Chapter 2: An Upgrade
"Argh, it's broken! Go and get a new one!"
"Calm down Brother, I'm sure it's fine. You just need to-"
"Need to what, Buddy? I am the captain, I am never wrong!"
"Will you two cut it out already!" Rikku screamed, her hands pressed against her ears. It seemed that the upgrade was harder to install then they had anticipated, and Brother was definitely not the man to figure it out. Since tyring to shove it into the bottom of the ship things had gone out of control and his temper with it.
Yuna stood a few metres back, to frightened to try and help incase she became the target of Brother's anger. Currently, it was Buddy who was suffering the captain's rage, and there was only so much he could take of it.
Paine was at the men's left, leaning against the ship. Clearly she was bored as she yawned loudly and struggled to keep her eyes open. Twice Brother had scolded her for this. "Why don't you help!?" he had asked, losing his temper. After Paine had threatened to snap his arms off if he did it again, all he could bring himself to do was give her a tiny glare, shift back a few feet, then continue to try and attach the sphere finder.
There was a loud clang and Buddy leapt back, clutching at his foot. "Yow!" he screamed out as he hopped around on the spot with his foot cradled in his hand. One of the heavy metal tools had been dropped from Brother's hand and found Buddy's foot.
Finally a smile spread across Brother's face at the sight. "Hah! Justice!"
Buddy turned to him, his face pained. "What did I do?"
Another argument broke out, much to the girls' dismay. This time, the words and insults were sharper and soon both boys were wrestling on the ground like they used to as teenagers.
"Brother, get up!" Rikku screamed as she stared trying to detach him from Buddy by gripping him around the neck and pulling with all of her strength. He choked and gasped, but kept his own grip tight around Buddy's head in a headlock.
Yuna simply stared at the fight with a hand over her mouth in shock. She glanced up at Paine just in time to see her giggle and turn away from the sight to laugh.
"You think… you're so… smart!" Brother choked out.
"Well at least I don't pretend!" Buddy retaliated.
"How dare you! I am the-"
"Finished."
Everyone froze and turned to see Shinra lowering himself out of the small opening in the ship. Black grease coated his outfit, especially the mask with worsened the mysterious boy's attire, but he held his hands to his hips and stuck out his chest, proving that he was more than happy with the job he had done.
Brother stared at him. "D-done?" he repeated stupidly as Rikku finally released him.
Shinra nodded. "The instalment. It should be up and running," he said before headed towards the stairs that led up to the bridge. "Hurry up!" he added, calling it over his shoulder to his fellow Gullwings.
With a shrug, Paine pulled herself from the side of the ship and started following after Shinra. She found it a better cure to boredom than watching Brother and Buddy try to tear each other's throats out.
"Wait up!" Rikku called, taking off after her, Yuna at her heels as anticipation seemed to fuel her.
That left Brother and Buddy to dust themselves off, heal their friendship with an awkward handshake, and then climb the steps to the bridge to see what the upgrade could do.
"No one strikes at the captain," Brother muttered under his breath as he reached the top step.
Buddy simply pushed him playfully in the back and climbed up after his best friend.
Once everyone had assembled on the bridge, they were greeted with confusing news from Shinra as he launched himself from his small chair at the computer system and ran over to them all.
"I can't believe this," he started, his voice heightened by amazement as he pointed to the screen behind him. "It can pick up the waves of Golden Spheres!"
All his information earned him was a group of blank faces that stared back. It seemed none knew what on Spira he was talking about. All they had ever known of were normal old spheres. They had heard nothing of Golden Spheres.
With a sigh, the masked boy began explaining. "Golden Spheres are rare and valuable spheres that are hidden in the most perilous locations all around Spira. I've spent so long trying to create an invention that could locate them, but I never succeeded."
"Wait, wait, wait, valuable?" was all Brother could say as he bent down I front of Shinra as though he were about to speak to a five year old. "You did say valuable, right?"
Rikku rolled her eyes behind her brother. "Who cares about that! Think about the recording it would have!"
A small chuckle came from Paine as she stood away from the group, naturally. "I have never seen all of you so excited about a sphere before," he pointed out as she gazed around at the group. Each of them looked as though they had just been crowned the kings and queens of sphere hunting. She closed her eyes and sighed. "I guess it does sound pretty worth it," she added, unable to deny the fact.
Yuna clapped excitedly. "I can't wait until it locates one!" she said animatedly, her eyes ablaze with enthusiasm. She knew that it would be the perfect distraction from her troubled thoughts, and after damaging her friendship with Paine she wished for something that could bring them closer together as friends again. She risked an awkward glance back at the stoic warrior and received only a blank stare that showed no emotion.
Little did the gunner know that Paine was thinking the exact same thing and the idea twisted itself around in her mind as she analysed it.
'Seems like it could work I guess,' she thought as her eyes burned into Yuna's, but she turned back around a moment later.
There was a sudden flashing light that sprung from the computer screen behind Shinra, then the buzzing of the alert. Everyone sprang to life at the signs and stared at the entire desk as it lit up like a dozen light bulbs.
"We won't have to wait long to find a Golden Sphere after all," Shinra said with a smile. "The Sphere Hunter 3000 just found one."
Authors Note – Sorry this is such a short chapter. I promise the next one will be longer. Please review