Chapter 6: I wanna go home… so does she?
A bright blue light. A light of bright blue. A light of blue that happens to be bright. Does it really matter how I describe it? It's the same thing, a lot f bright blue light. That is all I can see, so I can't really say much else, can I? Unless you'd rather hear just how to swear in Water Dragonion. Tough, I like having loads of ways of swearing that no one else can understand. Of course, you'd probably like to hear just what the cause of the swearing is. Multiple things.
One: The numbing on my arm has worn off, leaving my arm hurting like a bitch.
Two: I have a serious migraine. But I don't think its natural; it seems to have something to do with this bloody bright blue light.
I'm not one to admit I'm scared, but right now, I'M TERRIFIED! I can't move, so I'm still holding onto Venom, tightly, making my hand start to ache. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this is the tunnel to heaven, since I can see a bright white light in the distance… MWAA! I don't wanna be dead. I strongly urge my body to go in the opposite direction, away from this blooming light. I want to be back in Midgar, with AVALANCHE… no, scratch that, I wanna be back home, with me and Spike in our separate bodies. Not that I'm complaining about the fusion, mind, the strength, agility and everything else about this body is cool, but it does get rather tedious after so long of people giving you looks like you're about to go eat their children or something.
Aww, I'm closer to the light now. I'm still trying to go the opposite direction, so does the lizard within, but I just can't move. Oh, bugger it, I give up, if I'm dead, hey, at least the light usually means Heaven, as opposed to Hell. However, it seems I gave up at just the wrong time, since I now have the sensation of falling, and the white light seems to be going upwards now, instead of closer. Ironic, isn't it, and just that little corny sounding. I submerge into a watery substance, if my sense of touch hasn't failed me, but as my head goes under, I feel an… extreme amount of pain in my head, and I am most certainly not over reacting when I start screaming in pain… not a girly prissy scream, mind you, so I still have that much pride left. That's got to account for something, right? Let's recap: I'm falling from the reactor, I get eaten by a bright blue light, I zoom along in a tunnel of said light towards a bright white light, I start falling, I submerge in a watery substance, I start to feel extreme pain… Do you understand just what is happening? Because I sure as hell don't. But wait, it gets better. After I finally scream myself hoarse, the light turns even brighter, forcing me to shut my eyes. After several seconds, I can feel the ground.
Did I mention before that I'm not wearing shoes? My feet had changed in the body fusion, so I now have digigrade feet, y'know, where I stand on my toes, rather than my heel? And replacing my nails, I have large talons, which, like the spikes that go down my spine, are nowhere near sharp enough to use as a lethal weapon, but would still hurt quite a bit if I kicked you. So, with my shoeless feet, I can feel the ground. Steel. I open my eyes, not sure I even want to know where I am. I'm in a small, dingy steel room, which looked familiar. This room was actually a cell, from... Final Fantasy VIII (I'm not even going to bother ask just why I'm suddenly in the wrong game), but I was in too much pain, and still terrified to realize it, or care. Why am I terrified? I fear what I can't explain or do anything against, and this pain, which feels like it'll kill me, I sure as hell can't explain, since I knew it wasn't natural, and I couldn't shoot it with my gunblade, could I? That, and Spike's instincts are telling us to be terrified. I'm pretty certain that looking in a mirror right then would reveal a face that had raw fear as the facial expression. I felt tears form in my eyes, probably from the pain. I heard something. Looking around, I saw one of the 3 girls in my vision. The one wearing a trench coat. Now that I can see her properly (even if she was facing away from me), if I hadn't been in pain, I would have thought of her as pretty hot, and most probably a tomboy, at least, that was the impression given by her choice of clothing. Great. I find a girl who looks like my type, and I'm in too much pain to make any moves, not that I would anyway, since I'm happy to be me, Jethro 'Spike' Logan, the loner, but still… why in the hell am I saying this, I'm supposed to be describing me, and my pain… I tried to move towards her, but my movements were sluggish, as if I were under water. I must still be under that substance from earlier. Just then, the pain intensified, as if resisting my attempt to escape from the agony of being in its presence. A hoarse groan came from my mouth, and seemed to echo, somehow intensifying the hurt. I probably had pleading eyes as I looked at her, hoping she'd hear me and somehow help.
"Help me." I begged.
The plea did the same as the groan, making me hurt more than I could bear. I let go of the gunblade, putting both hands to my head, screaming silently. I didn't, couldn't hear whether the weapon clattered against the floor, the pain was so much, for all I knew, the thing may have gone off, but all I could hear was my own haggard breaths. That's all I can remember, before my eyes rolled into the back of my head, and blacking out.
"It's a good job you were checking on her." That voice… "Thanks."
"Don't worry about it." A different person, but the same accent.
"Any idea what happened?" Jade?
"Maybe it has something to do with this fusion of bodies."
"Maybe. This is the first time something like this has happened." So this is Hell, having to hear Jade talk.
I opened my eyes. Standing over me was a pair of girls, one of which was Jade, who for some reason was looking very relieved. The other one… creepy, she had the same build, facial structure… Jade has a twin? I groaned shutting my eyes, remembering the pain I'd just gone through, feeling myself drop to the borderline of consciousness. I heard the pair turn to look at me. I searched through my mind for the lizard within, and found that his part of our mind was out of it.
"Did you know that Jethro isn't the only animal fusion?" The other girl… I'm going to assume it's safe to think that she's another PS2.
"No… I knew he was the first, but… another?"
"Yeah. Some girl fused with her cat. Makes it interesting though, because she's in Final Fantasy IX. She fits right in." Were they referring to the cat-girl from my vision?
"Heh, lucky her, the only one here who can even know what it's like to not be human is Nanaki."
"Which is the reason, I suppose, for putting a… what's-it-called-again in the picture? Along with a soldier from the same game?"
"A Vortigaunt. Wonderful people. I thought it would be cool for him to have a background here, and those two fit it job description. You never know, AVALANCHE's adventures may come across the pair."
"That'll be a sight. How would Jethro know how to react to a Vortigaunt greeting, if its some weird thingamabob?"
"I'll figure something out. I'd rather leave messing with his head as a last resort."
"Good."
"Of course, once he really gets going, then he'll finish this and be long gone from this game, before Maggie even gets halfway through."
"Maggie's already finished the first disc. She'll be gone way before Jethro here even gets to Junon."
"Want to bet on that?"
"Sure, easy win for me."
So I'm now being used as a form of gambling? If I'd had more strength, I would start routine 'Pissed Off,' which involves me crossing my arms, glaring at them, before proceeding to claw out their eyes. I'm sure this Maggie wouldn't be too pleased at the prospect either. I'm going to assume Maggie is the girl I saw just now and in my vision. At least I have a name to associate with her now. I heard the pair of PS2s walking away, before my vision turned black.
I woke up, and instantly regretted it. Not only do I have some foul tasting substance lingering in my throat, my head throbbing and my arm still giving my a large amount of grief, but I also have Cloud sticking his ugly mug right in my face. I reacted the only way I felt fitting: I socked him in the face. He reeled back, a large red fist mark covering his cheek.
"What was that for?" He growled at me, his eyes hardened.
His look quickly changed to one of sympathy however, when I found I couldn't get up. Even the slightest movement was making me want to puke. I have a migraine, wonderful. Add the fact that Spike is awake now and also has a migraine; I'm amazed a phoenix down was all it took to help me… us wake up.
"I don't take well to people getting in my face under normal circumstances, but after I wake up, you're lucky that was all you got, especially with what I feel like right now." I hissed at him.
"What's wrong?" An unfamiliar voice asked.
Aeris. She was looking at me, concerned. I guess the pain showed, I was probably visibly trying to swallow down the bile that was forcing its way up my throat. She crouched down besides me and put a hand on my forehead. Forgetting her healing abilities, I was about to warn her to back off, when a faint glow surrounded her, and a felt all the pain disperse from my body, and it wasn't like the painkiller effect of the potions, the pain was actually gone. Even the migraine. I leapt to my feet, looking at the one who had just swept away the pain.
"Thanks." I said, nodding politely.
"No problem, Spike." She responded, cheerfully.
I raised an eyebrow ridge and turned to look at Cloud, who shrugged.
"It was tell her who you are or she hits your head with her staff thinking you're a monster." He said. "I almost went with the latter."
I whipped my tail in his direction, but he ducked under it this time.
"Where are we anyway?" I asked, looking around. We were on top of a building, but not the church. The church was right next to us however.
"Are you familiar with the Turks?" Cloud asked.
"Everyone knows them. I've never met them, but I know that they are the Black Op unit of Shinra. Their skills even surpass those of a SOLDIER 1st class. The only one who was superior to them was Sephiroth, but he was more of a soldier rather than a behind the scenes operative." I replied.
Cloud nodded.
"We found you right here, after we climbed out of that church, where we just escaped Reno of the Turks. He was after Aeris here. I don't think he counted on her employing an Ex-SOLDIER as a bodyguard."
"But he still could have taken you…"
"That's where the definition 'escape' came in. We climbed out of the roof. We found you, we poured phoenix down down your throat, and you know the rest."
"So, where too?" I questioned, knowing full well where we were off to.
"My home." Aeris piped up. "For some reason, they never try to get me there. Except for…"
She stopped herself before she gave away too much about herself and looked at the ground. I didn't pressure her to tell us everything, nor did Cloud, instead we started to skip from building to building, Cloud and Aeris conversing about the Turks. I didn't bother listening, why should I? If they include me in their chat, I'll talk, but otherwise, I like to keep to myself. I landed on the ground proper, just after some weird man walked off. I stepped forwards and heard Cloud land behind me. Aeris took her time to get down, swinging her arms. I grunted; Cloud looked back towards the church, Aeris tried to get her breath back.
"Which way?" I asked, stretching my tail.
Aeris pointed down a smelly path. "That way."
Cloud nodded, starting to lead the way. He tried to strike up a conversation.
"So… you live alone?"
Aeris gave Cloud an amused look.
"No, I live with my mum." She replied.
The former SOLDIER nodded, absent-mindedly. I rolled my eyes; the idiot was acting like a love struck schoolgirl (no offence, to any love struck school girls reading) and had somehow become even denser than he was originally. I muttered something in Water Dragonion, earning an odd look from my two companions. I glared at them and they promptly averted their gazes. We entered the town of Sector 5 and I looked around. It wasn't that bad a place. They even had a giant outdoor TV. The only downfall is the fact that the place is heavily polluted. I noticed a large crowd and went over to see what was going on. In the centre of the gathering, was a large crater, and a lot of mangled bodies. Wait a minute… Shinra bodies? I looked up. I couldn't see the catwalks, not even the part that blew up, but I have a feeling I'm looking at the result of my fight with the security up there, or at least, the ones I threw off. Then that would mean that the crater was caused from… My coin! The coin I flipped over the edge. Man, I didn't expect to see the result.
"It almost hit me!" A man screamed. "It crashed right behind me!"
From the look, (and smell) of it, the man had shit himself when the coin landed behind him, creating the mini crater. I backed away, slowly, and followed Cloud and Aeris, who had just emerged from some pipe. They started towards the other side of town, where Aeris' home was. Unlike the rest of the hood, her house was very clean, so clean, that flowers were actually growing in a garden, to the right of the house. Aeris just walked right in, Cloud close behind. I just stood there, not wanting to get another odd look over my appearance if it could be helped. That was kind of the plan, but Aeris came out and started pulling at me, trying to get me to come in.
"Come on, meet my mom." She nagged, pulling my tail.
"Not happening." I said, firmly.
"Cloud, help me get him in."
Cloud walked out and pulled my tail, hard. So hard, I fell to the ground and was dragged along. Seeing only one option, I grabbed hold of the doorframe, clamping on with all my might, despite the pain in my tail. However, I was still half in the house.
"Mom!" Aeris called out.
"Let me go." I hissed, glaring at Cloud.
"Why?"
God, is this moron dumb or what? I never believed the sayings that blondes are dumb, but this idiot is quickly changing that opinion. I pulled at the doorframe, desperately trying to get out, but strong as I was, I couldn't compare to Mr. Muscle there. Aww, hell, the doorframe is starting to crack. I heard Elmyra come down the stairs. Cloud tugged harder and my fingers slipped. So, now I am lying, ungracefully, in the middle of a stranger's living room. Not what I have in mind when it comes to meeting a friend's mother. I am going to kick Cloud in a very important part of his body for this. Namely, his family jewels. Call me sadistic, but he is asking for it.
"Hi mom. This is Cloud, my bodyguard, and Spike."
Amazingly enough, Elmyra didn't react to my presence, other than a brief glance. She seemed worried over Aeris though, it was easy to hear that in her voice.
"Bodyguard...? You mean you were followed again? Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?" Yeah, a stereotypical mother.
"I'm all right. I had Cloud with me."
I pulled myself to my feet, glaring at Cloud.
"Pleased to meet you, miss." I said, holding out my hand.
She seemed rather, confused, as she shook my hand. I turned, and walked up to the dumb blond.
"I'm going to get some supplies. Anything you need?" I muttered.
"Just a few potions... maybe a tent if you can afford it." Was the quick response. "Where shall I meet you?"
"Near the entrance to the town, by the pipe."
Cloud nodded and I started to leave when Aeris grabbed my arm.
"Why are you leaving?"
I looked at the Cetra's mother and frowned when I saw her amusment at the situation. I grinned at the Ancient and said the first thing that came to mind.
"I've got to leave; else Cloud there will get jealous of my charming good looks, especially when you start complimenting me on them."
I ignored Cloud's glare. Aeris looked at me closely, concentrating.
"Wow... You look... like you need a bath. The mold is covering your entire skin."
Cute. She actually left me momentarily unable to think of a witty reply. Cloud snorted. I pointed at him, eyes narrowed.
"Don't encourage her." I then pointed at the culprit. "I'll have you know that green is in these days."
Cloud sniggered as I walked out of the door. Now, where to go? Using my extensive knowledge of the world of FF7, I quickly found my way to the weapon shop. Inside, the shop-keeper raised an eyebrow at me but did little else. I asked to see his merchandise, which he started showing off, (though I don't see why, his goods weren't that much better than our starter weapons), and something caught my eye. A new gunblade, but it could be customized. I settled for a revolver style gunblade, with an engraving that the guy said would suit me perfectly.
"Come back in a couple of hours. I should have it done then. Customization is on the house, because this is the first time anyone's asked for one." The shop-keeper said. "I'm having it engraved with a Laixiu. They come from a Wutain legend, but I'm not familiar with how the legend goes. All I know is that they were lizard-like creatures which were 'powerful and graceful hunters and extremely intelligent and protective'."
Cool, when we get to Wutai, I'm going to have to check out this legend. I pulled out venom and handed it to him.
"How much for this one?"
The man examined it before pulling out a wad of Gil and handed it to me. I counted the cash before nodding. Anything else now. Yes, a knife. May come in handy if anyone disarms me. Most people would probably go for the gun as a secondary weapon, but at close range, the knife beats the gun, and that would be the only way for me to be disarmed.
"I'd like a combat knife."
The man pulled out a knife and sheaf.
"30Gil."
I handed him three notes and started to attach the knife's sheaf to my belt (the one looked like it hung loosely). The knife was nothing special, just a regular serrated edge knife that you always see in the movies. Nodding, I walked out, making a mental note to return in a couple of hours.
The trip to the item shop was uneventful; I got seven potions and a tent, even though I don't see the use in it at this moment in time. I did buy myself a nice new watch though. I can now tell the time, yay. This has nothing to do with the pickup time for my new weapon. I just want a watch.
I'll tell you this though, I'm hungry. I haven't had anything to eat since... the crisps in the train to Sector 7. Does this town have a fish & chip shop anywhere? If they don't, I am going to be pissed. The poor sods got lucky this time, I found something even better. A restaurant that made home-made food. And it got supplies from the top of the plate. I wonder how? Not that I care, as long as the food is edible.
I ordered the usual food I ask for in these types of restaurants: rump steak (medium/well-done), mushrooms, chips, baked beans, more chips, ribs, horse radish source, yet more fries, more beans, onions, and another steak. I don't think I missed anything out. It was refreshing not being given odd looks because of my looks but my eating habits. And I could more than afford the meal, despite the steep price, selling Venom saw to that. No, the meal didn't drain all my cash, because the prices weren't all that high to begin with, this is the slums y'know. And the owners of the place looked like they didn't need the money too much.
When I returned to the weapon shop, the owner grinned at me and reached under his desk. He pulled out my new weapon, a sleek red gunblade. It had the revolver's handle/gun, but the blade was actually the same as Tidus' longsword. I grabbed it by the handle, noting the comfort it gave its holder. The weapon was pretty light, and very well balanced. I looked at the side of the blade where the engraving was. A strange lizard creature stood, tail raised defensively, on one of its hind legs, the other doing what looked like a spinning kick, while the forelegs were doing an x shaped slash, fire tracing the movements of the vicious looking claws. It's hard to describe what the Liaxiu actually looked like, so I'm afraid you'll have to use your imagination. But the engraving looked very cool, and... Captivating, I stared at it for a couple of seconds, admiring the skill put behind it.
"Glad you like it. My friend, who did that, almost refused, saying something about how Wutain lore should stay Wutain. He was also the one who forged my supply. Says that model of Gunblade is called Talon."
"Tell him he did a perfect job." I muttered, flipping the blade before sheathing it.
He nodded and I walked outside, have no more business being there. I wanted to test out my new weapon, but for all I knew, Cloud may be waiting for me already. I moved towards the pipe in the wall, which, I recalled, was where a Sephiroth clone lived. Just as I got to the makeshift home, a trio of muggers jogged leisurely up to me. Two of them pulled out knives, while the third held one of those double sword things, like the ones Zidane uses.
"Give us all yer money."
Wonderful, they actually think I can be mugged. How do they even know that I actually have money? Muttering, I pulled out Talon, this is a great opportunity to test out this glorious new weapon. I stood, in my relaxed stance and waited for them to make a move. One of the suckers ran at me, trying to slash my stomach. I stabbed him in the chest, and pulled the trigger. The thug flew back, blood pouring from the wide the wide gap that now occupied his chest. The other knife yielder charged at me, yelling. Rolling my eyes, I punched the idiot as soon as he came within reach. His head snapped back, with a sickening crack. The last one twirled his weapon around expertly. He studied me, looking for any sign of weakness. The only weakness I knew I had was that my stance wasn't one of the most defensive, because my weapon was held casually at my side, rather than held where it would easier defend my face or torso. But the advantage was that there are no tell-tale signs that I'm about to attack. That and it makes me look cool.
The mug jumped towards me, swinging his weapon at my face. I ducked under the lethal weapon, bringing my own blade towards his torso. Talon met the other end of his sword, we remained in that position for a couple of seconds, before he lashed out with his foot. I grunted in pain, and my hold faltered for just a second, enough time for him to swing the other end at me. I didn't try to block it, dodging was the only way out of dying. He still managed to cut into my right arm, quite deeply. I kicked the man in the stomach in retaliation, before using my tail to sweep him off his feet. He dropped the double sword as he fell, and landed on his back, grunting. He rolled over and reached for his weapon, but I aimed the gunblade at his hand and fired. He screamed in pain and started to use his other hand to grab a gun that had been stuffed in his belt. I kicked the weapon from his hand before he could aim it and glared at him. Turning, I almost walked right into Cloud, who looked as though he had been studying my fight.
"Not one for playing around, are you?" He asked, looking at the results of the battle, if it could be called that.
"And why should I? Toying with your opponent is going to achieve nothing but wearing yourself out. And why kill someone who can no longer fight." I added, as he raised an eyebrow at the still living mugger.
The blond nodded, shooting an understanding grin at me.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked, wiping my gunblade clean of blood, before sheathing it.
"We go to Sector 7, we announce the fact that we aren't dead, and we see if there are any more missions planned in the near future." He grinned.
"Sounds like a plan to me, sir." I mock saluted him, using my stereotypical soldier voice.
We both shared a laugh, and, I do believe that this is the first time we have actually acted like friends to each other. Well, better a friend than an enemy. We both leisurely walked towards the hole that will lead us to Sector 7. As we got there, Cloud did a double take and started mumbling. I looked up and saw what he was staring at. I groaned, loudly, slapping my palm to my forehead.
Aeris was standing there, waiting for us. Why am I surprised?