Chapter 16: Ninja Brat
I was rudely awoken by a loud bang. Instantly, I shot up to my feet, only to stagger and almost fall over as the blood rushed to my head. Combined with the pain-killers, not pleasant. It took me a couple of seconds to figure out where I was. Oh yes, the back of a pickup truck, going through a forest... wait... why are we going through a forest? If memory serves, on a course straight to Junon, the forest makes a pretty large detour.
Of course, all of those thoughts left me as I leant over the side of the truck and started retching. Oh, look, there's the source of the bang, the tire blew. Already, the driver had stopped the vehicle and was getting out to inspect the tire.
Say... do tires normally have metal studs in them?
The driver noticed the studs and cursed, pulling out a pistol, eyes narrowed.
"Damn Shinra are everywhere." He muttered, looking around he forest. "Someone knew we were coming this way, they laid tacks down."
"I thought tacks were only any good on a hard surface?" I asked, frowning.
"Ground seems hard enough here." He answered. "Keep an eye out."
Red looked around the clearing, taking sniffs of the air, trying to smell out any attacks. Tifa examined the tire.
"Do we have a spare?" She queried. "I want to get moving before a patrol comes and finds us."
"Its in a container on the underside of the truck." The driver muttered, pointing his gun to the side, eyes narrowed. "We're being watched."
"Yes, I can smell whoever it is. Only a single person. Curious."
"Can you find them?" I asked.
"I can only tell that whoever it is, they're in the general direction that our friend is facing."
Tifa grunted, pulling a tire from beneath the truck. The driver turned towards her and lowered the gun, opting to help replace the tire. He started rummaging through a tool box that grabbed from inside the truck and grabbed something. He put it on the ground, near the burst tire and started to fiddle around with it.
"Why are we in the forest, anyway?" I questioned. "I thought we were headed straight to Junon."
"We almost ran into a Shinra convoy. We had to make a detour in order to avoid being seen." Red replied.
"Why was there a convoy way out here?
"Who knows? Maybe it was the remnants of the attack force from Fort Condor."
"Makes sense I suppose."
Jade, if this is one of your tricks, now really isn't the best time. I thought to myself, sourly.
"Hey, do you need help?" Tifa asked the driver, who was still tinkering around.
He didn't reply. He just kept up whatever he was doing. Hey, he seems rather quiet all of a sudden.
"Excuse me?" Tifa reached towards the driver. "Hey, you alright?"
As soon as Tifa's hand made contact with the driver's shoulder, the man dropped to the ground, eyes wide open, staring up with a glassy look in his eyes.
I'd been here long enough to know what death looked like. And he was dead.
Tifa gasped, stepping back in shock. I cursed and pulled out Talon, absently wondering why I hadn't already.
Must be the drugs.
Red suddenly snapped his head to look behind me. I followed his example, but all I got to see was a fist before it connected with my forehead. Now, painkillers or no, when someone punches you on a spot that had been lacking all its skin (or scales in my case) not even a week earlier, it's going to hurt. And it did. Quite a lot, I might add.
"Ah, FUCK!" I cried out, staggering back falling off of the truck.
The fall didn't improve my mood any. In fact, it made it considerably worse. I pulled myself to my feet, in time to watch a shadow flicker on the edge of my field of vision. I turned to find it, but couldn't find any traces of the shadow.
"Damn it," Tifa cursed, finding herself being knocked over.
A loud giggling was heard from the trees. Female giggling.
"C'mon out here, you bitch!" I yelled, trying to look in every direction at once.
I got the sensation that whoever was attacking us was pouting, before I was forced to perform a Neo style dodge to avoid multiple throwing stars. The metal stars flew past where my head had been just bare seconds ago, and embedded themselves in a tree trunk. I had barely straightened myself when another barrage came flying at me. Swearing, I dived to the side, rolling under the truck, where I could feel sick in peace.
The sounds of my companions trying to fight the attacker, and failing miserably, did little to improve my mood. Grinning to myself, I looked over the Materia I had in my possession, ready to summon Montblanc and his faithful chocobo companion to hunt down and get rid of the assailant. My grin faded very quickly when I learnt that all, and I do mean, all of my Materia was missing. Thieving bitch. At least this tells me who's attacking me. Doesn't mean I plan on going easy on her though.
"Oi, bitch!" I yelled, rolling out from under the truck and pointing my gunblade at the general direction of the attacker. "Stop now or I'll pump you full of lead."
Laughter greeted my ears.
"Call me dumb, but aren't guns the weapons that shoot bullets? Swords are for waving around and cutting things."
The smug tone of her voice made me smirk. Oh, was she in for a surprise.
"Ok, you're dumb." I answered, before opening fire.
Over the hail of gunfire, I dimly heard the attacker gasp in surprise. Good, she wasn't expecting that little trick. Just what she deserves for stealing my Materia. A second after I ceased fire, I heard a loud thump and a groan of pain. Eh, must have shot her out of a tree. My day is starting to improve. Now, while she's still in shock from my counter-attack, my companions shall hunt her down, while I try to stop the dizzy spell that's trying to attack me.
Upon turning, I found that Red would be out of commission for a while, one of the throwing stars had managed to cut through his front leg's calf muscle or whatever it was called, forcing him to sit back and let it heal with the aid of a couple of potions. Would have been quicker if the bitch hadn't stolen our Materia. Tifa had a nasty cut on her shoulder, but was still in fighting condition. But with Red out, that meant I had to help her with the tracking.
Remember that I just said that my day was starting to improve? Well you may as well forget that I just said that.
"Let's go." Tifa ordered, running ahead.
Groaning, I ran after her, in the direction that we had heard our attacker hit the ground. We reached a clearing, and found the area that the assailant had been. Easy to tell, none of us had had a chance to leave blood in this part of the forest, yet. No sign of the attacker though. Probably healed herself with our Materia. Bitch.
A yelp from Tifa had me turning towards her. She wasn't where she was supposed to be. In fact, she was 12 feet above where she was supposed to be. She'd gotten caught in one of those traps that you see all the time in cartoons. I couldn't help it, I just pointed at her and burst out laughing. The martial artist just crossed her arms and glared at me, trying to look as foreboding as she could while suspended upside down in mid-air.
"Once you've finished having fun at my expense, would you hurry up and get me down."
Once I've finished laughing, sure. I thought, unable to speak through the laughter.
Finishing up, I took a step towards Tifa, ready to cut her down, ready to start laughing again once she fell to the ground.
'Behind you!'
I didn't even hesitate at Spike's warning. I pivoted around, Talon flashing and connected with the over-sized metal cross that would have likely killed me. Yuffie's eyes widened slightly at my quick defence, ruining her otherwise flawless sneak attack. I smirked at her, glad that she had just been forced out of her game and into a level playing field.
"Nice to finally meet you. How about you give us back the Materia you stole from us, and I'll consider letting you live."
The ninja's eyes narrowed, as she stuck her tongue out at me.
"In your dreams." She answered, jumping back, putting some distance between us.
"My dreams don't involve you. If they did, I'd have to shoot myself."
"HEY! Are you saying I'm ugly?"
"Yes, I said you're ugly, so ugly that I'm going to have to wash my eyes in acid just for having seen you." I muttered, sarcastically.
I don't think Yuffie quite heard the sarcasm, because she started glaring at me.
"You're just jealous that I'm the most desirable girl in all Wutai, and you're just some kid who likes dressing up as lizards!"
I blinked, wondering if she was serious about the part about me being a kid who dresses up in a lizard costume. If so, then she has got to be the first person to make that mistake. Oh, I know that the part about her being really desirable was a lie. I think. I mean, while she's not that bad looking, she ain't one of the best looking people I've ever seen either.
'Stop that train of thought now, before you start entering dangerous territory.' Spike hissed at me.
What dangerous territory? I am not about to think romantic thoughts about a video game character. It would be wrong on a small number of levels.
'Keep your mind focused!'
Concentrating on the problem at hand, I quickly sidestepped an attack from the ninja, spamming her on the back of her head as she passed.
"Little piece of trivia. This ain't no costume." I informed the brat, bringing Talon into a defensive position.
"As if." Yuffie snapped at me, rubbing the back of her head, where my hand had connected. "You can't fool me."
Sighing, I blocked a blow from her weapon, and batted a throwing star away, and give a very non-human snarl, exposing my sharp, carnivorous, and very REAL teeth. Yuffie stumbled backwards in shock, and I advanced upon her as a predator does to prey. She recovered herself and swung her weapon at me. I slammed my gunblade into it, and her grip was lost from the force, sending it spiralling into a nearby tree. Both me and the ninja looked at the embedded weapon, her in surprise, me in satisfaction. I am definitely improving in my fighting skills.
I held out my hand, looking at Yuffie expectantly.
"Our Materia." I demanded.
Yuffie narrowed her eyes at me, body tense, before relaxing.
"Are you sure you want to hurt me? I think you look cute in that trench coat."
I narrowed my eyes at her, memory flashing to an incident not so long ago.
"You're aware that not even a week ago someone else pulled the same stunt you're doing now. Don't think I'll be falling for it again so soon."
Yuffie pouted, not pleased about her plan failing no doubt.
"Then I'll just have to do... THIS!"
As the brat shouted 'this', her foot came swinging, directly towards an area that had already seen more abuse since I got here then it should ever have. I caught her foot, barely an inch away from downing me. Grinning evilly, I pulled her foot upwards, sending her flying head over heals. The brat climbed to her feet, fuming over how I was besting her at every turn.
"Never thought I'd have to use my skills like this." She mused, making me raise an eyebrow ridge.
"Like what?" I asked, not entirely certain I wanted to know the answer.
Yuffie gave me an evil grin, one that rivalled my own.
"Like thus!" She declared, holding something up.
Wait, that looks familiar...
"Hey, is that my belt?" I asked, already checking my waist for the simple leather belt.
"Shouldn't your jeans be falling to your ankles, giving me lots of time to make a quick get away while you waste valuable time pulling them back up?" She asked, sarcastically.
Rolling my eyes, I half turned around, pointing at my extra appendage.
"Tail." I explained.
The brat pouted at the logical explanation, before looking confused.
"How the hell do you go...?"
I glared at her, not entirely eager to get into the finer details about how I use the bog. Yuffie tried to think of a new way to escape me and my dangerous sword that shoots bullets; while I just held out my hand, waiting for my Materia.
The ninja seemed to come to some conclusion in her head, before sighing, reaching into her pocket. What she pulled out was not a Materia orb though. Oh no, the bitch threw a smoke bomb, and she threw it right in my eyes.
Cursing, I stumbled backwards, rubbing at my eyes furiously, Oh, now she is going to get it when I get my hands on her scrawny neck. Once the smoke cleared, thoughts of vengeance left my mind and I had to smirk. Yuffie was at the tree that her weapon had been embedded into, struggling to pull it out.
"Erg... Come on... stupid thing..." She grunted, tugging at her weapon.
"Need a hand?" I asked, sarcastically.
"Yeah, please..." Yuffie answered, absent mindedly, before remembering her current situation.
She spun around; hands up in a fighting pose. I just pointed my gunblade at her, prompting a gulp from her.
"You know, let's all just forget about this and be friends... right?" She spoke up, giving me puppy eyes.
"Sure." I nodded, smile on my face.
"Really?" Yuffie asked, looking surprised.
"Not until I have my Materia back." I hissed, smile gone from existence.
"Not happening!"
"Then no forgive and forget!"
The ninja glared at me, undoubtedly annoyed that I hadn't fallen for her puppy eyes. Thank god my family have an immunity to that. She should be thankful I'm not my mother; she'd have only gotten angrier at the sight of the puppy eyes.
Yuffie seemed to consider what to do about the sword that thought it was a gun, before coming to a conclusion within her devious mind. She didn't do anything fancy, just a spinning kick that connected with the broad side of my blade, sending it flying... embedding itself into a tree.
"Shit." I cursed.
"Luckily for me, I'm trained in the arts of the ninja, including hand-to-hand combat." Yuffie gloated, cracking her knuckles.
"Yeah?" I replied, tensing. "Well I'm trained in the fine arts of kicking your scrawny little ass this side of Sunday."
Yuffie gave me an odd look at my statement, and then looked confused.
"And how do you know whether my ass is scrawny or not... unless..." And she looked outraged at this point. "Unless... YOU'RE A STALKER! YOU'VE BEEN SPYING ON ME!"
"What?" I asked, trying to figure out just how this conversation had gone this way.
The brat didn't reply in the verbal sense of the word, she instead launched herself at me, fists of fury ablaze. I gave a small cry of shock before trying to defend myself. Ok, while she wasn't up to Tifa's or Tia's standards in the hand-to-hand front, Yuffie is good. I'm probably going to have another black eye by the end of this.
Jumping back to avoid another spinning kick that probably would have knocked out a tooth or two, I analysed the situation. My friends were either hanging upside down from a tree or injured. I'm no good at melee combat, while Yuffie is. And, I'm getting my ass kicked by a girl, again. And in hand to hand. Yes, the last time, Tia took me by surprise, but that's not the point. The point is, this is humiliating. I had her at gunpoint, well, gunblade point. How did everything go downhill from there?
I ducked under another kick, and rolled aside, trying to move to my gunblade. Another flying kick had me throwing myself to the floor in order to avoid a broken jaw. The miss didn't seem to upset the ninja, if anything, it helped her, since she seemingly bounced off the tree she flew towards and slammed her heel down where my head would have been had I not leapt to my feet.
'Stop trying to get our weapon, and actually fight her.' Spike hissed at me, before losing impatience when I suffered a jab that would have broken my nose, had I still been human.
The lizard within took control of our body and flawlessly blocked another jab, before delivering one of his own. I heard a large crack. Yuffie staggered back, hand covering her nose. Despite her efforts to hide it, blood trickled through her fingers.
"I thingk you broge by dose." She moaned, staggering backwards.
I took a hesitant step forwards, not sure whether she was faking the broken nose part to make me lower my defence. It wasn't, but that didn't deter her from continuing our little fight. A word of advice to those of you who take up hand-to-hand fighting, iron palms are only effective against those who have human noses, which I don't. So all that Yuffie's iron palm actually did was leave a nasty bruise between my nostrils. But nothing broken, which was more then I could say for pig-nosed Yuffie.
Cursing, Yuffie renewed her assault, and this time, even with Spike's help, it was all we could do to defend ourselves from the vicious attack. At a whispered suggestion from Spike, I leapt upwards, grabbing onto a tree branch and climbing up. Hah, I'm safe for now... Oh, spoke too soon; it seems that the brat still has a supply of throwing stars. Cursing, I dived from tree branch to tree branch, using my momentum to swing from each one to the next, in a way that would have given the Prince of Persia a run for his money. When I whistling sound that came from the air being sliced by flying metal stars, I finally stopped, and looked around. No sign of the brat, just a very bemused and still upside down, Tifa glaring at me.
"Done playing around?" She asked, arms crossed.
Before I could reply, I felt the tree branch that I was standing on wobble slightly as a new weight landed on it. Slowly turning around, I found Yuffie standing a meter away, still in a fighting posture. I cursed, and was forced to start the fight anew as she launched herself at me. What is this, Crouching Lizard, Hidden Brat? We're fighting on a tree branch, which is somehow supporting our combined weight. Then again, we were both rather lightweight, but that's not the point. The branch should be snapping, not that I'm not thankful that it hasn't.
I know that I'm going to have lots of bruises by the end of this. It didn't help that Tifa was taking up the role of backseat fighter. Honestly, I'd fight better without suggestions coming in from two sources, often conflicting with each other.
"Do a sweep!" Tifa shouted at me.
'Head butt her!' Spike ordered me.
Well, seeing as Yuffie can hear Tifa's suggestions, let's go for Spike's recommendation and slam my forehead into her. Unfortunately, that idea didn't work according to plan, since she chose that moment to do an uppercut. 'I think my chin is going to hate me later', was one of he thoughts that flashed through my mind. The other was 'oh shit' as I fell off of the branch.
I managed to grab onto the branch before I fell to the ground. So there I was dangling from a tree branch with a sniggering ninja brat looking ready to tread on my hand. Well, I'll not give her the satisfaction. Swinging around slightly, I used my free hand to grab Yuffie's ankle and tugged. She gave a short gasp before plummeting to the ground below. I dropped down after her, landing gracefully, like a cat, only more like a lizard, since last I checked, I was a lizard, not a cat.
Yuffie was sitting on the ground, rubbing a grazed elbow, glaring at me, all the while moaning in pain.
"Meanie..." She snarled at me.
"Yes, that's me; now give me back what is rightfully mine."
"We're not done yet." Yuffie smirked, climbing to her feet.
"Look, I've just killed a guy that took a bullet to the head and kept on fighting... I think. Don't continue this, for both our sakes."
Yuffie seemed to consider what I said for several seconds, before nodding to herself.
"Nah." She hummed, readying herself to continue the fight.
I rolled my eyes, groaning as I tensed. I shouldn't have to take this abuse. Stubborn brat should just give up. If Tifa manages to free herself from the snare, then she's got a two-on-one fight that she can't win. I'd have time to pull Talon free from the tree and then we'd have an instant win on our hands. But no, Tifa is still stuck up a tree and I'm still weaponless.
Twisting away from a jab that would have likely winded me, I tried to kick the ninja's leg out. Yuffie instead grabbed my foot and twisted, making me do a corkscrew twist in the air before landing on the ground, air gone from my lungs. Pulling myself to my feet, I took big, gasping breaths. I looked at Yuffie, who was looking undoubtedly smug.
I'm really starting to hate her.
Readying myself for the next round of me being battered, I tried to think of a way to beat her. Maybe I could go for intimidation techniques. I AM a bipedal lizard now, a bipedal carnivorous lizard. Yeah, intimidation tactics should work.
"You really don't want to continue this." I told her.
"Oh really?"
"Ya really. I've survived falling down a mountain, a mad berserker with a grudge against me, and I have a feeling that I ripped the berserker's throat out. Can't remember, I blacked out at the time."
"Are you trying to scare me into submission?"
How did she guess?
"Tell you what though." She continued. "I have a surprise for you, if you think you can take it."
Another smoke bomb in the face? No thanks. I tensed myself then leapt at her, planning on using the momentum yo bring her to the ground, where I can pin her down. She can't do anything if she has a large lizard pinning her down. Didn't go according to plan though. She moved aside, and as I sailed through the air, past her, I felt a sharp pain on my upper arm. Rolling to my feet, I glanced at the injuring and found that my flesh had a jagged tear in it, blood leaking through the injury.
Looking up, I saw the culprit. Yuffie had pulled a kunai from out of where ever she kept her equipment and was inspecting it. Oh come on, that's cheating, pulling a weapon out in a fist fight. I was quite vocal on that point.
"Surprise!" She smirked.
"I thought ninjas were supposed to be honourable and all that." I complained.
"No, that's samurai. Ninjas strike from the darkness at the unprepared." Yuffie explained, walking towards me, kunai held at the ready.
Cursing, I moved away from her, not entirely certain how to get at her without being on the wrong end of that weapon. With a yelp, I spun away from her thrust. I got lucky, in that by ding so, I accidentally tail whipped her. Yuffie staggered back, nasty looking welt now covering her cheek.
"Don't blame me; I'm entitled to my self defence." I grinned at her glare, though I was still eying her kunai cautiously.
Yuffie didn't appreciate my rights, obviously, since she charged at me, shouting out a battle cry. I shot my fist out in an attempt at defence. I felt my fist impact against something at the same time that I felt something connect with me face. Both me and Yuffie fell to the ground, in pain. I heard Yuffie groaning as she tried to get up. Tried being the optimum word. I could see a fist print on the opposite cheek from the welted one. She gave up trying after the fifth attempt, and settled for glaring at me.
"I think you fractured my jaw, you jerk." She mumbled at me.
"I'm not the one who wouldn't return what is rightfully mine. If you'd just given back the Materia, we could have gone our separate ways. I would have taken the chance to avoid the pain." I ground out.
"Well, well... I... got nothing..."
Pleased at even this small victory over the brat, I took a try at picking myself up. I was more successful then Yuffie, due to me having a tree for support. Once on my feet, I glared down at Yuffie.
"Now, if you'll just hand over the Materia." I held my hand out expectantly.
Yuffie glared at me, but that glare fell away when Tifa stepped up to us, having somehow gotten herself down from the snare.
"I'd do as he asks." She told Yuffie, giving a much worse glare then Yuffie had managed.
Smiling nervously, the ninja deposited the stolen Materia in my hand. I worked on slotting the gems back into their slots, already feeling the warmth as their magical energies re-entered my body. I then held my hand out again.
"And my wallet. With the money still in it, and I know exactly how much I had in it."
The brat grumbled as she pulled out my wallet and gave it to me. I quickly checked its contents. Nothing missing.
"Now my belt." I commanded.
The belt was returned, and as started to loop it around my waist, Tifa looked surprised.
"She had your belt?"
"Apparently she wanted to know whether I wear boxers or briefs." I joked, smirking.
Yuffie complained about that comment, trying to explain the real reason that she stole my belt, but neither me nor Tifa listened, as she checked that her own returned Materia was all there. I held on to the three orbs that had belonged to Red.
"Once I get up, we're going another round." Yuffie declared, pulling herself to her feet.
"Not interested." I told her, moving to Talon and forcing it free from its temporary wooden sheath.
"Thinkin' of running away? What's the matter, you scared of me?" She just got floored and she thinks I'm scared of her?
"Petrified." I muttered, sarcastically.
I think Yuffie has a problem telling when people are being sarcastic, because she certainly took me seriously.
"Hmm, just as I thought. What do you expect with my skills? Good luck to you guys too. If you feel up to it, we can go another round. Later! I'm really gonna leave! REALLY!"
Is she desperate for another round of fighting? I'm not, and while I'm sure Tifa would like to vent some of the anger she's feeling at having been trapped in a snare for however long she was, it would hardly be fair for the ninja. I opted instead for ignoring her, and turned to Tifa, while taking a large gulp from a potion.
"How did you get down?" I asked.
"I chewed the rope." The martial artist grunted.
"Hey, no ignoring me!" Yuffie shouted, getting right in my face.
"Well what do you want me to say?" I asked, rhetorically. "No, please don't go?"
Yet again, she either didn't notice the sarcasm, or ignored it. I think she has selective deafness. If she doesn't want to hear something, she won't, only explanation.
"Don't go? What is it, you still have somethin' for me? ……Hmmm. So is that it? I know you want my help because I'm so good! You want me to go with you?"
"Sure, I could always use a meat shield." I exclaimed in mock joy.
"Hey! I can hold my own; I wiped the floor with you, didn't I?"
"You took me by surprise, and then pulled a kunai on me when we were fighting hand to hand."
"I still almost beat you. If you hadn't gotten that lucky hit in..."
"We don't need you!"
"I don't care; I'm coming with you anyway! I'll prove you wrong and probably save your life while at it!"
I turned to Tifa, hoping she'd take my side on this matter.
"She did fight you to the point where she almost beat you." Tifa said.
"So we let her follow us around? What if she tries to steal our Materia again? What if it's Barret's she steals next time... Wait, yes, let her come, I agree."
Oh, I hope she tries stealing Barret's Materia. I want to be there to watch the results.
"Who's Barret?" Yuffie asked, nervously.
"Friend of ours. You'll get along swell." I grinned, walking back to the truck. "I'll drive."
"You will not." Tifa spoke up, grabbing my shoulder to stop me from continuing. "You're still on pain medication. And you're underage."
"I drove a motorcycle just fine, didn't I?" I grunted.
"Be that as it may, I'm not letting you drive."
Her tone of voice told me that there was no way to convince her otherwise. Sighing, I simply made my way back to the truck and sat in the back, glaring out at the forest. Red had gotten himself patched up, and was waiting for our return. He looked at Yuffie curiously, but didn't voice his thoughts.
"So where are we headed?" Yuffie asked, hopping into the back next to me, finishing off a high potion.
Man, watching her nose repair itself is weird and creepy. Pig nose one second, perfect, good as new nose the next. Creepy.
"Junon, so we can drown you." I responded, rubbing my head.
I think the pain meds are wearing off. Or else the punch Yuffie dealt me was worse then I thought, and only the adrenaline stopped me from noticing.
"Tifa, I need those painkillers." I called out, and had a container tossed at me.
I caught the container and pulled out two of the pills, swallowing them quickly. Yuffie watched curiously, reading the label.
"Vicodin." She read aloud.
Frowning, I turned the container around and read the label myself. Indeed, it was marked as vicodin.
"Isn't this stuff addictive?" She asked, grimacing. "You're a druggy?
"Common side effects include dizziness, light-headedness, nausea, drowsiness, euphoria, vomiting, and constipation. Some less common side effects are allergic reaction, blood disorders, changes in mood, mental fogginess, anxiety, lethargy, difficulty urinating, spasm of the ureter, irregular or depressed respiration and rash." I read, ignoring her. "Well, I suffer the drowsiness and the occasional dizzy spell, but I don't think I've suffered the rest of these."
"You're how old and you're addicted to drugs!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"I'm not addicted. I only started taking these a couple of days ago... you'd need to if you went tumbling of a mountain."
"You were serious?"
"I was thrown off by a Shinra Grand Commander who wouldn't take a hint and die. No, no joke."
Yuffie finally seemed to shut up, as Tifa finished changing the wheel that had been so thoughtlessly left unfinished by the corpse that was our driver.
"How long is this trip going to take?" Yuffie asked suddenly, as the truck started to move.
"Early next morning, give or take a few hours." Red spoke up.
"Oh, God..." Yuffie cursed, looking decidedly green. "I hate modern transport."
And with that she leant over the side and hurled.