock, retrieving his gunblade.
"You were expecting to run into this sort of situation, daddy?"
"It happens more often than I'd like during these sort of events." He waved a hand absently towards the nearby courthouse, steps, and podium, over which a banner read 'Estharian Treaty Conference'. "Apparently the locals didn't much care for my speech. After all the time it took to write it, too."
"Should've stuck to B-rated magazines. More your style."
"They weren't B-rat-" He backpedaled away quickly from the swung blade, and dodged the thrown brick. "Squall, I'm not going to go on about you bein' sick, since I gather you'd not listen. But I'll be damned if I'm going to let you kill civilians just because you've got a burr up your bum."
"It's not a burr, and it's not my bum," Squall smirked.
"Heh. Lemme guess, the cowboy?"
"You're the sharp one, aren't you?"
"Educated guess. You think I keep Kiros around for his sparkling personality?"
Squall threw another brick. Laguna sidestepped it. "I'm not gay."
"Course not, course not. Bi is the term, I hear."
He lunged in for an arcing swing, but Laguna neatly switched positions with him, and they were back to circling. "I'm not that either."
"Hate to break it to ya, but most heteros don't go around sticking burrs up other men's bums."
"How would you know? Mum's probably the only girl you ever fucked."
"So now we've gone through the denial and defensive stages."
"What say we skip on to anger?"
"You are aware he's getting married, right?"
Squall rushed in for an upward slice.
Laguna pivoted, stepped onto Squall's foot, and pressed down. Bone broke. An elbow jab to the arm knocked the blade out of his grip.
Squall kicked Laguna's shooting arm, evening the battlefield as the rifle skittered away across the road. He brought the wounded arm up and cracked it against Laguna's shoulder, dropping him to a crouch.
Laguna grabbed the back of Squall's neck as he fell and yanked, pulling him down as well.
Squall jammed his hand at Laguna's windpipe.
Laguna shifted enough so that it glanced off his collar bone.
Squall seized Laguna's jacket and pulled him forward and down onto a clenched fist.
Laguna heaved to the side away from Squall, and lashed out, cracking him across the forehead.
Squall yanked Laguna with him as he tumbled back, and brought a leg up to catapult the man over him.
Laguna grabbed the leg and jerked Squall along with him.
Squall put his feet down straight mid throw and used the force to throw himself farther than Laguna intended, landing in a somersault and grabbing his abandoned gunblade as he passed.
Laguna saw the motion, dove for his own gun and opened fire as he came back up to a kneeling position.
Squall cast his last Protect and swung his gunblade in an arc to reverse his momentum. He dropped into a runner's crouch and pushed off towards Laguna, gunblade aimed straight forward.
Laguna drove the blade up over his head with the barrel of his rifle, and tried for a round kick.
Squall broke off the kick with a knee, and landed his leg on Laguna's instep.
Laguna wrenched his rifle up square into Squall's underjaw.
Squall stepped backwards, striking out in a downward slash with his blade to bring his weight forward.
It connected, tore through Laguna's uniform and clanged against his bulletproof vest.
"Cheat," Squall growled. He cuffed Laguna in the stomach, stepped across with his left foot to land on Laguna's left, brought his right up to press against his hip, and applied force, driving his opponent downwards. They may be similarly matched for training, and his speed and youth equaled by Laguna's experience, but Squall was heavier from muscle, and had the might of deities behind him. He landed on top, broke the wrist that held the rifle, pressed an arm against Laguna's windpipe, and brought his sword up, aimed straight for the ribcage. He could puncture the armor at this angle if he put enough weight into it.
Laguna cast a Sleep on him.
Author's Notes – All combat moves tried out in person, with help from a reluctant large teddy bear.