Ok, seriously, sorry about the time between this update and the previous. I could say all kinds of things, such as 'life got in the way', but for the most part, that'd be a lie. Yes, there were times that I was physically unable to consider writing, the last two months being one such example (my bedroom was being completely redecorated, so my PC and games consoles were in storage for the duration) but for the most part it was pure laziness on my part.
Seriously, this long and only 16 pages to show? I'm banging my head on the desk as I write this, shamed.
I got lazy and kept telling myself 'oh, I'll do it tomorrow, something seemingly significant has taken my time for now like Metal Gear Solid 4, Crisis Core ect ect.'
You deserved better. I won't make excuses. I'll try to do better. But I won't give a hollow promise, and until January, I might not be able to do much, but I will try, and for now, that is all I can promise.
Once again, I'm sorry. I would ask forgiveness, but seeing as I haven't forgiven myself, I'm clearly not worthy of any forgiveness.
Chapter 21: The Turks Strike Back
I was laughing. Manically. The rest of AVALANCHE wasn't. They were screaming. Yes, even Cait Sith, who is a robot with nothing to fear. It seems that my driving does that to people. Can't see why, though. This is the most fun I've had in ages.
According to the sat-nav on the dash board, and my cell phone, which I had downloaded a sat-nav for as well, we were headed south/south-east. In that direction, according to the sat-nav, was Gongaga, which according to Cloud, was where Sephiroth was headed. Now, if my increasingly faulty memory (that bullet to the brains can't have helped) was correct, then Gongaga was going to be a familiar sight.
Had to wait until we got there before I could confirm my thoughts though.
Must remember to talk to Jade about the memory. I would phone her, but it isn't something I want the others to hear, so for the moment, only barely, mind you, it wasn't serious enough to warrant calling her. When I next meet her face to face though, this warrants my asking. Big time.
Have I mentioned that I love this buggy? I do. Big time. It kicks so much ass, it's untrue. Monster blocking the way? Just run it over, no problemo. And it really cuts our traveling time down to size. Normally, this would be a several day hike. Possibly even a week long hike.
With my driving, we were getting there before the end of the day.
My driving is awesome like that.
I gave a whoop of joy as I drove the buggy up a hill as fast as it could go, launching the vehicle into the air. AVALANCHE just screamed louder. I wasn't happy with that, I decided, and began to fiddle with the gizmos on the dash board. Finally finding what I believed was the on/off button for the radio, I was treated to the windscreen wipers turning on.
High-tech this buggy may be, but the controls for it are awful. Why does the button that should be giving me music make the windscreen wipers start? It isn't even raining, there was no need for the windscreen wipers. It was pointless.
Finally finding the button for the radio, I was treated to some heavy metal music that I bobbed my head in time to. And as an added bonus, it drowned out the sounds of screaming from the back.
I suppose I should be thankful that Cloud was out cold, seeing as he was sitting next to me in the front, he had the power to scream and still be heard. I don't want any screaming getting in the way of good music. Unless it's the music that's screaming, otherwise, that's fine.
Ex-SOLDIER my ass. Cloud fainted after the first time I got some air in this baby. Well, I think that's what it was. Chances are, he's trying to pretend this is all some nightmare though, by closing his eyes and thinking of his happy place, in order to repress the memory.
I send the buggy into a barrel roll and he jerks his head up, looking like he wanted nothing more than to scream. He didn't though, thankfully for my eardrums.
He has a very high pitched scream, and I want it nowhere near my ears.
I rolled the buggy to a stop at the edge of the forest that led to Gongaga. Of course, when I say I rolled to a stop, I mean, I rolled to a stop. Luckily, I was wearing the seatbelt. Several of the passengers in the back didn't seem to care so much about their safety, so they went rolling with the buggy.
I slid the key from the ignition and jumped out the vehicle, taking a deep breath. Damn, I miss being behind the wheel of that beast already. Driving is fun. And addictive.
"Please tell me that he won't be driving again any time soon." Yuffie moaned, looking very green.
"Oh Gods, I hope not." Cloud replied, looking just as green.
Huh, all that driving, and I don't actually feel queasy.
"Guess it's true that being behind the wheel stops you from motion sickness." I mused aloud, earning myself a number of glares.
"Spike, give me the keys." Cloud grunted, holding out his hand.
"Sod off." I snapped, putting the keys in the one place Yuffie's pickpocket skills wouldn't be able to filch them, the storage materia.
The storage materia apparently had some kind of anti-everyone-proofing. Since the materia recognized me as the user, having been the first one to use it, from now on, nothing could be taken out of storage without me being willing for whatever item to be taken.
Handy for protecting things from certain kleptomaniac ninjas.
Only problem is that it doesn't allow you to store other materia orbs within it.
Stretching, ignoring the glares everyone was sending my way, I turned to face the forest that was preventing me from just driving right up to Gongaga. There was a road, past tense being emphasized there. The forest had long since reclaimed the ground that had been stolen from it to create the road.
Can't be a very busy place then, if the forest was able to grow over this important stretch of land. Still, at least we could see the road, even if we couldn't use it. It meant that we would still be able to follow it on foot, and get to Gongaga without delay.
Though if I had to wager any money on the matter, I'd bet that Sephiroth completely bypassed this town. Nothing of significance here. So unless Sephiroth was taking in the sights, seriously, what purpose would he have to be here? He was spotted coming in this general direction, if Dio's letter could be trusted. That didn't strictly mean he was visiting.
Try explaining that to Cloud though. Damned git wasn't willing to make any assumptions that involved not investigating a small settlement. If I made an assumption about him visiting any of the towns or villages that weren't actually included in the game though, he'd probably jump at the chance to investigate.
I call it obsessed.
He calls it being careful.
I laugh in his face at what he calls it.
But putting that aside, we're still going to Gongaga, if for no other reason than to go for the sake of it.
We begin to traverse the overgrown road, hopping over the odd root and ducking under low hanging branches. Well, Cloud got whipped by one, but that was just me getting back at him for the wild goose chase. I wonder whether just pointing in a random direction and saying 'Sephiroth' would make him go running in whatever direction you were pointing. It'd be interesting to test out one of these days, but I doubt the tongue lashing he'd give would be worth it.
It takes half an hour to traverse the Gongaga forest. The residents of the town seriously need to do something about the forest that had surrounded them; anyone else would think that they were trying to be secluded in the world.
We enter a small clearing, and I can see something that makes me frown.
"Mako Reactor." I mutter.
The rest of AVALANCHE turns to face the direction I'm looking in, and spot the derelict tower. It was easily in disrepair, though there was no sign that it was sabotage, unlike the Corel reactor. It just looked... broken.
"Damned Shinra are everywhere." Barret cursed.
"Couldn't have been running for long though." Aeris mused. "The forest didn't show any sign of decay."
Cloud nodded.
"Unlike near Midgar, where the very ground is dead. The only life around those parts are humans, and monsters. And the monsters were weak, compared to places rich in life."
"Like here." Aeris nodded.
"Figures." I grunted.
"Wonder why Shinra aren't interested in that Reactor." Red mused, softly.
"I heard that the reactor had a meltdown." Yuffie spoke up.
Everyone turned to look at her, and she took a step back, looking uncomfortable with all the attention focused on her.
"I passed though here some time back." The shinobi explained. "About three years ago, the reactor had a meltdown. It killed most of the population. There were so few people left, and no sign of it being deliberate, that Shinra left them alone."
'Unlike Corel' was left unsaid, though all of us thought it.
"Once again, figures." I shook my head.
"Let's check out the ruins." Cloud suggested.
I nodded my head, and the others gave no sign of disagreeing, so we changed directions slightly, so that we were moving towards the reactor, rather than the town. We were halfway there, when we reached another clearing, and paused, hearing voices.
"Hey, Rude. Who do you like?" A familiar voice asked.
We moved closer to the source of the voice and found Reno and Rude, looking like they were just chilling. After several seconds, Reno spoke up again.
"What are you getting so embarrassed about? Come on? Who do you like?" He insisted.
Rude remained silent for several seconds before turning to face Reno.
"Tifa." He admitted.
Reno made a sound of surprise, looking at Rude with wide eyes.
"That's a tough one." Reno clicked his tongue. "But, poor Elena. She...... you......"
"No, she likes Tseng." Rude corrected his partner.
"I never knew that!" Reno exclaimed. "But Tseng likes that Ancient..."
"What are they talking about?" Cloud asked, confused.
"It's so stupid! They always talk about who they like or don't like." A female voice explained. "But Tseng is different."
We turned to face the voice and watched as Elena walked past us, gazing intently at her PHS, tapping buttons every so often. So intently was she focusing on her phone, that she walked into me. Finally she looked up, and saw my face, peering down at her.
"Boo!" I shouted.
"Ah!" Elena shrieked, running towards her male counterparts. "Oh no! They're here! They're really here!"
"I'm hurt. Never before has someone screamed in my face, at my face." I called after her.
The male Turks turned and looked at us, Reno smirking.
"Hmm... Then it's time..." Reno smirked. "Rude... Don't go easy on them even though they're girls."
"...Don't worry, I'll do my job." Rude grunted.
"Then, we're counting on you." Elena told them, moving towards the reactor. "I'll report to Tseng!"
"Spike, take the girls and stop her." Cloud ordered me.
Should I be offended that he's making me go with the girls?
"Will do." I nodded, charging after the blond Turk.
I heard Tifa, Aeris and Yuffie following after me. I almost caught up with the Turk when a fist connected with my temple, sending me to the ground. Looking up, I noted that Elena had slid to a halt, and standing on either side of her were another two Turks that I was familiar with.
"Well, well. Would you look at that." Tia smirked, gazing down at me. "And here I was thinking that I wasn't going to get a shot at you."
"Ah. Shit." I cursed, getting to my feet.
Damnit. I suppose I should be thankful that the girls are with me. Last time I took on three Turks at once, I was kinda killed via electricity.
Not something I wish to repeat.
Cel stood, glaring at me, his electric rod at his side, and didn't say a word to me, but his eyes told me that he wanted a piece of me. Preferably my head. Tia looked... exactly as Jade had described her current attitude as: Like she wanted to rip my balls off. Only she also looked like she wanted to force feed them back to me. It still equals nasty things for me.
Elena looked the most normal out of them. Matter of fact, she's the only one I haven't pissed off in some way. Better try to avoid doing so then. Two pissed off Turks is more than enough for the likes of me.
Getting to my feet, the girls lined up besides me, readying themselves for a battle. Tia reacted by sliding into a martial arts posture. Copying her colleges example, Elena also readied herself for a fight, by pulling out her pistol and pointing it at us. Cel was the only one who looked relaxed.
Tia's glare started to make me feel uncomfortable. I wonder whether she'll just accept an apology and leave me be....
"I'm going to fucking castrate you for what you did to me!" Tia growled.
Maybe not then.
'I think it's safe to say she's pissed.' Spike whispered in my ear. "'Might I suggest a swift retreat?'
Not happening. I answered. She'll just catch up.
Aeris looked at my, eyebrow raised.
"What did you do to her?" She asked.
"Threw her out with the trash." I replied, smirking.
Elena and Cel sniggered, obviously only just having heard this piece of news.
"How did that happen?" Cel smirked.
"Bastard snuck up on me using a cardboard box." Tia growled.
"Would this be the same box you drop kicked back in the alley? The empty one?" Cel asked, still smirking.
"That was after she chased it down a street, swearing." I felt obligated to point out with a snigger.
Elena and Cel burst out laughing, much to Tia's annoyance.
"What, you have some kind of phobia of boxes?" Elena managed to say.
"To all Cardboard boxes of the world I present this warning: Tia Mataha will use her awesome martial arts to vanquish you and your kind from this world..." Cel, showing that he actually has a sense of humour, called out.
"ALL OF YOU CAN SHUT UP!" Tia roared.
Everyone took a step away from her, all looking very, very scared. Scratch that, we were all terrified of her.
"Did..." Elena began, eyes wide. "Did she just grow fangs?"
"You saw that too?" Yuffie asked, staring at Tia in fear.
"Yes, she did." Tifa squeaked.
Tia glared at us all in turn before stomping up to me and delivering a swift kick. Unfortunately, her aim was too good, and I went down, with a squeak. Even Cel looked sympathetic.
"There go any hopes that I'd still be able to have kids some day." I cursed, voice way to high pitched.
Why does every female in the world seem to want to hurt me in my special place, at least once? Yuffie tried, Aeris succeeded, and now Tia just managed it as well.
I'd hoped that the X-Potion we'd won from our gambling would go to a wound more dignified than this. This is just embarrassing. First Hi-Potion we ever got went to the same cause. Is this going to happen again, when we get an Elixir and again when we get a Megalixir?
I seriously hope not.
Once the pain was gone (X-Potions seemed to take away phantom pains along with the injury itself, thankfully), I stood up, pulling out my gunblade.
"I am going to kill you. Painfully." I snarled.
Elena backpedaled slightly, looking rather nervous.
"Erm, Tia." She began. "I don't think you should have pissed the lizard-man off..."
"Lizard-boy." The veteran Turk corrected the blond. "He's just a kid."
"A kid that you called cute not too long ago." Cel pointed out.
"Well maybe if he hadn't gone and made an enemy out of me...!"
"And what would you have done if you'd caught me in Junon?" I hissed. "Seeing as the first and only time we'd met prior was when you took me out, along with Red and Tifa."
The violet eyed Turk paused there, before shrugging.
"Fair point. I'm still going to rip your balls off though."
Before any more more could be said, I charged Tia, giving a loud war-cry. I obviously took the Turks by surprise, because they didn't react in time to prevent me from rugby tackling Tia to the ground. Before I could do much to her though, she managed to throw me off of herself, and leapt to her feet. I scrambled back to my feet myself, and grabbed Talon from where I'd dropped it in time to block Cel's wild swing.
I made a gap between myself and the male Turk, by kicking him in the stomach, sending him reeling back. Before he could react further, Aeris' pole slammed into the side of his head, catching him by surprise. Cursing, he turned to face the Ancient, readying his rod, ignoring me.
I took the moment to analyse the scene. Elena was on the floor, trying to find her pistol, while nursing her hand. Yuffie stood a ways away from her, looking smug. Tifa and Tia (wow, now that I think about it, their names have a difference of one letter) were engaged in a rematch of their fight from back in the Mythril Mines. Aeris was keeping Cel just far enough away from herself that her couldn't use his rod, swinging her staff in such a way that if he tried getting closer, he'd risk being knocked out.
Remembering what happened to Tifa the last time she fought with Tia, I rushed to aid her. Tia seemed to sense me coming though. Leaping to the side, she pivoted her body around and kicked me in the back, making me stumble forwards, and into Tifa, knocking us both to the ground. Looking up, my eyes widened, and I rolled out of the way of her heel, which slammed into the ground where I had been just a second ago. Tia cursed, then stumbled forwards as Tifa, already on her feet, slammed her elbow into the back of the Turk's head.
The violet eyed Turk leapt forwards, in a way that made it look like she was diving to the ground, but her hands connected with the ground first, and acted like springs, bending as the rest of her body tried to catch up, before straitening themselves, launching her back the way she came from, her feet connecting with Tifa's chin. The crack that sounded out told me that she'd just broken Tifa's jaw. The martial artist stumbled back, hands over her jaw, groaning.
Yuffie, noticing that me and Tifa were in trouble threw a kunai at the Turk. Tia, without paying attention, caught the knife and threw it at me in turn. I swore as the blade penetrated my flesh. Thankfully it hadn't damaged any vital organs, but damn that hurt. Yanking the blade out of my body, yelling in pain while doing so, I tossed it aside, and swore as the Turk turned a couple of Yuffie's smaller shuriken against me as well. Ok, that's one in my thigh, and one in my stomach. Once I'd removed them from my person, I was forced to think about other things as Cel finally found a way past Aeris' defence and just electrified her metal pole, killing the Cetra.
While Yuffie searched her pack for a Phoenix Down, I tried to defend myself against the male Turk, gunblade protected against such an attack through the wrappings around the handle, which were in turn covered with leather. Still, my gunblade couldn't use the same type of defence that Aeris had, simply because it wasn't a pole. Wasn't whippy enough or some such... This meant that Cel could, potentially, have an easier time getting to me then Aeris, (how was he to know that her pole wasn't protected against electricity without being able to see where her hands were?). I didn't have to worry about him though, since Tifa, recovering from the shock of having her jaw broken, ran up to Cel and did a somersault, her foot connecting with his jaw, though his jaw didn't follow the example set by hers and break.
Aeris picked herself up, having recovered from her death with thanks to a Phoenix Down from Yuffie, and had moved to replace the ninja in preventing Elena from being able to do excessive amounts of damage. Really, the only two who have done any damage are Cel and Tia.
Yuffie threw herself at the violet eyed Turk, foot swinging around. Tia grabbed the brat's foot and used her own momentum against her to throw her at me. I cursed, watching this unfold and could only brace myself as Yuffie slammed into me.
Jumping back to my feet, I charged Tia again, ducking under her foot as she tried to kick me, and slammed into her. I didn't stop my forwards motion however, and kept going until I slammed Tia, back first, into a tree. The Turk groaned, and I took the opportunity to slam my shoulder into her stomach several times, before she managed to hook her foot around my own and sent me toppling over. Tia landed on top of me.
"Always knew I'd be on top." She smirked, before head butting me.
While I was too dazed to stop her, she got up and charged at Yuffie, who only managed a yelp before she was knocked to the ground.
Damn. Tia is like a freaking juggernaut. Not even Cel is doing as much damage as her. Well, then again he did kill Aeris, but that was more fluke than anything. Elena hasn't done jack all this entire fight.
By the time my body had landed, bullet through the neck, I was eating those words.
Damnit! She shot me. Scratch that, she killed me.
Bitch.
Tia seemed to hesitate, seeing me dead, but at the sight of Tifa pulling out a Phoenix Down, she continued working with Cel in trying to catch Yuffie, who was constantly dancing out of their reach. Elena pointed her pistol towards the ninja, but Aeris slammed her pole against Elena's wrist, forcing her to drop the weapon again. Seemingly fed up with being useless, she tried to move in again the Cetra in unarmed combat, but considering the fact that Aeris was armed, that was going to be a difficult task.
I picked myself off the floor, cursing the feeling of my heart starting after a half minute of not pumping. Resurrection is painful. And now the phantom pains are giving me a sore throat.
Yuffie chose that moment to throw everything she had that was throw-able at Tia, who caught each and every one of them.
And threw them at me.
"Stop giving her ammunition!" I yelled out, before my heart was pierced by a kunai, killing me for the second time in two minutes.
Yuffie stared at my corpse, unaware that I (as my ghost form as I call it when I'm like this) was swearing my head off at her.
Course, that was interrupted by Aeris' Phoenix Down reviving me. Damnit, I really hope Phoenix Downs aren't addictive, otherwise I'll be hooked on them by the end of the day.
Once back on my feet, the Turks lined themselves up, looking at us. Then, as if by some unspoken signal...
Cel checked his watch, while Tia adjusted her tie and Elena brushed herself off, and all three turned and walked away.
"See ya later." Tia waved.
Cursing, I moved to follow, but seeing as the Phoenix Down had only healed the killing wound, (and pushing out the kunai that had been involved in said wound) I was still acting as a pincushion for most of Yuffie's equipment. That slowed me down a bit. As in, I nearly fainted.
Muttering some words that was unbecoming of the Princess of Wutai, Yuffie crouched down besides me and started to help remove her gear.
"Why'd they run?" Yuffie asked, as she pulled a Kunai out of my arm.
"They were tiring." Tifa answered. "Elena was the only one who wasn't tired, and she was nearly useless that fight. We also had the advantage of numbers."
"I was still killed twice!" I complained. "That hurt."
"Sorry." Yuffie apologised. "I didn't realize she was throwing them at you."
"You didn't find it suspicious that she took the effort to catch and throw everything away? She could have spent less effort just dodging!"
"Excuse me for not taking the time to watch her every move. At the time, I was just a tad more concerned with the fact that she was trying to turn me into a punch-bag!
I sighed, yanking a shuriken from my shin.
"I knew I'd regret pissing her off." I mumbled.
"Regret pissing who off?" Cloud's voice asked.
I looked up, spotting the rest of the male members of AVALANCHE walking up to us. When Cloud spotted me, his eyes widened.
"What happened to you?" He asked.
"A trio of Turks, one of whom went for me, me and more me." I answered, sourly, pulling another Shuriken from my body.
"Aren't you in pain?" Someone asked me.
I snarled, muttering several choice words under my breath before answering.
"Yes, I fecking well am in pain!" I hissed. "Acting as a pin-cushion to all these sharp objects is not my idea of a massage."
Once the last of the ninja weapons was pulled out from where it had embedded itself in my body, I felt a curative spell wash over me, sealing the wounds, and removing most of the phantom pains. A Curaga level spell, from Aeris.
Thankful, I picked myself up, what little phantom pains the Curaga hadn't diminished causing me to groan from the act. A quick once over revealed that the majority of my clothing was ruined. My coat, miraculously, came out of the fight unscratched, but my jeans and t-shirt were torn to shreds. My jeans might be salvageable, but my t-shirt is now non-existent, save for a couple of strips of bloody cloth.
Figures.
It was decided that Cloud, myself and Tifa would investigate the reactor ruin, seeing as the Turks, both groups, had retreated in the general direction of the looming tower. Everyone else would wait for us at Gongaga.
The reactor was a silent place, no sign of the usual machinery. It appeared that everything salvageable had been stripped from this place long ago, leaving this empty husk behind, filled with trash, trash and more trash.
Well, the place is good for something, it seems. It makes a convenient scrap yard.
After roughly half an hour of looking, Cloud, Tifa and myself were ready to call it quits. There was little here, and even less that was actually useful. But as we turned to leave, we heard the tell-tale sound of a Shinra helicopter approaching. Figuring that it was just flying past, we continued to move towards the exit, but were forced to re-evaluate our thoughts on that when the helicopter landed directly in front of the only exit.
I recognised the man in the dark suit that exited almost immediately.
"Tseng." I muttered.
He was accompanied by a blond in a red dress... scratch that, a blond in a really slutty red dress.
"Scarlet of Weapons Development." Cloud mused, aloud. "What's she doing here?"
"If her dress sense is anything to go by, I really don't want to know." I muttered, hand drifting towards my gunblade.
"Let's not attract attention to ourselves if we can help it." Cloud grunted, preventing me from actually pulling the blade out of its sheath. "We're still worn out from fighting the other Turks, and Tseng wasn't in either fight."
I nodded, ducking behind some rubble before either Tseng or Scarlet could look in our direction.
Tseng stood to the side, looking annoyed, and a little bored, while Scarlet pried open a hatch that anyone else would have missed and peered inside.
"Hmph! This isn't any good either." She declared after a while, shaking her head in frustration. "You only get junky materia from junky reactors. This reactor's a failure. What I'm looking for is big, large, huge materia. You seen any?"
With a sigh, Tseng turned to look at her.
"No I haven't seen it. I'll get on it right away." He said, sounding like he was merely humouring her.
Scarlet must not have noticed his tone of voice, because she carried on talking.
"With Hojo gone, the Weapon Development's been getting a bigger budget." She felt the need to mention.
"I envy them." Tseng grunted.
"But, even if we make the perfect weapon, could that stupid Heidegger even use it?" Scarlet carried on.
Her Turk escort remained silent, and this seemed to attract Scarlet's attention.
"Oh... sorry! I forgot Heidegger was your boss!" She laughed.
Tseng continued to ignore the Head of Weapons Development. Scarlet seemed to lose any interest in him and gave the reactor another look before shaking her head.
"Let's go." She finally ordered.
Tseng seemed to sigh in relief, before following the woman back to the helicopter. After several minutes, the helicopter took off and flew back the way it came.
Now that the coast was clear, Cloud, Tifa and myself left our hiding spot.
"Big, large, huge materia? An ultimate weapon? The perfect weapon? Just what are the Shinra up to...?" Cloud mused to himself, brow creased in thought.
"Rufus probably wants to use whatever this ultimate weapon is on me." I pointed out, remembering Jade's warning that Rufus wanted to chain me to the end of the Junon Cannon and fire.
"He'd probably use you as the test, but I doubt he wants an ultimate weapon to use it exclusively on you." Cloud returned.
"Good point."
Cloud turned to where Scarlet and Tseng had been standing, and, upon noticing the still open hatch, made his way forwards, and peered inside himself. Something must have caught his eye, because he reached in and pulled something out.
"Titan Materia." He declared, after identifying the orb that he now held in his hand.
"And that's not a big enough materia for Scarlet?" I asked, sarcastically.
"Apparently not."
Shaking my head, I spared a quick look at the red materia in Cloud's hand before deciding that a different member of AVALANCHE would be better off with it. This would be our fourth or fifth one, assuming that the others were being collected even without me being there.
Well, that's everything of interest in this derelict. Not even the friendly folk at Shinra seem to care, so I believe it's time to actually go to Gongaga. This thought was shared by my companions, and as such, we departed.
We met up with the rest of the team and started hiking it to the town.
On entering Gongaga, the first thing we could see, was a graveyard, various people kneeling before the graves of their lost loved ones. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be such a big deal, plenty of towns and villages have their own graveyard. But no, what made this graveyard stand out was both the size of it, and the fact that most of the stones looked newish... at most a few years old. A large number of people died at roughly the same time.
The ruined Mako Reactor, visible in the background, told a clear story about those buried in the graveyard.
Maybe this was why Shinra left Gongaga alone, while Coral was burnt to the ground. Coral didn't actually suffer with the destruction of their Mako Reactor, where Gongaga, from the looks of it, lost virtually everything, leaving Shinra no need to punish the town. There was nothing left to punish.
The town itself had clearly suffered;Gongaga itself couldn't even be classed as a village anymore, it was little more than a hamlet now, just a small collection of homes and little, if anything, else.
"Let's take a look around." Cloud suggested, though he didn't sound as enthusiastic about it now.
Clearly he didn't think Sephiroth would spent any time in a backwater place such as this.
Look around we did. Myself, Tifa and Cloud went one way, everyone else went the other.
After a whole quarter of an hour, we had explored all that was left of Gongaga and even spoken to the majority of the residents, who all told a similar tale of how nearly the entire village was wiped out in the Mako Reactor's meltdown.
And was on that note we found ourselves being let into the last home on the agenda. The inside was cosy looking, if a little spartan, though with the state of the village, I suppose that was to be expected. No village, no economy, no unnecessary luxuries. The owners were an aged couple, worry lines etched permanently onto their faces.
The male stepped forwards and spoke up.
"You travellers?" He asked, before doing a double take at Cloud. "Hey, wait, that glare in your eye... You in SOLDIER?"
Huh, seems even people this far out from Shinra and SOLDIER know about the Mako Eyes of SOLDIER.
On hearing the question, the wife stepped forwards, examining Cloud, who looked uncomfortable at the attention.
"Oh, you're right!" She exclaimed. "Do you know anything about our son?"
"His name is Zack." The husband mentioned.
At the name, I was forced to shut my eyes as a wave of images and sounds came unbidden into my mind. At first, I thought it was like the flashes of the various other people in a situation similar to mine, but no, this was only one person. It felt more like a flashback than anything.
"It's been close to ten years since he left for the city, saying he didn't want to live in the country..." The wife recounted.
"He left saying he was going to join SOLDIER." The husband added.
Cloud hesitated, frowning, as he searched his memories for a SOLDIER named Zack.
"I don't know." He grunted at last.
Tifa glanced at Cloud, (or was it the Buster Sword on his back?) before he eyes widened in realization.
"Zack..." She murmured, almost inaudiably.
Evidently the husband had sharper hearing than I thought he'd have, because he heard Tifa and turned to face her instantly.
"Young lady, you know him?" He asked, sounding almost desperate.
"I remember he wrote to us 6 or 7 years ago, saying that he had a girlfriend." The wife mentioned. "Could that have been you?"
Everyone turned to face Tifa, who shook her head, almost frantically.
"No, it wasn't." She said, once she regained the use of her voice.
And with that said, the martial artist turned and left the building.
"Tifa, what happened?" Cloud asked, confused.
"She'd have still been in Nibelheim 6 years ago, if memory serves." I spoke up.
Cloud paused, before nodding as he realized the truth of my words. He turned to follow Tifa out the building but was stopped by the sound of my voice.
"This Zack, did he have black, spiky hair and a cheerful attitude?" I asked the couple, piecing together the images from my supposed 'flashback'.
The wife looked surprised before nodding.
"Yes. In fact, he once mentioned in one of his letters that his mentor kept referring to him as a puppy. Zack the Puppy. You knew him?"
"Only in passing." I said. "We crossed paths a while back. He was in a hurry and didn't stick around to chat, though I got the impression that he was headed here."
The news seemed to depress them, as clearly, he had never made it here. Now I felt guilty.
"Sorry." I felt the need to apologise.
The apology was waved off with a remark that I had nothing to be sorry for.
At that, me and Cloud left, leaving the couple be. Cloud instantly moved to where Tifa was stood, deep in thought.
"Zack..." She mumbled.
"Do you know him?" Cloud asked.
"No." She answered, far to quickly.
"Your face tells me differently." He remarked, arms crossed.
"I told you, I don't!" She snapped in response.
"Alright." Cloud waved his hands as if to ward off her decidedly dangerous ire.
Tifa was silent for a couple of seconds before turning to look at Cloud.
"That sounds just like you though, leaving town and saying 'I'm joining SOLDIER!"
"There were a lot of guys like that back then." Cloud answered.
"You must really be something, making it in SOLDIER in a group like that."
Another pause.
"I really respect you." Tifa finally settled on saying.
Cloud scratched the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed at the statement.
"I just got lucky." He shrugged.
"Don't be so humble." Tifa smiled. "Cloud, thanks for caring."
Yet another pause, and by this point I was feeling awkward for being in the vicinity of this conversation.
"I'm going to round up everybody." Cloud said at last. "We'll meet back at the buggy and plan our next move."
"So far, it's felt like Sephiroth has been one step ahead of us the entire time. And now we've lost the trail." I pointed out.
"That's why we'll need to brainstorm the next move. See if we can figure out where he'll go." Cloud told me, before moving off in search off the others.
Shrugging, I examined the state that I was in and cursed. Clothes all torn up and covered in my own blood. Yeah, no wonder the residents of Gongaga seemed to try and avoid me.
This tells me that I need a bath. And lucky me, there is a public bath on the other side of the village, about the only public service this place has to offer.
Shops? Who needs shops when everyone is just selling their personal possessions. Inn? Some guy who happens to have a spare room and is willing to rent it out for cash.
Want a bath in Gongaga? Well, the only bath for miles is the public one.
Jeez, these guys really have it bad.
After we returned from Gongaga, everyone sat down in the back of the buggy in order to plan out our next move. Already, I felt much better, thanks to my bath. At least they'd had hot water, I don't even want to know what would have happened if they only had cold water.
As I got into the back of the buggy, everyone gave me odd looks at my current lack of clothing, but otherwise ignored me. I took a seat and grabbed what remained of my jeans, along with the sewing kit I'd been given back in Kalm.
Cloud looked at each of us in turn, before nodding.
"Gongaga turned out to be a dead end. We now have no clue as to where Sephiroth could be going." He declared.
"No shit." I snorted, threading the needle through the denim of my jeans.
Cloud shot me a look before continuing.
"As such, we now need to plan where what we'll do next. I don't know the geography too well, so Barret, Yuffie, are there any places of interest nearby?"
"I Think we should head west." Red spoke up, interrupting Yuffie who had opened her mouth to say something.
"I'm inclined to agree with him there." I commented.
Cloud's brow furrowed as he tried to consider what could lie to the west.
"Why?" Aeris asked, when Cloud remained silent.
"Our home is to the west." Red said. "I'd like to go there."
"Your home?"
"We come from Cosmo Canyon." I informed everyone.
Barret looked up at the last sentence and grinned.
"Cosmo Canyon? Always wanted ta visit that place in a while..."
Cloud didn't seem to approve of the idea, judging from his frown.
"Cosmo Canyon holds one of the largest libraries in the world. The amount of knowledge stored within the libraries could shed some clue towards the Promised Land." Red revealed. "And possibly the significance to Sephiroth and his plans."
Now that seemed to sway Cloud towards the idea.
"And if nothing else, it's the most significant centre of civilisation between here and Rocket Town." I added. "I never thought Sephiroth would bother with the smaller settlements, other than to pass through, but if he were to stop anywhere, it would likely be there."
"And he may have an interest in the libraries himself."
"Alright, we'll start heading to Cosmo Canyon then." Cloud declared.
"Erm, Cloud?" Yuffie raised her hand.
Cloud exhaled a long suffering sigh and turned to look at her.
"Yes, Yuffie?" He asked.
"I'm feeling kinda uncomfortable with him, just sitting there like that." Yuffie told the blond, jabbing her thumb in my direction.
"Oi, did no one ever tell you it's rude to point?" I snapped, pushing the needle through the fabric once again.
"I've been meaning to ask about that." Tifa confessed.
"Same." Cloud frowned. "Spike, why are you sitting there in your boxers?"
"Doesn't that fall under the category of sexual harassment?" Yuffie continued.
"I'm not doing anything to you, so no, it does not class as sexual harassment." I glared at her. "And the reason I'm wearing nothing but my boxers, is because I'm trying to repair my clothing; which was torn, courtesy of Yuffie's kunai and shuriken. I have no plans of stabbing myself with a needle just because I was wearing the clothes I'm sewing up."
Only thing that wasn't damaged, not including my boxers, was my coat, which I'm thankful for. That coat did cost me a small fortune.
"And so you decide to attend a planning session in your underwear?" Cait sniggered. "Well, it does make sense."
I nod at the robotic cat's statement.
"It does. Seeing as planning involves us sitting here and planning, which requires minimal, if any movement. So there is no better time to sew my clothing. Unless you're saying that I should have walked around town in my boxers, while I did my repairs?"
Cloud sighed and turned to Yuffie.
"Why were your weapons responsible for the tearing to his clothing?" He asked, sounding annoyed.
"Hey, don't go trying to pin this one on me. It was that Tia woman. Everything I threw at her, she just used at us in return." Yuffie defended herself.
"And yet Spike's the only one who's clothes are badly torn enough to warrant him sewing them together."
"She has it in for me." I confessed. "She took it personally that I threw her in a dumpster back in Junon."
"Besides which, shouldn't he have spare clothes?" Yuffie asked.
There was silence from everyone else.
"Don't tell me that I'm the only one..."
"You are." Aeris responded.
"If our clothing is torn too badly, we just replace it." Tifa admitted.
"How do you keep your clothes from stinking up a storm?" The brat asked, appalled.
"Launderettes in towns, springs, rivers. We wash them when we get a chance." Cloud grunted. "Until recently, storage was a big issue for us, and we didn't have space for spare clothing."
Yuffie sighed.
"You know it's bad when I realize that that is the truth, and not just a lame excuse." She moaned.
"Don't look at me." I smirked. "Until I get these clothes wearable again, I can't go and buy myself any spares. I already need to replace my t-shirt; your shuriken tore it beyond repair."
"Besides which, Gongaga had no clothing stores, and none of the residents were your size, so you'll have to wait until we get to Cosmo Canyon before you can replace your clothing, Spike." Aeris informed me.
I paused in my sewing, gaping at her.
"You're joking." I stated flatly.
"No, I'm not."
"...Shit."
Damn, I'm going to have to go bare-chested for a while. Well, at least we'll be in the buggy the entire time...
"I'm driving!" I declared, climbing over the barrier between me and the front seats, quicker then the rest of AVALANCHE could blink.
"Can't you stop him?" Someone asked Cloud, who sighed.
"He's the one with the key, and he's very possessive of it."
If he wanted to say anything else, it was stopped as I started to rev the engine, before releasing the handbrakes, sending the tank shooting forwards.
Had I taken the time to glance at the rear-view mirror, I'd have spotted a figure wearing a dark robe standing where the buggy had just been parked, watching as the vehicle sped off.
AN:
::Cries at the horrifyingly short chapter for all the time it took::
Seriously ashamed of myself right now. No joke.
It looks even shorter uploaded on ... drat it all...
Right, first off, a special thank you to MegaKiraraLover, who wrote me a one-shot of Spike in Kingdom Hearts 2. The fic is in the reviews, just scroll down or go to next page or whatever to find it. I'll put it on my profile in a day or two. Need to consider whether to leave it on profile or actually go to the trouble of creating a new fic made entirely of one-shots based on the IWGH2-verse and what-ifs... One such example being a 'what-if Spike hadn't gone into FFVII but the Sega Megadrive/Genesis game 'The Lion King'... or 'what did the Turks talk about while dragging Spike's scaly carcass to Hojo's lab?'
But whatever. I'm kinda ranting now. And you're all probably still so angry about the massively long delay that you don't care for my words.
And as a side note, a question given by a reviewer about Spike's anatomy prompted me to put a link to of a picture of Spike on my bio. It ain't perfect, the tail is meant to be slightly longer, and he's more of a grass green in colour, but it's as close as a Morrowind recreation can get.