Chapter 14: Electric de Chocobo

I hate the Chocobo Ranch.

They refused, outright, to let us borrow even a single chocobo. Nope, instead, we had to spend a small fortune on a special type of Materia just to lure the big, yellow birds into our waiting arms, along with more grass then you could shake a stick at.

Well... I didn't have a stick handy, so I really mean, more grass then you can shake a gunblade at.

But now, in order to catch ourselves a chocobo, we have to run around like morons, waiting for a chocobo to get attracted to Cloud's hair, sorry, our choco-lure Materia.

Things would be so much easier if Barret would stop trying to teach people in Wutai his large collection of swear words. This was usually accompanied by him shooting his arm at the sky. I'm hoping that a pigeon does a metal Gear Solid 2, and crap on him. Yes, he'll start swearing again, but at least it would give the rest of a good laugh.

However, because of Barret, any chocobo that came near enough for us to see, tended to boldly turn tail and flee in light of the knowledge of just who wanted to right it across the swamp. I don't blame them. Who would want to be ridden by this band of lunatics? Not me, that's for certain.

"Barret. Shut up." Cloud hissed, after the seventeenth chocobo run away at Barret telling it to 'Fuckin' get over here, so that we can fuckin' ride it.'

Did that sound dirty, was it just me?

But, that sums up our current predicament. I'm wondering whether it would be worth it to sell my soul to the Devil (Jade) and get her to somehow make all the chocobos in the area come to us, hassle-free.

'Nope... not worth it.' Spike claimed.

The lizard speaks truth. If I want to sell my soul to the Devil, it may as well be for unstoppable power. Or for a short-cut home.

Another chocobo came towards us, giving each of us particularly cautious looks. Of course just as it got close enough for me to grab it, Barret noticed it and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"GET YO YELLOW ASS OVER HERE AND LET US FUCKIN' RIDE YO 'TILL YO DROP!"

Eww, mental images, many mental images that I did not want. The bird must have agreed, since it ran away, at a speed that would put many racing chocobos to shame. Now excuse me while I go and drown myself, for fear of living with the most nasty of mental images for the rest of my life.

Regrettably, Spike's survival instincts stopped me from being able to do so, and a lecture on why suicide was not the way to go from a lizard living in your head, is not pleasant.

Ok, since having Barret around is not constructive towards us catching a chocobo, I'll just bugger off, try and find one on my own. Not like I could do any worse. Five steps away, and in comes another chocobo. Now, the plan is... there is none. Let's just try and catch it before Barret notices this one and scares it off, like all the others.

"Here, chocy, chocy, chocy..."

Yes, I actually said that, trying to lure it closer. The chocobo just gave me a look that said 'What the fuck?' before running away from me.

"Oh, no you don't!" I declared, running after it.

The chocobo warked, speeding up. I pumped my legs harder, giving off a war cry, trying, as hard as I could, to catch the big, yellow, ostrich. I would like to say that I managed to catch it, but what actually happened resulted in me being pecked. Repeatedly.

"Get back here, you ugly duck!"

I chased the chocobo, in circles, for five minutes, yelling of such insults at it, before cornering it. The chocobo looked at me. I looked back. We stared at each other for a full minute.

"Gotcha now, you stinky bird, you!" Yes, I'm embarrassed to say that I did say that.

The chocobo ruffled its feathers, looking insulted, if it's possible for a bird to look insulted, before it started running towards me. I gulped, and started running the other way. What had previously been a war cry had changed to a cry of fear. Now I know how Rodney felt.

And through all this, everyone was laughing at me. Not that I blame them, I'd probably be laughing at me too, if I wasn't being chased by an angry bird at that moment in time. An angry, warking, bird that seemed to think that pecking me would change what I had said. Well, I don't think so. I stand by my beliefs, and if a great big, oversized, yellow chicken disagrees, then tough.

Of course, I didn't exactly anticipate one of those bloody mutant squirrels popping up to see what all the commotion was about. Nor did I expect it to throw a rock at me.

You know those moments in movies, when everything goes in slow motion, and you watch as the hero or the main villain is knocked to the ground? That's what it felt like as I fell, head over heels, skull most likely cracked from the rock. And being knocked to he ground from the rock didn't just cause me pain; however, it also allowed the chocobo to catch up. I looked skywards, and found the chocobo looking down at me, head tilted. I held my breath for several seconds, hoping that it would ignore me.

Yeah, right. Like anything good ever happens to me.

If you thought having a rock hit you in the face hurt, just try being pecked, repeatedly, by an angry chocobo, on the same face that had just been hit by a rock, not even a minute ago.

"Get off... Oww! Sod off!"

Yes, this chocobo doesn't like me. At all. And my trying to get it to, as I so elegantly put it, sod off, only seemed to make it peck harder.

"Cloud, (oww) get over here and woo this (shit) chocobo or something... (Quit pecking me you son of a...) ANYTHING to get it to leave me (ouch) alone!"

Cloud looked at me, amusement evident in his eyes.

"And why would I do that, it seems to like you."

"I couldn't care less about how it feels about me. Just get it to sod off!"

My hand reached for my gunblade, but Tifa yelling made my hand move away from the handle.

"If you hurt that chocobo, you'll be walking across the marsh!"

Tifa, you can be a real bitch sometimes.

'You can't blame her, I have a feeling that she's as annoyed about this whole running around trying to catch a set of chocobos as you are.'

Damn you Spike, for being logical. Now, how do I get this yellow bird off of me? Hmm...

Spike, if you'd please do something, predatory.

I felt Spike take control of our body. For a few brisk seconds, Spike did nothing, but then I felt my lips raising into a snarl, and then a very monstrous sounding hiss came fourth. The chocobo looked at me in shock, before running and cowering behind Cloud. Feeling myself regain control, I stood up, taking a nice long gulp of potion, healing the fracture and peck wounds.

"Well, that's one chocobo... how many do we need?" I asked, trying to ignore the lingering pain.

"Three more." Cloud said, ignoring the hiss I'd made.

"Three?" I repeated.

"One for Barret, one for myself, one for the girls and one for you. Red told me he can keep up without a chocobo."

'I doubt he'd be able to sit on one anyway.' Spike mused.

I sniggered slightly at the thought, but then glared at Cloud.

"We only need two more chocobos." I corrected him. "They're strong enough to carry two passengers. You and a partner, and me and a partner."

"But my sword makes me heavier then Barret, so I'll be lucky if they can carry me." Cloud argued.

"They can carry you and a second passenger, easily."

"I'm not risking it."

"There is little point in making us work harder then need be, when we could just catch the minimum number and be done."

"No, we're not letting one die of exhaustion in the middle of that swamp."

"It wouldn't die of exhaustion!"

"Yes it would."

"Stop being stubborn!"

"I'm not being stubborn, you're being ignorant!"

"Dumb blond!"

"Stupid lizard!"

"Over-compensating jackass!"

"Least I'm human!"

I didn't bother respond to that last one in words. I just socked him there and then, before storming off. If this was a cartoon, steam would be coming out of my ears. Ok, I'll admit that the last one had hit a nerve, and not just because of that dream-slash-memory that I'd had. Having people treat you like you're not even human tends to make you just a bit edgy about remarks like that. No, I'm not coloured, so it wasn't racism, just a group of thugs at my school, who didn't like me for whatever reason.

Shooting any monsters that got dumb enough to try and attack, and sat down on the beach, on the east coast. If it wasn't for the monsters, this place would be a pretty nice place to live in. Of course, like I said, the monsters kinda bring down the value of the area; how Chocobo Bill and his family cope, I do not know. Ten minutes later, I was torn from my thoughts by Tifa walking up to me, before pausing to break some poor monster's teeth with a single punch.

"Hey, we managed to catch another chocobo."

"Whoopee. Only 2 more to go." I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"No, only one more. Cloud wanted to say that he's sorry for saying what he did. After he regained consciousness, that is."

"I knocked him out?"

"Yes. He also wishes he hadn't regained consciousness, not after the chewing out Red and Aeris gave him."

Oh yeah, Aeris is only half-human, so statements like that would be a nerve for her as well. And let's not forget Red, who isn't even bipedal. Now, excuse me while I picture the scenario that occurred. True, the real thing probably isn't half as good, but still...

'You know, you could just summon Boko, kupo.' Mog piped up.

Didn't I say stay in the Materia?

'You did, but then it's cramped in there, so I came back to this spacious mind. I figure, so long as I'm quiet, you won't care, kupo.'

Are there any side effects to this. I mentally groaned.

'None.'

Fine, stay. But keep quiet unless spoken to.

So much for my earlier declaration of no more freeloaders in my mind.

'You can't be serious? I was here first, get that thing to sod off!'

'You didn't even know I was here until I spoke up, so just behave as you normally would, and you'll hardly notice I'm here, kupo. Don't worry, Boko is not here, so it'll be quiet.'

'Do you at least have a better name then 'Mog'? Mog sounds like the name of a cat.'

I heard Mog grumbling something.

'What was that?'

'...Montblanc...'

'That's better.'

Wait... that name sounds familiar. Montblanc, where have I heard that name before? Oh, I different Final Fantasy. Tactics Advance if I recall correctly. Heh, who would have guessed?

Tifa waved her hand in front of my eyes, clicking every other second.

"Spike, you alive?"

In my head, the two voices quietened.

'Jethro, you alright?'

'I thought his name was Spike, kupo?'

'No, Spike's my name. But it sounds better then Jethro.'

'...Kupo.'

'I think we've broken his mind.'

"I'm fine." I shot out, wiping the drool from my face. "Just asking dear Montblanc about how plausible it is for me to summon and ride the summon across the marsh. Save out on a chocobo."

Tifa's eyebrow rose.

"Montblanc?"

"Apparently, the entity living in my head now is called Montblanc. But at first he called himself Mog."

"You have a Moogle living in your head?" Tifa asked, looking amused.

"If the constant 'kupos' are anything to go by, then yes, I have a Moogle and a chocobo living in my head." And an annoying lizard, but I didn't say that out loud.

'Oi, I heard that!'

But apparently, I didn't think it quietly enough.

Is it possible to summon 'Boko' and ride him across the marsh?

'Well, what do you think we're here for? A chocobo and a Moogle hardly made a fearsome entity for battle!'

Well, kamikaze-ing into large groups of enemies might do quite a bit of damage.

The response to that was a lot of grumbling.

"But yes." I continued to Tifa. "I can apparently summon myself a chocobo with my nice new Materia, and casually ride across the swamp."

'So long as you have the energies to keep us around.'

"So long as I have the energies to keep then around. Wait, what?"

"And if you don't have the energies?" Tifa queried.

'Then your brain will probably explode from the mental pressure.'

"Then my brain will... explode... from the mental pressure... Well there's some bloody fine print for ya!"

"You aren't summoning the chocobo!" Tifa ordered me, going so far as to jab her finger into my chest, to make the point.

It probably would have helped if Spike hadn't said the exact same thing. Well, there's a vote a confidence.

'Oh, don't worry, we tend to automatically un-summon ourselves if it even begins to look like that's a possibility.'

Relaying this message to Tifa made her frown, giving me a very unnerving look.

"And what happens if you happen to be in the middle of the marsh when your ride disappears?"

"Then I run away from any giant snakes that I happen to see, all the while shedding what little pride a would have left at that point by screaming as I run."

Well, I was honest.

"look, if you're really worried, let Red run alongside me." I said. "At least that way, if I end up without a ride, I won't be alone. Strength in numbers. And red was the only one able to stun one of those things last time. And as far as we can tell, this is the only obstacle which requires a chocobo to pass, which means that this should be the only time I'll need to summon Boko."

Tifa hesitated. I pulled my trump card.

"It means we won't have wait who-knows-how-long for us to catch another chocobo."

Tifa visibly flinched at the thought of standing around, listening to Barret swearing, waiting for yet another chocobo to come by, and let itself be caught.

"Fine. Once." She relented.

I gave a small whoop of celebration, before the sound of someone clearing their throat made me turn around. Nanaki gave me an odd look, before speaking.

"The others are curious as to where you two have disappeared off to."

"We have our third chocobo." I grinned.

Red's eyebrow raised several centimetres.

"Indeed? And where is this chocobo?"

"In my head. Part of that summon Materia I was given."

"Ah. The Choco-Mog Materia, I take it?"

"You know of it?"

"Spike, before I was captured by the Shinra, research was one of my precious few hobbies." Red rolled his eye. "I know of nearly every type of Materia that has ever been used, and then some. I know that Choco-Mog is the lowest level summon-able entity, but throughout history, was rarely used for battles, but used by powerful warriors as their steeds. I know that there is a Materia that is said to be nothing but a myth, one so powerful, that ancient kings used it to wipe out entire armies."

'What I'd give to get our hands on that last one.' Spike whistled.

"What I'd give to get our hands on that last one." Tifa, unknowingly, quoted Spike.

"Indeed. However, for all we know, it could just be a myth. Ancient history is always difficult to decipher. Some of what we acknowledge as fact could very well be ancient legend."

'He has a point. Kupo.' Montblanc pointed out.

'I thought you were going to stay quiet.' Yes, that was Spike.

"Anyway." I stopped any the conversation, dead on its tracks. "I'm now going to go, cross that swamp. Red, you're with me, if anything happens, I need a meat shield... sorry, supporting ally... to aid me in my mad sprint for the mines."

Red rolled his eye, looking only vaguely amused.

"Well then, supporting ally. Summon your noble steed, and we'll be off."

Ok. Now to figure out how to actually summon my ride. Erm... how do you summon?

How do I summon?

The silence was just a second too long for my taste, but when Montblanc gave me the instructions, I didn't hesitate to do as he said. I wish I had.

"Choco-Mog, I choose you!" I shouted out, dramatically, pointing at where I wanted my ride to appear, as par the instructions.

Nothing happened. Unless you count Tifa and Red bursting into laughter.

Very funny.

'I thought so, kupo.'

'You walked right into that one.'

Yes, I had just been told to mimic Ash Ketchum, and like an idiot, I did so. My reputation, is now in ruins.

"That. Was. Great." Tifa said, laughing between each word. "That was just as good as Cloud having a chocobo trying to woo him."

"Have I ever mentioned that I hate my life?" I asked, rhetorically.

"Once or twice." Red nodded, seriously.

"Well, I'd like to repeat that statement."

"Noted."

Tifa's mobile rang, prompting her to answer it. She made a few sounds to whoever was on the other end, mostly made up of 'uh-huh' and hums. After roughly 30 odd seconds, she hung up.

"Barret managed to lose both of our chocobos. Cloud said that if we catch our own chocobo, to go on ahead."

"And we just so happen to have a chocobo." I grunted. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"You to summon the chocobo."

Oh, right... If I can figure out how...

'It's exactly the same as standard magic, kupo. Just requires more concentration.'

That sounded easy enough, and miles more plausible then what I'd been told to do previously. So, just will a chocobo ('with Moogle, kupo') into existence. After about ten seconds of staring into space, a chocobo, with a bandanna clad Moogle, appeared. Montblanc clapped, as if in celebration while Boko warked at me.

"Congrats. Now can we get going?"

Sighing at the lack of celebration, I mounted the chocobo, making myself comfortable. Rolling her eyes, Tifa sat behind me.

"You do know how to ride a chocobo, don't you?" She asked me.

"How hard can it be? It's bound to be easier then riding a motorbike."

"I'm gonna die..." Tifa whimpered.

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. For an awesome martial artist, she can be a real wuss.

"Ok, Boko. Let's go." I said to the chocobo, who proceeded to start marching in the direction we wanted to go, Red trotting alongside us.

When we reached the marsh, Boko started running faster, and Red managed to keep up. Looking to the side, I could see one of the snakes, gliding towards us, yet getting smaller as we went. Hmm, riding the chocobo across the marsh was worth it. And it means I don't get my clothes covered in bog water, or whatever it is that swamps are made of.

And I managed to reach the other end of the swamp without any serious side effects. It only took 5 minutes to get there, and Montblanc was assuring me that even the weakest of magic users could take at least ten minutes of having a summoned entity out, doing whatever the summoner bids them to do. Though when Boko and Montblanc faded from existence, I did feel slightly light-headed, but that might not necessarily be because I'd summoned. Though I wouldn't have minded riding until we reached the mines proper, Tifa was adamant when she told me to dismiss them once we reached firm land, several minutes away from the entrance. In other words, she was being paranoid about me keeping a summon around. 'Besides', she told me, 'you can use the exercise.' What a load of bull.

You know, the next part I was expecting, but even knowing what you're going to see doesn't prepare you for the actual sight.

One of those snakes, several times bigger then the one Red, Barret and myself had run away from, impaled on a tree. Not just that. The blood was still dripping from where the tree entered the snake's head, bringing about the illusion that it was raining blood. I stared up at the serpent's corpse, ignoring the slight fear that was forming at the back of my mind. It was hard to tell if the fear was mine or Spike's. Heck, it could even be Montblanc's, but somehow I doubt it.

"Sephiroth did this?" Tifa gasped.

I had to agree, the game didn't do this part justice. That snake is a lot bigger then the game showed it to be, and there was something about it, something that I can't really describe. Like a feeling. Something in the air, something that the game could never emulate, even if it tried.

"This is a power that should be respected." Red murmured, gravely.

"Why did he impale it on the tree? If he could do that, wouldn't it have been simpler to just kill it and be done?" I asked, though I wasn't expecting an answer.

"Maybe he gets some perverse form of pleasure from forcing his foes to suffer." Nanaki replied. "That thing was alive at the time of impalement. It suffered a slow death."

I looked at Red, and he nodded his head towards the snake's head. I looked up, and noticed its eyes. They were open, and showed a world of pain within their blank stare. I swallowed, uneasily. There is a word that describes what Sephiroth did to this thing: sick. Just like his massacre in the Shinra Tower.

"Let's just go." Tifa said.

I whole heatedly agreed with her. We walked past the Midgar Zolem. Just behind it was the entrance to the Mythril Mines. Inside, everything was seemed to radiate a blue glow. Almost right away, we hit a junction. Left or right, such a difficult choice. I know that one way leads to a dead end... in the game. Actually being here, there were lots of details that the actual game skipped out on, and I have a feeling that this place is no different; chances are that these mines will be like a maze. And for some reason, my companions see me as the group leader. Red, I can vaguely understand, since apparently we're childhood friends, he probably has some trust in me from back then, but Tifa, how can she trust me, we only met, what... a week ago? Something like that... I think. But she seems to trust me not to get us lost, which I'm kinda weirded out about.

Oh well, lets not screw up then.

Shrugging, I led everyone to the right. I'm pretty certain that that was the way to go. And encountered another junction. I was right, this is going to be a maze. With monsters, I noted, sidestepping a medium sized monster that leapt out of the shadows at me. It was dead before it landed.

I'm getting pretty good at this.

There isn't much to tell about the trip through the mines. It was mostly just us walking, with us stopping to get a monster to die, as a means of punishment for daring to attack us. At some point, I got into an argument with Tifa, who started to believe that I was leading us in circles. But that was stopped when Red said that we weren't going in circles, and that he would know if we had.

Though something unexpected did happen to us, after an hour of walking around, mindlessly. We heard a voice, as we entered a large cavern.

"Just a second!" A deep voice spoke up.

We turned and spotted a bald guy, with a goatee and pierced ears. Change his suit from blue to black, and we'd have Agent 47, the most famous hitman of all video game history. But that didn't change the fact that he was a hitman. Well, the Turks are a form of hitmen, aren't they?

"Who are you?" Tifa asked.

Well, we haven't actually met this guy yet, have we.

"Do you know who I am?" Rude (yes, it's Rude, how many other bald Turks do you know?) said.

"Not you personally, but you're a Turk, one of those responsible for giving me the electroshock therapy."

Rude flinched, as he understood what I was referring too.

"Don't think all of the Turks are like that." He said, looking annoyed. "Cel only did it because you embarrassed him before and he let his feelings get in the way of his judgement."

"Right..."

"Anyway... if you know, then this won't take long. It's difficult to explain what the Turks do…"

"Kidnapping? Unless Aeris was just unlucky."

"To put it negatively... you could say that... But that's not all there is to it, anymore..."

Another voice called out from above us.

"Sir! It's all right, Rude! I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!"

We looked up and spotted Elena standing on a ledge above us.

"Oi, you were one of those responsible for teaching me why I never want to be an electrician!" I shouted.

Elena glared down at me.

"Shouldn't you be dead?"

"Hojo actually did the world a favour and give me a Phoenix Down! He wanted a live specimen. Too bad live specimen translates into 'specimen that can escape'!"

Rude interrupted Elena's response.

"Elena, explain."

"I'm the newest member of the Turks, Elena."

Rude already said your name, get on with it!" I yelled at her, prompting her to glare at me again.

"Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're short of people." She continued, scathingly. "…Although, because of that, I got promoted to the Turks… In any case, our job is to find out where Sephiroth is headed. And to try and stop you every step of the way. Wait a minute, it's the other way

around… You're the ones that are getting in our way."

Man, she just managed to get me really confused, and all she did was tell us her orders, not exactly a professional thing to do.

"…Elena. You talk too much." Tseng's voice came out.

"I whole heatedly agree with that statement." I said.

Elena glared at me yet again, before looking humble before Tseng.

"Sorry…Tseng."

"No need to tell them about our orders. Now go. Don't forget to file your report." Tseng told her.

"Oh! Right! Very well, Rude and I will go after Sephiroth, who's heading for Junon Harbour!"

Man, open a dictionary, and her picture will be the definition of 'dumb blond'.

"…Elena. You don't seem to understand."

The female Turk gasped, realizing what she had done.

"Oh! I'm, I'm sorry…" She stuttered.

"…Go. Don't let Sephiroth get away." Tseng ordered, sounding stressed.

"Yes sir!" Both Rude and Elena saluted.

" …Reno said he wanted to see you after the injuries you gave him healed. He wants to show his affection for you all…with a new weapon." Rude told us, looking... like Rude.

Seriously, that guy hasn't changed facial expressions, not once.

The two Turks left the cavern, leaving Tseng, who looked at us.

"Well, then… Where's Aeris? She's not with you?" He asked.

"Other group." I informed him.

"Oh… Then give her my regards."

And with that, he left, following his two lackeys.

"Think we should follow them?" I asked my two companions.

"They might show us the way out of the mines." Red agreed.

Tifa just nodded.

'You are aware that there's somebody standing right behind you, aren't you?' Spike asked.

Say what? Slowly, I turned around, and received a good solid kick to my face. Yup, that was exactly what happened. A woman, in a blue suit, did a spinning kick, which sent me flying.

"Fuck..." I grunted on landing. I looked up, and watched as this mystery Turk knocked out Red, before getting into a martial arts fight with Tifa. Hmm, if I know my martial arts, then this mystery woman is doing some variant of Tai Kwon Do. And giving Tifa a run for her money.

Charging, I swung my gunblade at the woman, but again she kicked my, this time connecting with my hand, sending my blade flying, and embedding itself in the wall. She then swept my feet out from under me, and almost stamped on my head, if she hadn't been forced to put her full attention on Tifa.

'She's good.'

Now is not the time to start complimenting the enemy!

Leaping to my feet, I tried to advance on her, slowly, so as not to make her focus on me. Just as she managed to get a roundhouse kick to connect with Tifa's face, I grabbed her from behind. Well, I have her in a hold, that's good.

Both of my companions are out cold. That's bad.

The mystery Turk wiggled around until she was facing me, and seemed to examine me. I returned the favour and examined her back. She had long violet hair and matching eyes. Something about her was off. And I don't mean the violet eyes. There was something... not human, about her.

"So, you're the one that knocked Cel off of his high horse. I suppose I should be thanking you." She grinned.

"And you are?"

"Call me Tia. I already know that you're called Spike, so no need to introduce yourself on my account."

Tia... pronounced: tie-ah. A female Turk (who wasn't in the game) called Tia, and something seems off about her. That, my friends, is the meager amount of information about her that I know of.

"Now, why would a cute boy like you be running around with terrorists?"

And she called me cute. She has weird taste, if she was serious. Seriously, why would someone call me cute, when I don't even look like a member of the same species? Heck, I'm not a member of the same species anymore.

But my chain of thought, was broken when she answered my question, in two easy steps. First, she smooched me, right on the lips. Then, when my grip had slackened from the shock... she kneed me in the stomach. Ok, I see now, she was confusing me, and basically lowering my defences. Bitch. Well, at least I hope that's the case... she isn't my type if she was serious. I don't go for assassins. And the fact that she just managed to hand me my ass on a diamond platter kind of put me off as well. Never mind the fact that she looked early thirties. That's about twice my age, thanks, but no thanks.

Tia crouched down besides me, looking at me with a dangerous grin on her face.

"We'll probably see each other again, some day. I look forward to it, cutie."

And with those words, she left the same way as the other three Turks. Leaving me groaning, on the ground. What the hell are her knees made out of, adamantium?

Two minutes later, I finally find a potion and start chugging it down, like an alcoholic would with beer. I wonder if its possible to get addicted on potions... well, now that the pain is bearable, (barely), I'd best see about Red and Tifa.

Both are unconscious, but it didn't look so bad that they'd die without immediate medical attention. Not that them dying would be a problem, I do have a small number of Phoenix Downs to use after all.

Grunting, I cast Cure on both of them (I grunted because my stomach still really hurts, despite the potion) and helped them get up.

Once Tifa learnt what had happened in regards to Tia (and a snigger at the mentioning that the only reason she managed to get out of my grapple was because she kissed me, something that Red also chuckled at), we once again traversing the mines. Only this time, slightly slower then before, but actually headed in the right direction, since we were tracking the Turks. The footprints they left behind were difficult to see, since they were so faint, but they were followable. Once you found them.

My mind was only half focused on the tracking though. I was more thinking on who Tia was. Why did every sense I have scream that she was dangerous when I saw her. They didn't do that with the other Turks, and I already know that they're dangerous. What was different about miss violet? What made her seem so inhuman?

I snapped out of my reverie when my eyes started to hurt. Blinking, my eyes adjusted to the different lighting, and I gave a loud whoop.

We had left the mines, we were back in the county. No more getting routinely lost in a maze full of monsters.

"WHOOOOOOO!"