CHAPTER 12 – Emergency Situations Call for... Something

Seifer loved the weird plane-thing that Galbadia Garden had let them use to fly to Deling City for the assassination. He loved it even more now that he, Shibiru and Zell had stolen it to fly back to Balamb Garden, so that they could save the lives of countless students.

He wondered when he'd gotten so honorable.

That wasn't to say he was dishonorable. He had a very high moral code, it just had to get broken sometimes for him to do what he pleased. Now, however, he just followed that code. He didn't get why, but something told him it had to do with Quistis. If she hadn't come into his life, he'd have nothing but Fujin and Rajin to hang back on.

Not that Fujin and Rajin weren't his friends. They were still his friends. But, now so were Shibiru, Selphie, Quistis especially, Squall, Xu, Irvine and even that chicken-wuss Zell. He cared about Quistis the most, however. She was the one thing he never wanted to lose.

"Hey, Shibiru," he tapped him on the shoulder, probably waking him up, "how you think the girls are doing?"

"I guess we'll find out if some missiles hit our home and blow it up while we're on our way to save it."

Seifer snorted. "Funny sense of humor you got."

"Humor's supposed to be funny." He finally opened his eyes. "Are you worried about them?"

"You tellin' me you're not scared to death for your girlfriend?"

"Of course I am. Even if Squall is the most powerful Sorceress the world's ever known, she still doesn't have complete control over those powers, nor does she even know what she can do with them. I honestly wish she was with me right now."

Seifer leaned against the wall. "I know how you feel."

"Quistis?"

"Yeah."

"How'd it happen?"

"What?"

"A few days ago, she hated your guts. What changed?"

"A few days ago, the guy I used to spar with, act like I was better than and try my damnedest to prove it turned out to be a chick. A lot changes in you when you've got no more competition. The night of your little SeeD party, she dropped by my dorm and asked to hang out."

"And one thing led to another and now you're worrying about paying child support?"

"Nah, nothing like that. I've never, y'know, banged a chick before."

Shibiru laughed. "You're kidding?"

"Nope. I act tough, but I'm practically just a scared little boy on the inside, man." He shrugged. "The really fucked-up part about it: I don't even remember what made me act like that in the first damn place."

"So, you grew up, and now you don't understand why you didn't to begin with?"

"That sounds about right."

"Girls can do that, man. I don't know a single one that can't."

Zell was snoring off to Shibiru's side. "How about Selphie and that dope?" Seifer asked.

"Good point."

The Garden was in a complete and total uproar when they finally arrived. People were running around, monsters were everywhere, Garden Faculties were shouting. Complete chaos.

"Looks like we didn't have to tell them missiles were coming," Seifer said.

"I don't think the missiles have anything to do with this," Shibiru responed.

"Let's just find Headmaster Cid and tell him about the missiles," Zell said, running ahead. When he reached a Garden Faculty, he asked, "Where is Headmaster Cid right now?"

The Faculty turned his hat to Zell and said, "The weasel won't show his face."

"Weasel?" Zell, Shibiru and Seifer all asked.

"Garden Master NORG is taking control of what is rightfully his, and we support him. Who do you side with?"

"Who the fuck is NORG?" Seifer asked.

"You do not know the Garden Master? He controls all!"

"Not me, douchebag."

"You shall learn the meaning of servitude, Seifer Almasy." The Faculty pulled out a whistle and blew. "You'll pay for choosing Headmaster Cid!"

A Buel and a T-Rexaur were suddenly there, almost as if they'd been teleported there. Perhaps that was some kind of power the Garden Faculties had, Seifer didn't know. All he knew was that he needed to kill the Buel and the T-Rexaur, otherwise they'd kill him and his friends. "Get ready!" he shouted, drawing his gunblade. Shibiru pulled out his odd-shaped blades. They were curved blades, with round guards that completely covered his hands. He held them back-handed. Zell clenched his fists. "Shibiru, go for the T-Rexaur's legs! Zell, get the Buel!" Seifer pulled in, then jumped up. "I'm goin' for the big bastard's head!"

They did as they were ordered. Zell punched the Buel directly in its stupid-looking face. It went down with one hit, just like he knew it would. Shibiru slashed at both legs of the T-Rexaur in one stroke, knocking the thing to its prehistoric knees. Seifer landed on its flat-topped head and jammed his gunblade into its skull. It screamed in agony, then fell to one side, its blood pooling around its body.

The Garden Faculty looked at it in shock, then turned and ran. "Yeah, you better run, asshole!" Zell shouted after him.

"Good job, chicken-wuss," Seifer said, patting him on the back as he walked by.

Shibiru walked up beside him and asked, "Do you think this is going on all over the Garden?"

"I'm damned certain it's going on all over the Garden. The question is: where does the Headmaster of Garden hide when his school is going nuts?"

They all three answered: "In his office."

"Thank God!" Cid said when the elevator stopped. "I was wondering if you had made it out alive! What about the others?"

Shibiru said, "Look, Headmaster, Squall, Selphie and Quistis are trying to stop missiles from being launched at both Balamb and Trabia Gardens. If they didn't succeed, we need to get everybody out of the Gardens ASAP."

Cid's eyes widened. "Dear Lord... I'll contact Headmaster Yantz at once."

"What about this Garden?"

"The whole place is in chaos, right now. I'm not sure which students are on my side or NORG's. He's managed to turn everyone against me all because of the failed assassination attempt on Edea."

"Well, everybody still needs to know that their asses might end up dead in a little while," Seifer said.

"I know, I know. One of you tell them. I'll—"

A television next to Cid's desk was showing the smoldering remains of Trabia Garden. "This just in, Trabia Garden, it seems, was just destroyed by missiles that appeared to have come from Galbadia. This has happened after Queen Edea's announcement that she will start annexing other regions into Galbadia. Trabia, it seems, has been the first to fall." The anchorwoman appeared very frightened.

"Oh, Jesus," Zell gasped. Shibiru was certain he hadn't meant to speak.

Things had gone from bad to worse.

"Well, we have no other choice... Look, boys, take this," he held out a keycard. "Then, use the elevator. Go down to the basement levels. Follow the signs, they'll lead you where you need to go."

"Where we need to go?" Shibiru asked.

"This place was already here when we established Garden—all three buildings were. We don't know what they were for, but there's something underneath that's for use in just this sort of occasion."

"So, the Garden's builders designed the building for missiles being launched at it from a hostile nation?" Seifer asked.

"Just, follow the signs down below."

The basement of the Garden was extensive. They'd gone down several elevators, descended two ladders, opened up an iris-like drain and fought two strange oil-like monsters that had gone up with fire. Shibiru was growing tired of all the monsters and just wanted to get it over with.

They had reached what seemed like the end of the line. It was a small room with few buttons on a control panel. "So, what do we do?" Zell asked. "Do we just start hitting all the buttons, or what?"

"Why the hell not?" Seifer asked.

"Let's just hope we don't blow the damn Garden up ourselves."

Shibiru walked up to the control panel and started pressing buttons. He couldn't tell if it was working or not, but he hoped it was. He kept pressing the buttons until he heard a noise. Then the platform they were on began to ascend. It continued straight up until it stopped—in Cid's office.

The ground began to shake. All around them, glass broke. Outside, something strange was happening. The ring that was somehow suspended above the Garden began to lower. Within minutes, it had pushed the Garden itself above it, and now the ring was just above the ground.

"We've got a problem!" Seifer shouted. They all turned to look outside and saw what he meant. The missiles were headed straight for them. "What do we do now?"

Cid had climbed up the platform and was now pressing buttons rapidly. The ground started shaking again, and then the mountain that the far window was fixed on started to shrink away.

The Garden was moving.

The missiles, however, continued on their course. They hit the spot the Garden had been and sent gravel, rock and debris flying everywhere. None of them, though, hit the Garden.

The Garden continued to move. It came deadly close to the city of Balamb, but Cid pressed some more buttons and it veered toward the sea.

"I'd say this is a really bad fucking time to tell ya'll that I get a little seasick when our school starts floating on water!" Seifer shouted, grabbing hold of a pillar. Shibiru braced himself with a pillar on the far side of the room. Zell and Headmaster Cid held onto the control panel in the middle of the room. "Do we have water wings on this thing?"

The Garden slowed as it continued through the water. Eventually, it slowed to a very constant pace and sailed smoothly though the water.

Cid stood up, helped Zell up and leaned against the control panel. Shibiru and Seifer walked over to them. "So," Shibiru said, "now what?"