Disclaimer : I don't own anything.
Note : I had to age Merrick for his role. Sorry everyone for making him seem so old. LOL. But you'll see why.
JuseaPeterson - Honestly, you're guess is as good as mine to which guys Dustin and Marah were in, in the first Dream World. Later on though, there will be another one, and they'll mention who they were with afterwards. I'm glad you like the fic. :)
Ultimuus - I'm glad you like it. This is my third Power rangers/Final Fantasy crossover, and I seem a little stuck on this type of thing. LOL. Who knows? Maybe I'll do another crossover with the script to Final Fantasy 7 with another Ninja Storm pairing. I don't know yet. LOL.
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"He's pretty late." Marah stated, looking at a watch she wore.
Kapri, who had been sitting on a post on the railing, got up and looked at me before gesturing with her head to an approaching vehicle. "Oh! I think that's him. Just pretend I'm a SeeD. It'll be less complicated that way." she said.
As the car approached, we all fanned out into a straight line, two feet apart from each other and stood at attention. I caught Kapri looking at us in confusion a moment before jumping to the end of the line and quickly following our example, though she looked nervous as she did so.
Pulling over to the side, the car stopped and a young man with blonde hair that was slicked back, exited. Immediately, we all saluted him in sync, and I caught Kapri doing the same a moment later. She's not gonna pull this off if she doesn't pay more attention. I thought darkly. But then again, without our training, she had no idea what to do.
This must've been Galbadia Garden's Headmaster, Tyzonn.
"Good day." the man said formally. "I have official orders from Headmaster Kanoi, addressed to you. Following the regulations, I have gone over these orders. After careful consideration of our options, we have decided to fully assist and cooperate with Headmaster Kanoi. Actually, we too, have been planning this for quite some time. In order to stress the importance of this mission, I must first brief you on the current situation. At ease."
We all relaxed and Kapri did so as well, again a second later.
"You all know about the sorceress being appointed as the peace ambassador for the Galbadian Government. However, this ambassador thing is just a cover-up. There will be no peace talks, only threats. The sorceress creates fear amongst the people. Therefore, peace talks are impossible. It's clear that Galbadia's ultimate goal is world domination. Garden is no exception, either."
I frowned at this. Did this mean that we couldn't trust him, or anyone here?
"It is a fact that sorceress is planning to use this Garden as her base. ...We have very few options available to us. We entrust world peace, the future, to you. Details of the mission are enclosed in this file." He handed over the file to me, and I read over it briefly, raising my eyebrow at what I saw. "Any questions?"
"The order says 'by means of a sniper'. We have no one with that skill." I stated calmly.
Tyzonn nodded slowly. "Don't worry about it. Let me introduce an elite sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden. Bradley! Hunter Bradley!" he called.
We all turned in the direction he looked, to find someone lying on the grass. He wore a long black trenchcoat and a cowboy hat on his head. His arm was up with a single finger pointing to the sky, and we watched silently as a butterfly flew by and landed on the finger. Pulling his thumb back slowly, he made a motion, like he just fired a gun, and the butterfly flew off.
Leaning up, I should see that he had short, shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes. Then, as he stood, I watched as he placed a rifle on his shoulders and sauntered over coolly. He was wearing black leather pants with a dark crimson shirt under his coat, and he stared at Tyzonn emotionlessly as he stood by our group.
"This is Hunter Bradley. He will be your sharpshooter. Leave whenever you are ready. Failure is not an option." the Headmaster said firmly before turning and disappearing in to the car, and it pulled away.
Aiming his finger behind the guy's back, Hunter smirked and did the same thing as he did when the butterfly landed on his hand. "Bang!" he called as the car drove off.
Turning to us, Hunter raised an eyebrow and grinned, taking a moment to check out Marah, Tori and Kapri. "Looks like I'm with you newbys from Balamb. Greetings."
Dustin began to shake in a barely suppressed rage and I sighed. Dustin... Why must you always overreact to everything?
"You ok with me helping you?"
I sighed and stared firmly at the newest addition to our group. Not like we have a choice. "That depends on your attitude."
He simply shrugged and grinned. "I say things that get a rise out of people. Just don't let it bother you and we'll get along fine."
I shouldn't put him together with Dustin... "I'll remember that."
Sighing with worry, I took another look at the new orders before frowning and calling everyone over. "Our new orders... This is no ordinary mission. It's a direct order from both Balamb and Galbadia Gardens. We're to..." I hesitated a moment. Why didn't any of this seem right? "...Assasinate the sorceress." I finally finished, noting how the others looked confused and worried. "We're to shoot her from afar. Bradley will be the sharpshooter. We're to support Bradley to our fullest. Should the sniper fail, we are to attack head on." I said firmly, though I felt that somehow, we were walking into a trap.
Hunter snorted and rolled his eyes at the last comment. "Thanks for the support." he said sarcastically. "But I never miss my target."
"Eliminate the sorceress. That's our order." I said firmly to the others, ignoring Hunter. "We're going to head to the capital of Galbadia, Deling City. There we're going to meet up with General Merrick Baliton to go over the details for the plan. Let's go."
"Well then, we'll need to chose a main party for the trip." Hunter stated with a sly look to the girls. Grabbing Kapri and Marah's arms, he dragged them over to stand beside me and shot me a grin. "How's this?"
"...That's no good." I stated. No way in hell would he be concentrating on the mission if he took them with him. With a sigh, I chose Kapri and Marah to stay with me and put Dustin and Tori with Hunter. I knew putting Dustin with Hunter wasn't the wisest choice, but if anything happened, Tori would be able to keep them in order.
"WHAT?!" Hunter yelled angrily. "Are you serious?!"
I shrugged and nodded. "I've balanced out the party." I explained. Besides, it's not like you're not gonna be able to see them. We'll only be a few feet ahead of you.
With a sigh, we headed off towards another train station nearby, heading to Deling City. We could walk, but it would take away from our remaining time before the mission was to take place. I had to listen to Hunter complaining about how he got stuck with Dustin and Tori until Tori gave him a death glare and smacked him, hard, on the head.
That certainly shut him up, but he kept glaring at me the rest of the way.
Once we made it there, I paid for our ticket and boarded the train ahead of the others. With a groan I looked at the consol and rolled my eyes before walking over and confirming our tickets. That done, I walked over to a wall and leaned against it, watching as the others entered a moment later.
Marah's first stop was the door and she giggled as it opened automatically for her, turning to wave and give me a teasing smile. "You're catching on!" she praised before dashing through to take her usual place.
Shaking a bit, the train started up and began to head out, going to Deling City. I watched as the others seemed lost in thought before Hunter shrugged and grinned, eyeing the door like a predator. "Hmmm...maybe it's fate?" he mused to himself before sauntering through.
"So, what do we do about him?" Dustin asked with a growl, clearly not happy with our newest group member.
Kapri raised her hand a little and looked a little worried. "Shouldn't you go check up on Marah?"
I headed through the doorway, finding Hunter staring at hthe brunette with a wolfish grin. "Marah, we're destined to be together!" he announced dramatically.
Cutting off from her singing, she turned to stare incredulously at him before shaking her head, though her face turned beat red. "Yeah, right...!" she said shakily.
"A sigh of love?" he asked teasingly as he took a step forward.
"N-No...!" she protested.
Looking defeated, Hunter shook his head and turned around, giving me a slight glare before walking past me. "Pardon me..." he stated quietly, heading back to the others.
"My heart's pounding...what is this?" Marah asked shakily once he was gone.
Frowning, I shrugged. "It's an important mission. Get used to handling pressure while you can." I suggested, not wanting her to think of the possibility of a crush, or even love. There was no guarantee we'd succeed, let alone live, and I didn't want the added guilt of having her develop feelings for someone and then have to watch them die, or die herself.
She nodded and sighed wearily as she turned back to the window.
Heading back to the others, I watched with a growing frown as Hunter hit on Kapri next.
"Kapri..." he stated in a quiet voice, walking over to her and pausing as she ran over to Tori and half hid behind her.
That seemed to do it and Tori shook her head before placing her hands on her hips. "Hunter Bradley! You're playing a major role in this mission, so behave yourself!" she yelled sternly, making him glare at her.
Turning away, he moved to a far wall and leaned against it, looking at the ground. "No one understands me... Sharpshooters are loners by nature..." he stated calmly. "We hone our instincts, pour our whole being into a single bullet. The pressure of the moment... The instant tension... That's what...I have to face alone... It's not easy... So, like..." Raising his head, he glared at us. "Just do me a favor and let me be! You get my drift?"
Talk about over melodramatic. I thought dryly, raising an eyebrow and ignoring Hunter.
Dustin had enough and crouched down, punching the floor of the train as hard as he could and causing the train to puse a second and shudder before it continued on. Then there was an announcement from the conductor.
"Err, There was no damage to the train from that minor, err, vibration... I, uh, repeat... Err, There was no damage to the train from that minor, err, vibration..."
(Deling City)
We managed to make it the rest of the way to Deling before the train broke down and needed to be repaired. Apparently, the power of Dustin's punch had knocked something lose, so they needed time to service it.
Heading up a giant flight of stairs, we looked out over the massive city in front of us. I immediately recognized this place as where Tommy had parked the truck before, after returning from the Timber forest.
"Sure is a big city." Dustin said with wide eyes as he stared out over the place below us.
It was night, so it was dark, but there were so many lights, it lit up the city. I'd heard that here in Deling, the city never sleeps. Sotres are open all night and people can always be seen walking around.
"We're going to Baliton's mansion, right?" Kapri asked nervously, frowning deeply at everything around her. "Just take bus 08."
"Sounds like you know this place pretty well." Dustin said with a nod as we headed down the other side of the stairs and to the street.
I looked around closely, recalling our dream world experiences, and the fact that Deling seemed to be Tommy's home. So this is where Tommy's from? I don't know what I expected, but this place seemed far more...peaceful, than I was expecting, seeing as how it's the capital city of Galbadia.
Making our way through a large park, I noticed a huge mansion across the street on the other side and approached the Galbadian soldier blocking our way.
Baliton is the head of the Galbadian army... Could this be a coup d'etat? I paused and watched the house for a moment before shaking my head. No... I don't think he's out to overthrow the President.
As we walked up to the guard, he raised his hand and sighed. "General Baliton's mansion is right through this gate, but... I'm afraid I can't let you through." he said uncertainly.
"I believe he's been informed of our arrival." I said coldly, glaring at him and folding my arms over my chest.
"Yes indeed, but... I was ordered not to let you through unless your skills were tested and proven."
"What the hell's he talkin' about?" Dustin demanded angrily.
Kapri glared and sighed, shaking her head. "He's still so skeptical of people." she muttered angrily.
I heard this and shot her a confused look, noticing that Tori did the same. She knows this General Baliton?
"Oh really...?" Tori questioned with a confused glance of her own.
Marah stared at the guard and planted her hands on her hips. "We're SeeDs you know!"
The guard explained the mission and gave us directions. Apparently, we were to go to an ancient tomb known as the Tomb of the Unknown King, which was to the northeast, and look for any traces of a student who'd gone missing yesterday. He also warned us not to go too far into the tomb or we might never come out again. Something about powerful monsters and such.
And the ruins were like a maze, confusing and almost impossible to get out of, thus the map and guidance.
We were about to leave when he called us back and gave us a little hint about something else. Apparently, where was a GF in the ruins, known as Brothers. There wasn't much known about them, but he also gave us the hint 'stay above ground'. I had no idea what it meant, but figured we'd find out when it came to facing them.
Heading out of Deling City, we walked across the dark plains, fighting all monsters we came across and managing to draw more magics from them. Cura, Life, Fira, Blizzara, Thundara and Watera. Then there was Float.
Float is just what it said. It enabled characters to float off the ground for a short amount of time. The spell came in handy, mostly against monsters that used earthquake attacks, or if you need to float a monster off the ground to keep it from healing by using it's element.
My eyes widened as I figured it out. 'Above the ground'. It meant to use Float and keep the Brothers off the ground so they couldn't draw on the earth element to heal themselves.
(Tomb of the Unknown King)
We finally made it to the ruins and walked along the stone passage to the entrance when we had to jump to the side to avoid two terrified female students, running for their lives.
"F-Float!" one girl yelled as they ranced out of the ruins.
Frowning, I drew my gunblade and headed in. We didn't make it far before we noticed a sword and memo pad lying on the ground. The sword was a standard issue Galbadia Garden weapon, and had the ID number 081 on it. This must be what we're looking for. I thought as I memorized the number. Then I picked up the memo pad and read what I could make out of the writing.
"I can't take it anymore, physically or mentally. I'm not cut out to be a SeeD. This place is one big maze, full of danger. " Then there were directions on how to get out, but we weren't ready to leave yet.
Heading in, I kept my eyes out for danger, soon spotting two giant, blue slime monsters known as Gels. Fighting them off with Thundara spells, we also dealth with easy monster, Forbbidens and Creepers. Forbbiden are skeletons that can use Death magic on you to kill your whoel party with one blow, but we were lucky that these were weaker ones that didn't know the magic yet. And Creepers are shadow monsters. Since they were of the dark element, light magic worked well against them. Even though they weren't undead, Cure and Life did wonders.
Soon, we found ourselves facing the Brothers. They were two minotaur monsters. One was larger, but it turned out that, he was the younger of the two. One was tiny, maybe the size of a cat, but he was the older of the two. Weird, huh?
Well apparently, Marah said something about the smaller one being cute and they both got offended.
As the battle began, I casted Float on the monsters before Kapri drew Protect and Shell from them and cast Protect on us. Once they were floating and we were protected, we all unleashed our strongest attacks on them to take them down as fast as possible.
Dustin raced forward and delivered three punches to the face of the smaller one before running to the bigger one and doing a back flip, kicing him in the head, then he jumped into the air and pulled his fist back. I watched as it began to glow and he thrust it forward, a wave of light hitting the minotaurs.
Kapri raced forward a bit and whistled before raising her arm. A large dog came rushing out of a portal and jumped into the air, landing on her arm just as she shot her crossbow, and the dog glowed a bright yellow as it spun in a circle and hit the brothers, knocking them back. As it landed on it's feet, it ran back to Kapri who gave it a treat and pet it's head before it barked once and ran off.
Her Angelo Cannon.
Tori closed her eyes and held her arms to her chest before throwing them out from her sides and unleashing strong electrical energies from her body that hit the GF.
Marah closed her eyes as she began to twirl her nun chucks and her whole body glowed a light pink before she held up the nun chucks and cast three extremely powerful Thundaga spells in rapid succession, before doing the same thing over and casting three Walls on us, which had the same effect as Regen, to slowly replenish our strength, Protect and Shell.
Hunter smirked and steped forward, raising his gun and taking aim. Firing a large volley of powerful shots into the enemy, the larger minotaur collapsed.
I raised my blade, running forward to slash the remaining minotaur six times in rapid succession before backing off and holding my blade to the side. Running forward again, I hit the minotaur, launching him high into the air, before I followed him, striking him over and over before we landed on the ground and he collapsed.
Once the battle was over, they reluctantly joined us and we left, heading back to Deling City to speak to General Baliton.
(Deling City)
Both Balamb and Galbadia Gardens are joining forces with the General from the Galbadian army... Why? No point in me thinking about it... 'SeeDs aren't supposed to question why'.
Heading back to the mansion, I noticed Kapri seemed increasingly nervous and frightened, but remained silent as we approached the guard. Giving him the ID number, he led us to the door where everyone walked in after him. I was about to follow when I felt a soft grip on my arm and turned to find Kapri's worried blue eyes on mine.
"Umm... Is my contract...still in effect?" she asked softly, her voice breaking a little.
...What is it this time? I thought as I nodded silently.
"Don't leave me in this house, ok? Want me to explain why?" she asked, looking a little pained.
I shook my head. This might take a while... "You should know by now. Just tell us what to do and we'll do it." But why would she be so scared to be left alone in this house?
"Ok. Thanks." she said, giving me a warm smile before heading into the house.
Joining the others in the waiting room, I noticed Marah standing by a window, Tori sitting on the couch, Dustin staring at a painting, and Hunter leaning back in the leather seat that obviously belonged to Baliton himself.
"He's making us wait quite a while." Tori said with a raised eyebrow from her seat.
After a few moments, Kapri got up and sighed. "Hmph... He always does this! So discourteous...making people wait! I'm gonna go complain! Everyone just wait here!"
Before we could say anything, she stalked out the door, only to walk back in a moment later, giving us a forced smile. "Oh, by the way, this is my house. So don't worry." she said before taking off again.
Her house...? I thought with wide eyes. But then that would mean that she was related to General Baliton, wouldn't it? Sighing, I closed my eyes. ...Hope it doesn't lead to any trouble.
"What the hell's going on?!" Dustin demanded angrily.
The door opened again and a man entered. He wore a fancy black suit and had black hair with grey streaks on either side of his face. His pale blue eyes were cold, and his looked to be in his early 40's.
Standing up straight, I stared him dead in the eye. "Where's Kapri?" I demanded calmly.
"She has not received the same type of taining as you and may become a burden. It's for the best that she stays out of this operation." he stated coldly.
"So, you're Kapri's father?" Marah asked curiously.
I blinked in surprise as it set in. It certainly explained why she knew Galbadia so well, and what she meant, saying this was her house. But why did she seem so afraid to be left alone in this house, with her father?
"I can't remember the last time she ever called me that." he mused out loud.
"So the father's a top military officer, and the daughter's a member of an anti-government faction?!' Dustin cried in shock. "Man, that's bad! Really bad!"
Merrick nodded and sighed. "Yes, indeed. It's a serious problem. But it doesn't concern you. It's our problem."
That's not the case... I thought darkly.
"Besides, we have more important things to think about."
The Garden's directive and Kapri's orders have the same value to us. "Once our mission is accomplished here, we're working for Kapri, as per our contract. I don't know what your situation is, but please..." I stared at him firmly. "Don't interfere when the time comes."
He took a step forward and glared at me coldly. "...And if I do?"
What's his problem? "We're all SeeDs here. We'll act accordingly." I responded evenly, not at all intimidated by his tone.
"Hey, hey, hey...fellas!" Hunter shouted, jumping out os his seat and over the desk before he leaned against it and crossed his legs. "We're here to knock off the sorceress, right? So, let's get down to business."
Merrick remained silent, glancing to everyone in the room before giving me an appraising look. For a moment, I could've sworn I saw his lips twitch into a small grin before he hid it and nodded seriously. "Ok, let me explain the plan."
He went over how there would be two groups. one would make their way to the gate in the center of Deling, and the other was the sniper group.
"I'm sure you all know about the Galbadian Government reaching an greement with Sorceress Miko."
So, her name's Miko... Miko... Why does that sound so familiar? I wondered silently.
The ceremony was going to be a parade with only one float, carrying the sorceress. The plan was that the gateway team would wait at their designated point until 20:00 hours in whic time, the float would enter the gateway and they had to flip the switch that would bring down the gate and trap the float.
Sniper team was to wait at the top of the Presidential Palace, where they'd wait until the float was trapped, and the sniper was to shoot her.
Pulling out a map, Merrick showed them where they were to wait and gave them further instructions. Apparently, a sniper rifle had been left at the spot for the sniper team. It was unmarked, so if the mission was a failure, they wouldn't be able to trace it back to him or anyone else for that matter.
"That's all. Now we wait. You're free to go anyplace you wish as long as you don't leave the city." General Baliton said easily. "Just one thing. Stay out of trouble."
Who do you think we are, your daughter? I thought in irritation. "We're SeeDs." I said coolly.
We decided to wait at the mansion and an hour later, he sighed and nodded. "It's time. The sniper and the leader of this team will make up the Sniper Team. If the sniper should fail..."
Hunter gave him a glare at that, but he ignored it.
"The leader's role is vital."
What's he mean by that? I thought suspiciously.
My gaze must've asked that very question because he nodded. "If the plan should fail for any reason... Or should the sniper misses... The leader must carry out a direct assault against the sorceress. The plan was devised carefully, because we intend this to be a covert operation, but our ultimate goal is to eliminate the sorceress, and we must achieve this at all costs. Even if they uncover our identities. So, who's going to lead the operation?"
I noticed everyone staring at me and nodded firmly. "I will."
"Fine." he nodded. "I'll leave the rest up to you."
The Sniper Team is decided... "Hunter and I will make up the Sniper Team. The Gateway Team will be Dustin, Marah and Tori."
They gave understanding nods, and Marah and Dustin jumped around excitedly.
"So, who's gonna be the leader for the Gateway Team?" Marah asked with a smile.
Dustin began to throw fake punches, pretending to be casual, but I knew he really wanted the role. Unfortunately, I needed someone who'd keep a level head, and that wasn't him. Soory Dustin. I thought, turning to Tori and nodding. "Instructor Hanson... Tori Hanson, you will be in charge." I said formally.
She nodded and saluted me formally, taking the role with pride.
Merrick led Hunter and I out of the room and to where we'd wait for our chance to make our move.
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Yeah, I said it. I went there... LOL. Kapri is the daughter of Merrick and, well... If you go back, you'll realize who else. LOL.
So my busy-ness won't actually start until this coming Monday, so I'm going to upload as much as I can before that time.
Hope you like it.
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"This isn't a father-daughter quarrel. This isn't a game!"
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R+R please.
Thank you.
Tenshi