S'up? Peptuck3 here, giving you another load of bullcrap I call fanfiction. Enjoy. Ahhh, finally, Part 5. I've been wanting to do this part since the begining of the fanfic, since this is where things really start getting good! Action, romance, fighting, and the point where Squall and Cloud first meet! Booya! Author's notes: Remember that little plot that Squall and Zell were doing waaaay back at the begining? Don't forget about it because I'll get to where its revealed in a later part of the whole fanfic. Also, in this part you get a peek at what Syric looks like under his helmet. And remember, Bugenhagen is still on the Highwind. I just haven't found a good place to stick him in yet. Be forwarned, however: This fanfic is really, really long. It's almost like I'm writing a novel or something. And PLEASE, PLEASE e-mail me! I've gotten absolutely no feedback whatsoever here! Part 5: Cloud and his friends have arrived on Squall's planet, but they didn't arrive unnoticed. While they were learning about the new world they splashed down on, Cloud and Tifa attracted the attention of none other than Irvine and Selphie, who are following them back to where Cid hid the Highwind. Meanwhile, Squall, Rinoa, Zell, and Quistis have recieved a new mission involving Jenova, who escaped from O Lab and has set up her lair where the Deep Sea Research Center was abandoned, and has begun what she calls the Ressurection.(The title is finally explained!) Kura and Syric went on vacation to Dollet, and Nida's showing Yuffie around the Garden. And in addition to all that, it appears that Kura has Sorceress powers... Scene 16: Talking and Sneaking and Love and Stuff "...but, its just that she's sho beautiful, and, like, her pershonality is, like, uhhh..." "Perfect?" "Yeah, thash it...." Seifer Almasy was sitting in one of Dollet's plentiful supply of pubs(thanks to the fact that in Dollet you only needed to be 18 to drink legally), drinking himself blind and talking to a total stranger sitting next to him about how huge a crush he had on Kura. Actually, Seifer was more along the line of half-sitting, half-sprawling across the bar, slurring almost incoherently and holding a glass of Reagan beer in hand. The man next to him, a black-haired individual wearing a blue business suit and sunglasses, was still sipping his first drink of the evening. "But what pishes me off, I'm, like, thish ultimate ladiesh man, ya see. I've got the...uhhh, waddyacallit...mojo! Thash it! I've got the mojo to get any girl I want. But when I'm around Kura, I'm as confoosed as a T-Rexshaur between two slabs of meat." Seifer took a gulp of booze so big that even a Malboro would be hard-pressed to match it. "Sho when I try to talk to her, I'm a complete idiot. That sho pishes me off!" "I understand," the man beside Seifer replied quietly. "The same thing happened to me. There was a woman I loved and respected. But then..." He looked away for a moment, then turned back to Seifer and shook his head. "Never mind." Seifer took another gulp of beer. "Jeez, I'm a top agent of Eshtar, man. Super-secret agent Jamesh Bond-type guy, knowwhamean? And I can't even ashk her out. Thish sucksh." "Esthar secret agent?" the man asked. "Yep. In fact, I'm on a mishion right now." "Can you tell me anything about it?" "Buy me a beer and I tell you allll about it...." Yet another glass later, and Seifer was spouting out the whole story about the meteors, the little black orb, and his mission to safeguard it. The man listened to the story very attentively. In fact, Seifer would have noticed how intent the man was on his story if he hadn't been so ridiculously drunk. "So anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, I'm a Chicken-wuss. That sucksh." He gestured to the bartender. "Gimme 'nother one." The barkeep shook his head. "Forget it, kid," the barkeep said to Seifer. "You've had way too much as it is. Go home and sleep it off." "Crap..." Seifer muttered, standing up. "Know what? I'm gonna tell her ash shoon ash I get back to Balamb. Yeah, thash it..." Seifer stumbled toward the exit, and the man he was chatting to tossed some Gil on the counter and got up to help him along. "Thanksh..." Seifer muttered as he put Seifer's arm over his shoulder and supported him.. "Where are you staying?" "Oh, the, uhh, big hotel. Uhh...what wash the name? Crap, I can't remember..." "The one near the plaza with the fountian?" "Yeah, thash it!" Seifer slurred. "Thanksh again." "Whatever..." replied the black-haired man. As they stepped out the door, a distant roll of thunder could be heard, and dark storm clouds began brewing in the skies over Dollet. "Heh, I've heard that one before..." Seifer muttered. Kura practically bounced down the train platform's steps. She turned around and looked back up at Syric as he strode deliberately down the steps. "Hurry up!" She crossed her arms and tossed an impatient glare at him. "Jeez, a boulder could outrun you." He continued advancing at the same pace despite all Kura's complaints, but his body langage suggested he was smiling within that helmet of his. "'Bout time." Kura muttered as he reached the bottom of the train platform. "Come on, I want to go check out Dollet." Syric glanced in the direction of the city, his body language suggesting uncertainty. Kura's expression changed to concern, and she put a hand on Syric's shoulder. "Sorry," she said. "I know you don't like to be around lots of humans..." Syric shook his helmeted head. "No, that's not it," he rumbled. "I'm just not sure that you'll be okay in Dollet without me around." Kura sighed and crossed her arms again. "We already talked about this back at our graduation ceremony. I can take care of myself. Remember how I toasted those Bite Bugs? I'll be okay." "Alright," Syric relented. His black-eyed gaze turned in the direction of the open plains west of Dollet. "I'm hungry." "Then go hunting like you said you would." Kura said insistently. "You kept saying how much you wanted some Anacondaur meat." Syric turned back to Kura. "Okay...You're sure you'll be alright?" "Yes, I'll be fine." "Okay." Syric stretched. "I'll see you later then. Bye." "See ya." With that Syric walked off into the wilderness, hungry for some meat, and Kura headed into the city looking for a hotel that they could stay at. She found one that looked good, a large hotel beside a plaza that featured a fountain. As she was checking in, Kura saw two men walk in, one clearly drunk, the other supporting him. Then Kura recognized the drunken man. "Seifer?!" she exclaimed, stepping away from the counter and walking towards them. "Heeey..." Seifer slurred. He glanced at the man helping him along and pointed at Kura. "Thash Kura. Shee whaimean?" The man supporting him shrugged as best he could, then helped him to a chair. "Jeez," Kura muttered, "he's drunk blind." "Yeah." said the sober man. "I helped him get here from the pub down the street." "Thanks," Kura said. The man shrugged again. "Whatever. Doing him a favor." He then walked out of the hotel. "I can't believe you." Kura muttered, looking Seifer over. He was absolutely, without a doubt, drunk. Kura concentrated for a moment, then cast Esuna on Seifer. The ultimate cure-all- known-status-ailment magic, Esuna cleansed all the alcohol out of Seifer's blood, and he sobered up instantly. "Damn," Seifer muttered, shaking his head. "I WAS drunk. And I've got such a hangover." (Esuna cures drunkenness, but the hangover still happens.) "Well, you earned it." Kura said, smiling. Suddenly Seifer realized something. He was talking to Kura. KURA!!! "Oh, Kura! Uhh, ummm, *cough cough* ehh, what are you doing here?" "I'm on vacation. What about you?" "Umm, same thing." Kura smiled. She could tell Seifer was trying as hard as he could to keep his manly composure. 'Get a grip on yourself!' Seifer thought. 'Don't want to seem like a complete idiot, do you?' Seifer noticed something was odd. Then he realized what it was. "W, where's Syric?" "Oh, he went out hunting." "Hunting?" "Yeah. He likes his meat cooked over an open fire." "Really?" Seifer was starting to calm down now, and he managed a smile that could pass as rakish. "Mmm-hmm." Kura answered. 'Maybe I can hold an intelligent conversation with him this time,' she thought. 'Wow, I'm talking to her and not choking up!' Seifer thought. 'Maybe he'll... ask me out?' Kura wondered. 'This is amazing! I might even be able to ask her out!' Seifer thought, gazing into Kura's beautiful silvery-blue eyes. Kura sat down next to him, and they continued talking. The man who helped Seifer get back to the hotel stood outside. He cast a furtive glace around to make sure no one was within earshot, then he pulled out something that looked like a cell phone. He entered a code into the keypad, and then waited for a few seconds as the encryption of his device synchronized with that of the transmitter he was contacting. There was a rumble of thunder overhead as the device chirped, indicating the encryptions were synchronized. A moment later a voice, garbled by static, spoke at the other end. "Highwind." "It's Vincent." the black-haired man said. "I've found Meteor." 'This looks good,' Syric thought, surveying the small cave. 'Good place for me to stay if it rains.' It did indeed seem as if it would rain, as the skies overhead were darkening with storm clouds. That might interfere with his hunting. Oh, well. It wouldn't take too long for Syric to find an Anacondaur in these mountains. But first.... Syric reached up to his helmet and flipped a pair of catches, then took the helmet off. As it slid off, Syric's long, thick, crimson hair cascaded down his back. Much better. Now that the helmet was off, his superior predator senses were no longer hindered. Syric followed up by removing the torso armor and cape. Then he sniffed the air, and a predatory smile appeared on his nonhuman face. Mmmm...prey. "Cool!" Yuffie said, looking over Nida's weapon of choice. It was a Shenlong model Gunglaive, which was basically a cutting blade mounted on the end of a five-foot-long metal staff, and outfitted with Gunweapon technology, similiar to Gunblades, except that there was no pistol grip. Instead the trigger was located about midway down the staff. "Nice, huh?" Nida asked. "When you pull the trigger, the round is discharged in the form of energy that explodes outward from the blade. If you get the timing right...well, you get the idea." "Wow!" Yuffie said, meaning it. These SeeDs had such cool weapons! Nida had been taking her on a tour of the Garden, and telling her all about SeeD. Yuffie was pretending to be a high-school graduate who was considering attending Garden, and Nida was happy to give her a tour. As they walked around the Garden, Yuffie had asked Nida what he did as a SeeD, and he replied that he specialized in piloting and gunnery, but was a competent fighter as well. Then Yuffie asked what weapon he used, and Nida had led her to his dorm to show her his Gunglaive. Yuffie was very impressed. "You got a weapon?" Nida asked her as he returned his Shenlong to its case. "Yeah, shureikens." Yuffie replied, and she pulled out the Altron shurieken. "Whoa!" Nida said, dumbfounded by the intricate beauty of the double-headed dragon shurieken. "That's badass!" "Really?" Yuffie asked. "Yeah, I mean, look at it! It's beautiful!" "Mmm-hmm." Yuffie replied, smiling. A few minutes later, they were resuming the tour. As they approached the elevators to go up to the second floor, the door binged and swung open, and Zell barrelled out. "Hey, what's going on?!" Nida called out as Zell ran past. He stopped for a moment and turned back to Nida. "Mission." He said quickly. "Sorceress problem in Esthar." "What?" Nida exclaimed, a look of shock appearing on his face. "Sorceress?" "Yeah, some super-powerful bitch called Jenova. Took down a Ragnorok ship all by herself. Squall, Rinoa, and Quistis are right behind me. We're deploying now!" "Damn! Is Cid gonna announce it on the intercom?" "Dunno. We gotta get ready to launch, now." Zell put some emphasis on the 'now'. "See ya later!" At that point, Zell rocketed away at full speed. "Friend of yours?" Yuffie asked. Nida nodded. "Well, ya know, I, uhh, gotta go to the bathroom for a moment, okay?" Yuffie shrugged. "Oh, that's no problem." Nida replied. "I'll just wait here for you." "Okay." Yuffie bolted off quickly. It didn't occur to Nida that he hadn't yet shown her where the bathrooms were. "Hey, here's one that fits me!" Selphie exclaimed. Irvine, guarding the door into the airship's locker room, glanced back in her direction. Like Irvine, Selphie was wearing one of the airship's crewer uniforms, but it was a bit baggy, being a few sizes too big for her. "Ick. Who designed these?" she asked, looking over the ugly blue jumpsuit with a repulsive orange vest. "Could be worse." Irvine replied. "Remember that itchy Galbadian armor?" Selphie smiled and put on the blue cap that completed the outfit. "How do I look?" she asked, doing that absurdly cute dance of hers. "Ummm..." Irvine had to admit that he preferred Selphie's little yellow dress that appeared to be a few sizes too small for her. "If you could hide those curls in your hair, it would be better." Selphie stuffed her hair up into the cap. "How about now?" she asked. "Who are you?" Irvine asked, his voice mockingly suspicious. "What have you done with Sefie?" "Thanks," Selphie replied. "Always nice to have a friend in the audience." She hated these ugly uniforms. But it was her idea to sneak onto the strangers' airship, which she and Irvine had found after following the spikey-haired guy and his friends, who they'd encountered in the woods west of Balamb. "Now remember," Irvine whispered as they stepped out of the locker room, slinging over his shoulder the duffel bag that he'd hidden his Exeter rifle. "We're here to spy on these guys, not to blow everything to smithereens, okay?" "I don't HAVE to blow up everything I see," Selphie replied, an impish smile appearing on her adorably innocent face. "I just like to." They headed towards the main deck behind the bridge. As the two SeeDs walked along, they slipped into the casual stride that they had been trained by Garden to adopt on infiltration missions. As Irvine and Selphie rounded a corner, they nearly tripped over a bright red wolf-cat creature that was lying in the middle of their path. "Whoops." Irvine muttered as he stepped around it. "Sorry, I shoudn't have been there to begin with." the creature replied. Irvine had already walked past it when the implications hit him. Did that thing just talk? He shook his head and glaced back at Selphie. She was apparently thinking the same thing. Well, talking a wolf-cat thing just seemed to fit in well with a guy whose hair seemed to ignore the concept of gravity, an old man who floated through the air, and a giant robotic Moogle with a crowned, megaphone- wielding cat riding around on its back. "Sefie," Irvine whispered, "is it just me, or do these people not seem to be locals?" Selphie nodded but didn't reply. A moment later they were entering the airship's bridge. As they walked in, Irvine noticed a group of people talking over to the side. One was the guy who had the weird glowing eyes and blonde hair that gravity seemed to have forgotten. He was talking to a grizzled-looking guy who wore goggles and was smoking a cigarette, and a black-haired man sporting a business suit, a well- trimmed beard, and a funny-looking headset. Behind him stood the giant robot Moogle-thing. Irvine's well-trained eye immediately identified each of their specialties from their body language and mannerisms. The cigarette smoker had the proud, cocky, impatient, and insanely daredevilish bearing of a famous pilot, the man with the headset looked to be a corporate official of sorts. The blonde man... He was a warrior. But not a simple soldier, like the Galbadian Army regulars. No, this man was totally unlike them. Irvine had seen only two people with mannerisms, bearing, and stance like him before. Squall and Seifer. This guy was a true master of the special art of combat. A real warrior, not a mere flailing fighter. Irvine noted that in big red mental letters. This man was DANGEROUS. As they passed by the small group, Irvine and Selphie could hear their conversation: "...the Galbadian sensor officer was completely drunk, so Barret got the info out of him without much trouble," the corporate official said. "He said that the sensors picked up a battle in the skies over Esthar. One of their airships was taken out by some kind of magic-using creature. They said that it was Sorceress magic that was used, whatever that means." A Sorceress? In Esthar? Irvine drifted closer to the group, eavesdropping on the conversation. "Sounds like Jenova," the pilot muttered. "What about Vincent?" Jenova? What were they talking about? "He reported that he met an Esthar agent who was also drunk blind. This guy was apparently ordered to guard a little black orb made of some kind of gemstone. Sound familiar, Cloud?" "Meteor," the man named Cloud replied. "We have to recover it." "Right. Vincent said he was going to try to recover Meteor, but it would be tricky." At that moment, one of the crewers ran up to them. "Yuffie just called in!" he shouted. "Calm down! What happened?" the pilot growled irritably. "She found out where Jenova is!" "Finally." Cloud said grimly. "Where?" "Some SeeDs from the Garden have been assigned to a mission to destroy her in Esthar. They're about to launch. They're taking it seriously, too, since they're sending their best, a SeeD named Squall." Squall?! Being sent on a mission involving this Jenova? What's going on here? "Both SeeD and ourselves have similar goals, it seems," the guy with the headset said. "Maybe we could join forces with them?" Cloud nodded. "They probably have no clue what they're going up against. We have to destroy Jenova as quickly as we can, before she causes havoc here, too. I don't want something like what happened on our world to happen here." "Right," the smoking pilot said, turning back to the crewer. "Did Yuffie say when they were launching?" "Soon, that's all she knows." "Alrighty, then. What do you think we should do, Cloud?" "Not sure, Cid. We should probably follow them if they launch, but that's all I can think of for now." "Right," Cid said. Then he glanced over in Irvine's direction. "Hey!" he shouted. 'Oh, crap,' Irvine thought, thinking they'd been recognized as not being a crewer. "You're not being paid to stand around jerking off! Get to work!" Cid yelled angrily. "Uhh, yes sir!" Irvine and Selphie both said simultaniously, and they immediately vacated the bridge. "And cut the Sir shit! I'm the Captian, dumbasses!" Cid replied. "Worthless @#$%..." he muttered, heading for the pilot's console. Zell plopped down in the Ragnorok's pilot seat. He pressed a few buttons and flipped a pair of switches on the console, entered his ID code, and began powering up the Ragnorok's engines. He followed up by checking the ship's systems. Satisfied that everything was in order, Zell leaned back in his seat and checked his watch. They had about thirty more minutes to spare for Selphie and Irvine to return, after which they would take off. Behind him, Zell heard the bridge elevator come up. He glanced behind him to see Quistis, alone. She immediately moved over to the comms/sensor board, which she had learned to operate since the war against Ultimecia. Zell paused for a moment, holding a brief mental debate with himself. Then he spoke up. "Hey, Quistis?" She looked up from the panel. "Uhh, if we, uhh, get some spare time in Esthar, would you like me to take you out to lunch, or dinner, or whatever? I, I was just wondering, ya know..." "Zell, we're on a mission now." Quistis replied in her 'we're-on-a-mission-so-I'm-now-all- professional' tone. "We shouldn't talk about personal matters." Zell flopped back into his chair, actually only mildly surprised that Quistis had switched over to her professional SeeD-on-a-mission mode. "And yes," Quistis followed up in a much more lighthearted tone, "I'd love to." If Zell wasn't sitting in the Ragnorok's relatively small cokpit, he would have more or less done a back-flip. As it was, he was mentally jumping in joy. 'OHHHHH YEAAAHHH, BABY!' Zell thought to himself. Meanwhile, Squall and Rinoa had also boarded the Ragnorok, and were in the observation room, directly below the cockpit. They stood at the window, gazing out at the open grasslands of Balamb. Squall's arm was around Rinoa's waist, and she had hers around his too, and her head was resting on Squall's shoulder. They stood there for a long time, and finally the airship rose off the ground. Within minutes the ocean was flashing by beneath them. But Squall didn't really seem to notice the Ragnorok's lift-off. He was focused on Rinoa. Squall didn't know what Rinoa was thinking about, but he had a general idea. Her reaction to the fact that this Jenova was a Sorceress had frightened her badly, and for good reason. Rinoa often had nightmares about her ordeals with Ultimecia and Adel, and whenever the subject came up she would become very quiet and withdrawn, struggling with those hideous memories which Squall could only imagine about. He could only guess at how horrible and frightening it was to have Ultimecia taking over her body, and couldn't even begin to comprehend what Rinoa had experienced when she was...junctioned...to Adel. All Squall could do would be to hold Rinoa and comfort her, and try to keep her mind away from those events. But now, they had come back to her, and Squall was doing the only thing he could to help her. Finally, Rinoa broke the silence, but with words that always caused Squall to become both protective and frightened for her safety: "Squall, I, I'm scared..." she whispered. "It's okay..." Squall murmured comfortingly. "I'll be with you..." "But, I-I-" Rinoa burst out crying, pulling Squall to her and burying her face in his jacket. Squall hugged her tightly, and continued whispering soothingly to her. His mind flashed back to when he'd freed her from the sealing at the Sorceress Memorial. He'd almost lost her there, as he'd almost lost her so many other times. "I won't let anything happen to you..." he whispered softly. "Squall..." Rinoa whispered through the tears. "I-I-I...just..." the rest of her sentence was lost in more tears, tears she always shed whenever the horrid memories came flooding back. "I'll be here with you." Squall murmured in her ear. "Just...just stay close to me..." Scene 17: First Wave Ragnorok's depature was logged by the Garden Staff. Such launches for missions were routine, and every now and then Squall or another high-ranking SeeD would take it for a brief ride. Others were aware of its launch as well: Galbadian and Dollet long-range radar sites marked its presense, Esthar Air Defense was alerted that it was airborne, and the other Gardens were notified of its launch by Balamb Garden. No one noticed the two other things that followed in the wake of the Ragnorok's take-off. One was a strange-looking airship that was equipped with a powerful stealth system, and the other was a cloud of small, malevolent beasts, intent not on the ship itself, but the Sorceress it carried... Seifer leaned forward in his chair, his attention focused entirely on Kura as they talked over dinner in the hotel's indoor cafe. Rain pattered on the cafe's single large window revealing the street outside as they talked about life at Garden. Several hours had passed since Kura had Esuna'ed Seifer, and right now they were the only ones in the cafe. "...but aside from the one strike mission against the terrorists in Timber, I haven't gone on any other missions," Kura said, taking a few bites from an odd delicacy that was a unique Dollet food, called hamburger. "Really," Seifer responded in mild surprise. "I would have thought that they would have sent you on more jobs." "Yeah, considering that I'm-" Kura suddenly stopped. "What?" Seifer asked. "N, nothing, nevermind..." Kura murmered. Seifer considered that for a moment. Kura was definitely hiding something, but he decided not to inquire further. There was a roll of thunder from the storm outside. "So, why were you kicked out of Garden?" Kura asked, changing the subject. "I know you were in command of the Galbadian forces, and you did a lot of terrible things, but everyone knows it was that Sorceress from the future screwing with your head." "Well, that's true, sort of..." Seifer replied. "Sort of?" Kura asked. "Trust me, its a long story..." Seifer said, a faint look of pain appearing on his face. "Well, I've got plenty of time. I'll hear it." Kura said, leaning forward in anticipation. Seifer paused for a moment, considering what to say. "It all really started when-" he began. Then the cafe's single large window shattered into a thousand pieces. Seifer was instantly standing defensively between Kura and the window, Gunblade drawn, as a trio of beasts that had crashed through the window rose. They were 5-foot tall, roughly humanoid creatures with draconic wings, dark ash-colored skin, thin bodies and limbs, and nasty- looking sickle-claws on their forearms. Sprouting from their torsos were a quartet of tentacles that were poised like six-foot long snakes. Their elongated heads lacked any apparent visual sensory organs (eyes, in other words), but made up for it with huge, gaping jaws, much like those on the extra heads of a Tri-Face. The creatures immediately surveyed the room, and then their attention focused on Seifer and Kura. Seifer immediately raised Hyperion as the creatures began to advance in a single- minded, predatory manner that reminded him disturbingly of raptors... Zell had switched Ragnorok over to autopilot, and was starting to doze off, since sitting in his seat for three hours was exceedingly boring, when he noticed a light flashing on his console. "Hm." he muttered. "What?" Quistis asked, glancing up from the Jenova data she was looking over. "The rear airlock's jammed open..." Zell pressed a few keys, and blinked in surprise. "The security sensors in that section are off-line too." "Might mean trouble." Quistis said. Zell shrugged. "Could just be an electrical malfunction," he said. "The Ragnorok was just serviced by the Garden Mechanics Squad," Quistis pointed out. "Okay, then maybe not." Zell said with a shrug. "I'll go check it out." He hopped out of his seat and rode the elevator down. He stopped by the door into the Observation room and opened it, intending to tell Squall what was happening, but then he saw that Squall and Rinoa were sitting together in one of the seats in a tight embrace. Zell immediately knew what was happening. Rinoa was remembering all the shit she went through with Ultimecia and Adel. He decided to leave the two of them alone, and headed for the rear airlock. Zell approached the door to the locker room just before the airlock, and opened the door. As the door hissed open, a quartet of tentacles shot out and wrapped around his arms and chest. Beyond, he saw a vaguely humanoid figure with draconic wings, ashen skin, sickle-like claws, and an elongated head with a huge, toothy maw... The winged, tentacled beasts were only a few meters away from Seifer and Kura. Seifer's Gunblade was raised threateningly. The closest creature gestured at Kura. "Sorceress," it hissed. "What?" Seifer replied, not understanding. "The Sorceress," it's snake-like voice uttered again. "Give her to us." Seifer glanced back at Kura. Her expression was one of fear and shock. As if a deeply dark and hidden secret had suddenly been revealed. Kura, a Sorceress? "Kura?" he asked. "Yes," the creature hissed again. "Give the Sorceress to us. Jenova wants her." "Jenova?" Seifer replied, not understanding. "Our mistress Jenova desires the Sorceress. Give her, or suffer." "Hmm, let me think about that." Seifer replied, as if he were seriously considering it. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the tip of Hyperion sliced through the monster's throat. Black goo, probably what it used for blood, gushed out of the cut. "Nah, I don't think so," Seifer said casually as the beast gurgled and flopped to the floor, smashing a table in its death throes. The two remaining monsters reacted instantly, snarling and leaping at Seifer. Seifer quickly thrust Hyperion into one monster's throat, and then executed a whirling slash that left the other with a very fatal-looking cut across its torso. The first creature's body was now hissing, like boiling grease on a frying pan, and its body was starting to melt into a puddle of black goo, just like its "blood." "What the hell are those things?!" Kura cried. She was shaken, and rightfully so. "I dunno." Seifer replied. He glanced toward the window, and froze. Several more monsters were coming through the shattered window. "But they brought friends!" The monsters snarled and charged. But Seifer didn't exactly like this kind of aggresive activity, especially since they were targeting Kura, and, pointing a hand at the monsters, he shouted "FIRAGA!" At the same time, Kura pointed a hand at the beasts and shouted in an unnaturally amplified voice,"Toronath teka sol!" Seifer didn't understand the strange language she was using, but he'd heard something similar before. He'd heard that type of language when he watched movies about Sorceresses when they were casting spells. From Kura's hand leapt several bright red balls of energy, which hit the each of the monsters and exploded. At the same time, Seifer's Firaga hit, and a huge firey explosion immolated the monsters, creating a loud and powerful roar. But as the glare of the flaming detonation faded, Seifer saw more monsters coming through the window. "Kura, RUN!" he shouted, and then he grabbed her arm and they ran out of the cafe as fast as they could. "IDIOT." Fujin growled from the passenger seat next to Rajin, as the Dollet cop continued writing the ticket. "Aw, gimme a break, ya know!" Rajin pleaded to the cop. "I couldn't see the speed sign, ya know!" "Whatever," the cop responded. "That's your problem, not mine." He was almost finished with the ticket when, from down the street, they heard the deep, powerful roar of an explosion. The cop glanced up to see a gout of flame blast out of the window of a hotel's first floor cafe. At the same time, a horde of winged, tentacled, vaguely humanoid figures with nasty-looking claws could be seen swarming around the building. "Holy sh-!" the cop cursed as he forgot about the ticket and ran back to his car. "SEIFER!" Fujin shouted, realizing that was the hotel Seifer was staying at. "Damn, ya know!" Fujin said, gunning the gas. "Seifer's done something, ya know!" Their car rocketed off down the street towards the hotel, while the cop, having totally forgotten about the two speeding teenagers, contacted his precinct with the news. Zell reacted to the whatever-it-was's assault by reflexively junctioning all the Ultima he had stocked to his strength.(An important part of SeeD training is learning how to reflexively junction magic instantly to abilities when danger appears unexpectedly.) As his muscles began bulging under his magically enhanced strength, he pulled back, ripping the tentacles out of the beast's torso. It screeched in pain, and then found one of Zell's fists slamming into it's head, which promptly found itself seperated from the rest of its body. As the headless body fell backward, Zell saw several more monsters coming up behind it. The whole locker room was packed with the things! Zell hopped back out of the room before anymore of the things could grab him with those snakey tentacles, and hit the panel next to the door, causing it to shut. He immediately locked the door. "Quistis!" she heard Zell shout over the intercom. He sounded a bit rattled. "What?" Quistis answered from the bridge. "We've got intruders!" "Intruders!? Who are they?" "Don't ask me! Whatever they are, they're not in a talking mood!" Zell shouted. "Where are they?" "Aft locker room. I've locked the door, but--oh shit! They're forcing it open!" In the background, Quistis heard what sounded like a pissed-off Wendigo pounding on metal, beastial snarling, and the screech of metal on metal. "Hold them there!" Quistis ordered. "I'll get Squall!" She activated the intercom to the observation room, but before she could say anything, Quistis heard the sound of glass shattering over the observation room's speaker, followed by more snarling. Squall was sitting in the seat, hugging Rinoa tightly to him. She'd stopped crying a while back, and now they were just embracing, finding comfort and love in each other's arms. They sat there for a while, and Squall found himself remembering all the times that he'd almost lost her. So many close calls, so many rescues, so many times he'd almost lost her forever. And he wouldn't have even known what he'd lose... Squall's attention was drawn away by a faint scuttling sound coming from the viwport. He glanced up and froze. Clingling to the reinforced glass was a vaguely humanoid thing with- (Author's note: You should know what these things look like by now, so I'll skip yet another boring description.) Squall gasped, and the adrenalin began flowing and the magic began junctioning. Rinoa looked up at him, perplexed. Then she glanced in the direction that Squall was looking at, and she had a similar reaction. They stood up as three more monsters crawled onto the viewport, clinging by their sickle-claws. Their eyeless faces moved back and forth, then settled on Rinoa. Squall knew instantly that they were after her. "Rinoa, run!" he shouted as he drew Lionheart and moved into a protective stance. The beasts began pounding and clawing on the glass, and it began cracking. "But-" she began to say. "Go! Now!" Squall shouted. Rinoa hesitated, then ran to the door. The monsters were powerful, Squall noted, as the reinforced glass was cracking very quickly under the assault. When Rinoa had reached the door, Squall also began retreating. Then, as he reached the doorway, the glass shattered. The Ragnorok was flying at a low altitude, only at about 150 meters above the surface of the ocean, so the air pressure inside the ship was the same as that outside. Therefore, the air was not sucked out of the room. However, since the ship was flying fast (around 500 kph), and the viewport was at the front of the ship, there was a blast of oncoming air like the shockwave from an explosion. (Author's note: That's today's physics lesson.) Thus, Squall was hurled as if a giant had backhanded him. Fortunately, he was knocked through the doorway. Unfortunately, he smacked the wall face-first directly across from the doorway. Squall rolled to the left quickly, out of the doorway and away from the wall of air, and a wave of glass shards hit the spot he was in milliseconds earlier. He wasn't quite fast enough, though, and one of the sharp pieces of glass embedded itself in his shoulder. But there was something much more serious that Squall had to deal with than a bit of glass. One of the monsters had slammed into the wall next to him. Squall immediately had Lionheart up and, while the beast was still pinned to the wall by the onrush of air, Squall slashed it with the Gunblade, bisecting it messily. The Ragnorok's computers automatically reacted to the sudden breach, causing the door into the observation room to slam shut and lock. It closed with enough force to smash metal, much less bone and flesh, which another monster learned as it dove through the entryway and was squished between the doors. Black goo splattered everywhere. On the other side of the door, Squall could hear snarling and the sound of something very strong and very angry pounding on the metal, but the door held. "Are you okay?" Squall asked Rinoa concernedly. "Y-yeah..." she gasped, staring at the dead creature's body, which was starting to melt into more black goo. "What is that?" "I don't-" Squall was replying, but he was interrupted as a primal roar of pure bloodfrenzy erupted from the aft section of the ship. They heard the sound of more snarling and fighting in that direction. "Zell!" both Squall and Rinoa shouted, recognizing the voice. Behind them, the door to the observation room was forced open, and seven of the things flew through the doorway. Squall was on them instantly, hacking away. "Get out of here!" he roared as one the monsters found that being on the business end of Lionheart was very bad. "Get to the bridge! I can't hold them back!" Rinoa looked as if she wanted to argue the point, but then one of the monsters spotted her and dove at her. Squall intercepted it and cut it in two. Other monsters saw her as well and attacked Squall in an intense fury, trying to get him out of the way. "They want you!" Squall shouted. "Get to-" "NO!" Rinoa shouted as she began evoking a Sorceress spell. A bolt of reddish lightning leapt from her hand, blowing apart one the monsters in a spectacular and messy explosion. "I'm staying with you!" Squall gritted his teeth as more monsters continued coming through the doorway. Then he smiled as Lionheart slashed one of them in two from the upper left shoulder to the lower right hip. Rinoa's stubborness was one of the reasons he loved her. "Mmmm...." Syric knew just from the smell that this Anacondaur was going to be good.. He was sitting in the cave he'd chosen, using his lance to hold one of the overgrown, until- recently-alive snakes over the fire. As it cooked, he listened to the rainfall outside. It was pouring. He hoped Kura wasn't getting out in that mess. For a moment, Syric felt guilty for leaving her alone so he could go hunting. After all, he didn't really need to go hunting, since he could easily survive for much longer than humans could without food. But he really didn't like human food, and he was hungry.... Then, Syric felt it. It was a sensation he knew well, one he was naturally attuned to by his...unique...nature. It was also one that, when he was away from Kura, caused him to fear for her safety. It was the sensation he felt whenever Sorceress battle magic was being used in the nearby area. And that meant that Kura was in danger. Syric immediately forgot about the Anacondaur as he instantly and almost automatically donned his helmet, cape, and armor. Then, lance in hand and whip gauntlets on, he raced out from his shelter, running down the mountain towards Dollet faster than any human could. But Syric wasn't exactly human, after all.... (Author's note: Hey, I wasn't kidding when I said that this would be long!) Scene 18: Fateful Rescues Seifer and Kura ran into the hotel's lobby, a small flock of the monsters pursuing them from the burning wreck of the cafe. Seifer spun around and loosed another Firaga spell, which immolated the first two creatures and deterring the others. But they would only be stopped for a moment. "What now?" Kura asked, looking around for an option. "I don't know," Seifer replied, also looking for a way out. Suddenly, most of the lobby's windows shattered and more monsters streamed in. "Watch it!" Seifer shouted, rather unnecessarily, as he cut down the first beast that reached him. Kura was already evoking another spell. A swarm of bluish-red balls of energy lanced out and struck four of their attackers, blasting each of them backwards with the force of a wrecking ball. But already more monsters were rushing up at them. Seifer met them with a barrage of cuts, slashes, and thrusts. Behind him, Kura was loosing spells as fast as possible. They were covering each other's backs, fighting like the professional soldiers they were trained to be. Nearly twenty of the monsters were down when Seifer found his Gunblade arm being yanked to the side by one monster's chest tentacles. As it pulled, several more attacked him, slashing with their sickle-claws. Seifer twisted out of the way, but he still felt several burning cuts as their claws dug into his chest and left flank. Then, he heard the sound of a high-powered magnum firing, and the monster that had grabbed his arm simply blew apart. Then Seifer was instantly slicing away at the monsters that had attacked him. They were crumpled corpses within moments. He spared a quick glace in the direction of the gunshot. Standing near the main entrance was the blue-suited, long-haired man who'd helped Seifer get back from the pub where he'd drunk himself blind. Now he was holding a very painful-looking revolver instead of a mug of beer. Five more shots rang out as Seifer resumed fighting, and five more critters splattered everywhere. The man stopped for a moment and began to calmly reload, and one of the beasts, seeing an opportunity, charged him. Just as it was about to reach him, however, the man quickly sidestepped and did a quick one-eighty turn, and the monster's forward momentum carried it past him. He slid a round into the magnum's chamber, cocked the hammer, and fired a single bullet into the back of monster's head as it passed. Then he resumed reloading as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, Seifer and Kura were frantically holding back their attackers. Seifer thrust Hyperion into one beast's chest, followed up with a slash across the neck to another one to his left, and then made a backhanded slash to a third monster to his right. Then he executed a spinning slash that cut through three more monsters. Behind him, Kura loosed a Maelstrom spell, blinding, weakening, and briefly stunning another horde of the beasts. As it turned out, that was even more effective than she'd hoped, since at that moment the wall blew in behind the monsters she'd struck, and they were run over by a corvette driven by none other than Rajin and Fujin, come to save the day. They leaped out of the car before it had even fully stopped, Fujin with her Zan shurieken, Rajin with his staff. "S'up, Seifer!" Rajin yelled as he smashed in the head of one monster. "Thought you'd caused some trouble, and we wanted to join in the fun, ya know!" "RAGE." Fujin growled in a very frightening tone as she sliced two monsters in half with her Zan. Seifer's expression turned to one of joy, the kind a defending soldier has when, as he is fighting off a wave of enemies, an allied army appears on the horizon. "Glad you're here, guys!" he shouted to his posse. "Let's kick some ass!" But as he was shouting in joy, one of the monsters suddenly grabbed him again with its tentacles. Then it's head exploded as the blue-suited man fired a single precise shot. "Watch yourself," the man said emotionlessly as he cold-bloodedly cut down more monsters with unbelieveably accurate shots. Seifer shrugged and he returned to the battle. Now the defenders had now become the attackers, and the monsters found themselves severely outmatched. Then the death knell sounded for the beasts, in the form of a huge, seven-foot tall, caped, whip-spinning, lance-toting, armored, helmeted warrior bursting through the wall opposite the one Fujin and Rajin had come through. Syric hit them like a tornado descending upon an anthill, his whips flashing out and snapping necks or hurling monsters at speeds that, upon impact with wall, floor, or ceiling, turned them into what could be considered abstract art. His lance was gutting and impaling, and his fists and feet were reducing foes to mere carpet stains. The beasts were clever enough to realize that they were getting their heads handed to them, and those that could flew out the windows, only to be cut down by a hail of gunfire from Dollet police, SWAT, and soldiers that were surrounding the hotel. Those that were still inside faced a difficult decision: Gunblade, magic, Zan, staff, magnum, or whips and lance. The door screeched open, the grating sound very painfully similar to nails on a chalkboard. One of the hideous things stepped out, its tentacles and claws poised to strike. Zell struck his typical fighting pose and gestured with his left hand for the monster to come. "Bring it on." The beast hissed in reply. "The Sorceress..." it said. "Rinoa?" Zell said, his muscles tensing. If these things wanted her, then Zell was going to annihilate them. "Yes..." the creature replied. "Jenova reqires a Sorceress. Give her or you die." To emphasize it's point, the creature's tentacles twitched threateningly. Behind it, more monsters were advancing through the doorway. 'Gotta hold 'em back...' Zell thought. If they got out of that hallway, then the open hangar would give them lots of room to manuever and surround him. And also to move past him and go after Rinoa. Zell grinned. "Over my dead body, bastards!" Zell shouted. "MAD RUSH!" A berserk desire to smash, crush, and kill came over Zell as a protective shield formed around him and his movements began to speed up. His muscles, already huge from training and junctioned magic, bulged thicker than they had any right to. Letting out an incoherent roar that would have shaken a T-Rexaur, Zell charged. Zell executed a flying roundhouse kick that knocked the head clean off the shoulders of one of the lead monster. He followed up with a one-two-three hit combo to the chest of a second, though only the one hit was necassary. He then sent an elbow to the side of a third creature's head, smashing its skull. Advancing into the locker room as the beasts retreated from his aptly named Mad Rush, Zell grabbed another monster's arm and beat the beast against the wall as if it were a throw rug. He then loosed a barrage of punches and kicks that left three more beasts dead and melting away. With more foes beyond, Zell charged at them with another roar, his fists and feet raining death upon the monsters. The only problem was that there was no shortage of these. "@#$%!" the pilot named Cid muttered, looking down at the image of the Ragnorok. "Those bastards are already inside!" "What happened?" Cloud asked, coming up behind him. Irvine, bedecked in the crewer's outfit and carrying the duffel bag that hid his Exeter rifle, was standing nearby. "Those monsters we detected shortly after we started following the Ragnorok! They're inside!" "What can we do?" asked the corporate official, who Irvine now knew to be named Reeve. Reeve's mechanized Moogle thingy was standing beside him. "Nothing." Cid said. "We're moving too fast for a ship-to-ship jump, and we can't use missiles..." Irvine looked over at Selphie, who was in the crew pit on the far right side of the bridge. She glanced his way and he saw the worried expression on her face. Then Cid glanced up at Irvine, noticing his movement. He didn't recognize this kid. "Wait a sec. I don't know you. Gimme the password." "Who, me?" Irvine asked. "Yeah, you, dumbass!" "Uhhh..." Irvine bent over nearly double and began to practically cough his guts up. Cid took a step back in surprise. "Dammit. You need to be in the med room. Who said you could work in this condition?" "The fat guy, *cough hack cough* what's his name..." "Rogess?" Cid asked. "Yeah! Him." "I'm gonna kick his ass!" Cid roared, taking a step away. Irvine continued coughing, but he flashed a smile to Selphie. "Wait a sec!" Cid said suddenly. "Rogess is on vacation!" Irvine swung the duffel bag into Cid's face, knocking him flat on the deck. In a flash, he had drawn Exeter and was firing Stun Ammo into Cloud's face. The man jerked as a flash of dark blue energy washed over him. He shook his head for a moment, as if he had a really bad headache. Okay, so Stun Ammo didn't work so well on this guy. But at least he was stopped for a moment. The giant Moogle thing dove at Irvine, bringing it's oversized fists to bear. Irvine zapped it, only to find Stun Ammo didn't work on machines. He hopped backwards, evading the fists as he tried to load some Fast Ammo. The whole bridge, including Selphie, had taken notice of what was happening. Several crewers were drawing sidearms. He'd almost managed to get his rifle loaded when it suddenly flew out of his hands. Irvine couldn't even blink before he found his legs being swept out from under him. As he discovered that slamming into the deck hurts, Irvine saw the woman who had taken out the T- Rexaur with her bare hands looming over him. She immediately put her foot down on Irvine's chest. 'Well this doesn't look too good...' Irvine thought as several crewmen surrounded him. Across the bridge, Selphie saw what had happened. "Irvy..." she whispered distressedly. One of the crewers heard her and, realizing that she too was not one of them, spun around, bringing his weapon to bear. "Freeze!" he shouted in the universal stupid-guard way. Selphie was already drawing her nunchakus when something slammed her in the back and shoved her down into the deck. She tried to get up but the weight stayed on her back. Within moments the other crewers had surrounded her. "Ow..." Selphie muttered. She looked over her shoulder to see the bright red talking wolf- cat creature crouched on her back. Across the bridge, Cloud, Reeve, and Cid walked over to the stunned Irvine. "Thanks, Tifa," Cloud said to the woman who had taken the intruder down. She shrugged. Cid smiled and popped his knuckles. "You've got a lot of explaining, numbskull," he growled, glowering at Irvine. Irvine returned the look. "Who are you?" Cloud demanded, bending down and giving Irvine a glowing-eyed glare. "Irvine Kinneas, Balamb Garden Operative, I.D.#2675," he responded truthfully. "SeeD?" the woman named Tifa exclaimed in surprise. Irvine nodded. Cloud blinked in surprise. "Then I guess we're not enemies." Cloud said, straightening. Irvine began to rise when Tifa shoved him back down with her foot. "We still want to know why you're sneaking around my ship." Cid growled, still angry about the duffel bag to the head. Irvine was about to explain when a flash from the viewport cut him off. Squall ducked under one monster's slashing claws, then whirled to the left as another's tentacles shot towards him. As he spun away, Squall loosed a whirling slash that disembowled four of the monsters. Behind him, Rinoa launched a wave of crackling electrical bolts, hurling back several more monsters, which then fell to the floor twitching. The blue-white blade of Lionheart swept back and forth in deadly arcs, slicing apart more creatures. But they kept coming. "There's...too...many of them!" Squall shouted as he ducked, weaved, dodged, and evaded, all the while cutting down more of the beasts. (Author's note: Movie reference there.) But he was right. There were too many. Even with Rinoa behind him, blasting away with every spell in her arsenal, Squall had too many foes to face, and they were all too aggressive. They were so beligerent that several had actually attacked each other due to a scuffle caused by the fact that a powerful blast of air was still coming through from the observation room, buffeting the monsters around and slamming them into each other. Squall had no clue what it was that made these beasts so insanely bloodthirsty. The last time he'd seen this kind of attitude was when he'd fought Seifer and the Galbadians when they were under Ultimecia's dominance. Were these creatures under a Sorceress's control, too? And why were they focusing on Rinoa? "Rinoa!" he shouted as another beast flew apart under his gunblade. "Get back! I can't hold them!" As if to punctuate him, one of the monsters tried to dive past him at Rinoa, only to get cut down. Rinoa didn't reply, instead closing her eyes and focusing. Squall noticed what she was doing. She was summoning a GF. "No!" he shouted. They were in an enclosed hallway. While Squall and Rinoa would be immune to the summoned Guardian Force's attack, the same couldn't be said for the Ragnorok. In fact, they'd be lucky if the GF didn't totally destroy the airship with it's overwhelming firepower. (Author's note: Yeah, I've made a bunch of notes, I know. Anyway, despite what you saw in the games, realistically the only safe place to summon a GF is in open areas, since the GF has a difficult time fitting in tiny spaces and it's attacks pretty much destroy the surrounding area. That's a rule in my fanfic, and if you don't like it, then phooey on you.) 'What is she thinking?' Squall thought as he kept fighting the monsters. 'Even if she stops them, Rinoa'll destroy the Ragnorok!' Then Rinoa finished the summon. A large hole appeared in the middle of the pack of monsters. Emerging from it came a diminuative lizard thing wearing a brown robe and carrying a lantern and a small knife. Tonberry. Now Squall understood. Tonberry stood there for a moment, observing the situation. Then it began slicing, dicing, and stabbing with the Chef's Knife in that uniquely Tonberry-ish way. It's job done, Tonberry chittered something and vanished. Only two dumbfounded beasts that had just entered through the doorway remained, and Squall promptly cut them down. And then there were no more monsters left. Squall turned back to Rinoa and smiled. "Whoops. Forgot about Tonberry. You scared me for a moment there." Rinoa shrugged and smiled. Then she noticed the piece of glass embedded in Squall's shoulder, and became concerned. "Squall, you're hurt," she said tenderly, examining his shoulder. "Just a scratch." Squall replied. "I've had worse. What about you?" He put his hands on her shoulders. Now it was Squall's turn to be concerned. But Rinoa just shook her head. "I'm okay." Suddenly the floor shuddered, followed by a battle roar from the aft section of the ship. Then Squall and Rinoa remebered. "Zell," they both said at once. Indeed, it was Zell. A berserk, insane Zell that was beating the monsters with an arm that he'd just ripped off one their own. His improvised weapon smashed in the skull of the nearest unlucky opponent, then he hurled the clawed arm at a beast immediately behind that one. The claw embedded itself in the monster's forehead, and it fell to the ground like a sack of bricks. Zell followed up with an uppercut that sent the head of his next target into the ceiling. Behind him were the hissing, melting bodies of over two dozen more monsters, all utterly annihilated by Zell's berserk assault and overwhelming strength. Now there were only nine left. The monsters realized that they were getting spanked, and one of them made a very clever suggestion: "Airlock! Flee!" That monster scrambled for the open airlock door. Quistis wanted to go fight alongside her friends, but she had to stay in the cockpit to make sure the ship didn't crash or anything. While she was keeping the Ragnorok in the air, Quistis was also trying to shut the aft airlock, since if she closed it the monsters would obviously stop coming from that direction. Finally she succeeded in activating the emergency airlock door, and the aft airlock was now sealed. The escaping monster looked up in horror to see the airlock door seal. Now they were trapped in the air room with the maniac fist fighter. Zell roared as he came on, launching a roundhouse kick that blew apart the nearest beast. He used the momentum from the kick to add to a chopping attack to the next monster's neck. The neck vanished, and the head went flying. Now there were seven. The monster that tried to escape through the airlock was grabbed by Zell and simply slammed into the deck, splattering everywhere. Six. One beast grabbed Zell with its tentacles. Zell then used the tentacles to fling it into the wall, turning it to jelly. Five. Zell loosed a left jab, a right elbow, then a right snap-kick. Two. One of the last beasts leapt at Zell. His hand shot out and grabbed it by the neck. He squeezed and squished the monster's windpipe. One. Zell flung the body at the last monster, standing against the rear wall. It shoved the body aside, but while it was distracted by the thrown body, Zell cocked a punch that seemed to start from a mile away, picked up speed, and then slammed into the monster's chest. The chest seemed to disappear into a fine black mist as the rest of the body parts flew away. In fact, Zell's punch was so powerful that it blew straight through the creature and into the wall without showing any signs of slowing down. His fist hit the wall with such force that it sent a shockwave through the whole ship. That shockwave was powerful enough to shatter several key electronic components, including the power regulators for the upper portside engine. The impact also caused a massive power surge throughout the ship, but the regulators kept it in check. Except for the upper portside engine. That engine overloaded, and then it exploded in a massive fireball. "HOLY SHIT!" Cid shouted. He stared out the forward viewport as the Ragnorok's engine exploded. "What happened?!" Selphie cried. She had seen the glare from the explosion but couldn't get up due to the red wolf-cat creature sitting on her back. "The Ragnorok's upper portside engine just exploded!" a crewer shouted from his station. "@#$%!" Cid roared as he ran to the sensor station. Tifa, Reeve, Cloud, and the wolf-cat abandoned the intruders and joined him. Irvine and Selphie rose and followed suit. Within moments the sensor station was heavily crowded. "What's goin' on!?" Selphie yelled, forcing her way through the crowd. She was very concerned, since the Ragnorok was HER ship. SHE was the one who flew it, and wouldn't let anyone else touch it if she could. She pushed her way up to Cid, and looked with dismay upon the image of the Ragnorok. The upper-left engine was now just a mass of fire and smoke, and more flames and smoke billowed out of breaches elswhere on the ship. "Oh, no!" she cried, noticing where one of those breaches was. "They're in trouble!" Cid glanced at her. "Whaddya mean?" he asked. "Here!" she pointed, indicating a section in the aft belly of the craft. "That's where the parachutes are stored! If that section is damaged-" "-then the crew can't escape!" Cid finished. "You're right, this is bad!" "What can we do?" Cloud asked. "I don't know..." Selphie answered, her mind racing. She immediately ran through a mental list all the equipment that the airship carried. Then an idea popped into her head. "I've got it! It's risky, but it's the only thing I can think of..." Zell started to run back to the cockpit, his Berserk state worn off now that there were no more foes. He'd seen his handiwork in the aft locker room and air room, and he knew that Selphie would be mad at the massive dent he'd pounded into the wall. Whoops. But Zell also felt the mighty airship shuddering and had heard the laboring sound the engines were making. Almost as if they were working harder than they should just to keep the airship flying. He opened the door to the main hangar and was shocked to find flames and smoke everywhere He ducked his head and bolted across the upper catwalk, and made it to the cockpit. "Damn, what happened?" he muttered as he rode the elevator up. He'd noticed the black goo in the hallway. Did more monsters get in? Zell arrived to see Squall and Rinoa standing over Quistis, who was sitting in the pilot's seat. Squall was holding Lionheart, and some of the black goo was still hissing on the blade. "Yo! What happened!" Zell said, running up to them. "We've lost the upper portside engine!" Quistis responded. "A powerful impact in the aft section caused massive internal damage." 'Oh, man...' Zell thought, realizing what he'd just done. "Lemme take over!" he said. Quistis vacated the seat and Zell plopped down. Then he noticed that they were losing altitude. 'Okay, bring the airship to a stop first, then cut in the antigravity system,' he thought. He fiddled with the controls for a moment, then a sudden flash and several small explosions blew apart the piloting controls. "Dammit! Shorted out," Zell growled. He tried moving the controls, but they broke off in his hands. "Okay. We're in trouble!" Zell shouted. "I can't stop this thing. At the speed we're going, if we hit the water we'll be killed. We've gotta abandon ship!" Zell rose and turned back, but then he saw Quistis shake her head. "The section where we stored the emergency escape gear is gone," she said resignedly. "You mean we can't escape?" Rinoa said. Quistis sighed and nodded. "We've gotta do something!" Squall said. "How much time do we have?" "I dunno. A few minutes, at most." Zell said. "What can we do?" Quistis asked. "Uhhh, I don't know!" Zell answered. He ran through the list of avaliable options. Nothing. "Dammit! This is all my fault!" Zell shouted. "Why?" Rinoa asked. "I went berserk back there, and I ended up hitting the wall." The others understood. When Zell was berserk, his hitting power was astronomical. "Don't worry, Zell." Rinoa said comfortingly. "You couldn't control yourself." "Yeah, but-" Zell began. Then the comm board suddenly crackled to life. "This is Ragnorok!" Quistis said, slipping into the seat at the comms board. the voice on the other end said, sounding relieved. "You betcha!" Zell answered. "Yeah," Quistis said. Cid's voice took on the tone of someone trying to hold two conversations at once. Cid sounded somewhat angry. Then they heard a very unexpected voice over the comm. Selphie's voice shouted. "Selphie?!" everyone in the cockpit answered at once. "What are you doing there?" Zell and Rinoa both shouted at once. A voice that sounded something like Irvine's could be heard in the background. Selphie resumed. "Gotcha!" Zell answered, hitting some keys on a control panel. "Done!" Out the cockpit canopy they saw a huge white airship fly past, then slowed and matched speeds with Ragnorok. It manuveured to within about 100 meters of the Ragnorok. On the rear outside deck they saw several crewers wearing ugly blue and orange outfits aiming a cannon of some kind at the Ragnorok. The cannon fired, and a harpoon and cable shot out at the Ragnorok's open entry ramp. Selphie said. "What do we do there?" Zell asked. Selphie was sounding worried now, which was very odd for her. Then they noticed that the Ragnorok was dropping. "We've only got a couple of minutes left!" Quistis exclaimed. Within moments Squall and his friends had made their way to the entry ramp. They found the harpoon embedded in the wall next to the open ramp. Attached to the cable was a device that in SeeD was referred to as a 'runner.' It consisted of a pair of handlebars and a small motor that moved back and forth along a taut cable, used for covert insertions from one building to another. This one was very similair to the SeeD version. Squall nodded in understanding. "We use the runner to move from the Ragnorok to the Highwind," he said. the others nodded as well. They quickly decided that Rinoa would go first, followed by Quistis, then Squall, then Zell. Squall had argued the point, but Zell absolutely refused to let anyone go after him. He'd caused this mess, and he'd be responsible for it. Rinoa reached out and grasped the handlebars tightly. She glanced back at Squall, who smiled. "I'll be right behind you, I promise!" he shouted. Then she activated the runner, which leaped out away from Ragnorok and moved across the gap. Rinoa closed her eyes and didn't look down as the air whipped past her. She had bad memories of heights. Within seconds she was across, and was being helped down by several of the crewers. Selphie, Irvine, a guy with spikey blonde hair, a small, lithe woman, a reddish wolf-cat thing, a man in a business suit, a weird, giant, overstuffed Moogle, and a scruffy-looking blonde man smoking a cigarette were standing at the railing. "Rinoa!" Selphie and Irvine shouted as she arrived, Selphie jumping up and down in joy. But Rinoa didn't notice them, instead turning around and leaning against the railing, watching for Squall and her other friends to arrive. A moment later Quistis had arrived as well, amid cheers from Irvine, Selphie and Rinoa. All that was left were Zell and Squall. "You're next," Squall shouted. "NO!" Zell replied quite firmly, stamping his foot and shaking his head to emphasize the point. "I caused this, I'm gonna be the last to leave." Squall sighed. He didn't have time for this. Behind them, another engine exploded. The Ragnorok shuddered and continued dropping, now at a much faster pace. Within moments it would hit. "Go!" Squall shouted, shoving Zell in the direction of the runner. Zell shook his head again. "I'm not leaving until you've gone!" he shouted. Squall sighed again, and held out his fist. Zell glanced at Squall's fist and nodded, holding out his own. "Rock! Paper! Scissors!" they both shouted. Squall had scissors, Zell had rock. "Darn, I lose." Squall muttered. "I guess you go first." "Yeah!" Zell said, grasping the handlebars. Then he remembered that he was playing to see who went last. "Hey, wait-!" But Squall had already pushed Zell out with his foot. "WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA!!!!!" Zell screamed. "Squall, you idiot! You were supposed to go!" By then he'd arrived at the Highwind. "Zell, what happened!?" Rinoa shouted as Zell hastily sent the runner back across. "Damn, crazy, fool..." Zell muttered. As the runner returned, Squall glanced down at the ocean's surface, scant tens of meters away, and rising fast. "Well, this was a good idea," he muttered to himself as he watched the ocean flash past. He activated the runner and began crossing. Squall was halfway across when the Ragnorok hit the surface. The cable was so strong that it actually held on even as the mighty red airship hit the ocean at speeds that made the water effectively as hard as concrete. The sight of the Ragnorok's death was as awesome as it was horrifying. It bounced up once, dragging the Highwind, then fell again. The first impact had either torn off or smashed the underside of the ship, and it's second descent was headfirst. The bow of the dragon-ship was sheared off, the other two-thirds flying along before hitting the water again and skipping along like a stone. Huge chunks of the ship flew everywhere, and the main body bounced and somersaulted several times before finally hitting and plowing into the sea. Then, the remains of Esthar's mighty dragon-craft sank beneath the surface. Somewhere in all that, the cable had snapped. The runner required a taut cable to move, so when the cable broke, Squall knew he was in trouble. He released the runner, which fell off the line into the ocean thirty meters below, and grabbed the cable. The people on deck saw Squall holding on, and began to retract the cable. They didn't notice, but the massive buffeting the Highwind had taken had almost ripped the harpoon cannon out of its housing. It was now only holding on by a single bolt. Squall, meanwhile, was climbing the cable itself. Within a few moments the cable was next to the Highwind's hull, and Squall, having a wall to brace against, continued climbing up. Above him, he could see everyone leaning over the rail and calling to him. Selphie, Zell, Irvine, Quistis, Rinoa... He gritted his teeth. Rinoa. He kept climbing. He had to return to her. Squall was almost there when the harpoon cannon broke free and flew off the edge. "SQUUUAAALLLL!!!" Rinoa and everyone else screamed as he fell. Fortunately, SeeD training took just about any situation into account. Including the situation in which one was falling from the side of a cliff, building, or in this case, an airship. Squall drew Lionheart and thrust it into the hull of the Highwind. The blade sliced through the hull for a second, then stopped. Rinoa and the others on the deck let out an immense sigh of relief when they saw that Squall was safe. "Whew," Squall whispered, and he carefully began climbing up the side of the hull. Whoever owned this ship put it through a lot of dents and scratches, he noted, as he climbed using the edges of the hull plates that were welded onto the sides of the craft to cover the damages. Within a few minutes he was almost back on the deck. His fall had been short, but the Highwind was moving so fast that Squall had moved over twenty meters from where the cable had broken. As he swung up over the railing, Squall was met by Rinoa, who leaped into his arm, causeing them to spin around for a moment. Then they embraced one another, the tension of the moment bleeding away as they felt the warmth and security in each other's arms. Finally, and reluctantly, they seperated. Squall looked around and noticed his friends, including some other very odd-looking people with them. The leader, a man with glowing eyes and hair that apparently ignored gravity, approached Squall, hand extended. "Squall Leonhart, if I'm not mistaken?" Squall shook his offered hand and nodded. "Yeah, that's me. Thanks for the help..." Squall trailed off, indicating that he didn't know thier rescuer's name. "I'm Cloud, Cloud Strife," the man replied. he gestured to his companions. "This is Tifa, Reeve, Cait Sith, Red XIII, and the Captian of this bucket of bolts, Cid Highwind." "Hey!" Cid muttered indignantly. "Don't be dissing my ship! You didn't mention the fact that its also a hunk of rust and bad wiring, too!" "Oops. Sorry," Cloud said with a shrug, and everyone chuckled. As the laughter died down, Squall said, "Its a good thing you happened to be here." Cloud shook his head, his expression turning somber. "It's not a coincidence that we were here. We were following you." "Why?" Squall asked in surprise. He suddenly became very worried, and for some reason he thought of the Jenova monster that they were sent on this mission for. Cloud's expression turned grave. "To save your planet from the disaster that almost struck mine," he answered. End of Part 5 'Bout time, too! That was really long. I wasn't kidding. Well, that's Part 5. Squall and Cloud have met, and Jenova's first wave has been defeated. Can't wait for the next part. I love this. This is fun. Doing the next two parts will take a while, but I'll get them in as soon as possible. If you liked something, or hated something, or just want to make fun of my screen name, then e-mail me at Peptuck3@aol.com. I'll listen to all your rants about how much it sucked or kicked ass, then I'll take the stuff I like, revise it, and send it back to Fantasysquare. And tell me how you felt about about previous parts, too. I'll fix them as well. Trust me, I'll read any rant you send to me.(Within reason. If it don't pertain to Final Fantasy, I won't read it.) I greatly value your feedback.