A/N: Update time already huh? I know what most of you were thinking. WTF took you so long? Well, to tell you the truth…
Squall: Like hell he will…
ClanCrusher: Shut up. Anyways, a while back, some aliens came to earth with the intention of conquering it. After a long hard drawn out and ridiculously pointless battle, I was able to drive off the aliens with my brother's smelly underwear. And that's what took me so long to update.
Squall: You don't even have a brother.
ClanCrusher: …
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"How long will it be before we reach shore?" asked Irvine.
"20 minutes," responded Quistis.
Squall's friends were a far cry from their usual attitudes.
Irvine had his custom rifle loaded and primed, carrying it over one shoulder, his eyes alert.
Selphie had changed into her seed uniform, which was better suited for combat then her usual attire. Her nun-chucks were draped across her shoulders ready to be called into action in a moment's notice.
Rinoa was checking over her magic stores for the third time, prepping them to be cast instantly.
Zell was also strangely quiet, seeming to mentally prepare himself for the task ahead, rather than make jokes and goof off.
Quistis was in full 'instructor mode' with her mind completely focused on the task that was coming.
"Man, what's gotten into you guys?"
Everyone turned to face Seifer. It was kind of surprising that he had volunteered to come in the first place, but by his reasoning, "anything that could take out the communications tower would be a worthy fight."
"I dunno," said Zell offhandedly, "I think I'm just gearing myself for the worst case scenario."
"Puh-lease," scoffed Seifer, "Were talking about the world hero, our commander. I'd be more worried about you guys."
"And why's that?" asked Quistis incredulously.
"That guy just lived through an ice storm, a plane crash, an avalanche, the tower explosion and god knows what else. I don't think you'd be able to handle that."
No one bothered to say anything. Instead, all of them turned towards the fast approaching land.
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The harpy stood stock still, not even looking down at the gunblade that was now sticking out of her chest.
SHINK!
In one swift movement Wedge pulled the gunblade from the Sirens body, then made a horizontal slice to behead her completely.
Shouldering the gunblade, Wedge calmly walked over to where Squall was lying, bloody and bruised, "You know, for once I can't really see how this could possibly be your fault."
"Well…that's good I guess," Squall was abruptly cut off as the pain all over his body made itself known.
"Keep still, you're bleeding pretty bad."
"I…have…cure…" he told Wedge, the words coming in between laborious breaths, "Draw it…from me…"
Reaching past Squall's defenses on his magic, Wedge carefully drew out the healing magic and used it on him, his superficial wounds healing rapidly and the bruises fading into healthy skin.
"I can't fix your broken arm. Something about that harpy's dark energy is fighting back against the healing magic."
"Stomach…hurts…"
Wedge thought for a second before drawing scan magic out from Squall's stock and using it on him, only to find…
"Squall! You have an internal cut!"
As if to punctuate his statement, the seed started hacking and coughing, spitting up blood all over Wedge's uniform. It was a credit to the soldier that he didn't even flinch.
"I'm…sorry Squall. There's nothing I can do about it."
"Its…ok…you tried." This was followed by another round of coughing. When he finally stopped, he continued, "Tell…Shiva…sorry."
"This is the part where I come in."
Wedge stood up shocked, and turned around to come face to face with the Guardian Force Siren.
Siren was easily the most beautiful GF that Wedge, or anyone else for that matter, had seen. She had two golden wings, tipped with purple on the ends, protruding from her head while the same golden colored hair ran down her back.
The body of the Siren couldn't have been more exposed if she had tried. Aside from two seashells covering her breasts and another pair covering her lower section, the siren was completely naked.
Stepping carefully over the rocks, the Siren brought her harp out from behind her back and began to play, walking towards Squall.
The Seed soldier propped himself painfully on his good arm and looked as the siren continued to walk towards him playing a beautiful, indescribable melody. Energy started flowing from the harp and into Squall's body.
And then, his whole body began to heal, and not just his wounds either. His internal cuts began to heal themselves and his broken arm reset itself. But it didn't stop there. All this time the Siren had been walking towards him and now she knelt right next to him. Slowly with a glowing green finger, Siren traced the scar on Squall's forehead.
Confused, Squall reached his hand up to his head and felt…nothing?
"You…you got rid of my scar?"
Smiling, Siren nodded at him. Offering him a hand, Squall took it and stood up, his body feeling 100.
"SIREN!"
The shout was the only warning Siren got before she was tackled by a blue blur in a fierce bear hug.
"Shiva? How on earth did you get free?"
"The same way you did, Squall over there helped me by defeating the monster my soul was trapped in."
"So I guess that I have you to thank for this then?" she asked turning her head towards Squall.
The mercenary shrugged his shoulders unconcerned, "You saved my life, and I freed you. Seems like a fair trade to me."
"Nonsense, it's partly my fault why I had to save you in the first place."
Gently freeing herself from her sister's death embrace, the siren began walking towards Squall again.
"Um…what are you MPHHPH!"
Nearly 10 years of training to become a Seed and another two years of traveling and fighting abroad could not prepare Squall for this situation. The Siren had come up and kissed him right on the lips, her tongue darting past Squall's non-existent, and shattered defenses.
"H…hey what are you doing?" shouted Shiva.
Siren continued the kiss for a few more moments before answering her, "I'm just thanking my rescuer."
"Um…guys?" cut in Wedge uncertainly.
"That doesn't mean you can just go lip locking with him! You barely know him!"
"So does that mean you can do it since you do know him?"
"Um…hey guys?"
"That's not the point!"
"Then what is your point?"
"My point is…well…um…"
"GUYS!"
Suddenly everyone turned and stared at Wedge.
"Um, there are people coming, so unless you want to be seen…"
Siren and Shiva vanished, leaving Wedge and Squall standing alone on the pile of rubble.
"So uh…you wanna tell me what the hell this is all about?"
"We'd like to know that too." Squall's gang had arrived, and Seifer was in front.
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Squall! You need to get everyone down from the mountain.
Why?
You remember how you and Shiva had to wait out an ice storm when you freed her?
Yeah. She said that she caused it because she had a power buildup and…oh s#+
Hurry.
"Damn man," said Seifer walking up to Squall, "From the way the rumors were going we thought you'd be dead twice over by now."
"Well, that wasn't too far off," he shrugged even as the rest of his group had crested the hill.
"Definitely your handiwork Squall," commented Zell, looking around at the metal and rocks strewn about everywhere, "Glad to see you haven't lost your touch."
"I'm just glad that your dad insured the Ragnarock," Said Quistis, cresting the hill.
"Um guys, we need to get off the mountain, right now." He hoped that he put enough urgency into his voice to get them to follow him without question.
No such luck.
"Hey partner, what's the rush? We just climbed all the way up here and were not climbing down without an explanation."
Squall, hurry! We only have a few more minutes before the discharge!
Squall reached out and took the gunblade from Wedge, putting it back in the holster on his back, "There will be time for that later. We need to go now."
"And why's that?" asked Rinoa, "What's so bloody secret that you can't tell us about it huh?"
Squall!
I'm trying!
And then, an absolutely ridiculous idea came to Squall's mind. So crazy, that it could actually work.
"Well, I'd tell you but…" everyone listened closely as Squall softened his voice, hanging on to his every word, "You have to catch me first."
With that, Squall called upon the power of both GF's and leaped over their heads, running down the mountain at full speed.
Selphie sweatdropped as everyone else picked themselves up from the massive facefault, "I think our commander's gone crazy."
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They'll have to catch you first? Where the hell did you pull that from?
Well it worked didn't it?
Running behind him was Wedge, Seifer, and the rest of his group. Fortunately, thanks to the Siren's treatment, Squall was nearly at full power while his friends were still tired from their climb up the mountain.
Finally, the group came to the bridge connecting the town's main square and the mountain.
This should be far enough, said the Siren, The effects of the adrenaline boost I gave you should be wearing off right about now too.
Right on cue, Squall's legs collapsed out from under him.
The hell? I thought you healed me!
I did, but you always need to rest after a healing to let it set in. What I gave you was a little boost so that you could get off the mountain before things got ugly.
"Alright Squall, we caught you. Now tell us what's going on."
Breathing heavily, Squall weakly raised a hand and pointed at the top of the mountain. Everyone followed his finger.
In his life, Squall had seen many explosions, every one of them loud and colorful. This explosion was neither of those.
For one second, all the noise around them stopped, as if their ears didn't register anything. Then, there was a huge distortion in the air, like rippling heat waves, starting at the top of the mountain and traveling downwards towards the base.
And then, the entire mountain blew up.
Sound returned in a rush as enormous rocks began to fall all around them, miraculously missing the bridge and the people on it. The entire scene of destruction only lasted a few minutes but in the eyes of the observers it seemed to last an eternity.
As the last of the rocks laid to rest in the pile of rubble that used to be the mountain, everyone turned back towards the Seed, shocked expressions on their faces. Squall only gave them a small smirk before passing out completely.
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Squall leaned back in the armchair he had envisioned for himself while Shiva and Siren reclined on a couch in front of him. There was a pleasant fire going in the fireplace in the room, making the entire affair quite comfortable.
"Well," said Squall nonchalant, "That could have gone better."
"Really? How so?" Asked the Siren, "After all, you did free me."
"Well, to tack on to my extensive damage list, I've caused a whiteout in Shumi Village, crashed an insanely expensive airship on the Dollet beach, destroyed the communications tower which belonged to our worst enemies, and blew up a god damn mountain. I don't know about you Shiva, but I think our so called 'secrecy' has been blown to hell."
"No one has seen us though," put in Shiva, "That's something."
"Except Wedge, and he's duty bound to report it to his superior officer, and it's only a matter of time before Galbadia comes knocking on Balamb's door, demanding my head on a platter."
"Do you think that you need to silence him?" asked Shiva suddenly.
Although it surprised Squall that Shiva was the one who had asked him, Squall had already thought about it, "No. I'm going to make Wedge an offer he can't refuse."
"It had better work," put in Siren, "He may have saved your life but he is insignificant compared to the rest of the world."
"If you cannot guarantee his silence," continued Shiva, "Then we will silence him for you."
Although anyone looking at Squall wouldn't have noticed it, the Seed felt an involuntary shiver go down his spine. These women were serious. Deadly serious.
"You won't have to," assured Squall, "Now I'd really like to get some rest before everyone else tries to pound the story out of me."
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For the first time in his life, Wedge was able to sleep in. Every day he had been in the Glabadian army, his life was lived from one boring day of guard duty to the next, waking up early and going to bed late.
But now, the communication tower wasn't even there anymore. If HQ wanted him to guard a pile of rubble then they could stick it where the sun don't shine. He earned his rest.
"Hey Wedge, you up?"
God damnit, just let me sleep for once.
Then he realized who the voice belonged to.
"Squall? Is that you?"
"We need to talk. Get your stuff together."
The soldier really didn't want to get out of bed, but if Squall was willing to talk then maybe he could get some answers to the questions that he had.
Wedge followed Squall out of the infirmary and onto the beach. It wasn't even 5:00 AM and the whole city was quiet, the shoreline deserted.
"So are you going to answer my questions now? Like what the hell I stabbed up there?"
"I'll answer your questions in a bit, but first I have a couple questions to ask you."
Despite his impatience, Wedge bit back his scathing remarks, "Okay, shoot."
"Now that you've messed up on your latest assignment, what do you plan on doing now?"
Wedge shrugged, "Quit the military and find a job somewhere I guess. I heard Esthar had some openings for soldiers and people with military training. What's the other question?"
"My other question is," Squall withdrew a small envelope he had prepared earlier that morning, "Do you want a job at Balamb Garden?" Casually, he tossed the envelope at Wedge who caught it out of the air.
Wedge, opened the envelope with shaking fingers. Inside was a letter of recommendation to headmaster Cid, along with an application for employment, "A job? But…why? I worked for the enemy."
"Two reasons. It is completely my fault that you're jobless right now and I feel kinda guilty," he admitted, "But the second, it because I think that you could be useful to us."
Wedge carefully sealed the envelope again before speaking, "How? I'm just a private…well I'm not even that anymore."
"You had to do something to be promoted to commander in chief to Biggs. Not to mention you hold the knowledge of all the tactics, strategies and training. I believe that making you a squad leader will be very beneficial to the garden as a whole."
The ex-private of the Galbadian army looked at the Seed commander with new respect, "I…I'll try not to let you down…sir." He added as an afterthought.
Squall merely saluted the new recruit and walked away.
Then Wedge realized something, "H-hey! What about my questions?" But Squall was already gone.
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At the mayor's office…
"Well, I suppose I should thank you," said the mayor cheerfully as he sat across from Squall.
"Why's that sir?" asked Squall genuinely confused.
"Now that that mountain is out of the way, we have more room for housing development along the beach. We've recently had a population upsurge but we didn't have any room to expand, but with a few renovations, we can sell the land you made as prime real estate. You turned the whole mountain into a plain."
Well isn't that lucky? Thought Siren,
"So…you're not angry about the communications tower being destroyed?"
The mayor let out a heartfelt laugh, "Why should I be? Its not like it belonged to me in the first place. Drink?" The politician had withdrawn a bottle from his desk full of amber liquid.
"No thanks. I don't take spirits. It turns me into someone I don't like."
The mayor nodded understandingly before pouring himself a glass, "I don't suppose that you could level the other mountain for us too? We could turn this place into a prime beach resort."
Who knows? Thought Shiva with a hint of mirth, if we find another GF in the other mountain…
I'd rather not go through this again.
You didn't like my kiss? Asked Siren innocently.
Squall mentally shut up.
"I won't bother asking you about your missions. I know all about the 'Top Secret' work and all that, but do you think that you'll be causing any more damage here?"
"No sir, I think my work is pretty much done. I'm leaving with the Esthar cleaning crew as soon as they show up."
The talk continued for a while, the mayor asking about how things were going on outside of his neck of the woods and other small talk like that. Finally, after extending an invitation to him to come back anytime, the mayor left to publicly address the town about the recent incident.
Picking up the phone on the mayors desk, Squall steeled himself dialed Headmaster Cid.
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1 hour later…
The mayor walked back into his office to find Squall still sitting in his "guest" chair. His phone was off the hook and resting on the polished desk.
"You're still here?" asked the Mayor puzzled.
"Yeah."
"Are you…waiting for something?"
"Yeah."
"And what are you waiting for?" demanded the mayor, slightly annoyed.
"For my boss to finish," At this Squall pointed at the receiver. Still puzzled the mayor picked up the phone and placed it to his ear…
…only to suddenly drop it as his eardrum nearly got blown out. Staring at the phone on the desk for a few seconds, the mayor turned to Squall.
"How long has he been at it?"
"Bout an hour now."
The mayor checked his watch.
"Wanna go have lunch?"
"Sure."
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A/N: And there you have it. Not a lot of action, more like the calm before the storm. Please leave a review before you hit the back button on your browser.
