Whee, part three cometh! Enjoy. Part 3: Scene 9: The Problems of Materia The winds beating on the northern crater were cold. But it wasn't just the frigid cold of a winter night, nor the blasting icyness of a snowstorm. No, this was the knifing, numbing, frozen air of a land utterly forsaken by life. Few had ever ventured up to this bleak land, where a calamity foreign to this world struck thousands of years ago and left a deep, painful wound that the planet was slowly healing from. In the center of this crater was a massive pile of rubble, created by the epic battle deep below the earth and also by the Holy materia as it blasted out through the crater. Standing at the edge of this pile of debris were two figures. Under normal light one could see the red colors of fur and cloak, but the blue-and-green gysers of Spirit Energy that spouted from cracks in the rubble gave them a surreal appearance. This place was nothing new to them. They had been here twice before, pursuing a madman bent on the annihilation of the whole world. Now, they sought that thing by which he'd been able to attempt this destruction. Or at least they would be, if that damned Yuffie hadn't run off with their Materia again. "Dammit." Vincent said, surveying the bleak mass of rock. Three weeks had passed since they'd begun their search for the Black Materia, and now Yuffie had snatched their regular Materia at the worst possible time. "Where'd she go?" Next to him, Red XIII was sniffing amongst the rocks. Suddenly his head rose, the ears perking up. "This way." he whispered, and the wolf-cat began prowling along the edge of the debris, head low, nose snuffling. They continued walking for about twenty minutes, and the scent trail led Red XIII to a hole in the rocks. Vincent pulled out a rope and a piton from his pack, tied the rope's end to the spike, and pounded the piton into the ground. With the rope secured by the spike, Vincent descended into the hole, while Red XIII made his way down by carefully jumping down a series of ledges on the walls of the vertical cavern. The bottom was a good thirty-five feet below, but they made it without incident. They began to search the cavern at the bottom carefully, and after a few minutes they'd found Yuffie, who was examining something silver on the ground. Vincent placed his hand on her shoulder, and she reflexively grabbed it with both hands, kicked her left foot into Vincent's left shin, and flipped the suprised man over her shoulder to the ground in front of her. Red XIII instantly leaped toward her, but his passage through the air made a barely perceptible sound that Yuffie caught. She spun around, still acting only on her ninja training, and caught Red's outstretched paws with her hands, and then rolled onto her back and kicked him with both feet, hurling Red XIII on top of Vincent. Then she scooped up the silver thing and began running. Then the realization of who she'd just flipped hit Yuffie. And she just ran faster. But not as fast as Red XIII. The wolf-cat made three quick, graceful bounds, and then leaped into Yuffie's back. Stricken by panic, the girl didn't even hear Red coming, and Yuffie was tossed into the dirt with the firey-red wolf-cat on her back. Vincent came up next to them, and bent over, glaring into Yuffie's face with his disturbingly not-so-human eyes. "Heh...." she smiled sheepishly. "Materia." Vincent said bluntly. "Now." "Oh, all right." Yuffie muttered. "Here." She handed Vincent a small pouch from the back of her belt, and started to rise. "Now can I-omph!" Red XIII pushed down hard on her back. "Wait." he growled. Vincent checked the bag to find that all the Materia was inside, except... "Yuffie, the Contain Materia. Where is it?" He asked her. "Contain? I don't know what you mean." She answered, sounding truthful. But ninjas were also trained in deception. Vincent glanced at Red XIII, who promptly began licking the back of Yuffie's neck. "AHHH-haha! STOP IT! Haha! THAT-haha-TICKLES! QUIT! Hahahaha!" Yuffie squirmed under Red's cuchi-cuchi torture."ALRIGHT! Haha! QUIT IT! HERE! Haha!" She handed over the Contain Materia. "That's better." Vincent said, double-checking the bag of Materia. Then he noticed the silvery thing, which Yuffie had dropped when Red pounced on her. "What's this?" He picked it up and was astounded at its beauty. It seemed to be a shurieken of some sort, but it had only two blades. These blades stuck out in opposite directions, and were crafted into the form of a pair of Oriental-style dragon heads. Their necks twisted and curved back and forth, and Vincent could tell that the blades were extremely sharp. "That's Altron." Yuffie replied as Red XIII finally got off her back and she stood up. "Altron?" Red XIII said. "It means 'two-headed dragon'."Yuffie answered. "It's a legendary weapon that was used by the greatest ninja master in Wutai, but its been lost for centuries. I found it when I fell-er, entered this cave." "Hm." Vincent shrugged and tossed the masterwork shurieken back to Yuffie, then turned to leave. "Let's get out of here. We have to find the Black Materia." He spun around and glared at Yuffie. "And don't think you'll get off that easily. It's just that we still need your help to find a way into the depths of this rubble-strewn crater." Yuffie stuck out her tongue at Vincent when he turned back, and began to follow him out of the cave. But suddenly Vincent flopped down to the ground and lay still. Red XIII and Yuffie ran to his side and tried to rouse him. "Vincent!" Red shouted. He didn't react at all, and they could have sworn he was dead were it not for the rythmic rise and fall of his chest. "VINCENT!" Yuffie shouted into his ear. "VINCENTVINCENTVINCENTVINCENTVINCENT!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!" There was no response for several minutes, in spite of all their shouting. Then Yuffie tried her trump card. "WAKE UP OR YOUR MATERIA IS MINE!!!!!" He sat up so quickly that Yuffie was knocked to the floor. "Hey, that worked better than I thought it would!" she said as she sat back up. Vincent was panting heavily, and shaking all over. "L...Lucr...Lucrecia..." he murmured. He clutched his gauntleted hand to his chest. "Yes." he said with no explaination whatsoever, and jumped to his feet. "What happened?" Red XIII asked Vincent as they followed him out of the cave. "The Forgotten Capital. We must go there. The Black Materia...." Vincent's hand clenched into a fist again. "We won't find it here. Or anywhere else on the Planet for thatmatter." "Then its safe?" Yuffie asked with some dissapointment. "No. Far from that." Vincent sighed. "I'm afraid that we failed. In fact....we probably were doomed to failure from the start. But at the Forgotten Capital, maybe we can try there." "Uhh, excuse me," Yuffie interjected, "but, WHAT THE HELL are you talking about?" "Lucrecia...spoke to me. She said the Black Materia is not here anymore. Then she told me to go to the Forgotten Capital. 'The next battle will be waged elsewhere. To get there, you must go to the home of the Cetra.' is what she said. And that is where I'll go." Then Vincent walked off towards the entrance. "I'll never understand him." muttered Yuffie. Red XIII shrugged(as best he could) and they followed the ex-Turk out of the cavern. * * * * * Scene 10: Love, Gunblades, and Boxer Shorts Rinoa was in an even more cheerful mood than normal this morning. The weather was perfect, the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming,(some due to her own Sorceress powers) and all the other happy stuff that occured during spring was arriving. The new SeeDs had fit in well over the last few weeks, and everyone in Garden was perking up as springtime was rolling around, and Rinoa was no exception. She was one of the happiest people there, with perhaps only Squall or Zell being in an even better mood than her. After she'd gotten dressed, Rinoa opened her window and leaned out, gazing upon the rising sun and the awakening world. Her smile grew wider, and she thought of Squall, probably still asleep in his room. As Rinoa thought of the love of her life, she began singing a song that Squall had said fit her perfectly, and Rinoa was inclined to agree. "You Get Me" by Michelle Branch So I'm a little left of center I'm a little out of tune some say I'm paranormal so I'll just bend their spoon Who wants to be ordinary in a crazy, mixed-up world I don't care what they're sayin' as long as I'm your girl Hey, you are on my side And they, they just roll their eyes You get me When nobody understands You come and take the chance, baby you get me you look inside my wild mind never knowing what you'll find still you want me all the time Yeah, you do yeah, you get me So what if I see the sunshine In the pouring rain Some people think I'm crazy But you say its okay You've seen my secret garden where all my flowers grow In my imagination anything goes I, I am all you want They, they just read me wrong You get me When nobody understands you come and hold my hand, baby you get me You look inside my wild mind Never knowing what you'll find still you want me all the time Yeah, you do 'cause you get me Hey, you are on my side They, they just roll their eyes Yeah, yeah, yeah 'Cause you get me when nobody understands you come and take the chance, baby You get me When none of the pieces fit You make sense of it You get me You look inside my wild mind Never knowing what you'll find And still I want you all the time Yeah, I do 'Cause you get me Yeah, oh, yeah, oh Casting one last joyous look onto the new day, Rinoa walked over to Squall's dorm, right next to hers, fully expecting him to be asleep. She cracked open the door, and saw that Squall was indeed still sleeping, and was probably wearing just his boxers, judging from the fact that he had no shirt on. Rinoa creeped silently into the room, and leaned over Squall, putting her face inches from his. His face was peaceful and calm, as it always was when he slept. "Squall...." She murmured softly but insistently. "Squall....wake up....Squall...." Squall's eyes slowly opened, and immediately focused on Rinoa's face, right in front of him. "AH!" Squall yelped, and reflexively swatted at Rinoa with his pillow. Rinoa jumped away quickly, laughing. "That wasn't very nice." Rinoa scolded him as he sat up in bed. Squall gave her an angry glare. "Niether is sneaking into my room when I'm just wearing my boxers." he shot back while pulling the sheets up to cover his chest. "Oh, really?" Rinoa said, leaning to the side get a better view of Squall's exposed backside. "Hey!" he complained, twisting to keep his back covered. Rinoa took a quick step forward and snatched the sheet out of Squall's hands and got a good look at his lean, muscular chest. "Oh, nice bod." she said, inspecting it. "Gimme back the sheet!" Squall growled, standing up and diving forward. Rinoa sidestepped easily and stuck a foot out, and Squall fell flat on his face. "Your backside doesn't look too bad either." Rinoa commented from her new vantage point. Squall jumped to his feet, crossed his arms and glared at Rinoa again. "Maybe you could walk around Garden in just your boxers, and see what the reaction would be." Rinoa suggested. Squall made a quick advance, his right hand going for the sheet. Rinoa moved it away, but while she focused on Squall's right hand, his left swung around and wrapped around her waist. The sheet was forgotten as Squall pulled Rinoa into a passionate kiss. She dropped the sheet and enfolded Squall in her arms, and they spent what seemed like an eternity in each other's grasp. "Getting busy on campus is against regulations." a voice suddenly said from the direction of the door. Squall and Rinoa broke away and looked to the doorway to see Selphie standing there, wearing Irvine's cowboy hat and giving them a stern look. Behind her was Irvine himself, pointing his camcorder at the couple. "Yeah," he joined in,"And you didn't even shut the door. Tsk tsk." "What should the punishment be?" Selphie asked. "Circulation of photos of Squall's rear would be appropriate. I bet all the girls will hang them up in their lockers next to Squall's portrait. But below mine, of course." Irvine flashed his typical cocky grin. Squall's face turned as red as an apple, but he just stood there, crossing his arms and looking as serious as he could in his boxers. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked. Selphie gave him one of her big grins. "Aside from collecting images of all SeeDs in their undies-" " we've gotten Nida, Xu, myself, Zell, Quistis, and Selphie so far." Irvine broke in. "-we were just heading for the Quad, since we're off duty today, and heard you two arguing." "But, alas," Irvine added, "all we found when we arrived was Squall and Rinoa kissing, yet again. Same old, same old. But if you two had actually been going at it-" "Selphie would get to keep your hat, since you wouldn't have a head to put it on." Squall finished for him. "See!" Irvine said to Rinoa. "My ludicrously witty statements have rubbed off on Mr. Brick Wall SeeD after all!" Everyone laughed at that. Even Squall chuckled. "Well," Selphie said, "we'll see you at the Quad. Come on Irvy." She grabbed Irvine's hand. "Uhh, bye!" was all Irvine got off before he was dragged out the door. Squall sighed and turned back to Rinoa. He shrugged. "Whatever." they both said at once, and smiled. "Oh!" Selphie said, her head appearing through the doorway again. "One last thing, Squall. Nice butt." Squall's face reddened even further, and Selphie vanished. "Grow up." Squall muttered, shaking his head. "Awww, they're just kids." Rinoa said. "Like you should be. We're not even 19 yet. Come on, let's go have some fun at the Quad." "Ok. But not in my boxers." Squall answered, smiling. "Go on, I'll be out in a moment." Rinoa stepped out into the hallway, and Squall got dressed. The last thing he did was clip his gunblade to his belts. Squall ran a hand along the blue-white, semi-transparent blade. The last time he and Seifer trained, he'd had to deal with the Revolver. Squall wondered how he'd do against Lionheart this time. Squall cast a glance to his dresser. He pulled out of one of the drawers a small pouch, the same one Zell had given to him a few weeks back. He looked at it for a moment. Nah, Squall thought, not just yet. Maybe when he and Rinoa were alone...that would be better. Squall stepped outside, where Rinoa was waiting with Angelo, and they headed towards the Quad. Squall and Rinoa had been walking for only a few minutes when they ran into Kura Orician, who was clearly looking for them. And with her, like a giant musclebound shadow, was Syric, still wearing his eye-catching dragon helmet and armor. "Sorceress Rinoa." Kura said respectfully as she approached them. "I was wondering if, well..." she glanced at Squall, brushing a blond forelock out of her eye. "...can we talk alone?" Rinoa looked puzzled, but nodded. "Sure." she said. "Just a sec, okay Squall?" Squall nodded, and the two girls walked a few paces away and began talking. Squall wondered what they were talking about, but was suddenly found himself overshadowed by the presence of Syric as the huge man walked up next to him. "It's a tough job to be a Sorceress's knight." the tall man rumbled. Squall nodded. "Yeah." he replied. They watched for a minute as Rinoa and Kura continued chatting. "Kura has always been fascinated by Sorceresses." Syric said. "Personally, though, I'm more interested in the history of their knights." "Really? What were they like?" Squall asked. "They were brave, devoted, capable warriors." Syric looked down towards Squall. "Much like yourself. They formed a special bond with their Sorceress, and it wasn't uncommon for a Sorceress and her knight to fall in love." Squall smiled. "Really." he said. Syric nodded. "In many ways, I feel like I am a knight myself. Kura is a still a child, innocent and naive. I feel like its my job to protect her." "Yeah, but you're a kid too." Squall pointed out. Syric sighed and his shoulders slumped slightly. "Even so, I leel like I'm a hundred." Squall looked into the eyes behind the helmet. Within those intense black eyes, Squall saw a reflection of what he'd seen in his own whenever he looked in the mirror. Eyes that had experience that belied the age of their owner. Syric had seen a lot over his short life, Squall saw, much like himself. Syric suddenly straightened, and Squall saw Rinoa and Kura coming back. "Hey, Squall," Rinoa said. "Kura's doing some research on Sorceresses, and she wanted me to help her, considering I'm one myself. We'll be busy for a while, and-" "Sure," Squall interrupted. "I was going to get in some gunblade practice with Seifer anyway." Rinoa took on an expression of concern, then reached up and scratched Squall's scar. "If Seifer gives you another scar, I'll kill him. This one's cool enough on you." Squall smiled and kissed Rinoa on the forehead. "See you later." he whispered. Rinoa grinned and kissed him back. The happy, compassionate Squall who Rinoa had kissed an hour ago was nowhere to be seen as Squall held the grip of Lionheart, fifteen feet away from Seifer's Hyperion. Squall and Seifer stood in the circle of rocks north of Balamb Garden where they'd always trained, their blades thrust into the dirt according to the traditional dueling rules of all noble swordsmen. They stood facing each other for several minutes, doing nothing but holding their gunblades. Then suddenly, as if by some unheard signal, both warriors drew their gunblades from the ground and charged. Their blades danced back and forth, whirling, cutting, parrying and thrusting, all in a beautiful display of fighting prowess and natural talent that both Squall and Seifer posessed. Then, by some silent, mutual agreement, both fighters stopped, and Squall, holding his gunblade in his normal two-handed grip, and Seifer, wielding his in his usual one-handed fencing style, began circling each other. "So," Seifer said,"I see you still haven't lost your touch." "And kicking back in Esthar hasn't dulled your edge either," Squall replied. Then they were at it again. This time, though, Squall made several deft cuts that unbalanced Seifer, and Squall, using a leg sweep that Zell had taught him, knocked Seifer's legs out from under him. "Then again," Squall said, "you can't fight so well when you're distracted." Seifer made a noise of exasperation and leaped to his feet. "What do you mean by that?!" he answered, slashing away. Squall blocked the anger- fueled cut easily. "Come on, Seifer, we all know you have this huge crush on Kura. It's so obvious even I can tell." Seifer looked embarrassed for a moment, then caught himself. He shrugged. "So I like her." Then Seifer resumed attacking Squall. As their blades clashed, he asked Squall,"When'd you first find out?" "Back at the graduation party," Squall replied, blocking and countering. "I saw the expression on your face when you were dancing with Kura." "Way back then?" Seifer asked. Squall nodded. "Well, to let you know," Seifer continued, pausing the fight. "It wasn't like love at first sight or anything. About, maybe, three months back I was on a mission for Esthar special ops. I was on a deep cover assignment to Centra Garden. (Author's note: remember the prolouge? That's the new Garden that was built and roams the Centra continent like Balamb once did.) I was pursuing a Galbadian terrorist, and spent a few weeks there tracking him down. They gave me a false ID, one of those face-masks that gives you a whole new appearance, a voice changing module, everything. Kura was one of the students, and we got to know each other. It was then that I kind of fell for her." Seifer scratched the back of his head. "When I got back, I heard she was going to Balamb to become a SeeD, so I kind of dropped by, this time as the real me." "Hm." Squall said. So that explained it. He raised Lionheart again, preparing to continue the training. But Seifer just shook his head. "Nah. Like you said, can't get in any good practice while I'm distracted. Maybe sometime else." Seifer sheathed Hyperion and walked back in the direction of Garden. "Later." Squall watched him for a moment, then shrugged and clipped Lionheart to his belts, and followed Seifer back to Garden. * * * * * Scene 11:The Nightmare of the Future Cloud listened to the familiar sounds of the Highwind's cockpit during flight. The combination of air whistling past the cockpit, the faint rumble of the laboring engines, and the hum of consoles and electronics all combined together to create a strangely soothing noise. A noise that easily put Cid Highwind to sleep. Cloud again marveled at how quickly Cid went to dreamland when they were in flight. And it was a good thing Cid was sleeping, too, since Cloud and Barret intended to do something he would violently object to. Cid hated for the Highwind to land anywhere but a flat, grassy plain, and had repeatedly prevented them from landing closer to their destination simply because "the ground looks too rough." Now, Cloud intended to set the Highwind down in the middle of the Forgotten City, and he would need Cid asleep for that to work. Cloud glanced over to the pilot and, catching his eye, nodded. The pilot gingerly set the Highwind down in what was once a plaza in the vast city, and Cloud let out a breath of relief when the huge airship landed without a hitch. "Okay, Barret, wake him up." Cloud said. Barret strode over to Cid and tapped him on the head. "Yo, wake up, Cid. We're here." Cid's eyes popped open, and he yawned. "Crap, Barret. Woke me up in the middle of a great dream." He hopped up out of his chair and looked out the foward window. Cloud held his breath, waiting for the enraged outburst. Cid walked up to the pilot, and after checking the diagnostics, smiled and patted the flunkie on the shoulder. "Good job." he said, then walked out of the cockpit. Cloud relaxed. Maybe he wasn't pissed after all. "Oh, Cloud." Cid called from the hallway. "Do that again and I'll shove my spear up your ass." Cloud and Barret burst out laughing, and followed the gruff old pilot outside to the observation deck. Waiting for them were Tifa, Reeve (with Cait Sith, of course), and Bugenhagen. "So," Cid began,"Why'd we fly all the way out here, and why'd you make my pilot land in the middle of the frickin' city?" Cloud suddenly looked troubled. He paused for a moment, then finally spoke. "I had a dream. No, more like a nightmare. I...saw a creature of pure evil. A black shadow. I couldn't see it's features, but I knew, in my heart, that it was...Jenova." "Jenova!?" Barret shouted. "That spook that was Sephiroth's momma? Didn't we kick her ass?" "Barret, be quiet." Tifa said. "Listen to Cloud." Barret shut up and resumed listening. "Thanks." Cloud said. "Jenova conjured something...an evil even darker, to which Jenova was just a shadow. This monster then raised an arm to the sky, and I looked up to see Meteor." Cloud shuddered. "Then, I saw from space, Meteor was falling. But, not on this world. It was somewhere else." "You mean a whole 'nother planet?" Barret exclaimed. Cloud nodded. "I'm sure the Planet was telling me that Jenova was threatening another world, just like ours. After I woke up, I told Tifa and Bugenhagen, and he suggested getting everyone together and come here." "But Jenova's dead." Reeve pointed out. Then Bugenhagen began to laugh. "Ho Ho Hoooo. Jenova is hard to kill. She is very clever. It is entirely possible she could have survived, despite all your efforts, and those of the Planet." He shook his head. "But a more important question is, how does one summon Meteor?" "The Black Materia." Cloud replied instantly. Then he realized what Bugenhagen meant. "That's right! Vincent was searching for it." "In vain." said a voice. They turned to where the voice came from, and Vincent, Yuffie, and Red XIII leaped onto the observation deck. "It is no longer here." "What?!" Cid cried. "As in, it's no longer here." Yuffie replied. Vincent then explained what had happened on the crater. "Crap." Cloud said. "We have to stop Jenova. I'm sure she has the Materia." "Um, Cloud?" Tifa broke in. "We have one tiny problem. How do we reach this other world?" "Ho ho." Bugenhagen said. "Simple. The Planet knows how." "Huh?" Barret said, confused. "What the hell you talkin' about?" Bugenhagen pointed to the titantic shell structure, within which they'd descended to the Water Altar where Aeris died. "In there." he said, and began floating in that direction. Cloud shrugged. "Why not?" he asked. Red XIII nodded. "Quickly!" the wolf-cat said. "Follow Grandfather!" Cloud and his friends immediately rushed after Bugenhagen. They descended to the Water Altar deep below the ground, and when they arrived at the ruined holy site where Aeris sacrificed herself, they stopped. "Now what?" Cid asked impatiently. they stood around for several minutes, but neither Bugenhagen or anyone else said anything. Cloud walked over to the edge, and looked down into the pure, deep blue waters. He thought he felt a familiar presence. Faint and almost imperceptable, but he knew it was there. No, not it. Her. "Aeris..." Cloud whispered. The others looked up at him. Then they noticed something. The blue waters turned green. Suddenly, shooting up all around them were tendrils of energy. Pure, living streams of green energy. The Lifestream. "Holy Sh-!" Cid muttered, and his thoughts were mirrored on everyone else's minds as the narrow streams of Spirit Energy flowed out, growing quickly into massive waves of living power. Outside, the flunkies aboard the Highwind saw the pure green energy surround the entire Forgotten City, and if they hadn't witnessed the battle between Meteor and the Planet's combined might of Holy and this same Lifestream, they would have run like hell. As it was, they were almost peeing in their pants, as the energy completely engulfed the city and the Highwind. Far away, in Midgar, the temporary head of Shinra in Reeve's absence looked out the window of the renovated Shinra Building and saw the northern horizon glow green. Around the world, people looked north, sensing the Planet's whole will focused there. Suddenly, a massive ball of green energy rocketed into the sky, flying at a seemingly impossible speed. And where the Forgotten City once stood, there was only a crater, gushing with Spirit Energy as the Planet moved to quickly heal the self-inflicted wound. "WHERE THE HELL WE GOIN'!?!?!?!?!?!" Barret, Cid, and Yuffie all screamed at once as they saw through the green haze the rapidly retreating Planet. "T,t,this is impossible!" Cid said, watching the stars streak past. Suddenly they were engulfed in a tunnel of pure whiteness, and were speeding faster than the speed of light towards their destination. Squall's world, where Jenova was getting stronger every hour. End of Part three. Booya. That one was longer than expected too. i think all my fanfics will be long though. Oh, well. e-mail me, now! NOWNOWNOWNOWNOW!!!!!!!! Peptuck3@aol.com I need justification that SOMEBODY reads this piece of crap!