Chapter Nine – Rallying the Forces of Good

Leon S. Kennedy heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who heard it from Yuffie who heard it from Reeve who told it to Cloud who told it to Cid, who told him that Vincent was in love with a girl named Claire Redfield.

And the two of them had apparently gone all the way in a sea side village during a festival, according to a friend of Yuffie's who had been passing the room and heard a woman call out Vincent's name.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that particular rumor. He was liking even less the rumors of zombies that were cropping up here and there. It was that idiot scientist, Hojo's fault. Leon was sure of it. He should have never let the moron escape. He should have sniped him when he was throwing his tizzy fit about losing Claire.

But it was a little too late for worrying about that. He opened the door to Claire's motel room, stepping in. Jill stood up. She'd traded in her blue tube top for a blue tank-top and a pair of go-go shorts. She had twin holsters strapped to her legs, a grenade belt, and a wicked looking sword across her back. "You find it, Kennedy?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Corporate HQ is by the old Temple of the Ancients. It'd take months to get there on foot or by normal means . . ."

"Tell me you've got a plan," Rebecca said. She was wearing what could only be described as a local frog suit. Leon doubted she knew how ridiculous she looked.

"We'll go by submarine and chocobo."

"You want me to travel by Big Bird?" Jill said, quirking an eyebrow. "Think again."

"Big Bird is yellow. This chocobo is black. And if you don't want to ride her, I will." Leon smiled (more or less bared his teeth). "Now let's get going."

Rebecca stuck a hand in the air. "Wait, how are we getting a sub?"

Jill patted her on the head. "My old profession."

"S.T.A.R.S.?"

"Thief," Leon said. He opened the door and headed out, Jill following, and Rebecca protesting.

Twenty-seven minutes and thirty-eight seconds later they had liberated a submarine from the docks. The person they stole it from was a busty brunette named Tifa. She swore that some guy named Cloud would get them for stealing his submarine and prize chocobo, Sakura.

Leon apologized again for a dirty fistfight, and made sure she was securely tied to the dock. Then he boarded the submarine and they took off, heading for the Temple of the Ancients. Thanks to Jill they were loaded for Tyrant – all of it stolen weaponry. But at least there was a chance they could save the world.

And hopefully when he found Claire, she wouldn't be in love with some guy named Vincent. That would really be a shame. Because he was almost sure that he loved her.

Cloud answered his phone on the first ring. "Tifa, Vincent spiked my bike. It'll take a couple of days to get it operational. I'll need you to pick me up in the sub by Rocket Town."

"Yeah, right," Tifa fumed. "Some jerks stole the sub and Sakura."

Cloud opened his mouth. Closed it. "What?" he finally asked.

"A guy in a brown jacket with a dorky hair cut and a frown like Vincent's," Tifa said. "Plus some girl in a frog suit and a wanna be Honey Bee Dancer."

"They stole my chocobo and my sub?"

"Yep," Tifa said. "And left me tied to the dock."

"Were you hurt?"

She was silent for a long time, and then sighed. "Only my pride. The guy – Kennedy – was actually really nice. He handcuffed me during the fight. Apologized and then took the keys. It's really pathetic though. I was a better fighter than him."

"I can't take the airship either. She's in for an overhaul."

"Bad timing, huh," Tifa said. "What about the Tiny Bronco? I know it's kind of slow, but it's better than walking or public transit."

"Vincent . . . took it."

"Ouch," Tifa said. "What will you do?"

"Fix my bike and head to the Chocobo Ranch," Cloud said after a long minute. "I'll have to ride Lightning."

"Okay," Tifa said. "I'll see if I can't get the guys together and find some way to get there."

"Yeah," Cloud said. "Good luck."

"You too."

He hung up without another word. He shot a dark look at Cid. "You know, this wouldn't be happening if you had just detained Vincent like I asked you to."

Cid shrugged. "The guy's in love."

"Maybe."

"Ain't no mebe about it."

Cloud started emptying the gas tank on his bike. "That girl is trouble though. If she's not careful she'll end up giving birth to the next Sephiroth. Then where will we be?"

"We'll be fine. She's with Vincent."

Cloud wasn't so sure. "From what I heard Hojo's only needs to touch her once for it to take effect. I for one don't want another Sephiroth loose."

"Me either. But she's with Vincent." Cid patted the younger blond on the back. "But on the safe side . . . maybe you better take Tifa's Lifeday present early."

"Present?"

"Yeah, it's a bike so she can go riding with you."

Cid led him to a shed and opened it. Inside was a sleeker, more feminine version of his bike. "How fast?"

"Fast as yours," Cid promised.

Cloud nodded, mounted the bike and floored it out of Rocket Town. Maybe if he was lucky he'd get to his Gold Chocobo before someone stole her too. It was getting to be a hell of a week.

Reno actually managed to stay quiet for once. Which was probably why they were able to spy on Cloud the whole time he was talking with Cid. After he left, Reno rolled onto his back. "If our Claire is in that kind of trouble, we've got to save her," he said.

"Yeah," Rude agreed, cracking his knuckles. "But the Temple isn't easy to get to. Last time we had the Airship."

"Helicopter's no good either," Reno muttered. It would run out of fuel before reaching the area.

"Can't take boat. At least not and get there with decent time."

Reno scratched his head. "Naw . . . but I got an idea." He snapped open his phone. "Yo, Elena. Wanna earn your stripes?"

"Stripes?"

"Racing stripes . . ."

"I'm listening."

Reno grinned, winking at Rude. "I need you to borrow Cloud's gold chocobo from the Stables and meet me in at the coast. Rude and I need to travel in style."

"If you think traveling on style on a big bird is . . ." Elena began.

"Hey, we don't have a lot of time. Get your egg head on it."

"Egg head?" she sputtered.

Reno hung up. Now that we got a ride, let's get to the departure point.

The two Turks got to their helicopter and flew toward their departure point.

Cloud arrived at the Chocobo stables only to be told that, sadly, someone had borrowed Lightning. "You're kidding me," he growled. "How the hell am I supposed to get to the Temple of the Ancients?"

Chocobo-Billy shrugged. "Don't know. But the girl took the chocobo east."

"Girl?"

Billy described Elena.

"A Turk? I'll bet it was Reno who put it up to her." He hurried outside, boarding Tifa's bike. It really was lighter than his, and almost seemed to fly over the ground. As he blasted toward the coast, he called Reno. Who answered, realized who it was, tried to play it cool, and failed when the kidnapped bird warked in the background.

"If you take her," Cloud threatened.

Reno hung up.

As Cloud neared the shore, he could see the Turks on his chocobo in the distance. They booked it ASAP, leaving their helicopter and Elena behind. Cloud was in such a hurry to catch up, that he didn't realize he was riding on water until he was.

He flipped Elena off, and continued after his precious Gold Chocobo, who happened to be heading directly toward the Temple of the Ancients. And it looked like he'd found a way there after all.

And so while Leon, Jill, and Rebecca peacefully made their way under water toward their destination, Cloud roared to the same place on a speeding, flying motorcycle-turned-jet-ski, Reno and Rude rode an irritated race-chocobo, and Claire and Vincent quietly made their way, getting to know one another a bit better and try and figure out exactly what kind of a relationship they were destined to have.

And tucked into his lab, Hojo had no idea who was coming for him.