Final Fantasy VIIIX
Cloud and the others with him were split into different cells when all was said and done. The fact was, he and Tifa shared a cell, which had no windows or anything. "I wonder how Zidane and Steiner are doing…" he said, concern coloring his voice.
"Getting poked and prodded, I would think." Tifa suggested.
They had little to do but wait, so they laid back, forced to do nothing, relieved even of their weapons.
Zidane and Steiner were forced to share a cell, and the knight was trying to kill the thief. "You endangered the Princess, you fool! I'll make you pay for that!"
"Oi, Rusty, this isn't the time for that!" Zidane countered angrily. "How was I supposed to know they'd split us up when they took us to this floor?!"
"It's your fault we're even here in the first place!" Steiner roared hotly.
"Not my fault that I can't resist helping people in need! It's what I do!" Zidane countered again.
"I KILL YOU!" Steiner roared, even as he wondered where he got that from.
"I wonder how Vivi and Dagger are doing…" Cloud said this time.
Another electrical shock was passed through Garnet's body, and she was REALLY getting tired of this shit. "I told you before-AHH!"
"Who do you work for, you slut?!" the torturer demanded once more, before-
"ENOUGH!" Hojo roared.
-that happened.
"S-Sir! Wh-What brings you here?" the torturer questioned.
"She is one of my subjects, not a common terrorist. Get her into my lab, now."
"Y-Yes, sir!" the torturer obeyed the order, taking the woman with him to the lab-
"You forgot the boy, you nimrod!" Hojo insulted the man, even as he pointed at the Black Mage.
"Sorry, sir." The security personnel dragged Vivi out, not realizing that it would be their end in about four hours.
Four hours had passed, and Cloud was able to rest for a short bit. It was when he woke up that he noticed something was wrong… the door, which was supposed to be closed and locked, was the exact opposite.
"The hell?" he asked himself aloud.
He exited the cell, finding Zidane and Steiner beating the shit out of one another in the cell opposite of his and Tifa's. "What the hell are you two idiots DOING?!"
Both looked at one another before looking at Cloud. "When the hell did you get in here?" Zidane asked.
"Just now… and the doors are open now," Cloud pointed at the doors in question. "We gotta get out of here, so long as you two can keep from killing each other."
Both looked at one another before getting off the ground. "Where's Dagger?" Zidane asked.
"Not in any of the cells." Cloud answered.
"How do we go rescue the princess?!" Steiner roared in question. "We don't even have our weapons any longer!"
"That… is a good question," Cloud admitted. "Where did they keep our weapons?"
Zidane looked out the door to his right, and saw that the guard was on the ground, blood flowing from his wound… and clearly dead. "Um… is it just me, or did we miss a massacre?"
"A what?!" Cloud questioned, looking in the direction that Zidane did. "…oh."
There were bodies EVERYWHERE. "THIS is some crazy shit, SOLDIER boy." Cloud looked behind him, spotting Barret, who supported a weak looking Aeris and Dagger.
"Barret. Where'd you find them?" Cloud asked, his voice barely holding back the anger in it.
"Hojo's labs. There's some crazy shit down there. Place looks like a warzone. Good news is, they stashed our shit in an armory near the big man's office." Barret replied.
Cloud nodded, and was about to say something before he suddenly remembered something else. "Wait… where's Vivi?"
"Still in the lab. Didn't want to move him: he looked too bad to move without healin'." Barret answered.
"A good idea. We should get to him and patch him up before we get our weapons back." Cloud said.
"How do you suggest we do that, Cloud?" Tifa asked, concern in her voice.
Before Cloud could wrack his brain for the answer, Zidane reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small bag. "I collected a lot of potions," he said when he saw the stares in his direction.
"Alright then…" Cloud nodded at that.
They went to the lab, finding Vivi in one of the sample chambers. He wasn't moving, but he wasn't dead. "Let's do this and get a move on: I want to get the hell out of this building and back to Lindblum." Zidane said, even as he used the potion on Vivi.
"I don't blame you for that," Cloud shook his head, before seeing something off to the side. "Hello, what do we have here?" It was a device that resembled a small rifle with a large opening that pulsed with magical energy. "What the hell is this thing?"
"Cloud? What is it?" Tifa asked her childhood friend.
"I seriously have no idea…" the ex-SOLDIER answered. "I guess we'll have to hold onto it for now…"
Pocketing the device, Cloud and Tifa entered the lift that took them to Shinra's office. The place was a mess, with only one man still alive. And it wasn't Shinra. "Oh, shit." Cloud said.
"What happened?!" Tifa asked incredulously.
At that moment, the survivor ran to the exit, with Cloud and Tifa moving to restrain him. "Not so fast, buster!" Cloud yelled, catching up to him. "Talk! Who was behind this massacre?!"
"It… It was Sephiroth! Sephiroth!" the survivor, a man named Palmer, spilled the beans.
"WHAT?! Did you-" Cloud questioned.
"Yes! I saw him! He killed everything!" Palmer yelled. The man ran out as a helicopter approached the building.
"Rufus! Fuck, I forgot about that son of a bitch!" Cloud yelled when he saw who was coming.
"Cloud? Who's Rufus?" Tifa asked in concern.
"Rufus Shinra, vice president of Shinra Incorporated, and the son of the now-dead Shinra," Cloud answered, glaring in the direction of the helicopter.
At that moment, Zidane and the others showed up, Zidane flinching from the carnage that had been wrought. "Wh-What the… who was behind this?" he asked, morbid curiosity filling his tone.
"Sephiroth." Cloud answered.
The local team ran out of the office, trying to intercept Rufus.
"-Sephiroth was here? Interesting. Oh, who are these people?" Rufus asked as soon as he saw the local team.
"We're Avalanche, Shinra boy! We're takin' yo ass down!" Barret yelled.
"I see. Well, I'm the new president of Shinra. And my first order as president is to change policy. Fear will be the new way of governing things. Once I hang your bodies in the streets, they will understand." Rufus said coldly.
"Guys, get out of here, and make sure to get the others out as well!" Cloud yelled, catching the others by surprise.
"What?!" Barret yelled. "What'd you just-"
"Now, Barret!" Cloud interrupted, not giving the leader of Avalanche a chance to finish.
"Oh? There are others?" Rufus asked curiously, before looking through the window. "Oh, right… now I see them."
"I'll take care of Shinra." Cloud said.
This was not a good day for Vivi. He felt like crap, and now he was being carried down the tallest building he knew of. "This isn't what I wanted when I woke up today." Vivi said groggily.
"I don't think ANY of us planned on this, Vivi." Dagger said to the Black Mage.
They arrived on the ground floor, pausing at a strange contraption. "Well… what now?" Zidane asked. "We had to fight a pair of metal monsters… and now we're down on the ground floor."
Barret and the others arrived, but without Cloud and Tifa. "What are y'all waiting for?! We gotta get out of here!" Barret yelled.
"Where's Cloud and Tifa?" Dagger asked.
"I'm right here!" Tifa yelled from a doorway, revealing she just came down the elevator. "Cloud wanted me to go down ahead of him… quick, get in the truck!"
"The hell is a tru-" Zidane started to ask.
Tifa punched him into the contraption's rear area.
"Oh…" Zidane said dumbly.
"GET IN!" Barret jumped into the back with the others. "AVALANCHE! WE ARE LEAVING!"
At that moment, Cloud came roaring down, on a motorcycle that he had commandeered. "C'mon, we gotta get going!" he yelled.
Tifa took that moment to get into the driver's seat and started up the truck, prompting the truck to get moving, with Cloud following right behind them.
"FUCK!" Barret yelled at the top of his lungs. The two vehicles began to move down the road at high speeds, followed by Shinra security forces. Luckily, they had a pissed off black mage to deal with them. "We need to get back to Sector 7: Lindblum's a LOT safer then here!" Barret declared.
"How do we get to this Sector 7?" Dagger asked, a tone of incredulity in her tone. "Didn't you say it was destroyed?"
"The portal wasn't! Come on!" Barret answered.
Zidane fiddled with the device they captured, accidentally activating it. It opened a vortex ahead of their vehicle, which snapped shut the moment they were through. They landed in Lindblum's theater district, although they were 60 feet in the air.
"What the… this is not what I had in mind!" Zidane yelled from the rear of the truck, even as the truck fell to the ground and crashed. "Owww…"
"Wh… where did Cloud go?" Aeris asked, looking around for the swordsman.
Cloud landed on top of a building, sliding the bike to a complete stop.
"Well, shit. At least we know what this thing's for, now." Zidane said.
"Where are we?" Aeris asked, looking at the buildings in the city.
"Lindblum," Tifa answered, catching the Flower Girl's attention.
"Where's that?" Aeris asked.
"Another world. At least we'll be safe here. Let's get back to the castle. Anyone got a map of that place, what'd you call it, Midgar?" Zidane asked.
Two hours later
After careful work, they had transposed Midgar's map over Lindblum, and found that they could get to a place outside of Midgar on Gaia. "At least that's good news: we don't have to go to the same place twice." Vivi said.
"Exactly, Master Vivi," Steiner answered. "We need to be especially careful that those unscrupulous enough don't get their hands on the device."
"The lab was completely destroyed: even the research was lost. I think this is the only working prototype." Cloud turned the portal gun, as it were, around in his hands. "We'll leave for a town outside Midgar soon. We'll make contact with you in a few days."
"Stupid question, but can you leave that thing here? If Shinra gets their mitts on it again, we're a bit boned." Zidane had a point. Cloud pulled out another map, finding a common point. "We'll be here. We'll meet up with you in the town Kalm. Here, it's Gismaluke grotto."
"What about the festival?" Zidane asked.
Cloud paused to mull the idea over. "Well… why not?" he asked. "It's not like I've got anything better to do, anyway. I'll participate, yeah."
"Then rest up and be prepared! May you be blessed with victory!" Steiner saluted.
Cloud shook his head. This festival was little more then a time waster. They had other things to do. Sephiroth was out there, causing more death and pain. And it was his duty to stop him.
The next morning
Zidane looked around for Dagger, wondering where she could be. He'd already run into a friend of his, one Freya of Burmecia, the day before, after chatting it up with a lovely lady… he shook his head to remain on the top of his game.
Besides, Garnet was prettier-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! That thought was stopped in its' tracks by the sound of a singing voice. "Hello, who is this?" Wasn't Tifa: she was napping. He walked onto the balcony, finding… Dagger? 'Holy shit, she's beautiful AND she has a divine voice.'
Waiting a bit for the singing to die down, Zidane watched from a distance, seeing that there were birds in her general area… as in right in front of her. As if noticing his presence, she spun around to see him, mouth agape.
"Nice song." Zidane commented.
Dagger put her hands on her hips, seemingly annoyed. "How did you get up here? This is a restricted area."
Zidane snorted, before retorting, "Please. I do this for a living."
"Oh, I forgot: you were in Tantalus." Dagger remembered.
As the two were silent for a bit, Zidane was looking around for a conversation starter, before-
"Hey! There's a telescope! Let's go check it out," he said, walking over to said implement of spying (and so on). "Come on."
He looked through the telescope, describing places he was seeing in the spyglass to her, before spotting something completely random. "Hey, there's a chocobo. Maybe I can catch a chocobo in that forest."
"Hey, Zidane," Dagger said, catching his attention. "May I please take a look?"
"Uh, sure, why not?" Zidane asked in return.
'…I've made so much trouble for everyone… Uncle Cid knew everything…' Depression began setting in for the princess. 'That's why he asked Tantalus to get me out of Alexandria. No matter how hard I try, I'm always a step behind in everything... I'm so helpless...'
Zidane, upon seeing the depression on Dagger's face, asked, "…what's wrong?"
Dagger looked at Zidane and asked, "Zidane…? Why did you help me come here - to Lindblum? …is it because your boss ordered you to?"
Zidane shook his head. "I just wanted to help you. That's all. The boss didn't agree with me...so I ended up leaving the band."
Garnet backed away slightly, ashamed of herself. "Really!? I'm sorry."
Zidane waved it off. "Don't worry about it. It isn't the first time I've left."
Dagger looked down, before saying, "Zidane…"
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Oh...um... How were you planning to abduct me?" she finally decided to ask.
Zidane shrugged, as the plan was no longer necessary. "We were gonna put you to sleep with sleeping weed, then kidnap you. It's mostly used for kids, but a big dose can knock out an adult just as easily."
Garnet giggled for a moment, speaking his thoughts. "I guess you didn't need it, since I came along on my own." She then gave him a look. "Hey... Would you mind giving me some? I've had a hard time sleeping lately."
Zidane shook his head. "Um, I don't think that's a good idea. You might get addicted. Maybe all you need is some company, eh?"
Garnet's look turned sour. "Do you think I'm that naive?"
"Nope, but I had to try!" Zidane reassured.
Garnet knew that was an attempt just to raise her spirits.
"U-Um... Th-That song... Were you singing it in the Village of Dali?" Zidane asked.
"What song?" a voice asked from by the door.
Zidane looked at the intruder, known to all as Cloud Strife. "Oh, it's just you. When we were at a village, before we got sent to your world, I heard Dagger here singing."
Dagger looked at Zidane with a thoughtful expression. "So you were awake. I shouldn't be surprised: a thief is supposed to be able to be up at any hour."
"What were you singing just now?" Cloud asked, with Zidane nodding his head, as encouragement to have her explain.
Dagger looked down for a bit, before answering, "…I don't know. I can't even remember where I learned it. I sing it whenever I feel sad or lonely… For some reason, it comforts me and reminds me that I'm not alone."
Zidane cupped his chin, almost thoughtfully. "I guess it's a mystical song... Let me hear it again."
She began singing again, and Cloud was almost reminded of his home. Then he was reminded of the evil that destroyed it.
"Cloud?" Zidane asked, seeing a darkening expression on the SOLDIER's face.
"Hm?" Cloud looked at Zidane, almost curious as to what was going on. "What?"
Dagger took the opportunity to explain, "You look like you were enjoying yourself for a moment, then… your expression changed to that of someone wanting to kill."
Cloud's expression turned apologetic, as he said, "I'm sorry, princess. You reminded me of my hometown. That reminded me of… him."
"Him?" Zidane asked in morbid curiosity.
Cloud looked at Zidane. "The greatest of SOLDIER."
(BGM: One Winged Angel - Crisis Core version)
"Sephiroth." Cloud began telling them about the mighty super SOLDIER: long silver hair, a massive katana called Masamune, and a garb similar to his. "He was a hero in the war, and someone to look up to. Until he destroyed my hometown and killed everyone there. Everyone but me and Tifa."
Zidane looked at Cloud's eyes, before asking, "Was there anyone else with you at the time?"
Cloud was taken aback, even as he asked, "E-Excuse me?"
"Was there anyone with you at your hometown?" Zidane elaborated.
Cloud grasped his head, groaning before he fell on his ass.
"Cloud!" Zidane yelled.
"I… I don't want to talk about it any more." Cloud said, getting up off the ground.
Zidane looked torn at that moment. "Well… should you decide to talk about it, I'll listen," he finally said.
"As will I," Dagger affirmed.
Cloud doubted he'd regale the tale to them anytime soon. Tifa and Barret, certainly: they were going to raise 80 kinds of hell by him not letting them join him. Aeris… it was her choice. "I'll go and see about Tifa and Barret. We'll be getting ready to leave just as the festival ends."
"Alright, Cloud," Zidane nodded. "Here's hoping that we can compete properly against each other."
Cloud, as he was about to turn to leave, stopped and rose an eyebrow. "You sure about that?" he asked. "I could easily leave you and anyone else in the dust."
"Is that a challenge I hear?" Zidane asked.
Cloud shrugged. "Who knows? I'm probably gonna give my prize to you, anyway."
"We'll see about that. May the best man win!"
The next day
Cloud was beginning to regret being so boastful. The monsters here were a bit more… lethal then the ones back home. Zidane was kicking the living shit out of the ones that were giving him issues, for one reason: Cloud's Buster Sword was unwieldy against those things.
Then again, he knew that there was a 2 hour time limit, which helped matters considerably when it came to hunting down the different monsters that were let loose. As it stood… Cloud stopped in his motions for a bit when he saw a giant boar-like monster. "What the…?"
Zidane, who was right with him, saw the monster as well. "A Zaghnol?! Why isn't it targetting… us…?" he trailed off when he saw the reason. "Oh, you've got to be shitting me!"
There were children caught in the crossfire of the festival… and Zidane had a soft spot for children.
That equaled only one conclusion. It died. SLOWLY. Zidane jumped onto the monster's back, stabbing it in the shoulders with his twin daggers before throwing one of them into its' eye, blinding it. At this point, Zidane pulled out a weapon he had… acquired… elsewhere, hacking into the monster's jaw. The weapon was the Butterfly Sword, a twin-bladed staff weapon which Zidane could and in a pinch DID use.
Cloud, because of his past experiences as a child, was more than willing to aid Zidane in this endeavor. Using his newly acquired sword, the Hardedge, plus some acquired Materia, he decided to cast a high-level Bolt spell… while not using a high-level Bolt spell, given that he was going to amplify the spell through Zidane's dagger in the Zaghnol's eye. He just hoped that the spell would not hit Zidane instead.
The electrical attack went into the beast's brain, but it only disoriented it. It was still alive. And Zidane was going to make sure its' blood bathed the streets. A jump and three well-aimed strikes separated the animal's head from its' spine, sending it crashing to the ground lifelessly. "I hate those things."
Cloud, when he saw the corpse, couldn't help but agree… before he noticed a gemstone amongst its remains. "Er, Zidane?" he started to ask.
Zidane grabbed the jewel from his hands. "Come on: we've barely got an hour left! Snap to it!" The thief ran off, leaving a scowling Cloud.
"I'm going to lose this. I just know it." Cloud muttered.
At that point, a Hedgehog Pie tried to ambush him… failing on account of Cloud spinning around and cleaving it in half.
"Wonder if Tifa decided to enjoy the tournament as well?" he asked out loud, and to nobody in particular.
Tifa was indeed enjoying herself. Beating the shit out of things was therapeutic. She had volunteered to take care of any of the excess monsters that tried to get out of the zones, along side the city guards. They welcomed her help.
"Say, madam Lockhart," a guard said to her. "How come you don't use a weapon like a sword?"
A Trick Sparrow received a punch to the face. That sent it into a wall. "Knuckledusters. I'm a hand-to-hand fighter."
The guard, if it were humanly possible, would've sweatdropped from that. "Oh," he muttered.
Over an hour later…
The winner, unexpectedly, was Zidane. Freya, a Burmecian soldier, was expected to get victory, but Zidane's defeat of the Zaghnol allowed him to win. Cloud was given some compensation for his efforts: a piece of Materia, surprisingly, that was discovered in the mist.
"This is a green Materia… and there's a purple on to go with it?" he asked in confusion.
"I thought that stuff was from your world only." Zidane said in a bit of surprise.
"Clearly not. Maybe it forms here, too." Cloud shrugged at that.
Before the festivities could continue, however…
"Regent…"
A soldier from Burmecia came stumbling to the throne room.
"Please forgive my intrusion... I bring urgent news... from our king."
Artania looked at Cid. "Sire, you must not let him see you like this!"
Regent Cid scoffed. "Take a good look at him, Minster. An injury has blinded him." There was, indeed, a cloth wrapped round the man's eyes. "Continue."
The Burmecian explained, "Our kingdom is being attacked by some unknown force! We are severely outmatched! Please send reinforcements immediately!"
Before Cid could ask who, the Burmecian continued.
"The enemy looks like an army of mages wearing...steeple-crowned hats."
Cid stood, small as he was, but his voice was no less resolute. "The king and I are old friends. We will send reinforcements to Burmecia immediately."
"Thank you, Regent! The King… and all of Burmecia will be most grateful!" the soldier said. "I must… return now… Ugh." With that, he fell to the ground, dead.
Cid, however, simply thought he had collapsed. "Take him to the infirmary!"
Freya, however, crushed his hope as she checked the body. "It's too late. He's gone… It's a miracle he even made it this far. I can't believe this is happening…"
Five hours later…
"Are you sure you don't want to help us take the fight to whoever's invading Burmecia?" Zidane asked Cloud and his group.
Tifa nodded. "We have to deal with Shinra and Sephiroth. If they cross over to this side, they'll be harder to stop then before, and they'll begin killing your world as well."
"The lady's right! Might as well help ya get to this Gizamalukie place before we split up, though: we're goin' the same way." Barret said.
"Before you have to leave, though," Cid said, getting everyone's attention. "We need to enjoy the feast that comes at this time, always after the Festival's main end."
"We don't have time for-" Cloud started to say.
"I insist. The gates to the castle will be closed until we attend the feast." Cid said, in an attempt to placate the others.
Cloud sighed irritably, before looking at Cid. "Did you plan this?" he questioned.
"It's tradition: not my idea." Cid explained.
Cloud was tempted to cut his way out of this, but hurting too many people was out of the question. "Fine."
"Thank you for understanding," Cid said, before they headed over to the feasting hall.
After a short walk, they arrived at the hall in question, with a lot of food being served. "No utensils?" Cloud asked skeptically.
"The Festival of the Hunt feast is one of our oldest traditions. It began well over five centuries ago. It is customary to eat everything with your hands, so go on, before it gets cold." Cid explained.
Cloud sighed, before he started grabbing the food. "That explains it," he said.
Dagger nodded in appreciation. "Thank you, Uncle."
Steiner, Cid, and Vivi began digging in. "Mmmm! It's so good!" Vivi exclaimed.
Freya shook her head.
Zidane sighed. "Let's just eat. We can't do anything until the gate opens."
Freya had little choice but to agree. "…You're right."
With that, the Burmecian started eating with her hands.
Zidane looked at Dagger and asked, "Not hungry, Garnet?"
"Sorry…" She began eating, but after a few seconds, all but she and Steiner felt woozy.
"I feel… dizzy." Unconsciousness soon followed.
"What's going on here?" Red XIII asked as he came into the room. "I heard the sound of eating and… why is everyone asleep?"
Dagger looked at the Red Panther and said, "It's a long story…"
"It's poison! I-"
"Steiner, relax. It's just sleeping weed. I didn't put any in yours." Dagger admitted.
The knight looked at his lady in shock. "What?!"
"What if Alexandria is behind this attack on Burmecia? It could lead to war between the three great nations." Dagger said.
Steiner continued, as if an afterthought. "Many innocent people will die if that is so…"
"As the princess of Alexandria, there must be something I can do. I have to help Mother… I don't want to see anything happen to her…" Dagger said.
Red XIII chuckled. "Saving lives. Honorable of you. I will not stop you from leaving if that is your desire, Princess."
Dagger nodded, walking over to Red XIII and giving him a hug. "Thank you," she said.
"...Very well. Princess, I will follow you where you choose." Garnet bowed to Steiner slightly
"Thank you. Let's go before everyone wakes up." the princess said.
Red XIII stood guard over them, although it was unneeded.
She walked over to Zidane's seat, apologies written on her face.
"I'm sorry, Zidane. Come on, Steiner."
As soon as the two of them left, Zidane asked in his sleep, "Dagger… Where are you going…?"
At that point, everyone but Vivi woke up, which meant that he was hit the hardest.
"It must've been some sort of sleeping medicine," Freya said.
"It was sleeping weed," Zidane admitted.
Cid shook his head. "We've been had…"
Zidane sighed. "I gave her some because she said she was having problems sleeping."
Freya nodded, almost approvingly. "I'm impressed. There's more to her than meets the eye."
"The hell is that girl thinkin'?! Her mom's looking for her, and the Shinra's probably working on gettin' here!" Barret yelled.
Cloud nodded at that. "I don't like this any more than you do, Barret," he said. "Any chance of her going to Burmecia ahead of you?"
Zidane nodded. "She could be heading that way. But getting there safely will be Steiner's duty to her, as he's not here. Gizmaluke Groto is the fastest, but more dangerous, route that isn't aerial."
Cloud and the others nodded. "Alright," he said. "We'll be on our way, then."
"This is gonna suck. Mist that makes monsters? We're gonna be fighting for the WHOLE damn time!"
"Don't complain, Barret. It's not like we can get a Chocobo or something: monsters don't go near you with those." Cloud said.
Later, at the Chocobo Forest…
"…I stand corrected," Cloud facepalmed.
Zidane was riding a chocobo. A freaking chocobo. And it liked him. And it wanted to go with them. "I saw him from the castle's telescope! Didn't think we'd be paying a visit so soon!"
Cloud shook his head, before asking, "Is there anywhere else we need to visit before we make it to the Grotto?"
"Sort of: there's a marsh nearby. Going around will take days-" Zidane said.
"So the fastest way is to go THROUGH it. Too bad your chocobo friend here can't fly." Cloud lamented.
The chocobo let out an annoyed "Kweh" at that.
"He can fly eventually," a Moogle said. "Choco just needs to level better, first."
Cloud stared at the Moogle, Mene, and asked, "What are you talking about?"
"He can only fly as a Gold Chocobo… the highest level of Chocobos," Mene answered. "Right now he's incapable of doing anything off-land."
"That's what I call a power-up! Let's get this little birdy badassified!" Barret fist pumped.
"Barret, it's not that simple." Tifa shook her head.
"I know Tif, but getting this birdy flyin' would save us a lot of grief!"
Cloud shook his head. Chocobos were incredibly strong for their size and weight, capable of carrying over 5 tons on their backs for weeks at a time, but they couldn't get a harness for the thing so they could use a modified wagon to let it drag them along.
A few hours later, the Qu's Marsh…
"Well… glad we can take a Chocobo with us through the marsh," Cloud said. "I don't want to know what'd happen if we had to go around the marsh while on Choco."
A kwee was heard from their new-found companion, earning chuckles from all but the most stoic of the parties. Splashing was heard from a clearing, where they discovered… something… hunting frogs. "What the hell is that thing?" It was dressed like a chef, and when it faced them briefly before marching, Zidane sighed. "A gourmant. They're super-chefs when fully trained, but stupid as hell before that."
Cloud looked at the gourmant for a bit, before asking, "What do you think it's doing?"
"Hunting frogs to cook? I dunno," Zidane shrugged.
Zidane grabbed one, and it approached him. "You got frog! Frogs very good! Mmmm!"
"Who the heck are you?"
The gourmant pointed to itself. "Me? Me Quina!"
"Do you want this frog?" Zidane asked. Upon seeing Quina nod excitedly, he gave it the frog, which it happily… munched on… to everyone else's disgust.
"Yep… stupid as hell," Cloud said, nodding sagely.
Another one, more ornately dressed, entered the clearing. "You pathetic, Quina. Can't even feed yourself."
"Master!"
A few minutes later, and after keeping the other gourmant from eating Choco, the group was inside a house in the marsh. "So… what's the problem here?" Cloud asked.
"Can't master art of eating just chasing frogs, Quina." "But, Master, frogs very good! Frogs here best! Better than Alexandria's." Quale shook its' head. "Quina, you in darkness. Need some light. World big place. Many many foods. Alexandria just one kingdom. You need go out more, eat other food."
Quina seemed fearful of the idea. "Go out into world…? Sound scary. Are there yummier frogs outside?" Quale nodded, seemingly annoyed with the frog obsession, if understanding.
"Of course! Many good frogs!" The gourmant looked at the strangers, who were… confused. "All Qus love frogs best. Eating frogs is key to growth. Qu marshes exist all over world."
"No shit." Barret said.
Quale looked at Quina. "Go eat frogs in other marshes. I promise, you get much learning."
As if understanding what Quale was going on about, Zidane asked, "You want us to take your student with us?" After receiving a nod, he answered, "Why not?"
"Will I find yummier frogs outside?" Cloud was getting annoyed, but Zidane stopped him from Meteorraining the hell out of the place. "There is plenty of stuff in the world that tastes better than frogs." Quina was amazed by the idea. "Really really!? Okay, I go with you!"
"Your world is strange."
"Don't get started, Cloud."
Later, at the Gizamaluke Grotto…
"So… this is the grotto, huh?" Cloud asked.
The place was in chaos. There were bodies throughout the passageway through the mountains, all burned, electrocuted or just plain broken. there were no survivors, bar one or two that died shortly after their arrival. "Yeah, it is. It's usually a lot less… depressing."
Zidane pulled out the portal device, before saying, "Time to send you guys on your way… see ya at a later time."
"Wait," Cloud said. "What day are you thinking of?"
"We'll meet up in Midgar. Couple of days?"
"We are not going back to that place until we're better equipped to handle Shinra's forces. More people, more equipment." Cloud explained.
"I get the idea." Zidane nodded. "Where should we meet up?"
Cloud pulled out the map, finding two locations that matched up. "Here. Junon and...Trino?"
"I've been to Trino. Good luck, guys!"
Cloud nodded, before Zidane and company activated the portal device and sent the Midgar crew to their proper place.
"Come on, guys. Let's kick the shit out of whoever did this."
There were, indeed, black mages in the grotto. But they were being assisted… by Shinra ground forces.
"You know, Rude, this place is pretty fucking awesome. You could hold a concert in this place with the acoustics."
"Reno, we're on the clock. The boss might like the idea when we're not, though."
There was the sound of rushing footsteps, before Reno and Rude turned to face…
"What the hell are you people doing here?!" Reno exclaimed, pointing at Zidane's group. After taking some time to think it over, however, he realized something. "Wait… where'd the chick and rust covered guy go?"
"You think we're going to answer that? How the hell did YOU get here?!"
"Oh, that's an easy answer." Reno held up a slimmed down version of the prototype 'portal gun'. "The interdimensional tunneling device. Mk IB, since you stole the prototype."
(BGM: Those Who Fight Harder: Advent Children version)
Freya looked at Zidane and asked, "Who are these people? How do you know them?"
Zidane shook his head and said, "Not now, Freya! I promise I'll explain it as soon as possible!"
Reno pulled out his shock stick, activating it. "I think we owe you for that shitstorm back at HQ. You're the bastards that brought Sephi boy there. So we Turks are going to kick your asses!"
Vivi, trying to be the voice of reason, exclaimed, "B-B-But we didn't know about Sephiroth until after the-"
"Quit making shit up!" Reno yelled, before he activated his Pyramid ability to trap Vivi in place. "See if you can break out of that!"
Freya, who was in between Vivi and Quina, decided to do the smart thing about this… she Jumped a fair distance up into the air.
Zidane thought it over, before he decided to try and see if the Pyramid could be broken from the outside. With a strike of his daggers, he broke Vivi out of his prison.
"Dammit! I should've made the technique stronger!" Reno yelled… just as Quina attempted a weird technique. "What the-"
"I no can eat until its weaker!" Quina exclaimed.
"FIRE!" Vivi yelled, even as a burst of fire hit Reno.
At that moment, Freya landed with her spear going into Reno's side, before she jumped back to her starting spot.
"ACK!" Reno screamed in pain. "Rude! I could use a bit of help now!"
Rude, however, was busy… fighting Zidane. The dagger-wielding thief was actively trying to kill him. And was coming pretty fucking close to doing just that.
Reno, in short order, decided a tactical retreat was in order. "Heh… you guys got lucky this time," he said, before pulling out an extra-large smoke grenade and tossing it down at the ground, activating it.
Rude, grateful for the distraction from Zidane's attempted manslaughter of him, took off with Reno and made their way to a different part of the grotto, where they activated the "interdimensional tunneling device Mk. IB".
All in all, a success for Zidane's party, even if it wasn't complete victory.
"Bastards! Get back here!" A trio of Shinra troops opened fire on them with their SMGs, followed by a large Security Bot. "Alexandria and Shinra! Worst fucking combo I've ever seen!"
Vivi, at that moment, went into Trance mode and started channeling his magic into making Thunder and lightning happen… which short-circuited the Security Bot.
This also, unfortunately, had the negative effect of drawing all the attention onto him. "Mommy…!"
Zidane and Freya began attacking the machine, hacking it apart slowly. "DIE! JUST! FUCKING! DIE!"
The soldiers, aware of what Zidane and Freya were doing, opened fire on them as well… even with normal grenades.
"Who are these people!?"
"Trust me, you'll get everything when we're NOT in mortal danger!"
"Fine! Speaking of mortal danger…" She leaped into the air, throwing her spear at one of the Shinra soldiers, killing him before throwing it into another one.
"Fall back! Fall back!" one of the soldiers called out.
"But, sir, we're stranded here!" a more mook-ish grunt yelled.
"Shut up and fall back!"
They ran deeper into the grotto, locking a door behind them.
"Zidane, explain NOW! What in the name of the Gods is going on?!" Freya demanded.
"Remember Cloud and the others? Those guys are from another world. THOSE guys that were trying to KILL us are from the same place, and they will drain us dry for PROFIT! They care nothing for life!"
"Can I eat them?" Quina asked all of a sudden.
Zidane looked at the gourmant and asked, "You sure you want a stomach ache from eating them?"
"What's a stomach ache?"
"…Never mind. Let's just get mov…ing…" Zidane picked up what appeared to be a long tube with handholds. "Hello, what are you?" He pulled a trigger, firing something at a wall, destroying a door. "HOLY SHIT!"
"Zidane, what did you do?" Freya questioned.
"I dunno, honest!" he replied, just as a group of Black Mages and a couple Shinra soldiers came into the room. "Well, other than make them mad, I guess…"
"He's got a bazooka! Take him down!" Another soldier carrying a similar weapon kneeled before taking aim.
Zidane, brash as always, fired first, taking the mages and soldiers down. "You know what, I'm keeping this thing. Might give it to rusty: he could use another weapon."
The dying soldier gurgled before Freya stabbed him in the heart.
"Freya!"
"He was a soldier, doing his duty, dishonorable as that is. I was giving him a mercy." She picked up a set of boxes full of the projectiles, handing them to Zidane. "That thing isn't magic. I think it's just a nastier crossbow."
"Hmm… what'd they call this thing? A bazooka?" Zidane asked, even as he put the projectiles away. "Well… glad we know how it works."
"Zidane, we better hurry," Vivi said, pointing at the doorway that was blasted open. "I have a bad feeling that something nasty will happen if we don't hurry."
"No shit! Shinra's here!"
Kalm
Cloud had regaled his story: Nibelheim, Sephiroth, Jenova… everything. "The last thing we need to deal with is whatever is pulling strings in Gaia and Sephiroth. I nearly died the last time I faced that son of a bitch."
"Cloud, we're gonna make the bastard pay. Him, the Shinra, and whoeva's fuckin' things up on the other side. Avalanche for the worlds, man!"
"Thanks, Barret," Cloud said with a nod. "Now… what next?"
"I'ma thinking that Mythril Mine nearby. Stuff's good for weapons and armor. Might find something there. And I need an upgrade to this thing." He held up his gun arm. "This baby's gotten me through some interestin' times. But I need an upgrade."
"You'll have no arguments from me," Cloud said. "I need to upgrade as well, I think."
"Same here," Tifa nodded in assent.
The group got ready to go, hearing a kwee from outside and children exclaiming about a chocobo. "What. The. Hell." There WAS a chocobo outside. Choco, from the other side. "How the hell-"
The bird drew its' beak to the ground, drawing a crude, but recognizable emblem. "Shinra. They developed those devices to their end?"
A kwee was their answer, but they got the idea. Shinra had a foothold on Gaia. And Choco was lucky enough to get dragged through.
"Well… can't look a gift chocobo in its beak," Cloud said. "How about we take him with us? That way-"
At that moment, Choco started digging his beak into the ground, pulling out a few pieces of jewelry that were buried all this time.
"…how the hell did Choco find that much jewelry?" Cloud asked.
The bird just kweed happily. "Ok, let's just get you a harness. You birds might be strong, but you're barely big enough to carry me, let alone all of us." The bird understood somehow, even if it hated the idea of a harness. It wanted to help anyway it could, and Cloud understood the bird's discomfort.
"Well… where'd Choco's Moogle friend go to?" Barret asked out loud.
Mene, meanwhile, was looking for Choco. "Where'd he go? I thought for sure he'd be with Zidane and his friends…"
"We'll worry about him later. Let's just get to the Mythril Mines." And thus Cloud and his party set about looking for a harness and a wagon for their chocobo friend.
Gizamaluke Grotto
Vivi knew fighting the black mages was necessary, but he hated it all the same. Zidane's apprehension was overruled by his rage, and the brutality of which he tore into the enemy showed that. Even Freya, a combat-hardened soldier, was less brutal.
"Can I eat them?" Quina asked, looking at the Black Mages hungrily.
None were entirely comfortable answering that question. "Uh… up to you."
The Qu began moving toward the bodies, moving to eat them. "We may have made a mistake in taking him with us."
"We might've had to go back there eventually, Freya. Better to just get it over with."
The deeper they went into the grotto, the more Shinra had a presence, although not in troops, but equipment. "Oh, boy. These guys are tryin' to move in."
Quina looked at one of the devices and saw something inside it. "Can I eat what's inside here?" he asked.
Zidane looked at the thing before it exploded open, unleashing a monster that had no right being in this world. And it escaped, diving into the water. "Fuck! Where is it?!"
Screaming was heard, although highly distorted by the water. And out came a winged serpent, the blob-like thing grafting itself into it. "Lord Gizamaluke! We have to get that thing off him!"
"Fuck that, lassy! I think he's screwed!"
Freya looked at Zidane for a brief moment, before slapping him upside the head with a free hand. "How can you say that?!"
The being began to mutate Gizamaluke, growing tentacles and deforming the head to such a degree that describing it would make this chapter pretty much unpublishable.
"…Son of a bitch. What's that phrase?"
"Kill it with fire?" Vivi supplied helpfully.
Zidane nodded. "Yeah. VIVI, KILL IT WITH FIRE!"
Vivi nodded, before channeling fire at the mutated Gizamaluke. "FIRA!" he cried out, causing a more deadly amount of fire magic to hit the monster.
The poor thing roared in pain, but it wasn't that easy to kill.
"I can no eat that!" Quina commented unhelpfully.
"Just stab it to death! Vivi, try lightning attacks! It used to be a water monster; electricity hurts water monsters more!"
Vivi nodded again, this time channeling his best Thunder-based spell at it. "THUNDARA!" he cried out, causing the creature to get startled with electricity of a higher order.
Zidane threw both his daggers at it, then drew the Butterfly Sword, jumping onto and cutting into the creature's flesh, attempting to sever its' spine. A girdled screech of pain signalled the creature's death, and Zidane felt sorry for Gizamaluke. The legendary creature was a guardian, twisted by servants of Brahne and Shinra before… that thing merged with it.
"Can I eat it now?" Quina asked.
"NO!" everyone else yelled.
"You want to end up like that thing?!"
"No. It no cared about yummies."
Zidane reacquired his daggers, sheathing them before he urged them onwards. "How are Cloud and the others doing?" he asked out loud.
Back with Cloud and the others…
In any other circumstance, Cloud would be impressed. But the ninja teen that attacked them just tried to steal their bird, and thus they unleashed about a fuckton of asswhooping on her ass. Barrett's words, and they fit. "You spikey-headed jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!"
She attempted to strike, but Cloud just batted her down again, without hurting her. "Oh, scared of a little girl, are we?"
"Petrified. Are you done?"
She pouted. "Fine! I'll just leave! I can take Shinra down on my own!"
Before the kunoichi could leave, however, Cloud placed an iron grip on her shoulder. "What's this about taking Shinra down?" he questioned.
"I'm from Wutai! Shinra conquered my home, and I'm takin' them down!" She smirked as she started nodding to herself. "Oh, you're fightin' them too! And you want my help, is that it?"
"Yes," Cloud answered. "Even though you'll have to talk with Barret here to join us, since he's the leader of our AVALANCHE cell."
"If the lady's fightin' the Shinra, I got no objections! What's your name, little lady?"
She posed a little with her four-sided giant throwing star. "Yuffie Kisaragi, the White Rose of Wutai, at your service! Sorry about the chocobo: thought you guys were with the bastards. I mean, he's wearing a freaking SOLDIER uniform."
Everyone looked at Cloud at that. "It still looks like a SOLDIER uniform?" he asked. Upon seeing the nods, he hung his head in dejection. "Not good…"
Choco kweed, lightly pecking at Yuffie's head. Not enough to hurt, but enough to indicate he liked her.
"So, what're you guys doin' here?" Yuffie asked.
"We're heading for Junon, but we thought we would check out the mythril mines for better equipment. We were lucky enough to run into you first."
Yuffie hummed in thought. "You don't mean to tell me you passed the mines and are going to backtrack to get there, do you?" she asked.
"Wonderful. Well, you might as well come with us, and be prepared for some weird shit."
"Define 'weird'. I'm a freaking shinobi. Weird's what I do!"
Tifa decided to be blunt. "We sometimes cross into another world called Gaia. We've got allies there helping us fight Shinra."
Yuffie was stunned for a bit, in which time Cloud asked, "And are you sure you should call yourself a 'shinobi' when the word for a female ninja is 'kunoichi'?"
Shaking her head, Yuffie answered, "Okay, you got a point… and that's really weird, too."
"Let's go." As they boarded the cart, Yuffie started complaining about their technicalities, mostly saying that shinobi was really just a catch-all term, like an Umbrella. at least it wasn't a corporation or something.
Burmecia
The place was in shambles, and that was being kind. Black mages, Alexandrian troops and a LOT of Shinra attack machines were in the city, beating the living hell out of the army.
"Okay, this is just getting out of hand," Zidane said. He prepared his daggers and started to move toward the Shinra attack machines when he noticed something headed his way from his right. "What the-?!"
A mage was charging up a spell; Thunder, if Zidane could guess. The electrical bolt shooting towards his general location confirmed it, but that didn't stop the thief from running toward the mage, throwing his two daggers into its' head. The two weapons had served him well, but they were damaged from Gizamaluke, and from what Zidane heard, that THING was a piece of Jenova. The daggers were blunt by now, so he switched to the Butterfly Sword.
Zidane looked at the Black Mage, which was now dead, before he heard a Shinra attack machine begin firing its gatling gun at him. "Oh, you've gotta-"
Dodging the fire was simple: it wasn't operated by a living being, but he was getting REALLY tired of these things damaging the city. This forced him into a Trance.
With a blast of explosive energy, Zidane destroyed the Shinra attack machine, though his Trance state was far from over. "C'mon, guys, we gotta get going!" he exclaimed.
They began moving towards the castle, as the Shinra machines had ruined the entire city, turning it into less of a maze.
"Your… company's assistance was not required. The black mages were all we needed." a female General in Alexandria's army said coldly.
Rude adjusted his sunglasses as Reno was tended to by a medic. "Look, when we made contact with your kingdom, General, the Queen asked if we could provide more manpower. You want to bitch, bitch to her. We're just the middle men."
"Why you-!" said General gripped her sword, before an imperious laugh spread throughout the area.
"Beatrix, my dear General, you mustn't let your anger towards men rule you…" Queen Brahne admonished the soldier. "After all… why do you consistently have women in your troops instead of both men and women?"
A thrown dagger between their feet was the answer they received. Beatrix turned her single eye towards the thrower, who entered the main courtyard. "The theater performer. And a kidnapper, no less."
Zidane, who had thrown the dagger to begin with, glared at Beatrix. "I could care less WHAT you think of me, lady! Allying yourself with Shinra? Attacking a kingdom that had no designs on anything but being your peaceful neighbor? YOU'RE the monsters here!"
Beatrix narrowed her single eye at Zidane. "It was not my idea to let the forces of Shinra in on this battlefield," she stated in as calm a manner as her anger would allow. "However, I was forced into the position of accepting their help… though I have no idea why you hate Shinra or even know of them."
"He knows of us through a group of terrorists that want to stop us from providing energy to the population of our world, as well as this one," Reno said from his place in the courtyard, before he was forced to shut up.
"At what cost, though?!" Zidane questioned. "You'd do nothing short of killing the planet if you had your way!"
"There's no proof of that. But I guess I'm wasting my time trying to convince you."
Zidane pulled out the Butterfly Sword. "That you are."
He lept into the air, but his strike was intercepted by Beatrix. "Unnecessary to this battle as they were, these Shinra people are our allies. To get to them, you must first get through me."
Before Zidane could strike Beatrix, however…
"My, my, what's the commotion out here for?" a male voice asked.
Zidane and the others all looked at him. Long silver hair, and a VERY revealing outfit were the man's trademark look. "Kuja, this isn't your concern."
"But it IS! The rats have fled to Cleyra. I fear the black mages won't be enough to get to the rest."
"Your creations seem to be falling behind, then," Rude commented. "It should be easy enough for us to destroy this Cleyra place… assuming you can tell us where it is."
"I'm afraid that you'd have to get past a desert in the immediate area," Kuja replied, before turning to face Zidane. "I wonder… did you bring any allies with you?"
Zidane said nothing.
"Oh, well. I already know of your alliance with that little group Avalanche. And that you can get to the other Gaia and back."
"Enough! Beatrix, rid us of them and be done with-"
Before the Queen could finish, the knight twisted and jumped to deflect a blow from a long sword, based on the katana.
(BGM: One Winged Angel - Crisis Core version)
"Who the hell are you?!" Zidane yelled at the newcomer.
Reno and Rude, however, rushed over to Zidane and Kuja and dragged them away from the new guy. "You don't stand a chance against Sephiroth!" Rude exclaimed, making sure that they knew who the guy was.
Zidane's eyes widened as the man entered the light. A black bodysuit, silver shoulder guards, long silver hair and the eyes... green and cat-like.
Kuja attempted to get Reno's hands off of him, but the Turk's grip was too strong, in spite of being injured earlier.
"I came here looking for mother. Where is she?"
Zidane, getting free from Rude's grip, spun the sword before attacking the super SOLDIER, who parried the strikes away as if they were nothing.
"You are strong, boy, but you will not impede me." He swatted Zidane back, who landed on his knees. "Where is she?"
Rude, in an attempt to get Sephiroth out of the area, answered, "She's in a grotto to the south… she should still be there."
Zidane looked at Rude, before asking, "What's the name of his mother?"
"Jenova," Rude answered. "Looks like a tentacle-type monster that has a really nasty looking head, and-"
"You mean that thing that mutated Gizamaluke was his mother?!" Zidane questioned. "They looked nothing alike!"
"You mean you destroyed the ONLY sample we had left?!"
Sephiroth was seemingly pissed at that. "So, you destroyed part of mother. You will pay for that." Masamune flashed as it approached Zidane's head, but the thief parried the strike while ducking under the blade. His blade was intercepted by Beatrix's Save the Queen, and the man actually had a hard time against her.
"Go. Get out of here. You seem to be the honorable types, in spite of your actions. I will keep him from you."
"What about you, though?!" Zidane questioned. "He's not to be taken lightly, that's for sure!"
Rude ran up to Zidane and clocked him with a rock, knocking the thief out of it for a while, thus ending his Trance state. "I'll make sure he gets out of here, along with whoever came with him," Rude told Beatrix.
Sephiroth struck five more times, but Beatrix did not budge. "Hmm. You may provide some entertainment after all." The son of Jenova continued his attacks as the others retreated.
Xamusel: Well… guess what spanner we threw into the works that were Shinra's plans, as well as Brahne's plans, too. I'll give you a hint… Masamune.
Yep, you guessed it, it's Sephiroth! Hopefully this will keep things exciting enough for everyone.
Ron: Start blaring One Winged Angel as high as you can. You know you want to.
Xamusel: Good idea… *blares One Winged Angel at 200% volume* That work?
Ron: NOT LOUD ENOUGH! (Evil laughter as ears start bleeding)
Xamusel: I'd make it louder if I could with VLC Media Player… too bad I can't. Anyway… hopefully we can keep our heads about us for the rest of the story. Still, here's the pecking order for the bad guys:
Alexandria soldier at the bottom, following the Black Mages, following the Shinra soldiers, following the average SOLDIER Third Class, following the average SOLDIER Second Class, following the average SOLDIER First Class, following Garland, following Kuja, and Sephiroth at the top of the pecking order.
Abridged Mr. Popo: I think you're forgetting someone.
Ron: FUCK! (Black mist comes out of nowhere as laughs)