Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Uprising: The Beast Wars ❯ Reaching for a lifeline ( Chapter 5 )

All boarders, cadet and instructor, watch as Balamb Garden sails to port. In the distance it looks like a giant mutant Easter egg, though up close the resemblance wasn't that much different either. Some students cheered, others gave an outward groan to match their inward slumping posture. Exams were not their favorite thing. Zell found himself giving out usefull tips to the cadets that asked, and Seifer remained a very stoic cool by ignoring any underclassmen who talked to him. Not to mention he's still near feverish from his body's choice to have a personal heat-wave today, so standing still is about all he can do. But, he can still be cool about it.

Selphie is among the people waving at Garden as if anyone onboard can see her, though maybe they can there are windows everywhere, someone must be looking out of one of them.

"Staaaand back everybody, she's pulling in!" Called the Dock Captain.

The group pulls away from the concrete edging and avoid the elevated water pushed up onto the grey surface by the vessel rowing in. From the Look-Out a large metal ramp slides down, one slab at a time, until it reaches the pier with a loud bang.

The Captain waved a big arm around, signaling to the boarders. "Double time in a single file, we don't want anybody going over from haste."

"I think some of the students are cast in Haste." Zell whispers to Seifer while taking a place in the line-up beside his lover; he's then cocking his head forward at a male who's bouncing from foot to foot like someone's shooting at his feet.

"Kids today." Seifer snips.

He was never that naive, or eager. He was a natural, so why sit there trying spells out on himself? He'd often seen Leonhart experimenting with freezing things, tiny little things like he was working on the amount of magic he could dispense onto something. So sad. Like he'd bragged himself up before... He's a natural.

"Boy, I hope you guys are at least ready for the written test, because Hell isn't like those simu-monsters in the training center. Those things are out for blood." Selphie yammers joyfully.

"Blood?" Asks a nameless cadet from someone else's squad.

Snickering beneath a cheese eating grin, Selphie nods. "Yup! Terrifying... I myself have been knocked out by them a couple of times."

Selphie was pleased to hear the cadets whispering and whimpering over the prospect of being downed in combat. It's good to be sure of yourself in battle, but never over confident. Something her newphew needs to master. He can be such a savior, that he doesn't even realize what dangers he'll run into. He sees battle scars as trophies rather than mistakes! But, at least he isn't a hot-shot who just likes showing off, and acquiring after a huge body count. She looks around her for any students who may be out for that type of position as a SeeD.

Burn seems the type. But he's mostly working towards Seifer's status.

'He's doing a pretty good job of that, he hasn't made SeeD yet.' She thinks ruefully. 'Not to mention he still puppy-dogs Seifer as if he's his cadet when he's already got commander status.' She shakes her head in suppose that it can't be helped.

Once everyone has boarded, the ramp draws back into its port and the school sets its coordinance for The Island Closest to Hell.

...

"Quistis!"

The secretary slash liason smiled when hearing a voice that could only be Selphie's. Quistis braced herself for a slam but when the hug came she was very surprised by the show of restraint, and gently squeezed the energetic girl in return.

"Glad to see you all again, its been a while."

"Too long! You work too hard." Zell pats his friend on the shoulder.

"Its not all work." She follows along side of the 3, tapping a vanilla colored folder into her empty hand.

"It isn't?" Zell wonders innocently.

Selphie can't help but think that she's falsely accused as the naive one in the group, because even she could pick up on the subtle hint that Quistis has got a personal-time-friend here at Garden. But the question was, whom could it be?

Selphie begins looking around as though the person would just appear from somewhere like in television shows when they don't really want something to be a mystery, so they'll practically spoon feed you the answer by showing off the culprit in the next shot. But the only people walking around are teens of male and female going to class, or to their dorms or someplace. No one Quistis's age, unless...

"Hello, you three." Xu says to the group, walking up the hall beside the school's pilot, Nida. "Good to see you again... well, you two anyway."

Seifer rolled his eyes. He couldn't care less about the woman's grudge against him. Everyone has forgiven his being hypnotised it seems, except for her. She probably just needs a hobby that's easy enough for her pea-brain to accomplish, and "needless grudges" seems to suffice.

"Xu, you are thirty seven years old..."

"...And?"

"Aaand since it doesn't seem to be a news flash, act a little more professionally."

Nida waved a hand to the woman. "Relax, Xu." He requests, while his hand rubs gently against her back.

"I know, but he's such a pest..." She swats his hand away. "He gets under my skin on sight."

"Is Rinoa here?" Selphie asks; knowing the girl is supposed to be an examiner along with the rest of them, there's no way she's still in Trabia Garden.

"Already in your dorm." Quistis replied. "Trabia Garden dropped her off six hours ago. Selphie?" Grabbing the girl by the upper arm she pulls her in to whisper. "Is she all right?"

"Should be. Why?"

"She seems a little, I don't know... off."

"She was fine when I'd left her." Her big green eyes look towards the dormatory hall as if her vision could cut through walls to spy said girl at the moment. "What's she been doing?"

"Nothing too weird, just zipping about like she's on speed or something." She shrugs. "Some of the instructors in Trabia said she's been like that the entire time she was there, she coughs sometimes too."

"Coughing?" Selphie thinks to herself.

She's been coughing as well, but just figured it was a cold coming on, although when its the middle of summer one has to wonder after it being something else. Was such a thing possible, a cold in the summer?

Squall and Irvine would have noticed her hacks if it weren't for her keeping it quietly pressed into the pillow during the night, and those two sleep like the dead. She often wondered how they found time for night activities when they're always so ready for bed. But the coughing left her with such a gross coppery taste in her mouth, that she was sure to scrub her teeth and tongue, then swish with the mouthwash extra good that night and this morning. She'd been good at the time, but recalling it is making her throat itch.

"Dr. Kadowaki checked her out, said she's fine in both senses. Nothing magical or non-magical is going on with her."

Selphie's fabrickated symptoms died down in one quick, phew! but she picked up her pace to go see the former rebel leader.

"You guys need to rest up, we need all the helpers we can get while the cadets are on the island." She says this when looking at Seifer's sweat beaded skin in the comfortable 72 degree temperature in Garden, its like a tropical island! But with the way he's sweating you'd think he'd been doing heavy arobics in the Fire Cavern before he boarded. "We'll be there in three days."

"I'm fine." Seifer says to her brow-cocked looks cast at him from behind her glasses.

"I'll see you guys at dinner then." She walks a bit faster, saying over her shoulder. "See you then."

Nida and Xu follow after her; watching this Selphie tapped her index finger to her chin then burst out laughing. There's no way it'd be all 3 of them!

Eying the girl who's full of hysterics, Seifer and Zell shake their heads in dismay that heat exhaustion has finall gripped her, and the two wander off into the men's dorm.

Composing herself, she hurries to the girl's dorms to look for Rinoa- they're sharing a room afterall.

8 8 8

"Clean up crew says that the red sand has been tested," Penny shows Augusto the report. "its not holding any toxic components there on the ground, but when picked up into the atmosphere, its very toxic."

"How is that possible?" The blond male looks over the sheet over paper for himself. Brushing a finger beneath his freckled nose, he then scratches the back of his head.

"Not sure. I've never seen a toxin that's only affective when its airborne."

"Come in!"

The pair turn their attention to the room beside the examination room, where a large computer screen has turned on. Its been monitoring the feeds from Viyanagara, so they can keep the villagers up to date with what's going on in their homeland. All of them are wiped out with exhaustion, but cured. Only one other person has died in recovery, and the body was tagged then placed in the morgue with the others.

They wanna go home, they wanna know if they have a home to return to. They don't know the world outside of their tiny rustic village, and more than half of them are axious about finding a new way to live. They can't do the modern things as more travelled humans can: not fixing cars, not working in markets with those register things, none of the modern day skills to teach a class, nothing! What will they do if they can't return home?!

"Get them out of there!" Shouts the man on the screen.

Pressing the send button, Penny responds. "What's happening, what's going on?"

"Something strange... Beatrice was hot, so she removed her helmit for a breather." Jack tries calming his paniced breathing. "She... she started acting funny, coughing... badly enough to produce blood, then she said she was burning up and itchy." The camera swings around. "That's all that's left of her."

Penny and Augusto's eyes bug out seeing a squashed pile of what may or may not be a human being. Its just a mess of glistening boils and steaming chunks of burst open muscle tissue and fat, the bones look burnt and shattered at the ends.

"And you say this happened because she took her helmet off?" Ausguto shakes his head. "She didn't... accidently injest the sand or something?"

He hoped it was something that simple. He can't help the creeping feeling sneaking up on him over the possibility of the villagers are carrying it inside of them, despite their being scrubbed down in the sanitation tents and having been cured of the toxin in their systems.

"No, it was all she did." Jack shakes his head. "This area is off-limits for habitation. Tell the town's people we're sorry."

"What are you guys gonna do?"

"What else can we do?" He shrugs his hand. "We can't take Bea' with us, she may be omitting toxic gases."

"Leave her then, but bury her... it isn't right what's happened, but it can't be helped." Penny sighs. "Get out of that area as soon as possible, we'll break the news to the survivors."

"Thank you."

"Take care of yourself." She says. "Penny, out." Turning off the screen since there's no longer a need to monitor the area, she braces herself to tell the remaining townspeople the bad news.

The two are barely out of the communications room when the screaming started.

"Alice!" Hurrying down the hall, she isn't followed.

Augusto has his eyes on another crisis just ahead in the room they were once in. There, just beyond the sliding glass door, is a creature black as night diving into one of the sleeping patient's backs!

"What the hell!?" He grabs at the door, but the lock is in place. Who locked the door?! Jerking on it, he bangs rapidly to call the monster's attention. "Hey! Heeeey! Over here, you ugly sack of shit!" He bangs on the glass.

The blackness turns its red gaze upon the sound, and hisses. Its practically invisible when it turns sideway before coiling itself quickly around its victim to give it a squeeze like a snake would do to kill its meal. The woman howled in pain as blood shot from her mouth, spraying down onto the mattress beneath her.

The creature slithered down from the cubical and onto the floor, moving at rapid speed over to the door where it flings the woman from the four foot distance it is from it, delighting in the bloody splatter her body makes against it.

"How the hell did a Creep get in here?" He wonders outloud.

The monster slammed into and slashed at the re-enforced glass door, hungry to get at the living having no interest in the already dead. He or she took out the entire room just that quickly and quietly while they were talking with Jack in the next room. But how did the door get locked?

"H-... help me.." A young man muttered in a tucked away corner a short distance away.

Glancing at the creature one last time, Augusto makes his way over to the man. He swore under his breath seeing the curled up man's arm sliced open, and tears streaked down his face.

"My son.." He coughs. "He split open and" He sobs for a moment.

'So that Creep came out of this man's kid...' Having heard himself, he wonders now. 'But wait? How did a monster get into him?!' Certain that the man's nerves have just gotten to him, he asks. "Are you sure? The monster could have just been hiding out..."

"No! No! My son said he felt hot... he started coughing." The man pauses to cough as if he needed to show an example of what the sound was like. "My wife got up to cuddle him, and he tore..."

"Aaah!" Eyes tightly shut, and mouth set to spit, Augusto trembled away from the combusted pile of the frightened Father.

How did he? Did he really? Standing to back away, he's quickly toppled back to his butt on the floor when the ground shakes violently beneath him. Looking to where the loudest commotion is coming from, he sees Penny and Alice running from the room.

"What the hell was that?!" He called out to the pair rushing toward him.

A beep sounded and the glass door slid open with a loud thwak!

"Left, left!" Augusto shouts.

Jumping apart from their once held hands sprint; Penny tossed a Firaga spell at the Creep sending it writhing in recoil back into the room, but it wasn't down yet. Like a bullet, it shot out from the room aiming at Alice who gave it the best kick she could offer right in the gut. It hissed and swirled up like a spring, receiving a side swipe from the girl's other foot.

Alice isn't the best at martial arts, she's a swords girl; so her kicks meant nothing to the creature. Its all she has in self defense until she, and the others, can make it down into the strong-hold room where the weapons are stored.

"Watashi no kamando ni..." The air began to chill around her hand."Blizzard!" A large clot of ice began to circle and swirl over the monster's head. "Ali, move it!" She called out.

Alice rolled away, missing the large chunk of ice that bashed heavily over top of the monster's head, the weight so thick and powerful that it stapled him to the metal floor. The hit hurt more due to the metal floor freezing beneath it, and the creature writhed and spun like a coil until it died, melting away on the floor.

"I had to use quake, it came at me too quickly." Penny explains to Augusto what the sudden shaking was; Alice is helping him up. "Sorry." She meant for toppling him.

"What is going on?!" Alice, in a panic, asks. "How did that monster get in here? And what happened to the patients? They were all doing better, and now they've... I can't even call it combustion- they exploded!"

"There are toxins in the air, they were all exposed to it... Jack just-.." She's interrupted by coughing.

Eyes wide, Augusto drags Alice and himself away from her. "That's how it starts, you get hot or you cough!" Shaking his head, he stumbles backwards. "She's infected! Penny?!"

Hunched over, Penny grabs her head and begins screaming. Watching, they can only hold consoling hands out in her direction because they're too nervous to get close to her. Will she explode? Will she turn into a Creep just as the young boy had?

Both onlookers caught their breaths when a wet sound filled the air; eyes glued to Penny both softly saying her name or making soothing sounds so that she doesn't feel alone, they're forced to listen to her ask in a gruff tone.

"What's hhhhappening to meee-aaah!"

Her pores began to release a white smoke into the air, it surrounded her like a large cloud.

"Pe-.. Penny?" Alice asked.

The sound of bending metal scraped like rusty nails on glass, and a low growl met their panicked ears. When the smoke cleared they're greeted with the horrible reality of a Glacial Eye looking over them but something about it looks horribly different. It still looks like Penny! But her skin has turned many shades of blue, her hair a pale blond, her arms have been stretched into long hooks. She even has a long tail that's thrashing and snapping at the ground leaving slippery cold slabs in its touch.

Alice broke into a fit of manic screaming. "Where did that come from?"

"Calm down! We have to get out of here and alert the other cadets."

"But Penny..."

"She's not Penny anymore." He tugs her down the corridor.

Penny followed after them at a speed that said she is in no rush to attack, but that doesn't mean that she isn't. Red lazer streaks shoot down the hall after the two in a crooked path like a Z, cutting this way and that. Some of the things in the hall got burned up like potted plants, and wooden railings; the paneling over the lightbulbs is shattered along with the bulb. The hall is driven into darkness one set of lights at a time.

Ahead of them the elevator door dings open.

"Get back!" Augusto calls to the occupant stepping off.

Duncan looked confused until he spots the tripped out... whatever that is coming up behind them.

"You guys ok?" Duncan presses the button to go down. "What is that?"

"A glacial Penny." Augusto hunches over to catch his breath.

"A what?"

Alice is in fetal position, arms holding the back of her head while she rocks and cries.

"Duncan," Augusto turns his frightened blue slitted-eyes toward the male. "are there any other villagers in the school, besides in the examination wing?"

"No..." He stops to think, then replies. "No, I don't think so- unless we're counting the bodies in the morgue."

Pressing a button on the elevator, he calls the main office. "Lock down the second floor. There's no time to explain.."

They can hear the alert blaring all around them before tong after tong reverbs off the metal walls in the hall they're leaving.

"Oh Penny, I'm so sorry..." Augusto drops to the floor completely exhausted. That was way too much excitment for a weaponless medical team.

"That thing is Penny?" Ducan asks, still trying to get the facts straight. He was only coming up to offer more blankets to their guest, and he's greeted with Alice and Augusto all in a tizzy.

"A man, he was injured... he locked his son away and..."

"What?"

Augusto shakes his head. "This man's boy turned into a Creep, and then he exploded! Before we could figure it all out, Penny turned into a monster too." He sinks lower into himself. "We couldn't fight her... not Penny- oh man! Selphie's gonna be so pissed!"

"Nevermind that, we've gotta..."

"Whoa!"

The three rock and sway. Something brushed the cables holding the elevator causing it to rock like its a bouy in the ocean.

"Hurry!" Duncan dashes from the elevator the moment the door pulls open, followed by Augusto.

Alice wasn't as quick. Above them a long sharp hook swung at the cables of the elevator snapping them like they were little more than a spider's web against a rock.

"Alice!" The two call out.

But when the elevator dropped, the only part of her left on the first floor is her arm from the elbow down. And before the doors could close there was the quickest glimpse of the monsterous Penny diving down the shoot for the remains. Stunned, Duncan blinked at the bloody horror; Augusto fainted.

8 8 8

"Rrr..." Laguna groaned.

Sucking in a breath, he places his hands down on the wet ground. Groaning again, he touches the back of his head, luckily it would seem, because it acted as a buffer when hitting his head on the underside of the car when he'd gone and pushed himself up to stand.

"How could I forget I'm under a car?" He asks himself, now rubbing the greasy pained hand that got bopped beneath the car. "Am I laying in oil?" He wonders while sliding fromm beneath the metal protection.

Laguna's entire body feels like its been set on fire, and his stomach is growling on top of that. He had to wonder how long he was out for, while he composed himself. In the process of wiping his hands down the front and sides of his body, he got a good whiff of himself. He is covered in oil! The slammed into car is leaking it.

"I can't stay in these clothes... one stray spark from a lightning struck anything and I'm screwed. I'm just lucky that the car hadn't exploded in the impact."

He's been in Dollet a few dozen times to know where the clothing stores are, and the nautilus shop. He's gonna need some ammunition. Looking down, he sees the busted open remains of the snake that had attacked the home of the teen. The boy, who'd only wanted help in getting himself and his Father out of the city and look at him now, face bubbled off in acidic and gastric burns, chest cavity smashed in by the car that killed the Anaconduar. The gruesomely exposed child has definitely made it out of the city... along with his deceased Father.

"I'm sorry." He says to them.

Laguna can no longer hear any of the anguished cries ringing out over the boom of thunder and the noise of car horns, its as if any human remaining in town has either received help in his unconcious state, or they've simply vanished. He can see that the monsters still roam the streets, though. Its weird... have they multiplide? Its going to be harder moving around stealthly with the enemies count larger than his own.

Hand gripping his weapon against his back to prevent it from rattling about and creating attention, he stoops over to look more inhuman as he runs across the street. He hoped the walking alteration would keep his cover, because his numb limb is really getting a strain put on it. Ducking behind a sign shaped like a large triangle advertizing the lunch specials at a restaurant, he slumped to the ground to take a break.

Rubbing his leg, he sighs when a bit of warmth gets into it. 'Old age is not your friend, huh, buddy?'

A Imp burst from an apartment's window on an upper floor, landing heavily on top of a van parked down on the street sinking the roof in all the way down to the carpeted floor. Its fangs are dripping with drool and saliva-diluted blood. In its clawed hands are its victim's severed head, a woman of middle age judging by the thin skin beneath her eyes. A gargle came from the back of its throat before it stuck its nose in the air to sniff around.

Laguna, having peeked around the barrier right at this time, hoped the thing wasn't smelling around for fresh meat, or he'd be toast. Was the rest of Dollet's townspeople feld by these things? He could guess once the lightning died down the Blitz left full and sleepy, or maybe they're around another part of town terrorizing people just as the new arrivals are.

A barking dog called the attention of the Imp and the hidden man. The Imp drops the head; the bloody leftover rolls down along the caved-in roof of the car, coming to a stop somewhere inside, and its big feet pound down into the rest of the car with every step taken towards the poor animal. It seemed to sense the coming danger, because its fangs are bares and it's head drops with eyes that could pierce fear into anyone living creature... except for a monster. Creatures mutated by sorcerers and sorceresses from many many centuries ago from normal animals, to such a degree that they've become something that's almost expected to fit in among man and normal beasts.

Barking mad, and scared the dog completely missed the real threat that had come up behind it. A Funguar's tongue shot out of its vertical mouth wrapping around the dog's ankle, and like a frog would do to a fly or any other bug its latched its tongue too, its recoiled backward like a shot and straight into the creatures waiting jaws.

Laguna put deaf ears to the crunching bones, and the scrap the ensued between the feasting creature and the Imp that eyed the snack second. Using the distraction, as well as being glad that the beast are fighting amongst themselves as well, he slips, unnoticed, across the street to another hiding place. With the pain in his leg, he must look like a peg-legged pirate, though not nearly as threatening since he's technically unarmed.

He hoped that the sleep spore in the air was no longer an issue, he doesn't have time to worry about holding his breath whenever the wind blows. Last thing he wants is to wake up mid-picked apart. His mind wandered back to the brother and sister in the barber shop, then the young girl in the library, and the Father and son he'd just left behind as he makes a sharp turn around the corner to his destination. Like everywhere else in the broken city, the door is unlocked having been opening for business not long before the storm hit.

He's unsure if the lights will turn on, as he brushes past the check-out counter over to the racks of clothing. Laguna wouldn't turn them on even if they did work, he can't risk calling attention to himself when he's got an empty gun around his shoulders. Ripping off the first thing his hand touches, he doesn't bother with a dressing room because no one is around to see him. Lowering his machine gun first, he then drops his pants before pulling his greasy shirt up over his head to leave on the floor in a pile.

Shivering in his almostnude state, he grabs the change of pants that were dropped onto the shelving unit beside him, and by one foot then the other, he slips into the pants and just as swiftly tugs the shirt over his head. Looking down at the outlook, he had to laugh. "I hope nobody minds being saved by a guy in a track suit." Retrieving his gun from the floor its draped back over his head to rest across his chest.

"Now for some bullets."

Being a near Esthar native, thanks to living there for so long, he knows his way around a Imp. Unfortunately he has no spells on him for those of the Blitzs. Bullets have worked so far, but what if they stop? His only advantage is to change weapons, and a gerenade launcher will work best. Monsters can avoid severe damage from normal bullets, but nothing is in this world can escape fire- well- maybe an elemental. But, none of these particular creatures are flame retardant so flame rounds it is. He can even grab some acid, and explosive rounds if he needs more.

His already hobbled exit is haulted by a group of wandering monsters crossing past the store. Staggered into a fall, Laguna turns over onto hands and knees crawling behind the counter for cover, incase any of them turned their head and spot him.

"It'd be great if I had some martial arts skills," He says to no one. "But even they wouldn't be much use with my bad leg." He rubs the soar limb. "I've gotta alert the cops, or military, or somebody!" His son flashed through his head. Damn he wishes he had his phone!

A loud bang shocked Laguna hard enough to have him pop the top of his head on the counter's outcropping, when fear leaped up into him.

"Ow..." Rubbing the sting, he looks around the large wooden curve to see what's going on. "Shit... they're chaos crazed. They don't care if someone's in here or not; they're gonna trash the place."

Sitting back on his butt, he looks around the dark department store for something he can use as a momentary weapon: A rack pole pulled free to make a bo, a wire clothes hanger straightened into something he could poke out an eye with, he could pull the little shelves from under the jeans and throw them like shurikans. He'll be dead before any of those options work. But at least with the pole he could do some gut-checks.

'Now how was it that Ward used his spear again?' He scratches his head. 'I might get some use from the extinguishers as a smoke screen, but what am I gonna do when I'm out on the run again?'

Leaning to all fours, he crawls as quickly as he can over to a thin door with a His/Hers sign on it for the unisex bathroom because beside it is his smoke screen. A sound similar to someone crunching on potato chips caught his ear, and he spared a glance over his shoulder at the straining glass doors.

'It would be a Blitz.'

Grabbing the red cylinder from its hook on the wall; walking is terrible on his leg, he should have crawled over- even rolling would be faster! Laguna hides his way over to the side of the door. With the way its pounding, it won't be long before the glass shatters, and when it does he'll start spraying.

The tension was thick like being stuck in a pucker of cold mud. The sparks flying from the monster's pounding mitts sprayed and splashed all around him, until the glass shattered away in a loud avalanche of oddly shaped shards. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting to give himself the mark for flight tactics; the monster's feet are kicking off little electro waves. Laguna can feel them beneath the soles of his shoes, its weird, like walking on a water-bed. You can feel the waves, but you're not getting wet.

Fingers adjusting and readjusting their grip on the cylinder, Laguna sees the left boot plant itself past the threshold. He wondered if he should do it now, or wait for the rest to pass through. If they're not coming through and instead are still passing by, he may be able to just knock this thing out and hurry away.

'Bad idea, it might explode on impact with his magnetic charge.' Teeth bared, he pulls the tab, grabs the nozzle and let's the freeze dried Co2 fly.

Surprised, the creature taps its staff against the floor. A bolt of lightning aimed without destination and struck every metal object in the room, including the extinguisher. Laguna had thrown it just in time to miss having it explode in his grasp, and the Blitz groaned in the attack of shrapnell; Laguna was lucky enough to have ducked behind it for cover, and he bolts without receiving a scratch. Although, the puff ball made out of his hair has seen better days.

Confused, the herd wasn't sure what flew out of the store passed them, but they followed quickly after it.

'Left... Right... Left...Right...' He chanted as if to cheer on his bum limb.

He's practically throwing it forward from the hip joint. Hyne, it was never this bad when he was a soldier. Of course, he was in his twenties then... he'd even done some damage in his thirties and nearly middle age of fourty. But sixty seven is cruel even on a body untouched by haggard wrinkles, liver spots, and losses of one of three of the five senses. He's held up well, but when it comes to aches and pains... well, he may as well be a bed ridden eighty eighty, with a really cute nurse who's not interested in his advances. No offense.

Pushing it, he plows through the doors of the weapons shop; the darkness from the lack of lighting, resting against the black array of guns.

'I'd be happy that they're empty normally, but right now its just a burden.' He reaches around the black shelves grabbing anything that landed full-frontal palm.

Leaping behind the counter, he grunts in pain because he landed on his bed side. The swarm of monsters growl and hiss as they make their way through the double door at a sneaking speed, looking this way and that for their prey. If they have night vision he's screwed! He thanks Hyne himself that his familiar has a scope on it. Carefully, he looks over the counter top, his eye peers through the scope. The green vision of the genius device makes out every monster's location in the darkness. He can see the guns too! The small launchers are at the far end of the store, and the bullets are...

'I can't believe it! I jumped over the right counter!' He laughs silently in celebration.

Continuing to grope the guy to identify its brand as a Trabian AG-42B Ljungman rifle- and yes, he's that good- he then eyes the bullet boxes through the scope. He can slip the glass door over quietly enough, but the sticking them in part is going to alert some attention once they're locked into place. Glancing around the room when his free hand is set down on the clip filled with Norma 6.5 ammo that he needs, its removed then slowly snapped into place. Eye kept on the creatures, Laguna closes the bolt carrier for the bullets to be set inside. He never understood his son-in-laws love for self-loading weapons, you give him a good clip or magazine any day of the week.

All the monsters snapped too on the single click, and their wanders becomes a pronounced looming about to locate the source of the sound.

Bullets locked in place, Laguna maps his aim coordinates then stands from his hiding place and fires! Picking them off with fatal shots, one by one, the gun is gas powered so there's no flash from the shell discharge.

A Funguar raced over to the blockade, but the recoil of the gun is light enough for him to fire just as easily with it as he does his beloved machine gun. Unfortunately, the thing did a backbend into a bridge position from which it lunges straight over the counter top once straightening up. It knocked him over, along with breaking the display case open from its massive weight. Rounds rolled all over the place, in the commotion, Laguna peers through the scope again and onto the floor looking to get some bullets that strayed in its box.

Package in his hand, and a few singles in his pocket, he rolls from his collapsed position on the floor and grabs a magnum from the revolver shelf he'd eyed through the scope. Laguna can feel his body slowing down for some reason, was this a spell? Stiffly, he looks over his shoulder at a Imp's dancing finger as it cast its magic on him.

'Just gotta reach that gun!' He coaches himself, the other became useless after the clip ran dry.

They're closing in now; with a tap of the Blitz's staff to the floor, a long bolt of lightning landed smack on the ammunition...

8 8 8

Irvine admires the second Spoon lure he's made today, before setting it down in the tackle box. The two are sitting on the porch of their Winhill home, day two of their week off from work. They'll be joining Garden by submarine transportation, rather than having the military school come to them.

So far they've forgotten what clothes are- when indoors-, cleaned the filthy cobwebs and dust from everything, before having a large, shared, bowl of pasta out at a small restaurant where they then gone home and produced more sweat between them than the natural heat of the day had. And now they're just sitting casually outside, having conversational bonding time while making lures for when they go fishing during lunch.

"Who's turn is it?" The sniper asks.

Squall thought for a moment. "Mine."

"Let's hear it."

"You have a handsome smile."

"I do?"

"You do."

"Thank you." He tips his hat to the male. "You don't hear it enough, but you're voice is one of my favorite sounds... its got good timber."

"Thank you." Silently loading the box with the next lure, Squall nods a 'hello' to a passing neighbor who said 'hi' to them.

"Hello, sir." Irvine greets him. "Good day for fishin'?"

"I just got back myself, they're really biting today." He points a finger. "You two should hurry with those lures and get while its still good. You know Jameson will be all over it once he wakes up."

"Will do."

The man walked on home with his glorious catch, and a big old smile on his face; Squall smiled at Irvine and continued. "I like that you acknowledge people, even when it doesn't seem like you want to."

"I don't?"

"Not right now... I can tell."

Irvine snickers. "I guess you're right."

"It only shows if the person your talking to knows you well enough."

"Good. I wouldn't want anyone thinking they're bugging me."

Letting out a breath, he looks around. Was it getting hotter? Why the hell is he so hot? Before he was freezing, unusually cold at that, but now it's like he's sitting in a four hundred degree oven with the heat turned all the way up in the house, in the middle of a heatwave. Fanning himself with his fishing hat, that he'd only agreed to wearing because Irvine said he looks good, he lowers it to his lap so he can grab the bottle of ice tea beside his chair to have a drink.

"It's your turn." He reminds Irvine before taking a swig.

"You have a real flare for knowing a person's feelings, even when you say you don't wanna listen to people's problems."

"You guys make it too easy." He takes another drink. "Your feet are really attractive, and that pisses me off too. You don't even get work done on them."

Chuckling, Irvine flexes his bare toes. "Yeah, its a gift. But your feet aren't terrible."

"Yeah, but that's only because I haven't stubbed my toes or anything." He cocks his head left to right while looking his feet over.

"Mhm." Irvine intoned trying to be nice about it, but he gave himself away when laughter burst from his mouth.

Scoffing away his embarrassment, he kicks his lover on the knee before leaving his feet on his thighs. "Zip it, or that laugh is gonna get you a toe in the mouth."

That only made the sniper laugh harder, but he grabs Squall's feet, pinning them down on his thighs to keep from having toes in his mouth.

'What the hell? My feet are alright...' Squall thinks with a pout.

"Naah, you're feet really are good looking." He lifts the right foot up to his mouth, planting pecking kisses on the part not meant for walking to prove it. "Yours are manly- got a good shape, and mine... well, mine are girly from wearin' those damned boots half my life."

"Yeah, girly feet." Squall kicks his foot free. Hiding a smile that he's glad for the compliment.

Looking at the house, his expression shifts to concern. "You ever get in touch with Laguna?" He asks while massaging the foot that hadn't kicked him.

Squall shakes his head. "I should try again before we leave." Spinning a blue thread around a four prong hook, he thinks a moment. "What's something about me that you love?"

"About your personality? ...Let's seeee" He taps his barefoot against the wooden porch floor. "I like how you're still a brat underneath all that cool maturity."

"What?"

"You are! And don't fight back, or you'll get a penalty."

Squall scoffed. "I'd like to know what you find about me that's so bratty?"

"You talk back, you mock people, you glare at everybody when you mean to look important." He laughs when Squall starts chucking materials at him. Swatting them away, he laughingly adds. "And you try to silence someone when you don't wanna hear it, you're a brat."

"Asshole." Squall snips in his bratty defense. '...Maybe I am a brat.' He thinks when realizing what he was doing just now.

"And that's a penalty." He meant being called a bad name.

"Fine. But you'd better hope no one else if out there, or you're not getting squat."

"Oooh." He teased. "So what about me? Same question."

Thinking, he says. "I like how you can walk around butt-naked infront of a stranger, if it came to that, but if your hairband is missing you'll put a grip on it like its there until you find it. I never understood why that makes you feel naked, but its.. you know, its sweet."

Irvine thought about it. "Do I really do that?"

"Yeah."

He shakes his head. "Don't know what it is... I just don't feel all together with my hair just... hanging out all over the place. Kinda like how you don't like yours grown out."

"Oh."

"Oh, oh." He smiles.

Closing the tackle box, once Irvine's last lure is inside, he then stands up. "I'm gonna call, Laguna. Get lunch together."

"Okay."

Walking to the staircase, he calls over his shoulder. "Don't follow me."

"Ahaha." Shaking his fist in Squall's direction, he heads over to the refrigerator.

While whistling a tune, he pulls the fridge's door open grabbing from it a little tub of crab salad dip, a bag of salad, and a bottle of Two Thousand Island dressing. From the top of the fridge he grabs a package of wheat crackers, and a from the freezer two thermoses of Galbadian apple flavor iced tea. Packing the cooler, he then opens the freezer again to grab the frozen liner that sits inside the cooler.

Looking from the packed basket to the liner in his hand, he stamps his foot down. "...Shoot." Shaking his head from the cobwebs that have his thoughts strung up out of order, he unpacks the cooler to set the liner inside, then he packs it up once more.

At the front door, he trades his cowboy hat for a fisherman's, and he sets his favored head cover down on the table top in the small kichenette.

Loud foot steps head down the stairs, followed by the onwer's voice. "He's not answering, so I left him another message."

"Maybe he doesn't even have his phone with him." Irvine wonders.

With a shrug, Squall decided to put it out of his mind. Laguna's a grown man, he's probably got his phone off and is lounging in the Dollet hotel for all he knows. How much trouble can a person come across when they're writing a novel? Besides, if he runs into monsters he has his gun with him, and he's an experienced soldier.

"Who's turn is it?" Squall asks while locking the door.

"Mine." Thinking he loads the saddle bags for their ride.

They could walk, but riding is so much more relaxing and the birds need a good walk. And they can sit by the water's edge and just chill with each other. Climbing on the black birds, they adjust their seats before setting the beasts off on the trail to the fishing spot.

8 8 8

'These questions are so easy!' Kait beams from ear to ear at the computer screen on his desk.

Its all pretty standard stuff. He looks around the room for anyone who looks like they might be scratching their head, and struggling. But everyone seems intune with the questions and the answers. Except maybe Kamar, dude is always clueless.

'Poor Kamar.' He shakes his head. 'Let's see, question one: Drawing is how magic is extracted from enemies?' Looking from yes to no on the screen he presses the answer. 'Yes.'

The next question. There are a total of 8 elemental attributes?

'There's air... water... thunder... fire... earth... shoot what are the other two?' Scratching his head, he realizes what he's doing then quickly puts his hand down at his side, looking around after to be sure no one saw him wondering about an answer. 'Other two... other two- oh! Ice aaand holy? Yes! Yes.' He presses the correct answer then cast a triumphant look around the room.

3. A hightening in your stats junction will raise your physical strength in attack?

'Yes.'

The questions ranged from vitality junctioning all the way to asking if you're effected by poison if you attack or don't attack. Just EVERYTHING! By the time break rolled around, all the students were groaning in the hall over aching butts, backs, and sleeping limbs, or questions unanswered or wrong.

"Misery, thy name is Sorin." He slumps forward to rest in a one-sided hug on his best friend. "I wish we were on the battle portion already."

"Aaw, where'd you get stuck?"

"Tch. Where do you think?" Moving out of his draping, he scratches the top of his head. "Damn. I just don't know if magic can only be acquired by drawing. Aren't there like... little runes or something to do that?"

"I'm not helping you cheat."

"You suck." Shoving him, he looks down the hall. "Cliff! Hey, Cliff!"

Watching his friend's departure, he calls after him. "He's not gonna help you either!"

That slight raise in his voice seemed to cause an explosion in his throat because he just broke into a fit of coughs right after. Fist raised, he leans over hacking.

"Kait," A fan of black hair drapes his annoyed expression from being seen when he turns his head. But Leo saw. "Hey... are you sick?"

He can feel himself going back into that dark place again; and his hands scrunch into fists. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' He wonders, and misses what his girlfriend just said. "Huh?"

"I said, drink some water. Here." Handing the bottle to him, she straightens from her stoop, pulling him up by the collar of his grey cadet uniform.

"Thank you." Tipping the open bottle back, he side-eyes her as if she were going to attack him or something. "But I don't need you getting me water, you're not my maid."

Scoffing at him, she asks. "What the hell is with you? First the glare and now I'm a maid because I wanna be nice and give you water? Huh? Shit-head, have I offended you?"

Lowering the bottle, he smiles. "No. I just don't want your's... or anyone elses' company today." Sticking out his tongue, he shoves the bottle back into her hand before going back into the classroom to be alone. If only.

Sucking in a breath, he lets it out through puffer fish cheeks. Returning to his desk, he then looks over his shoulder to sneer at the guy two rows back.

"Hyland."

The white haired male spared him grey-eyed glance from his activity of tapping his pencil on the desk. "Thing that gets stuck in a tree."

"You know my name?"

"And I just said it... was I wrong? Then how but Scaredy Cat? No. Uumm a geeks gym shorts- those often get thrown in trees... maybeee...?"

"Maybe I'll tear your jaw off, if you don't shut up."

"Oooh, Little 'Turd' is fiesty today. What's the matter? Hmm? Don't know who you are between all those names you have? Or are you just realizing this test is hard, and you'll never live up to your kidnappers' reputations."

"That does it." Getting up from his desk, he approaches the male in hard, quick strides.

"Back to your seats everyone!" Mrs. Lundey calls out. "Kait... back to your seat." She says sternly, namely, when seeing his destination is towards his least favorite person.

Snapping his fingers together, Hyland continues messing with the riled up student. "Oh right, Kait. How could I forget something so stupid on a human being."

Hyland, for all his grand standing, had to shrink back because, at the moment, said 'human being' isn't looking too human. Weren't his eyes blue? What's with the black illusion? Is he on something that's making his pupils so dialated his eyes look like black orbs? Regaining his composure when Kait whispered something to him, the seated male was almost relieved when the instructor came over to assist Kait back to his seat.

The odd encounter left him tapping his pencil in thought, especially when Kait's gaze upon him was reduced to nothing more than blinked at him with confusion, then over his shoulder like he were wondering when he'd even crossed the room. Talk about a freaky ass guy. He usually gets lame retorts after he's ribbed him, now dude's actually growing some balls? Hyland can't wait until they're on the battle field, so he can blow off some steam. Balamb is probably already out there by now.

Balamb Garden is silent enough to seem as though its as disciplined as Galbadia when it comes to cutting up and acting out, and its because they're taking testing very seriously. They all want to become SeeDs, there can be no failing end- not even on the written test. Battle, and body knowledge are just as important as caving in a monster's skull. There is no one without the other if you're going to become a successful member of the Garden military. They're just glad instructor Kinhart isn't around to give them the death glare while they work. Seriously. Is the guy using intimidation to get better results? Or is he giving them an example of how a monster will view them once they get out of the training center and into the real world?

These questions are pretty tough though. Some students are faking bathroom breaks or other needs to be excused from the room so they can take a breather, and remember some of their much earlier lessons from class. After what happened with the war and the whole time compression scare, the Gardens aren't taking any chances in teachings, because you just never know what could creep up. Ultimacia surprised all of the war heros, and they nearly died- the good and stay down version! If no one is left alert in battle after twenty four hours Life and Full-life magic don't work. You're dead. Game over.

Junie is definitely feeling the pressures of 'Game over' nerves. She wonders about being in Garden at all when it comes to battling. She's all right, sure, but there's always that what if. What if the team she's assigned on isn't up to par? Who'll help her blunders in battle then? What if she's the one slowing the team down and gets them killed? What if... what if?

Question: When gaining experience, a GF can learn new abilities, will it forget old ones without your command?

Biting down on her pretty white heart covered pink index fingernail, she closes her eyes and pushes in an answer. She should have just gone to Trabia and been a medic soldier.

Quistis, who's filling in for Squall in this moment, looks around the room to catch anyone who's eyes might be straying. But every single person in the room seems to understand that their is no gain in cheating, if the answer is there without the knowledge you will not be a good soldier. Checking the clock, she then looks out the window spotting the mountains behind Hawkwind Plains of Trabia. It looks like they're have lovely weather, unlike her home away from Garden in Dollet where a dark cloud was hovering over it. It must have been storming at the time. It sure looks different being on the outside looking in, its all dark and menacing.

The assistant couldn't help but think that being cooped up in the school for the four day ride it will take to get to Hell, is doing a number on her thoughts. Suddenly a simple storm looks like trouble? She needs to get back into romance novels.

8 8 8

Laguna had never seen anything like it! Bullets sparked to fire without a gun, and the shots went around the room like a wild bird in a cage for the first time... just confused and aiming anywhere to get out. Where the fires were most useful to him, they were also harmful. There are live rounds in the store that could have been hit by the careless bolt of lightning to being shot by the fleeing bullets. He crawled as quickly as he could to the supplies closet; the Slow cast on him had worn off on the way, but that didn't stop his bad leg from stiffening and dragging behind him like a stone statue anchored at the uppermost thigh.

He'd been hit three time by the fire. When the monsters began to fall he lost their shielding bodies and that left him open for the aim, which he took in his left hand, left shoulder, but bad leg. Thankfully its so numb from pain he couldn't feel that shot enter, but he's light-headed from blood loss.

"I've gotta... Hyne it hurts.." He grunts when shoving open the door of the supplies room.

It turns out, its an office. With a phone! Keeping low for stray slugs passing through the walls, he reaches the desk and manages to pull the phone down onto the floor. Who will he call? The police here are all... well, he doesn't wanna think about something like that, but maybe the police in Timber can help. How the hell do you call police in another city when the numbers are all the same?!

"Rrr..." He groans. Holding his stomach he spins on the floor, spinning as if he were going to twist into a knot. "Wh... what's ha..ppening t... mee ahhh!"

Sitting up screaming, he's unable to dodge being struck by a bullet... in the back of his head.