Disclaimer : I don't own anything.
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(East Academy)
The rest of the train ride was made in silence and before we knew it, we were at East Academy. It was just a small outdoor dropoff point for Garden students and such. Since the Garden was so close, they just walked through the forest to get to it. Any battles they faced, added to experience.
Disembarking from the train, we left the station and walked to the forest. The walk was pretty uneventful, facing us with easy monsters to kill and more magics to draw, though they were still weak ones. It took us a few hours before we made it into the forest, and I immediately stopped as I recognized it.
No way... This is... This is the same forest that I saw in my dream!
I chanced a glance to Marah and Dustin and noted that they showed the same signs of recognition, but it was only faint since the current situation was more important at the moment.
Marah turned back to us with a worried frown. "Heeey, I was thinking..."
For once... I thought dryly.
"There might be some bad news from the Galbadian Government. What if we get caught and then broadcast to the whole world...?"
She trailed off but her obvious worry was still clearly seen in her eyes. It made sense. We betrayed the Galbadian Government, so what reason would Galbadia Garden have to take us in as refugees? We could be captured and executed for treason.
"Whatever happens, happens!" Dustin stated firmly, his guilty look growing ten-fold. "Now come on! Let's keep going!" His anxious look increased and his eyes narrowed as they filled with fear. "I, I'm worried about Balamb Garden. If anything happens, it's all my fault. I'm the one who said we were all from Garden... You think the President will retaliate against Garden?"
Marah looked thoughtful. "Hmmm...Maybe..."
He let his head drop. "...Figures..." he mumbled. Suddenly lashing forward, he ran to my side and gripped the sleeve of my jacket tightly. I shook my arm, but there was no dislodging him. "B-But, we have a whole bunch of SeeDs at Balamb Garden! They wouldn't lose to the Galbadian army, would they?"
I thought about it and as much as I didn't want to admit it... "Depends on how strong the army is." Galbadia was one of the largest cities in all of Gaia, second only to Esthar, but no one ever heard from people from Esthar, so Galbadia was considered the stronest empire around. It easily had the compacity to put together an army that would take over Garden in a matter of seconds.
Letting go of me reluctantly, Dustin sighed and moved away. "I know, but..."
"Oh, you're just a great leader, aren't you?" Kapri snapped sarcastically, glaring at me. "Do you actually have fun being so callous to your comrads?" she demanded with her hands on her hips.
Not again! I thought in irritation.
"Dustin wants your support!"
I figured it'd be something like this. Why was it Kapri always seemed to be preaching about something or another with me?
"Any kind of encouragement will make..."
I toned her out as I thought to myself. That's just to ease your mind. Am I the only one who thinks like that? I bit back the urge to shake my head, knowing she'd get on my case about it, taking it the wrong way. No, I'm sure Blake...
"Don't you ever worry or think about the well-bing of your comrades?!"
I don't believe in relying on others... It only caused me pain in the past.
"Don't you understand:?!" she cried angrily.
I remained silent. ...Whatever...
"Are you even listening?!"
Suddenly, I felt a familiar buzzing and dizziness in my head and staggered forward, grabbing my head. No... Not again... This sensation... Before I could say a word, I felt my world turn black and collapsed on the ground.
(Normal POV)
"Uhh..." Tori grabbed her head before she too, passed out.
Staggering forward, Marah yawned and winced a little. "M...Me, too..." Then she collapsed last.
"What's going on?!" Kapri demanded in a panic as she ran to Shane's side, feeling for a pulse and feeling quite relieved when she felt a strong one on the side of his neck.
Dustin crouched next to Marah and checked her pulse as well, before sighing and turning to Kapri. "I think...they went to the 'dream world'." he said with a frown.
(Dream World)
Three men stood at the top of a steep hill, looking out over a path that descended rapidly below them, disappearing around a corner. Beyond the path was a good 60 foot drop to a deep, fast flowing river below that was fed by a large dam.
"Zack, you sure this is the place?" Jason asked in confusion, looking out over the path below them. It certainly didn't look like the destination on the map they had been carrying.
Zack looked closely at the ground below them before nodded, a determined look in his eyes. "Positive." he said, sheathing his daggers on his hips.
Smirking a little, Jason shook his head. "I don't wanna be patrolling the wrong place, like last time." The end of that sentence was directed at Tommy with a raised eyebrow.
Checking the map he held, Tommy scratched the back of his head nervously before tucking it away int one of the pockets on his uniform. Turning to his friends, he ducked his head and offered a sheepish and apologetic grin. "Uh, sorry. This ain't the place."
Shaking his head, Zack sighed. "This is it." he insisted firmly. "Let's go, commander." he said pointedly.
"I have a baaad feeling about this, guys." Tommy pointed out nervously. "There's something fishy goin' on here! You know what the old folks say... They unfamiliar always happens..."
"You mean, 'unexpected', right?" Zack pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"You only got the 'un' part right." Jason muttered with a chuckle.
"Ahh, shut up!" their leader cried in embarrassment. "Stop your clamourin' and make sure you got everything. Now, let's move out!"
Running forward, they snuck their way down the path and around the corner, walking along until they came to a huge, and I mean massive rock structure of some kind. It was in a square shape with rounded edges, and was made of a translucent green crystal, seeming to be a good mile thick. It towered over them easily, probably higher than any building on Gaia, and seemed to resonate with an almost evil aura.
Something was definitely wrong with this picture!
This...thing didn't look like anything ever made on the planet, and ahead of them was an opening that looked like it took ages to cut. It was crude and rough, but easily large enough to fit a large vehicle.
They stood on a large metal platform, and it branched off in three different directions, probably three different entrances into...well, whatever this thing was.
All I know is that Esthar really seems to have a penchant for getting in over their heads and dealing with unusual, and at times dangerous, experiments. Tommy thought darkly, shivering unconsciously at the power this thing seemed to radiate. This can't be good. "This place sure is strange. What the heck is this big pile of rocks?" Looking to nearby, regular rocks, he frowned. "You think these are natural rocks for carvin; tombstones?"
Now there was a morbid thought!
"Who knows...or cares?" Zack asked in a bored tone, shrugging as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Speaking of strange... Why have you been...running around so strange?" Jason asked hesitantly.
'Strange? What do you mean, strange?" Tommy asked in confusion. "Just bein' cautious. That's the basic rule of the-hey!"
Suddenly, soldiers ran out of the entrance to the rock in front of them, wielding odd-looking gunds in a bow shape that had a wire attacked to a small pack on their backs. Their armor was grey and white with linings of silver and blue, and the helmets almost had bug-like visors on them.
"Looks like we've got company." he said as he pulled out his standard issue shotgun. "Esthar Soldiers. Still wearin' those flashy uniforms."
Behind Tommy, Zack sensed something and spun around to face two more Esthar soldiers with a strange monster with them. It waved it's really long arms almost hypnotically, and seemed to have a rather round, bulbous body and a small head built into it.
Seeing Zack whirl around, Jason followed him and his eyes widened at the soldiers behind them. "Tommy!" he shouted.
"Don't be such a wimp!" Tommy called out before turning and his whole body stiffened. "Huh...?"
They were cut off. Nowhere to go, but a deadly drop into the ravine below. Soldiers blocking both ways. The only way out was to fight...
Engaging the first group of soldiers in battle, Tommy struck first. He grabbed grappling gun and shot the hook into a high tree branch overhead before jumping up and swinging into the air, firing wildly amongst the monster and soldiers.
Following his lead, Zack charged up a Blizzaga and cast it on the monster, taking it out quickly.
Jason drew Curaga magic from one of the soldiers before running forward with his massive spear and swinging forward, cutting the soldier across the chest and sending him flying over the edge of the railing and into the ravine.
A loud, terrified scream was heard as the man fell before a sickening crack and rather wet sounding gurgle. Then, silence, and all three men winced at what they knew had happened.
Still, they weren't safe yet. Finishing off the last soldier with a Firaga, the three turned to the trio of soldiers blocking their way into the massive stone...thing, and raised their weapons again.
"Wasn't our mission just to patrol...?" Zack asked with a hint of guilt.
Jason nodded. "Why does it have to turn out like this...?"
"Seriously." Tommy agreed with narrowed eyes. "I wasn't expecting this at all!"
The last three soldiers rushed forward, and a hail of bullets from Tommy's gun sent another one flying over the railing and to a rocky and watery grave. They winced again at the sound before keeping up their attack.
Jason ran forward with his spear and swung it at the stomach of one of the remaining soldiers, only to have it blocked, but kicking out, he knocked the gun from the foe's hand before striking again and slashing the unarmed enemy across the stomach.
Zaxk finished him off with a Death spell, a ghostly grim reaper forming in front of the soldier to literally suck the life out of him. And then cast a Firaga at the remaining soldier with a grim expression.
Tommy used his shotgun and fired another hail of bullets into the man's chest and he fell, leaving the three alone on that deck with at least two dead bodies on either side of them.
Jason quickly turned back and frowned as they all heard the sound of rapid moving footsteps descending the steep slope a little ways behind them. "There's more coming...?"
"There's no end to this!" Zack shouted.
"Better make a run for it!" Tommy finished as they sprinted into the opening of the massive rock.
Running along a seemingly neverending tunnel, they all noted the eery green light it gave off. It was fain, so electric lights had been installed, but it ws noticeable nonetheless. Also, the crystal they'd seen outside, seemed to make up the inside as well.
Or...what they could see of it.
With the size of this thing, it would take them hours to get to the other side, and that was only giving that they knew where the right paths were.
Turning a corner, they saw more of those strange monsters creeping around with Esthar soldiers rushing here and there. There was no way they were going to get out of this thing without a fight.
At least they managed to sneak past the first set of guards, and ran down another hallway, finding a lower one below that almost seemed abandoned. It was darker and narrower with a lack of monsters and soldiers. As they walked along, Tommy spotted something shining in the light and walked over to it. "What's this...?" he mused out loud, bending down to pick it up. It was clearly an old key of some kind and had a small 'A' on the front. "Better put this someplace safe." he said quietly, placing it in the back pocket of his pants.
Standing back up, he frowned when he felt something strange. I feel a draft...on my butt. Patting the pocket he'd just put the key in, his eyes widened as he felt a small whole. "T-There's a hole in my pocket!" he cried as he felt around for the key. Feeling nothing there, he dropped to his knees and began digging through the debris on the ground, trying to find the key he'd just dropped.
After about ten minutes of searching, he sighed. Can't find it... "Ahh well, it's not like I'm gonna die." he said with a shrug as they continued on.
They made it through a few more tunnels before finding a set of switches on the ground with different colored cords leading from them. One was red with a shorter cord, leading to a nearby boulder, and the other was blue with a much longer cord. Tommy guessed that it also led to a boulder.
"Hey, man...! Are you crazy?!" Jason yelped as Tommy knelt next to the detonator. "You don't even know how powerful that thing will be!!"
Waving a hand in a dismissing mannor, Tommy shrugged. "Ah, I bet it's not all that bad." he said idly. "The detonator's right here and as long as we stay behind it, we'll be ok."
"...I guess so." Jason admitted reluctantly.
Pressing the blue switch, Tommy realized how close the boulder was and yelped in fear. "It's gonna blow! Run for it!" he cried as they took off towards the end of the tunnel and up a flight of stairs. After a moment, when there was no explosion to be heard, Tommy frowned and went back down, watching as the said boulder rolled across the ground, a poor Esthar soldier running for his life right in front of it, screaming in terror.
"That was...awfully quiet." Zack pointed out with a confused frown.
Jason nodded. "I was expecting a blast of some sort..."
"See?" Tommy cried triumphantly. "I told you! I told you it wouldn't be that powerful!"
Racing back to the detonator, he bent down and pressed the red switch, relaxing as he noticed the others seemed noticed. "Relax. The bomb blast won't reach us here. Just stay put."
Suddenly, the entire hallway shook with a violent blast, and bits of crystal from the roof fell to the ground.
"W-What?" Tommy stuttered as the trio struggled to keep their balance.
Another boulder was seen crossing a path, another solder screaming and running for his life in front of it. Then there was a loud crash and the trio winced and paled, remembering that down that pathway, there were no side tunnels or stairs.
It had been a dead end.
"That was...awfully loud." Zack commented.
Jason shot Tommy a mild glare. "Lucky we were here."
"Well, uhh... That's what I told you before!" Tommy quickly excused himself. "You always check how powerful the things could be!"
Raising his eyebrow, Jason folded his arms over his chest and glared at Tommy. "Wasn't that...me who said that?"
"Uh, well...Umm... A-Anyways, we're still alive...right?!" he demanded.
Walking off, they climbed the stairs again and noticed they seemed to be at a type of lookout point. The crystal walls blended from a lime green to a hot pink as it neared the outside wall of this point, and a few metallic monsters could be seen floating by. They were obviously machines, having long, elastic legs and shooting beams at points in the walls.
Carefully making their way across a very long man-made path, they battled a few of those things before making it to the other side.
...Only to find themselves facing a steep cliff and very deadly drop to the ocean below. At least, the water was deep enough, so there was a chance of surviving if one fell. But it was a slim chance!
"Don't tell me..." Tommy began.
"Of all the worst possible..." Jason continued with an almost defeated look.
Zack sighed and let his head drop. "...Predicaments?"
Hearing footsteps behind them, the trio spun to find themselves face-to-face with two Esthar soldiers and armed themselves, running forward for more room to battle in. Tommy took charge, aiming his gun and firing at the faces of the guards before grabbing one of the military issue grenades and tossing it at them, taking them both out completely.
"Ahhh! I have to go to the bathroom!" Tommy whined as three more soldiers ran forward.
Zack cast Blizzaga on one and Jason finished it off with his spear, before casting a Firaga at the other and ack ran forward to slice it's head off with his long daggers.
"Ahhh! I'm gettin' hungry!" Tommy whined again as two more and one of those blue, bulbous bodied monsters approached.
Tommy used another grenade, taking out the soldiers and wounding the monster.
Then it waved it's arms and he felt weightless. Looking down, his eyes grew wide and he yelped when he realized he was floating 5 feet in the air. That's when the monster flipped him and he crashed to the ground. He would've landed on his head, but managed to turn just enough to land on his shoulder instead and cried out as pain seared through the appendage and through his neck.
Using his good arm, he grabbed a potion and drank it swiftly, healing the damage of his broken arm and standing up quickly to fire his gun at the monster.
And a single Firaga spell finished it off.
"Darn it! I wanna scratch the bottom of my feet!" Tommy whined as a single soldier ran up to them.
Zack sighed and rolled his eyes, raising his hand to cast a Firaga, and Jason followed the gesture with a snort and casting a Thundaga. The solider fell to the ground and they sighed in relief.
Until Tommy whined yet again. "Uhhh! My nose itchessss!"
Three more soldiers ran at them and they readied themselves for battle, but this time, something was different. Instead of facing human soldiers, like they had been all along, they faced one human and two cyborgs.
And the Cyborgs were a hell of a lot more powerful!
They could tell the cyborgs because the legs bent backwards, and they buzzed with energy.
The human soldier was easily taken care of, and Zack raced forward to slice at the cyborg on the left. It took the damage and stumbled back a foot before raising the gun and firing, but Zack was able to dodge in time.
Jason wolloed suit with a Thundaga spell, which took a chunk out of the one cyborg soldier and sent it's one arm flying, leaving behind a sparking mess of wires where it had been. Still, the solider lifted it's gun with it's remaining arm and shot at Jason, hitting him in the side.
Rushing over to his injured friend's side, Tommy pulled out a potion and handed it to him, watching as he drank it and straightened up with a relieved look on his face. Then he aimed his gun, using the grappling gun to hang in the air above the soldiers and fire upon them. Landing on his feet, he pulled out another genade and tossed it at them, finally taking out one of the soldiers.
That's when the other began to beep loudly and the body began to visibly vibrate with energy. The visor glowed a bright yellow, and it held up it's gun, shooting out beams of energy that hit Zack and then Jason, knocking them down.
Tommy realized he was all alone, and that thing was aiming at him. Before it could shoot him however, he grabbed the last two of his grenades, tossing one, waiting as it exploded and then tossing the other and watching in relief as it took out the soldier for good.
Checking on his friends, he noticed that they were still alive.
...Barely.
Their pulses were weak, but amazingly, they were still conscious. Jason looked Tommy in the eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but only a garbled croak came out and he closed it again, wincing in pain and managing to move his arm to his throat, holding it tightly.
Damn! Looking around, Tommy pulled out a potion and used it on Jason, but frowned in worry when he realized it wasn't working. Narrowing his eyes, he soon saw the cliff again and an idea hit him. If they couldn't go back the way they had come, then they'd just have to chance it.
"Look, the ocean... We're saved!" he said as cheerfully as he could, trying to pick up Jason and Zack's spirits. He carried one, and then the other, to the very edge and looked out over it. "Lady luck is on our side! We can escape to Galbadia!"
"One would say we were run down..." Zack put in weakly with a smirk. "That's what they'd normally say..."
Sighing, he frowned. "Don't say that. It might come true. Didn't your grandmother tell you that?"
"...If you say something bad..." Zack repeated the words he'd heard so long ago. "...It will come true... Yeah, I think she did."
"It...fu...uys..." Jason managed to croak.
Looking at him, I frowned and leaned down. "What'd you say?"
"I think...his throat...was damaged."
They were getting weaker by the moment.
"It...was...fun, gu...uys...T...omm...y... Z...ack... It...w...as...fun..." Jason croaked as his eyes closed. A moment later and he opened them, managing a weak smile.
No. Tommy shook his head, fighting back tears. Why did this happen? His two best friends were laying there, dying, and he felt so helpless! "Jason, that's way uncool. It's not cool to say things like that." Turning back out to the water, he felt his eyes widen when he saw a ship gliding slowly across the water. "WHOA! Check it out, a boat! We're getting on!"
"A...vessel...they'd normally...call it." Zack corrected him weakly.
"Psshht! Boat, vessel, whatever!" Tommy scoffed. "We're going back to Galbadia!"
Reaching down, he helped Zack to his feet and walked him right to the edge before backing up and pushing him off the edge. Then he repeated the process with Jason. Finally, looking out over the edge, he winced. "You guys...sure have guts." he muttered. "You know how high this cliff is?!"
Turning his back to the cliff, he set his legs over the edge and found places to sit them. Putting his weight on them as he began to climb down, one gave way, and before he knew it, he was falling to the ocean below.
"Oh, sh...! ...no way... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
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Ok, you'll notice there was no Shane's thoughts in the Dream world. I don't know why, but I think it's because he had a vague idea that it was the Dream World, and remained silent while Tommy and the others fought and whatnot.
Tommy sure seems mean and like an airhead... That's not the case. He knew more soldiers would come and that his friends wouldn't jump on their own. So rather than stay and argue about it, he pushed them off before slipping himself.
You think it's the end of him and them? Jason and Zack were in pretty bad shape... Well, you'll see. (grins evilly)
Hope you like it. I tried my best on these fight scenes, but was tired and was in a hurry to get this chapter done so I could post it and go to bed.
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"Was it Tommy again...?"
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R+R please.
Thank you.
Tenshi.