--Saturday--
The following morning they awoke to loud
banging at their door. The reply to the knocking was three yawns, some
cursing, and much shuffling of covers.
"Who ordered room service?" Seifer asked, peering
through the cracks of his eyelids.
"What time is it?" Alex asked through a yawn.
"Where are my pants?" Irvine asked, rummaging
through the remains of the bedclothes and the piles of discarded
garments. "If I could find them I could answer the damned door."
"This is the police!" boomed through the room,
freezing all three in their tracks. They looked at each other, blinked,
and rushed to put on some clothes before answering the door.
"Alexander West, Irvine Kinneas, and Seifer Almasy?"
the rather young looking officer asked.
"That's us," Seifer said, adjusting the catch on his
necklace.
"Will you please report to the dining room?" the
officer asked, taking a step back when he saw the evil glint in Alex's
eyes.
"Only if you dance for us later," Alex purred,
scratching the officer's chin on the way past.
"You're bad," Seifer sighed, pressing his fingers to
his temples as they left a rather befuddled officer staring at their
door.
Once in the dining room they found Quistis glaring
at them over a cup of cocoa. They didn't say a thing as they crossed
the room. Not a syllable was uttered as they took a seat. They barely
breathed as Alex and Irvine recognized Rusty, who was seated across
from Quistis.
"I heard about what happened last night," Quistis
said, pushing her glasses up on her nose. "Needless to say I'm less
than impressed with you."
"Have you heard our side of the story yet?" Seifer
asked.
"You weren't there," Rusty sneered.
"No, but we were," Alex snarled back, narrowing his
eyes at the patrolman. "You tried to off Irvine and I had to stop you."
"He looked like some sort of stalker in the dark,"
Rusty said, directing his statement to Quistis. "I didn't know it was
the guy I was looking for."
"He was drunk," Seifer said, "his breath reeked when
we talked with him last night."
"And the cowboy's also reeked of alcohol," Rusty
butted in, "For all I know all of them could have been drunk."
"That's a lie!" Alex growled, rising to his feet and
slamming his hands down. "Ah had ta stop yah befor' yah killed mah
boyfriend!"
The flames in the candles on the tables around them
suddenly flared up in intensity, smaller globes of flame forming in the
air around Alex.
"You're a mage," Rusty said without missing a beat,
"how interesting."
"Gold level mage," Alex corrected, "and with more
power in my small finger than you have in your entire body."
"Alex, sit," Irvine and Seifer said, pushing down on
his shoulders to get him back into his chair.
"I'll be in touch," Rusty said, rising from his
chair, his icy gaze meeting Alex's fiery one.
"We'll keep him pacified," Irvine apologized as
Rusty strolled off.
Once the patrolman was out of sight Quistis took a
long sip of her cocoa and sighed. "I know you three are right," she
said, "that man is giving off a very dark aura."
"So you believe us?" Seifer asked.
"Yes, but we have to play it safe and by their
rules. And that means no gratuitous displays of power. Do I make myself
clear Alex?" she said, emphasizing the mage's name.
"Yes Ma'am," Alex sighed, wondering why he was being
singled out. "But if he does it again, hit him with a
fireball," she smirked as she winked at him. "Let Boomer and Kirinis in
on this too. Wouldn't want you to be the only one getting in their
licks."
"Yes Ma'am," all three said, saluting.
"Dismissed. Go get breakfast and enjoy your
vacation."
Once breakfast was finished, the dishes had been
cleared away, and cocoa and coffee refilled, the conversation turned to
plans for the day.
"Skiing, snow boarding, skating, sledding, or
sleeping?" Seifer asked, looking at a map of the resort.
"I'll go for boarding," Alex replied, resting his
head on Seifer's shoulder, "always wondered what it would be like."
"I'll take a nap in front of the fireplace any day,"
Irvine said, sniffling. He found two sets of eyes fixing glares on him.
"I'll stay away from the mini bar, I promise."
"I'll go boarding with you," Celia said as she
waltzed in with Kirinis and Boomer.
"I see you've recovered," Seifer said, shuffling his
maps around to make room for the three women.
"Washu's miracle cure is the only thing keeping us
on our feet right now," Boomer said, turning a chair around to straddle
it.
"That girl is pure genius," Kirinis added in praise
to Washu, "her medicine tastes good and kicks virus butt."
"She's not in the room," Seifer remarked, "and we
haven't seen her since last night."
Three sighs of relief filled the air. "That medicine
is good at kicking this nasty cold but tastes like boiled sweat socks,"
Kirinis said, sticking her tongue out. "Now amount of mouthwash will
kill the flavor. I know."
"She does," Boomer chuckled, "five hotel bottles of
rinse and spit and she still says she can taste it."
"Cherry Cocoa please," Celia said, ordering her
breakfast from their waiter before joining the conversation. "Heard all
about last night from Quistis. What's our plan for this slime ball?"
"Nothing at the moment," Alex said, pulling up the
collar of his turtleneck to cover his chin, "if he does anything to
threaten us again, though, we have been given clearance to do grievous
bodily harm."
"Sweet," Boomer smirked, playing with her
sunglasses, which were perched atop her head. "I can think of quite a
number of things I'd love to do to him, starting with a plasma bomb up
his..."
"Apricot jam for your pancakes?" Alex asked, heading
the blind's train of thought in another direction as the waiter arrived
with their breakfast.
"So, who's for hitting the slopes for me today?"
Seifer asked, broaching the subject of plans for the day.
"I already said I'd give it a try," Alex said, "was
never one for winter sports in the past, though, but I'll try anything
once."
"I'll go as well," Celia said, "who knows. You might
need a teleporter before the day is over."
"The lodge is calling my name," Boomer said through
a mouthful of pancake, "Look out boys 'cause I'm on the prowl."
"Eww, gross," Kirinis commented, "have you no
manners?"
"What, you don't like see food?" Boomer retorted,
opening her mouth to reveal half chewed pancakes.
"Thank you for that lovely visual display of
immaturity," Seifer sighed, "oh well, the slopes are calling me."
"And when they call you must answer," Irvine said,
staring into his cocoa mug.
"You're not coming with us?" Alex asked, hugging the
cowboy from behind as he passed.
"I had my outside adventure last night, remember?
Besides, I need to catch up on my correspondence. You have your phones
if you need to reach me or vice versa."
"You be good," Seifer said, pushing Irvine's bangs
up to kiss him on the forehead, "and keep Boomer out of trouble."
"Har - dee - farking - hah," Boomer sneered as
Celia, Alex, and Seifer left, "I'm a big girl and don't need you
telling me what to do!"
"Boomer McAlloy," Kirinis said in a maternal tone of
voice, "sit down and finish your breakfast. Now."
"Yes mom," Boomer replied plaintively, regaining her
seat to resume eating.
"And that's how it's done," Kirinis said to a
gawking Irvine. "Oh waiter, another cup of cocoa please, and this time
with a shot of creme de menthe if you please."
<music: 'Final Fantasy theme (techno mix)' -
DDR>
"This view is bloody amazing," Alex remarked,
his face pressed to the cable car window as they ascended to the top of
the mountain. The sun was peeking over the mountain top, shimmering off
of the snow covering the trees like the woods below were made of
crystal.
"We're not even to the top yet hon," Seifer said,
embracing Alex from behind and resting his chin on his shoulder. "Once
we hit there you'll see a view that is absolutely breathtaking."
They looked down at the people zipping down the
slopes on skis and snow boards, Alex forgetting his fear of heights for
a few moments, Seifer enjoying some quality time with his seconds
boyfriend.
"Will you two get a room or something?" Celia
sighed, watching Seifer nuzzle Alex's neck.
"Relax and scope this view," Alex said, motioning
Celia to look out at the slopes and the people enjoying them.
The vampyress gazed out the window beside her in
open mouthed awe. "It's like a sea of diamonds down there," she said,
adjusting her sunglasses.
They broke over the top of the main slopes into
blinding morning sun, and all in the cabin gasped in awe at the beauty
of the scenery.
"Bleeding heavenly," Alex and Celia gasped in unison.
"Better than yesterday," Seifer smiled, "since I
have someone special with me this time."
"Oh, Seifer," Alex said, blushing, "how sweet."
Celia made gagging noises and sighed. "Boys will be
boys, especially when they're in love."
The cable car came to a sudden jarring stop,
alerting them to the possibility of trouble. The slope attendant came
over the loudspeaker to assure them everything was fine and that it was
just a small technical glitch.
"This has setup written all over it," Celia said
under her breath. She spaced out for a moment, her sixth sense feeding
her a vision of impending disaster. "Not now," she muttered, foreseeing
a giant loss of life.
"So you're sensing the same bad vibes that I'm
feeling," Alex said, looking out the windows. "Where the fark is it
coming from?"
"You guys hear chopper blades?" Seifer asked,
straining his ears to hear over the people inside the car with them.
All talking and some breathing stopped as the sound
of chopper engines filled the air, the whirring of rotor blades growing
closer by the second. The car began to rock from the force of a great
wind, and everyone in the cable car came to the same realization - the
chopper was approaching them from above.
"If the blades hit the wire..." Celia mused, looking
out the window at the drop to the slopes below.
"Then we'd all be farked," Alex grumbled, pushing
his sunglasses up on his nose as he stepped towards the door, "a SeeD's
job is never done, is it?"
"I'm coming with you," Celia said, latching onto his
arm, "you might need all of your magic for a heroic rescue."
"I'll keep it real here," Seifer said, adjusting his
own sunglasses, "Take care love."
Alex gave Seifer a thumbs up and proceeded to throw
open the door. He grimaced when he saw the pilot of the chopper, since
it was the one person he didn't want to see - Rusty.
"He's getting close," Celia said, holding onto the
side of the door frame wit ha vice like grip while looking up.
<music: 'Love to Me (Inst Mix)' - Para Para
Paradise>
A sudden gust of wind caught both the chopper
and cable car, driving the rotor blade through the cable while
simultaneously throwing Alex out the door and into free fall. Celia
dove out after him, catching hold of the falling mage by the armpits
while casting a flight spell. Both watched in horror as the cable car
began a slow motion fall to the slopes below.
"This is going to farking hurt later," Alex said,
his hands glowing as his powers activated. "Magnetic Attraction level
EIGHT!"
Celia felt like her arms were going to be pulled
from their sockets as the weight she was carrying increased
exponentially. Alex's eyes bugged as well when he realized magnetic
sort of spell would hurt a fark load more than a levitation spell.
"Let it go!" Seifer called from the doorway of the
cable car.
"Are you nuts?!" Alex called back, his voice
straining over the sound of the still hovering chopper.
"Alex, do what he says," Celia groaned as she
dropped a full foot in the air. "We have other problems to deal with."
"But..." Alex protested.
"DO IT!" Celia cried and Seifer called over the
scream of chopper engines.
Alex cut the hold he had on the cable car and
watched as it began its plummet anew. Seifer leapt from the cable car,
his snow board in one hand, his other hand glowing ice blue as he began
casting.
"Blizzaga!" he cried, throwing his hand down, a
globe of blue light firing from his palm. A plume of ice and snow shot
up beneath him, catching his board to give him one hell of a ride to
the ground.
Once on the ground he turned his gaze to the still
falling cable car, both of his palms glowing as he fired up his magic
for another spell. "AVALANCHE!" he cried, pressing both palms to the
ground. A tidal wave of snow rose from the slopes, pushing people to
safety while catching the cable car to give it a softer landing.
"All's clear!" Seifer called, giving a thumbs up to
Alex and Celia, who were staring down at him, both in shock.
"Roger that," Alex said, returning the thumbs up
before turning his gaze on Rusty, whose flying hadn't improved much
while he was trying to escape. "Hey Celia, think I can him him with a
Dragon Slave and not trigger some catastrophic event like an avalanche
or rockslide or global warming?"
"You'd go as far as to use an overkill spell on
someone that worthless?" Celia asked, arching an eyebrow.
"On second thought, no," Alex replied, crossing his
arms and legs in deep thought. "Chain spells," he said after a moment.
"Those are always fun."
"Oh hell," Celia sighed as Alex charged up for a
spell string. "Hitting him with a Dragon Slave would have saved a lot
of time, but whatever."
"Burst Rondo! Dale Brando! Mega Brando! Fireball!
Followed by Gaav Flare! And how about a DRAGON SLAVE!"
Celia arched the other eyebrow at the amounts of
energy the mage was releasing to take care of one person. "Boys will be
boys," she sighed as the chopper was reduced to scrap metal and the
annoying pilot was sent screaming into the next state.
<music: 'Final Fantasy victory'>
Once the last glimmer of what had been Rusty
had passed into the distance Alex gave a victory sign. "Take that, ya
farkin arsehelm!" the mage cried, flipping up his middle finger at the
horizon.
"You're hopeless," Celia sighed as they descended.
"But well loved," Alex smirked up at her.
"You used enough magic power for a Giga Slave or two
on one loathsome worm."
"He deserved it for what he's tried to do to us
since we arrived."
"What? He tried to off us just now...."
"And Irvine and myself last night."
"Was it really worth it? Your little pay back, I
mean."
"Hells yeah! I feel so much better now."
Celia sighed and bowed her head. "Boys." she sighed.
<music: 'Iczelion' theme>
"You hear something?" Seifer asked as the mage
and vampyress touched down for a landing.
Alex and Celia strained their ears, listening to a
low rumble in the distance. After a few seconds the rumbling had
increased exponentially, and all three facefalted when they realized
what was happening.
"AVALANCHE!" all three cried, looking up to see a
ginormous wave of snow and ice descending upon them.
"Way to go, overkill," Celia sneered, smacking Alex
in the back of the head with her glove. Alex simply gave her a 'what
was that for?' look.
"Bicker later," Seifer said, turning on his snow
board to head downhill. "We need to move or be obliterated."
"Bad time to learn how to board," Alex whimpered,
setting his own board on the hard packed snow. He looked at the looming
avalanche, hopped on his board, and rode down the slope like his life
depended upon it.
"This is an avalanche alert!" Celia cried as they
passed people on the way down, "Please clear the slopes in a calm and
orderly fashion."
"Hell, hell, hell," Alex cursed under his breath as
he battled to keep his balance. His eyes bugged when he saw he was
coming up on a ramp, and as he caught some major air he cursed louder.
"HELL!"
Down in the lodge Boomer happened to glance out the
window at the slopes in time to see the approaching avalanche, her
shades sliding down the bridge of her nose when she realized the
enormity of the situation.
"Guy stalking can wait until after this emergency
has passed," she said with an authoritative tone, pushing her shades
back up her nose as she rose. Her cell phone rang, filling the air with
the tune of Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' and killing the mood / moment in one
fell swoop. "Hello," she said, answering the call. "Oh, hi Seifer.
You're WHERE!? Yeah, I'll get Irvine and Quistis and Washu and be right
out. Gotcha. See ya in a few."
"Trouble?" Kirinis asked, looking up from a mystery
novel she'd borrowed from the front desk.
"Yeah," Boomer sighed, "impending destruction from
an avalanche. That sort of thing."
The book fell from Kirinis' hands as a look of stun,
shock, and horror washed across her face. "Please tell me you're
kidding," she gasped.
"Look out the window if you don't believe me,"
Boomer said as she ran for the rooms. "I've got to find Irvine and the
others."
Kirinis looked out the window, her eyes widening in
horror. "Oh hell," she sighed, pulling out her cell phone. "Garden,"
she said, the voice dialer taking all the hassle out of calling people.
"This is command control," a male voice said when
someone picked up. "Reyark speaking."
"Kirinis here Rey. Requesting backup. Avalanche
issues. Please send assistance."
"Roger that. Assistance being dispatched as we
speak."
"Thanks. Over and out."
Once she'd ended her transmission to Garden she
dialed Boomer to find out how it was going.
"Irvine and Washu have been found," Boomer replied.
"Heading out the door now. Couldn't find Quistis, though."
"I'll call her and meet you on the slopes," Kirinis
said, ending her second call before placing her third, this one while
running for the entrance to the slopes. "C'mon Quisty, pick up. Pick
up."
Out on the skating rink Quistis was waiting for her
name to be called for a figure skating contest. She was going over her
routine in her mind when the digital rendition of Kyle Minogue's 'Fever' filled the air. She answered
before the second chorus of the song could begin in a hissed whisper.
"Hello. Kirinis? What? You've got the be joking.
You're not joking? Oh hell. I'll be there in a moment or two."
"Quistis Trepe, Miss Quistis Trepe, you're on next,"
an announcer's voice boomed across the ice rink.
"Damn and double damn," she said under her breath,
running toward the judge's table. "I'm sorry to say that I'll have to
wait for the end of the program to skate," she said hurriedly, flashing
her SeeD insignia badge, "we've had an emergency develop in the past
few minutes."
"Anything we can do to help?" one of the judges
asked.
"Get everyone into the resort or lodge," she called
over her shoulder while unclipping her skates from her boots. 'Of all the shitty timing, why did it
happen when I as going to make my claim for fame?'
"Slopes are clear," Seifer said, skidding to a stop
on his snow board. He kicked free and turned around to see the titanic
wall of snow barreling down upon them.
"Thanks for some well timed 'porting on my part,"
Celia smirked, stopping a few feet from Seifer. She too kicked free of
her board and looked at the avalanche. "This looks like as good a place
as any to try to stop it."
Loud shouting and cursing filled the air as Alex hit
the last ramp, flipped backwards, and plummeted into the snow off to
the side of the trail, landing with his feet and head higher than his
butt.
"Little help," he asked, flailing to kick free of
his board while shivering from the snow going down the back of his
shirt.
"Hopeless," Seifer sighed as he pulled Alex free of
the snow bank.
"I already apologized for the avalanche," Alex
pouted.
"Typical," Washu said as she arrived, accompanied by
Boomer and Irvine.
"Can't leave you alone for a minute, can we?" Irvine
asked, looking up at the towering wall of snow that was increasing in
size by the second. "Wow," he whistled, "that could pose a problem."
"Nothing we can't handle," Boomer smiled, energy
sparking around her hands.
"Save your strength," Washu advised as Kirinis
joined them. "There are seven of us accounted for. Where's Quistis?"
"Coming," Quistis called, quite out of breath. "As
usual, your timing for disasters is impeccable."
"We catch you on the can?" Boomer asked
sarcastically.
Quistis' eyebrow twitched, and a second later Boomer
had a face full of snow. "No," Quistis said through clenched teeth,
"you interrupted something that was important to me."
"It'll still be there when we finish," Alex said,
bracing for a prolonged fire fight.
The avalanche crested like a wave, towering hundreds
of feet above their heads. Eight sets of eyes blinked in unison as the
wave began to curl forward, which would eventually result in it
crashing down upon their heads.
"Avalanche surfing is a sport I'll try later,"
Seifer said, drawing his gunblade.
"Up from the depths, forty stories high," Washu sang
under her breath, "afraid of fire, its top in the sky...."
<music: 'Midnight Blue' - Megumi
Hayashibara>
"This is so not a good vacation right now,"
Boomer said, looking at the tidal wave of snow that ws preparing to
crash down upon them.
"Silence beyond a deathly calm, quieter than the
stillest air," Alex chanted under his breath, the bands binding his
hair in place dissolving as a clock face inside of a runic circle
formed around his feet, "a break in the action equal to my maximum
power .In thy great name let all motion be halted for a period of time.
Let those who oppose us be destroyed where they stand!"
The lights of the circle around Alex's feet swelled
in intensity, growing to the point of blinding in a matter of seconds.
"That spell is going to drain you," Washu said,
keyboards appearing in the air around her.
"I know," Alex said through gritted teeth as the
color began to drain from the world around them, "but right now it's
the only shot we have to live and save everything."
"Firaga!" Kirinis cried, hurling a fireball at the
avalanche. "Firaga!" she cried again, throwing two fireballs, one from
each hand.
"Multi fireball!" Celia cried, her hair blowing
wildly as a hail of fireballs filled the air.
"Great goddess of fire, imbue my weapon with you
power," Seifer prayed, bracing his gunblade in front of his face, the
end to the sky. A circle of red energy formed around his feet as his
blade began to glow, flames crackling around the weapon as his limit
skill unlocked.
"Temporal matrix is moving at twenty five percent of
normal," Washu reported, her fingers flying over her keyboards at an
amazing speed.
"Big Bang!" Boomer cried, sending a large globe of
raw solar energy at the now slow moving tidal wave of snow.
With each successful spell the avalanche shrank a
tiny, infinitesimally small amount. Even with Alex's spell almost
complete the ginormous wave of snow and ice was on the verge of
crashing down upon their heads.
"Time FREEZE!" Alex cried, the clock face around his
feet growing in size by an exponential amount. The color in the
surrounding area dulled and drained to soft pastels, a glittering
effect filling the air as the time stream was halted for a period of
time.
"Lava Burst!" Irvine cried, pressing his palm to the
ground, a reddish glow surrounding his hand before pulsing towards the
towering wall of snow and ice. A smaller wall of molten rock erupted
before them, melting a fraction of the avalanche before hardening to
solid volcanic rock.
"We really need a overkill spell or two right about
now," Celia gasped, brushing her hair back. She muttered under her
breath about how much she was sweating that moment while tying her hair
back from her face. "Overkill spell or a call for reinforcements," she
added, "take your pick."
"This avalanche has yet to meet my attack," Seifer
smirked, a tower of flame reaching to the sky from his gunblade. He
brought his blade up above his head and swung back, the top of the
pillar reaching across the valley to the top of another mountain. "Fire
Cross!" he cried, leaping up to maximize the force of his downward
swing. The pyro pillar made contact with the head of the avalanche and
encountered great resistance.
"Combine spells on Seifer's attack," Washu
instructed, calculating strike points for peak effectiveness.
"Losing power...." Alex gasped, the rune circle
around his feet shrinking. "Hurry.... please."
"Flare!" Kirinis and Irvine cried, adding their own
high level fire spells to Seifer's attack.
"Giga Flare!" Celia called, sending a spell she'd
learned from Alex through Seifer's attack.
"Alex, drop your spell before you burn out," Washu
instructed, "it's doing more harm than good right now."
"Can't," Alex pouted, dropping to his hands and
knees, "once active, it won't stop until I'm tapped."
"Fark," Boomer hissed, her hands glowing. "Corona
Blaster!" she cried, pouring all of her power into the attack that she
combined with Seifer's limit skill.
"This is not good, not good at all," Washu said, an
energy bubble forming around her, "by my calculations the time flow
will return to normal in two point five seven seconds."
"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed.
"Farfaghnughen," Alex sighed before keeling forward
onto his face.
Seven pairs of eyes blinked in unison, which is a
very unsettling sound, especially when it's drowned out by the roar of
time resuming and an avalanche crashing down around a group of people.
A cry of, "Fire Tower!" filled the air as a column
of flames roared up around them, effectively shielding them from the
avalanche. All looked down to see Alex pushing himself ot his feet, an
orange - red glow surrounding his body.
"What the?" Kirinis asked, arching an eyebrow.
"The miracle of the near fatal attack," Alex said,
smirking a little, "Fire Tower to save our asses, and this baby to save
everyone else."
A white - blue glow joined the flame red, swirling
into it as two types of attacks combined. Alex continued to smirk as
people's hair began to stand on end from all of the energy collecting
in the area.
"Giga Nova!" he cried, releasing the accumulated
energy in one continuous burst, effectively slicing the top off of the
avalanche and vaporizing it instantly. The new top of the avalanche,
which had been the center seconds earlier, liquefied in the back blast,
dousing those below in ice cold water, soaking them to the skin while
extinguishing their barrier.
"Alas, I've failed again," Alex said dramatically,
pitching backwards into Seifer's arms, which was so sudden of an action
that Seifer had to cease his attack and drop his sword.
"Poor judgment claims eight," Boomer sighed, her
shades sliding down her nose, "just how I want my obituary to read."
"Goddess in heaven, guide our souls to the great
beyond," Celia prayed as the shadow of the avalanche blotted out the
light.
All eight crossed their arms over their heads in
some attempt to lessen the impending blow. Instead of icy cold death
from above, a warm wind filled the air. A moment later it felt like
someone had opened the door to a giant blast furnace.
"Flashfire.... HURRICANE!" a familiar male voice
cried as the air around them ignited from the initiation of the attack.
"That sounds a lot like..." Celia commented as
everyone looked up to see a young man with spiky blond hair, dressed in
a red trench coat, black jeans, and black boots, hanging down from the
tow line of the Ragnarock.
"Mackenzie!" everyone exclaimed, waving up to the
blond, who was deep in concentration.
"Figures they'd have to make a flashy entrance,"
Alex chuckled, looking up at the ship looming overhead, "but when did
he learn that attack?"
"Shortly after he found he could use a heat wave as
a hairdryer," a woman with long red hair said from the top of the tow
line.
"And Tiskili's here too," Seifer said, "but who's
piloting the ship?"
"Little help?" Mackenzie said, touching down amid
their numbers. "This attack is powerful, but isn't going to finish this
problem of ours."
"Ever wish Lina was here?" Washu asked, watching
sweat pour down the blonde's face. "She could just put on her charge
armor and go to it. Or she could summon Bahamut and...."
"Gods I'm a ditz," Alex said, reaching into his
pocket to extract his materia. He held the gem to the sky and chanted,
"Dragon of darkness who sleeps in the inferno, come forth and burn my
enemies to ashes!"
The materia gem glowed flame red, a circle of flames
forming in the sky above them. A loud screaming filled the air,
spurring Alex on to shout, "RIDLEY!"
Something consumed by flames burst through the ring
of fire, sideswiping the Ragnarock
before pulling out of its dive. Once it gained some altitude it stopped
in mid air, the flames dissipating to reveal the combination of dragon
and bird that was Alex's first esper, Ridley. the mighty beast back
flapped its wings to remain aloft as it reared its head back and opened
its mouth, a globe of fire forming. The globe increased in size before
Ridley belched it forth. All watched with awe and anticipation as the
globe struck the avalanche. A split second later the esper belched a
ray at the globe, detonating it into a powerful fire wave.
"Behold Ridley's plasma flare," Alex said proudly.
"Dude, we've seen it, like, a million times before,"
Boomer said.
"True, but not like this. Keep watching."
All stared as the plasma wave combined with
Mackenzie's attack, creating a blinding flash of light and flame that
vaporized the remainder of the avalanche.
"What power," Tiskili commented, clinging for dear
life to the tow line and door frame. "This must be what it's like to be
chosen to have an esper or a Guardian Force."
The light died down a moment later, as did the wind
and surrounding temperature. As Ridley back flipped into subspace the Ragnarock set down for a landing.
All involved breathed a sigh of relief as Mackenzie and Tiskili ran to
see how much damage was caused by the incident.
"Wow," Mackenzie whistled, "all the way down to the
base... and through it. Right to the rock face."
"We're going to need a lot of conditioner after
that," Celia commented, twisting some of her hair around her finger, a
crunching sound filling the air. "Extra crispy."
"So who piloted that?" Seifer asked, trying to get
an answer to the question he posed earlier.
"That would be me," another familiar male voice
said. "Hey Kirinis, long time no see. You hear the song I requested?"
Kirinis turned her head first, her jaw dropping from
shock when she saw Tenal, a pair of piloting goggles pushed up on his
forehead. The others turned to look at Tenal as well, who winked and
gave them a thumbs up. He went as far as grinning, a glimmer coming off
of his teeth. People bowed their heads and sighed before walking back
towards the lodge and resort, leaving Tenal to wonder what their damage
was.
"Three more to join our weekend," Seifer sighed,
rubbing his temples.
Three hours had passed since the Ragnarock had landed and the three
occupants of the craft had checked into the hotel. Seifer was in his
room with Alex and Irvine, and all were spending some 'quality time' together.
"You seem distracted by that," Alex purred in his
ear before nibbling on his neck.
"Really takes the fun out of sex when you get
distracted," Irvine said from underneath Seifer. "What's bothering you?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all," Seifer said, crawling off
of Irvine while slipping out of Alex's embrace. "I.... have a headache.
That's all."
"You're thinking about how we have one day left of
our weekend before we have to head back to Garden, aren't you?" Alex
asked as he gave Irvine a shoulder rub.
Seifer stopped at the bathroom door and rested his
head against the doorjamb. After a pause he replied, "yeah, I'm
thinking about that. I'm thinking why does every vacation have to go
totally off the walls in one way or another?"
"We're SeeDs," Irvine replied, "it's part of our job
to do dangerous stuff while trying to live a normal life."
"So why not come back to bed and let Doctor Alex
take your cares away," Alex purred, "I've got magic fingers."
"And I can't resist those," Seifer said, crawling
back into bed. "How long until dinner?"
"Couple of hours or so," Alex smirked as he began to
give Seifer a magic fingers massage. "So don't worry about it."
Outside the room Tenal, Boomer, and Mackenzie were
listening at the door, struggling to control giggling and laughter at
what they were hearing.
"Oh, no way," Boomer whispered, "that was a loud
one."
"So much moaning and groaning," Mackenzie said,
blushing, "it's so unnatural sounding."
"When you and Paige or Monet get that close it won't
sound so gross," Tenal whispered.
"Shhhh," boomer hissed as Mackenzie glared at Tenal,
"they're getting a good rhythm going."
"And they're getting loud," Mackenzie said, blushing
redder.
As the three in the room were getting close to
climax, Boomer knocked in the door, and all three shouted, "Room
Service!" before running of, laughing their heads off.
Inside the room three people moaned, rather
painfully, "Oww. Oww. Oww. Oww. Oww." in unison.
At the other end of the hallway the three trouble
makers skidded to a halt, ducked around a corner, and burst into
laughter.
"Oh man, that was cruel," Mackenzie gasped,
struggling to breathe after laughing so hard.
"C'mon ride the train, and ride it," Boomer sang,
"c'mon, it's a choo choo train."
"I don't get it."
Boomer sighed and face palmed. "I'll explain it
simply without gross images," she said, taking a deep breath. "You know
how a train and train cars are connected, right?" Mackenzie nodded.
"Well, picture three or more guys like that."
Mackenzie thought for a moment, blushed, coughed,
turned green, and shook his head to get rid of the images that his
imagination had produced. "Spew," he said, turning green again.
"Scary," Tenal sighed, "such a kid."
"How long do ya think it'll take them before they
can move again?" Boomer asked, looking around the corner.
"Oh, about now," Alex said, glowering down at
Boomer. "Not very funny, ya know," he said, a fanged grin spreading
across his lips.
"You're so toasted," Seifer said from behind Alex.
"We're busted," Mackenzie said, looking from around
the corner.
"So how are we going to be punished?" Tenal asked,
also looking out from around the corner.
"We haven't thought of that," Irvine said, joining
Alex and Seifer, "I suppose we could turn them over to Washu..."
Mackenzie grew rather pale at the mention of the
pink haired mad scientist. Tenal and Boomer shifted uneasily where they
sat.
"We could subject them to slow painful torture,"
Alex suggested.
"Or we could make them do ice dancing," Quistis
suggested as she passed by to her room, humming a tune under her breath.
Alex, Irvine, and Seifer thought about that for a
moment before smiling wickedly.
"Ice dancing it is," Alex said, grinning from ear to
ear.