Final Fantasy VIII Powertrip 2nd Edition

Squall awoke from the realms of unconsciousness to find himself in a small prison cell. After taking a few seconds for his eyes to refocus he replayed the events of the night that had just occurred. They had been on a mission to assassinate the sorceress.

He remembered been on the clock-tower with Rinoa and Irvine waiting for the exact moment when the tower would arise and they could take the shot. He recalled Irvine panicking and shaking, his mind was that of a nervous minefield not allowing his body to stop shaking, his nerves and anxiety had clearly got the better of the cowboy. Squall cursed, he hated people that were fake, walking with a swagger, thinking they were cool, a real ladies man, when in reality they were just plain cowards. Who ever heard of a cowboy assassin who was afraid to shoot a target? He remembered finally talking Irvine into taking the shot assuring him that if he missed then he could consider it a signal for them to attack her head on.

Squall had to give some credit where it was due though, Irvine's shot had been dead on the money when he eventually fired but the sorceress had been expecting the attack. Squall recalled dashing down from the clock-tower via a series of leaps and bounds across the rooftops before an exhilarating drive through the crowded street culminating in a full frontal onslaught to face the sorceress head on. Squall remembered seeing Seifer standing on the float, basking in his romantic dream; he was a knight in his own eyes, a lapdog in Squall's. Then came the inevitable fight between the two great rivals. It was closely fought till Rinoa and Irvine appeared and helped out. Edea watched on with intrigue as the two swordsman exchanged blows, it truly was a masterful exhibition of swordsmanship, two conflicting styles, each expertly delivered with prowess by their respectful wielders. She grew concerned when she could see Squall seemed to be winning the bout and she began to summon a powerful ice spell, her hands glowing with an iridescent blueish haze.

Once Squall had defeated Seifer he turned to face her, his eyes fixated upon her as he marched forward. She observed his eyes. They held no fear. This boy was a warrior, he did not fear death. This actually sent a shiver down her spine and she unleashed her spell. Three viscous and jagged shards of ice were flung towards him and before he even had time to react he felt one of them impale him in his right shoulder with such force it knocked him backwards of the floor to the cold street below. The pain was excruciating and he remembered the last thing he saw was Rinoa's face as she leaned over the edge of the float. It was contorted in a stated of panic. Then the darkness embraced him as his body went into shock.

He sat upright with the memories freshly relived and he felt dizzy. A wave of nausea swept over him. Taking a few seconds to gain his balance he felt his shoulder for the wound. It was mostly healed barring some heavy bruising. He couldn't understand it, how could there be no wound? He had felt the icy spear go right through him, there had to be a wound, that pain was real. There was no way a nightmare could hurt that much.

Squall began to think clearly and observed his surroundings, no windows, a small bed and a door, this clearly a cell intended for solitary confinement. Before he could consider anything else the door opened and in walked Seifer with a huge smirk that just made Squall's blood boil. The young brunette tried to stand up but the onset of nausea came over him again and he sank back to the sheets, much to the delight of Seifer.

"Squall your pathetic" snarled the egotistical blonde.

Squall glared back at him and forced himself upon his feet and towards Seifer, though he was weak and still feeling light-headed. Seifer laughed to himself and revealed his Hyperion that had been concealed behind his trademark trench-coat. Still Squall staggered forward and Seifer pounced. He feigned to be reaching for his sword before attacking Squall with an elbow to side of the head. He followed this with another quick blow, this time sweeping his fist back across Squalls face and then he kicked him hard in the stomach forcing the brunette to double over in pain.

"Pitiful" mocked Seifer, before he withdrew his Hyperion and hit Squall in the face with the pommel. The force causing him to collapse backwards and return to the realm of unconsciousness once more.

"Take him to the 12th floor for questioning" he bellowed to the guards. Seconds later several Moomba's entered the cell and dragged him away.

About an hour later Squall came to, he involuntarily let out a grunt as he did so, alerting the guards he was now awake. He had a terrible headache that was just pounding and his vision was still blurry. He hadn't yet had the time to adjust to the lighting of the room. Squall shivered, he was just noticing how cold this room was, then he realised he had no shirt on. Squall knew this could not be a good thing and then he became more aware of his surroundings. He could see several guards were lining the walls and he could notice a constant flicker of light in the corner of his eye. Squall felt his arms were above his head and he could feel the cold steel restraints biting into his flesh. One guard approached him, and grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head sharply backward so that Squall was looking him in the eye. Squall narrowed his gaze and was staring defiantly into the man's eyes with a piercing cold intensity. This did not faze the guard however.

"Now that you are finally awake, you're going to answer some questions"

This was met by silence. The guard was not impressed and he punched Squall. Still there was no response so the guard punched him again. No sound escaped the brunette's lips though, which only annoyed the guard more. The guard was angry and he hit Squall again, then once more, that was now four times, yet still he would not give them the satisfaction of admitting the pain he was feeling.

"You _will_ talk stupid boy" spat the guard in a husky Galbadian accent.

Squall didn't react, his jaw clenched in defiance. The guard signalled for more troops to step forward, which they duly did. Two guards advanced, Wedge and Biggs, and they took a closer look at the prisoner.

"Hey that's the punk that attacked us at the broadcast tower and got us demoted" said Biggs.

"Yeah you're right" replied Wedge. "Time for some payback you little shit".

He threw a punch straight at the prisoners face and followed this with a swift knee to his stomach. Biggs decided he wanted in on this act of revenge and he too delivered a powerful body shot to the captive male. Squall was in pain but his determination to stay silent remained and instead of vocalising his pain he simply drew in a quick series of breath. Biggs was deceptively strong even if it didn't show under the standard Galbadian armour, and he held tremendous force behind his punches. He unleashed a flurry of punches into Squall's midsection before winding back for one powerful hit. As he did so Wedge got in a punch of his own and distracted the brunette's attention before Biggs connected with his punch. It was a mighty punch that hit Squall in the ribs and a sickening cracking sound could be heard resonating through the room as a result of the hit and this was the key to break Squall's resolve and he cried out in pain. This caused an infection of callous laughter to sound around the room. The guards hadn't been given this much freedom to have 'fun' with a prisoner in a very long time. Squall was now breathing quickly as he struggled to draw in breath

"You gonna talk yet?" asked the head guard.

Squall ignored his question and continued his struggle to breathe.

"No, well lets continue" The guard spoke and moved across the room towards the flickering light that Squall had noticed earlier yet since forgotten about. Wedge kicked the defenceless boy again. He was laughing and mocking him as he attacked. Squall responded by opening his mouth as though to speak, enticing Wedge to stop his attack and lean in towards him. Squall took this opportunity to spit right in Wedge's face and smile in satisfaction.

"Why you..." He didn't finish his sentence and he withdrew his gunblade and buried it deep into the underside of Squall's upper arm, penetrating the skin and part of the muscle, Squall winced and it was Wedge's turn to smile. He twisted the blade sideways causing further pain for the SeeD. Then a rush of rage fuelled adrenaline surged through him and he pulled the trigger causing a massive tear in Squalls muscle and a river of blood to flow down his arm and onto his shoulder and further onto the floor. This was accompanied by a loud guttural scream of anguish.

"Does it hurt?" taunted Wedge before quickly hitting Squall again.

"Enough!" bellowed the guard by the flickering light.

Squall wearily raised his head and was able to just make out that the guard was lifting something from the light into the air. He didn't have to wait long before the guard brought it closer to him. Squall could see it was a blade, jagged and slightly rusted and glowing vermilion red. The guardsman grabbed him by the hair and put the blade close to Squall's eyes.

"I will get answers from you, save yourself the pain boy and tell me what I want to know" said the guard in a tone that was almost fatherly, it was harsh yet sympathetic at the same time.

"Fuck you!" responded Squall. The guardsman laughed briefly before his facial features fell into a deep menacing mask of seriousness.

"Brave, but foolish".

He then slashed the red hot blade across Squalls chest forcing the restrained teenager to writhe in pain and struggle against his bonds. The guard showed no mercy though and slashed him again this time in the opposite direction to the first but slightly lower down his chest. The guard offered the slightest reprieve and looked Squall in the eye once more.

"What is SeeD?" he asked.

The brunette was confused and before he could even process the question properly in his thoughts the guard accepted the silence as Squall been stubborn and so he pressed the blade against his ribs and delighted in the sound of the poor man's flesh been singed. The guard made careful note to press the blade against each of his ribs down the right hand side of his torso.

"What is Seed?" He asked again.

"I don't understand" Squall managed to say between laboured breaths.

"Don't play dumb" The guard menacingly spat back and he pressed the tip of the blade to Squall's stomach and asked once more

"What is SeeD?"

_'Doesn't Seifer know? He was there at garden, he must know' _thought Squall to himself but he did not answer the guardsman.

"What..." said the guard forcing the tip of the blade to penetrate the skin like a needle.

"Is..." Still he pressed the blade deeper

"Seed" then he pushed the blade further into his flesh before slicing it diagonally downwards across his stomach, ribs and side and onto his back. Squall screamed. The pain was so intense his vision was blurring and he could feel his grasp on consciousness slipping.

"SeeD is..." Squall managed to say but he was struggling to breath and he started coughing, blood rising in his throat before spilling out over his lips. The guard was annoyed that Squall was cut off from finishing talking. Hyne knows it had taken him long enough just to get this far, but he could see that if they didn't stop here, at least temporarily, then there would be no prisoner left to interrogate. Unleashing his frustration he punched Squall in the face and the helpless teen succumbed to the darkness once more and his vision went black. The guard bellowed instructions to one of the guards who was stood near the door

"Go get Captain Almasy. Now!" he screamed before the guard even had time to acknowledge the first sentence.

* * *

Meanwhile on the lower floors of the prison...

"Urgh...Where am I?" Quistis said aloud as she tentatively reached for her forehead.

Her thoughts were fuzzy but as she focused more she began to recall the previous night. Her team had been stationed in the gate tower; they had worked their way up through the sewers and into the tower. They had been tasked with dropping the gate to stop the parade and create the distraction that would allow Irvine the time to fire the shot and assassinate the sorceress. She recalled all was going to plan, they had gotten to the tower in plenty of time and were observing the parade, Selphie and her were watching with intrigue, Selphie enjoying the parade while still keeping her focus and Quistis had her eye trained on Seifer.

The parade float carrying him and the sorceress entered the archway and she signalled to Zell who pulled the lever and released the gate in front of the float followed by the lever for the back of the gate trapping the prey in place. Their job was done and she waited.

The shot should have been fired by now, what was keeping them? She had been Squall's instructor for a few years now and never had he been late or tardy, especially when on a mission, leaving her to draw the only conclusion that seemed viable; Irvine had panicked and blown the mission. She couldn't see them from her position in the tower but she knew they were there. Still they waited, after more than a minute she noticed a brief faint glow from the clock-tower which meant Irvine had finally fired his shot. Her eyes darted down towards the sorceress, she was watching with baited breath as history was unfolding before her eyes, this assassination would soon be on the front pages of every newspaper, and she was watching it happen, live in front of her. Then she noticed something was wrong. The sorceress stood, calm as could be and a purple glow shrouded her presence. In the minute or so delay between when Irvine should have fired and when he did fire the sorceress had protected herself, expecting an attack.

"Shit" she vocalised her panicked thoughts.

The mission had failed and they were in trouble. Before she could think further, even in the midst of the ensuing chaos, she noticed a car driving towards the float through the sea of people, and when it came to a screeching halt she noticed that someone dressed in black jumped out of the car and onto the float.

_'No it couldn't be'_ she thought to herself, but when the person unsheathed a long blade she was left in no doubt, it was Squall. He was going to try kill her head on. By this time Selphie had noticed these events too and she blurted out

"What is he doing? Zell get over here"

"What?" Zell bounded over to the girls and he looked through the window and out towards where they were pointing. "Is he outta his mind?" He added.

All three SeeD's knew that Squall was practically committing suicide and they knew that at this moment in time they should be attempting to flee from the tower as they were potentially in danger for their part in the assassination attempt, but their eyes were fixated upon Squall.

Squall and Seifer were battling it out and the sorceress was immobile watching her knight fight his great rival with intent and intrigue. Hours seemed to pass to all who were watching even though it was just a matter of minutes. Swordsmanship of this calibre was a very rare sight to behold. Squall finally got the better of Seifer and then it happened, the sorceress moved and seconds later shards of ice crafted from nothingness impales Squall knocking him of the float to he concrete below.

Quistis' eyes went wide with shock and screamed out Squall's name and then turned round to move towards the exit, she had to try get to him. The fates were not her ally on this day though and as the three of them reached the exit they were surrounded by armed soldiers who had their weapons cocked and aimed at them. They had no choice but to surrender. The last thing she remembered was fearing for Squall's life before the world went black.

Quistis snapped out of her memories and looked around the room. No windows, one door, obviously a prison cell, and in it were four prisoners. She dwelt on that last part, four prisoners. She checked again to see if her mind was deceiving her but it wasn't. There was Zell, Selphie, Rinoa and herself.

_'Where's Irvine?'_ she thought, then her mind wandered to the other missing party member.

_'Squall. Where's Squall? Is he dead?'_ her mind was firing thought after thought at her, she couldn't even think about something long enough for it to register before another thought would substitute itself. She was rescued from this viscous cycle by the rustling coming from across the room, indicating that another of the party was awakening. It was Zell.

"What a weird dream" Zell said as he sat up.

"What was it this time?" inquired Quistis.

"It was that Ward fella; he was a janitor in some dimly lit building. He was mopping the floors and these soldiers kept barging past him all the time." Zell answered.

Selphie and Rinoa were also awake at this point and had caught the last bit of Zell's conversation.

"Do you know where it was he was working?" asked Selphie, to which Zell just shook his head.

A silence befell the room as all four prisoners became lost in their own thoughts. Zell was sat with his hands fidgeting, rubbing his hand over the knuckles of his other hand. Rinoa was sat with her back to one of the walls her knees tucked up to her chest with her head down. She was thinking about Squall. He had saved her from those beasts when she had been foolish enough to attempt to give the sorceress the Odine bangle. Then he had confronted the sorceress head on and then...She couldn't bring herself to think about it.

"Where are we?" Selphie asked.

Quistis thought logically for the first time since she awoke and surmised that they would be in the D-District prison; after all they had tried to kill the ruler of Galbadia. She had heard this place had been closed down years ago though. She hoped it wasn't the prison though as it was said to be impregnable, a multi-storey prison in the middle of a desert. If this was indeed where they were now then they were in serious trouble, even if they somehow managed to escape.

"I'd guess that we were in the D-District prison" answered Quistis after a few seconds.

"Zell weren't you saying Ward was a janitor in a building with soldiers, does this look familiar?" Selphie asked. Zell quickly answered her

"I don't think so, I can't tell from one room." the frustration evident in his voice. The room fell into silence while the prisoners retreated into their thoughts.

"Anyone got any bright ideas about how we are gonna get out of here?" Zell asked, eventually breaking the silence that had befallen them. None of the prisoners had a chance to respond as a loud banging sound was heard coming from the door, shortly followed by an angry voice

"Shut up in there." bellowed a guard. This seemed to fall on deaf ears as the SeeD's continued talking. The guard murmured to himself under his breath and continued his rounds.

An hour or so had passed by, though to the prisoners time had lost meaning in the cell with no indication of daylight to gauge time with, and they were still no closer to finding a solution to their captivity. Their discussions came to an abrupt halt when they heard the distinct sound of a key turning in the lock to the cell door, and they turned to face the door. In walked three guards, all with angry facial expressions and the middle guard spoke to the group.

"Is there a Rinoa in here?" he inquired. Rinoa paused before looking up and answering

"I'm Rinoa." she said meekly, her eyes showing a tint of fear.

"I have instructions you are to come with us" replied the guard, to which Rinoa clearly hesitated before shaking her head in denial. A guard stepped forward towards her prompting Zell to jump up and step in front of the guard.

"Leave her alone!" he said fiercely. The guard chuckled and the others guards advanced with their weapons raised and loaded. Zell wasn't stupid and he backed slightly and then the guard struck him with his weapon, knocking him off balance before the guard gave a swift kick and repeated his statement.

"Come with us. The sorceress has granted you a reprieve at the behest of general Caraway." he snarled. Rinoa was still scared but she retorted

"OK. Just stop hitting Zell, I will go with you"

"Rinoa, no..." Quistis said but she was cut short by Rinoa

"Its ok" she said and left the room with guards. Quistis sat there bitter, the plan had gone wrong and now they were locked in prison yet the spoilt princess walks away free. She was not amused.

Selphie was knelt next to Zell and was trying to cast a cura on him to relieve the pain but was unable to cast any magic. She cursed; something not typical to her vocabulary. Quistis looked in intrigue, she had read reports about the anti magic fields that were said to exist in this place but she hadn't believed they were true, mainly because that required some serious technology and maintenance. A shiver ran down her spine as the realisation of the seriousness of the situation came crashing down on her once more; trapped prisoner in an impregnable prison with no weapon, no magic and seemingly no hope of escaping this cruel twisted fate. The three remaining prisoners went silent once more as they thought about where Irvine had gotten to in all of this. Had his native Galbadian accent helped him evade arrest? They stayed quiet and got some rest, as they didn't know how long they would be here or if their capturers had plans to execute them, or were they just prisoners?

The three were rudely awoken when a brash guard burst into the cell carrying three plates of food that looked less than appealing. They quickly realised that this must be either dinner or breakfast, but none of them were hungry, and they all inwardly hoped it wasn't to be there last. The guard didn't say a word, he place the food on the floor and turned to leave when the dim lights in the cell flickered. Instinctively the guard reached for his weapon and swiftly turned back to the prisoners to ensure they didn't try any quick attempts at escaping. The lights flickered again. Another flicker then once more again. The three SeeD's looked puzzled.

_'Why were the lights fading and flickering like this? Surely in a place like this there must be generators and back up systems, the electricity wouldn't fade and leave them vulnerable. Has garden sent help?' _

All these thoughts raced through Quistis' mind, though the later thought was more out of sheer hope and near desperation than actual expectation. The guard turned and left the room, leaving Quistis to battle her thoughts.

* * *

Back on the upper floors...

Captain Seifer Almasy had been summoned as per the guards order and he entered the room in a typical melodramatic manner, his grey trench-coat hanging and flowing behind him, his Hyperion sheathed by his side. He seemed to be annoyed that he had been summoned but as soon as his eyes landed on the prone figure of the unconscious Squall, bloodied, wounded and helpless, his trademark smirk returned to his face. With his mood lightened, he asked the guard, who'd beckoned him here,

"Has he talked yet?" His voice contained genuine intrigue.

"No captain".

Seifer was not surprised Squall was been stubborn, he always was, he hadn't ever backed down from a fight or challenge. Seifer was going to enjoy breaking this habit.

"He wouldn't answer, and when we finally seemed to be getting somewhere we had to stop sir." added the guard. Seifer acknowledged the guards words and then he gave more instructions.

"Take him to the top floor, re-cloth him and set up the machine, I will be there shortly to overview proceedings" A guard quickly moved over to Squall and unbound him, the brunettes limp body fell forward but the guard caught him and then with the aid of another guard they dragged Squall away as per their orders. The guard that had been engaged in conversation with Seifer spoke once more and challenged him.

"Sir, shouldn't we interrogate the other prisoners? This one is useless."

Seifer's initial instincts were to feel the rage build in him at his orders been challenged but he remained calm and thought about the situation. What the guard had said did make sense, but Seifer's rivalry with Squall and his ego made him overlook this good sense and he wanted to pursue his methods and enjoy watching Squall in pain. So he calmly responded to the guard

"No not yet, I want to ask him more questions first."

The guard nodded in acknowledgement but secretly he was cursing the captain's orders and what he deemed to be stupidity. They had tried beating an answer out of this prisoner, who was a stubborn bastard; all to no avail, when in the holding cells below were three other prisoners who may reap the answers sought. It defied logic. Unfortunately the guard knew that as long as Seifer was captain though, he had his orders to follow and follow them he shall. The two of them left the room and went to interrogate Squall some more.

When they entered the room they could see Squall was bound the wall, his arms were pulled out to his side but were slightly elevated above his head, so that he was hanging in a crucified style, suspended by his wrists with his body weight hanging on his shoulders. This was a cruel position at the best of times but with the viscous wound Squall had on his left arm from earlier when the guard had lost control, and with his other shoulder having been impaled by the sorceress in the assassination attempt, just hanging there in that position must have been excruciating, the guard surmised.

Then he noticed Squall's feet were also shackled, but the chains from them were attached to the wall loosely, to allow the prisoner some movement in his legs. This puzzled the guard who had never seen 'the machine' as Seifer referred to it, been operated before and wandered why any system devised to restrain a prisoner would allow movement, they clearly didn't care if they hurt the prisoner, so why allow any form of freedom of movement. He wouldn't have to wait long to find out the answer to his questioning cognitive content. Seifer walked up to Squall and could see that he was still unconscious. He signalled to a guard at the controls to flick a switch, which the guard duly did and the machine came to life with a loud humming noise, seconds later the wall lit up and a wave of energy flooded through the wall and surged right through the prisoner. It only lasted a matter of seconds but it had been enough to jolt the shackled brunette back to consciousness. Seifer smiled.

"Well if it isn't puberty boy" Said Seifer in a mocking tone.

Squall lifted his head and glared at Seifer, trying his best to ignore the pain in his limbs. Seifer laughed and then he returned the glare, fire burning in his eyes meeting the icy cold intensity of Squall's. Seifer continued to glare at him for the best part of a minute before speaking once more in a theatrical tone, reminiscing about the fulfilment of his romantic dream.

"Did you notice me in my moment of glory Squall? I was there on the float with her, like a true knight, protecting my sorceress. It was like I had always dreamed."

Then he paused and anger flooded his eyes and he marched forward and grabbed Squall and spat the following words with sheer hatred.

"Then '_you_' ruined it. You tainted my glory and now you pay".

He clicked his fingers and the guard flicked the switch once more and the room lit up with a bluish hue and the electricity flowed through Squall once more, the sparks of the current dancing across his skin, burning the flesh as they went. Squall cried out in pain and involuntarily writhed about as the current flowed through him. Now the guard knew why the shackles were loosely attached, it was so to prevent the prisoner from breaking his limbs when the electricity surged, and to some extent it was more amusing for the sick twisted guards to watch the prisoner writhe in agony than lie motionless.

Seifer clicked his fingers a second time and the currency stopped. Squall slumped backwards slightly towards the wall, breathing heavily. He had been on the end of powerful thundaga spells before, but nothing like that, the pain of the electricity was the most intense he had ever experienced. Seifer coldly spoke once more

"Stupid puberty boy, you stole my glory and you had the nerve to attack my sorceress. You will regret that before I'm through."

He punched Squall in the ribs once to emphasise his point.

"Now tell me Squall, what is SeeD?" he asked. Squall thought to himself _'SeeD is the code name for Balamb Garden's elite mercenary force.'_ and then he spoke, his voice was ragged and coarse

"Don't you know?" he managed to say. Seifer's reaction to this was one of fury; he threw his arm out to the side and virtually screamed back at Squall

"How would I know? I was never a SeeD." His face expressing his fury. It was Squall's turn to laugh, despite his precarious situation.

"Nor will you ever be, but you were at garden, you know what SeeD is." he said calmly. This made Seifer's blood boil and he ran to the switch of the machine and flipped it, sending a barrage of electricity to sweep through Squall once more. He kept the torment brief this time though despite his rage and then he spoke to Squall again.

"There must be some secret they tell you when they make you SeeD, and you know that secret and you will tell me." he emphasised the word will, and he moved towards Squall again. "One way or another" he added.

Squall was lost in thoughts once more. _'There is no secret; SeeD is just a code word.'_ He roused from his thoughts.

"Do you think I would tell you, even if there was a secret?" said Squall. Seifer smirked and then he stared into Squall's eyes once more, his own glistening with a sinister shine.

"You will tell me but even if you don't there's always that Instructor, or the messenger girl and chicken wuss. Hell he wouldn't last two seconds up there" He chuckled as he spoke the last sentence. Squall's eyes lit up in a mixture of concern and relief.

"They are all here?" he inquired. Seifer delighted in seeing his concern and merely nodded in his response, before adding

"Maybe I should get the messenger girl, although I'd have to turn down the power, she is so small." Squall squirmed but didn't speak. "I will give you one more chance Squall, what is SeeD?" he spoke maliciously.

He clicked his fingers and a surge of power went through Squall. He gritted his teeth and tried his best to ride through the pain. Seifer motioned for the guard to stop. Squall was in agony and he could feel his body was losing the fight to remain conscious. Seifer asked again and Squall tried to catch his breathe before speaking but Seifer had no patience and he signalled for the guard to start the machine and the wall lit up once again and the electricity spread through him once more, burning his flesh and it felt like the thousands of little sparks were penetrating his flesh and burning his blood. He relentlessly struggled against his bindings as the intensity of the power seemed to increase. Squall could not prevent the scream from escaping his lips as the sound burst through like a battering ram smashing the barricade of an enemy's gate. With each passing second the current seemed to grow stronger as his body grew weaker.

"You may as well tell me Squall, save yourself this pain. Tell me and the pain will end, simple." Seifer said with malice. Squall somehow managed to say a few words as the electricity pulsated.

"I...Wont...Tell." he managed to say between laboured breaths and tortured screams.

Seifer smiled and then turned to the guard who he had originally entered the room with, and said to him.

"Keep on interrogating him, I need to check something." The guard nodded and Seifer exited the room, but the torture continued.

The electricity flowed, then stopped for the briefest of moments so the guard could ask the question then continue, on and on in a viscous cycle. With each flick of the switch his body protested, writhing uncontrollably causing the wounds he had suffered to be reopened. Squalls body was now covered in black and purple bruises and stained with crimson contrasted against the fresh vibrant scarlet that now freely flowed once more and was slowly collecting in a mere beneath him. Squall passed out on a few occasions but the refreshed jolts would unmercifully drag him back to consciousness and the pain.

* * *

Meanwhile on the lower floors…

The three SeeD's continued to plot an escape in the cell. They still couldn't ascertain why the lights were flickering, but they continued to piss the guards off and kept asking why. Eventually one of the guards lost his patience and he slid the visor open and stared into the cell and took great delight in announcing

"You wanna know why the lights are flickering? It's because the machine is currently having its way with that other SeeD" he spat.

'_Other SeeD, does he mean...' _Quistis thought to herself before she vocalised the next part

"Squall. He's alive" she said, her voice one of relief for the fact that he was alive but it was also fear, he was alive but been tortured. The guard laughed and slammed the visor on the cell door shut.

Quistis slumped to the floor and Selphie and Zell huddled close by, they began formulating a plan. They had to try escape and if possible rescue Squall. About ten minutes later they had come up with a plan and now they just had to wait. An hour later they decided the time was right to implement the strategy and Quistis and Selphie lay on the floor face down, whilst Zell stood in the corner next to the door. He inwardly counted to three and then they began operation escape.

"Guards, Guards" he shouted and banged on the door trying to get attention. "The girls are unconscious something's wrong. Guards" he yelled. This caught the guard's attention and he slid the visor open and peered in.

"Shit" he muttered as he fumbled for the keys to the door. He eventually found them and opened it and entered. Zell was waiting and as soon as he was inside he pounced with a swift kick to the guard's gut and a brutal right uppercut knocked the guard out.

"Yeah baby" said Zell grinning. The girls got up off the floor and the three exited the cell.

"We need to get our weapons" Selphie said and they headed off down the corridor.

It was at the very end of the corridor they found two guards stood outside of a door; they assumed the guards must have been guarded something important, like confiscated weapons so they attacked. Selphie distracted the first guard and Quisits followed this with a swift kick to the guards face. Zell took care of the other guard and they looted the bodies for the keys and entered the room. Their suspicions were confirmed and they found their weapons. Zell of course already had his but Selphie and Quistis were relieved to get theirs back. They checked the weapons to make sure they were still in full working order and then they spotted Squall's gunblade. Quistis went over to it and picked it up; it was very heavy and still as sharp as ever. She managed to lift it, though she knew she couldn't wield it effectively as a weapon.

"Hyne how does he wield this?" she said aloud. Zell laughed and came over and he took it form Quistis though he too was surprised by the weight the weapon carried.

"Your right, this thing weighs a ton." he said Nevertheless he grabbed the belt and sheathed the weapon and they exited the cell.

"Which way now? Up or down?" Zell said. The three pondered this. Down would lead to an exit but if the guard's words were true then up was where they would find Squall.

"We go up" Said Quistis in an authoritative tone. The others didn't argue and they set off at full pace round the structure and up the stairs.

* * *

Back on the top floor…

The guards had continued torturing Squall but still had no answer. Seifer returned and checked on the progress to find Squall crying out in pain. He quietly asked a guard for a progress report and was left annoyed to discover he hadn't broken.

"Enough." Bellowed Seifer and the guard stopped the machine.

The lighting returned to normal and the electricity stopped. Squall hung limp, near lifeless, his arms pulled back, and the chains biting into the bruised flesh of his wrists. He was taking ragged breaths as his body tried to keep him alive, a torture in itself. His broken ribs hindering the natural motion and he started coughing and blood escaped his lips, fleeing like a fugitive. There was a disgusting smell of burnt and seared flesh hanging in the air. Seifer walked up to him and mockingly said

"What's the matter puberty boy-does it hurt?"

This earned a round of laughter amongst the guards and soldiers present but their laughter was cut short as Squall was unresponsive to their taunts and still with his head down he kept coughing and soon they realised he was coughing up blood. This did not however bother Seifer. He merely decided to press on with his questioning.

"So Squall are you going to tell me what SeeD is yet? Edea says you know and I will extract the information." He said. Squall mustered the strength to lift his head.

"You...Torturer" Squall said. Seifer laughed and then launched into a soliloquy

"Perhaps, but it doesn't matter, I will get the information from one of the others just before I kill them. You see Squall, Edea has ordered all SeeD's to be eliminated and I am to be her personal hunter. Isn't it beautiful? A world free of SeeD where my sorceress reigns supreme with me by her side. SeeD will fall, if not by the missiles then I will hunt them down and they will fall one by one, death by my blade. Oh how my Hyperion shall feast." He said in a voice full of pride. Squall was wrestling for consciousness but despite this he had heard enough and reaching hidden reserves of energy he managed to lift his head once more.

"Lapdog" he said through clenched teeth before coughing some more, the metallic taste of copper filled his mouth as some more blood escaped his lips.

"You still defy me" said Seifer, his voice a mixture of anger and sheer disbelief.

He paused for a moment, his evil mind formulating a devious plan to further punish his rival. He schemed and after a few moments he had determined his next actions. He nonchalantly walked over to Squall, punched him once the face and once in his injured ribs, then grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, looked Squall in the eyes and spoke

"I need to go attend to the launch of the missiles now. But before I do I will leave you with this thought. All those Seed's who are going to die, every last one of them are going to die because of you. Because _'you'_ were foolish enough to attack my sorceress, their blood, and their deaths are on your hands." He said with an evil smile before punching Squall again and then turning away to exit the room. He paused in the doorway and without turning to face the guard he ordered

"Continue" with an unquestionable tone. Then he disappeared.

Squall was hanging against his bonds once more, his body was in agony, and his ribs were broken, making it painful just to breathe, let alone withstand the onslaught of the machine. He was lost, his body was a broken bloody mess, and his mind was plaguing him with horrific thoughts planted there by Seifer's vindictive words. He was wishing for the blackness to overcome him once more, for there to be an end to this suffering. The guards would not allow this though and true to their orders they continued their despicable torture and whirred the machine into life once more, electricity pulsating through him. This time though he didn't scream despite the brutal pain, he just hung there, his body twitching violently from the painful current, wishing for the end, he welcomed death at this very moment. He managed to withstand the onslaught for a few minutes but then he blacked out, sucked into the void of the unconscious domain.

* * *

On the lower floors…

Quistis, Zell and Selphie had made superb progress up the floors despite the numerous guards and robotic droids that littered their path ahead. They were just a few floors away from the top when one of the guards activated the alarm and the sirens sounded followed shortly by an automated voice of the PA system.

"_Security breached, prisoners have escaped, all guards to stations, the anti-magic field will be raised on floors 12 upwards, deadly force permitted if resistance met."_

"Shit" said Zell and Quistis in synchronisation.

Undeterred they continued upwards towards their friend, to free Squall. More and more guards tried stopping them from reaching the top but now they had magic available both Quitsis and Selphie could use their limit breaks to ease the battling for Zell and take them one step closer to the top. On the fourteenth floor of the prison they saw a guard in a fight with a Moomba who refused to do what the guard had ordered and after quickly dispatching the guard Selphie used a cure spell and healed the Moomba. It squealed and snuggled up towards her in obvious happiness and then it noticed they were heading upwards and spoke. _'Laguna, Laguna, Laguna'_. The three Seed's looked puzzled.

'_What did Laguna have to do with this, wasn't he the one form the dream world? _They all thought. Selphie spoke

"Not Laguna, Squall." she said.

The Moomba nodded its little head vigorously and beckoned them to follow. They got up the last few floors with relative ease and then they came across a locked door and the Moomba scratched at the door furiously. Zell managed to break the door down and then rushed in. He noticed a startled guard by the controls to the machine and quickly took him out with a swift series of punches. The defeated guard slumped to the floor, barely conscious.

Quistis surveyed the room and noticed Squall hanging lifeless by the shackles on the wall. A series of panicked thoughts rushed through her mind, typically the most haunting bullied its way to the forefront though, which was,

'_Oh please Hyne don't let him be dead'_.

She rushed over to him and screamed at Zell to find the switch to release him from his bonds. It took a minute or so to find it by which time Selphie had joined Quistis by Squall and as the bonds sprung open the former prisoner fell forwards, still seemingly unconscious but obeyer of gravity nevertheless. The two girls braced themselves for this and managed to cushion the impact of his fall. They laid him on the floor and checked to see if he was alive. Quistis timidly moved her hand towards his neck, her hand shaking uncontrollably. She felt for his pulse and was immensely relieved to see it was there, he was alive, barely, but it was a start. Quistis exhaled and turned to the others before simply nodding to answer the unasked question. They both let out a breath of relief that they hadn't been aware they'd been holding in.

The three SeeD's now had found their leader but had to now escape their confines. With Squall in his present condition the three SeeD's plans were somewhat hindered. Quistis help his mouth open and Selphie poured the blue liquid medicine into it. It made no difference. He lay there still unmoving, unconscious, barely holding onto life. Selphie stared at her friend and spoke in a distressed manner

"Come on Squall"

Quistis looked back at Selphie and was mentally cursing and she was struggling to work out a strategy for escaping this god forsaken place now that they have found Squall. Her emotions were clouding her ability to think clearly.

Zell came over and he too was concerned for his friend but he was running on adrenaline and he knelt down next to Squall and took charge of the situation.

"Help me get him up"

Without further hesitation the girls did as asked and Zell picked him up.

"Quistis. You and Selphie take point; I'll be close behind with Squall. We gotta get out of here and fast".

Quistis nodded in agreement and they set off out of this heinous room. As they did so she couldn't help but admire Zell's composure under pressure.

All the while the alarms were blazing and the guards were regrouping, the SeeD's escape was not going to be an easy one. With Zell having Squall's heavy gun-blade resting in its holder on one side and carrying his fallen comrade, it left just Selphie and Quistis to fight of the onslaught. They left the room as quick as they could and headed back down the stairs. The guards were relentless in their numbers and now that they had gotten onto the lower levels of the prison where the anti-magic field was still in full effect they no longer had magic to rely on and the battles had become longer and more difficult. The three SeeD's were fast becoming exhausted, but they had to continue, freedom was beckoning. They came to the last floor, they could see the exit and see their escape but the guards had swarmed around it and now vastly outnumbered the group.

The girls were doing their best to fight the barrage that was coming their way but they were losing the fight. Zell placed Squall down against the barrier and joined the fight. It was a brutal fight between armed guards and now three highly rated SeeD's. It seemed to last for an age and Quistis and Selphie were tired and feeling fatigued and Zell was aching and fast becoming overwhelmed. All seemed lost. Hope had given way to despair. One guard caught Selphie with a viscous blow to the stomach which knocked the wind out of her and brought her to her knees. They disarmed her whilst she was catching her breath, and Zell and Quistis were losing ground to the barrage of guards.

They closed in and trapped the group near the stairwell. The officer raised his weapon towards Quistis and issued a warning

"Surrender. You have nowhere to go. Surrender and your lives will be spared."

Quistis had a quick glance towards Zell who was standing defiantly but she knew the fight was lost; their numbers had just been too much for her and her comrades. Quistis tightened the grip she had on her whip and slowly bent down to signal her intention to surrender. The commander was pleased and he too motioned to pick up the discarded weapon. As he did so there was screams and cries of pain that rang out in the air. The officer turned his head to see what caused this, and to his dismay he saw two fallen officers on the floor and from across the room he caught glimpse of smoke rising. The smoke was the inevitable after effect of the weapon that created it, Exeter.

Quistis wasted no time in taking advantage of the welcome relief and with years of honed skills she exercised her lightning quick reflexes and in a flash she bent down grabbed her whip and within a second or two she had it wrapped round the officer's neck. The officer dropped his weapon and struggled to free himself from the cord. Quistis tightened her hold and the life was slowly been squeezed from the guard. She was contemplating releasing her grip.

'_So this guy had followed orders and sure he had spoken promises of peaceful surrender and mercy_'

She thought about offering the officer the same mercy and chance for surrender she was just offered but then in her peripheral vision she caught sight of Squall. This caused her thought patterns to switch drastically_. _

'_Mercy. Mercy!'_ her mind screamed. '_They showed Squall no mercy. They caused him pain, Lots of pain'._

She broke and with a viscous jerk of her wrist the whip obeyed her and the guard's neck was broken. He fell to the floor dead as she unwound the coil.

Irvine and Rinoa moved from where they came in and moved over towards their friends. They had just witnessed Quistis finishing off the last obstacle to their freedom and now they were together as a group again. Rinoa was relieved to see Zell, Quistis and Selphie were relatively unharmed, all things considered.

"Nice timing". Selphie said as smiled at Irvine and went over to him.

"Thank Hyne you're ok." Rinoa said, the relief evident in her tone. The three SeeD's were relieved to be able to pause for a moment and catch their breath.

"Come on. That's the way out". Irvine added. Quistis nodded and the four took a few steps forward before she spoke

"Zell get Squall." He turned and ran back towards him. It was then that Rinoa noticed Squall's gunblade resting in its holder around Zell's waist.

"Squall?" Rinoa asked, unsure if her ears were deceiving her. "Squall's alive?"

Her eyes surveyed the expressions on everyone's faces. The saddened expression on Quistis' face sparked panic in Rinoa, her heart was racing and a lump was forming in her throat. Her mind was firing a thousand thoughts at her but they were all of a similar nature.

'_Why isn't he fighting?', 'why does Zell have his weapon?', 'Hyne what's wrong?'_

She looked back at Zell, took one step forward, one more a little quicker, another faster still, then she was running, as fast as she could. She caught him up and when they got to where Squall was she immediately rushed to him. Her eyes were wide with concern, tears threatening to defy her and flow freely and she had to place her hand over her mouth to hide her distress. Her eyes firstly noticed his shirt, the once white cotton now mostly a dark crimson with only a few white patches. The higher up her eyes moved the darker the shirt became and it didn't take long before she came to his face. She paused for the briefest of moments trying to compose herself. His face was covered in bruises, especially on the right side of the face where there was heavy swelling between the cheekbone and the eye. There were a few small cuts and one particularly viscous looking gash just under the eye. Dried blood was all too frequently found on his features, around the eyes, the bridge of his noise, his lips, around the mouth and down onto his chin. There was also some relatively fresh blood just under his bottom lip, that was still wet and yet to succumb to the same dry state as the rest.

Tears were now flowing down Rinoa's face. She was horrified to see Squall in such a state. She was relieved that the rest of them were ok but she secretly and selfishly wished that the pain he suffered had been shared, if only so he wasn't like this. She didn't want anyone hurt but wouldn't it be better to have a few people with a few bruises than one person beaten to a pulp like he was?

Zell roused her from her thoughts with a gentle squeeze on the shoulder and then he picked Squall up.

"Come on we have to go" he said.

She tried her best to hide her concern, dried her eyes and set her best resolute face she could. They regrouped and ran through the exit and out into the sunlight. The light was harsh on their eyes at first, and the fresh air was intoxicating. After a few hundred yards they got to the fence just before the parking lot. Complete freedom was so nearly theirs. One final small group of soldiers and droids stood between them and their means of transportation out of this hellish place. The fight proved to be a short one due to the fact Rinoa and Irvine were able to help and because they were outside of the prison they now had their magic and GF's back.

The now defeated commander who was slumped by one of the vehicles tried raising his rifle but Zell stopped him by standing on his arm. The commander was clearly injured but he started laughing. Zell grabbed him by the scruff of his neck

"What you laughing at?" Zell growled. He was in no mood for this crap. The commander obliged him and replied

"You may escape here but we'll find you again, there's nowhere to run. The missiles will see to that".

"What missiles?" The commander didn't answer so Zell shook him furiously and repeated the question. This time the commander did answer.

"The ones that are gonna destroy your precious gardens." The commander passed out and Zell released his grip on him. The group had heard this and Quistis looked round, taking in her comrades one by one. Selphie spoke up

"We have to stop them".

She was near hysterical as she said this, although no-one could blame her; garden was her home, hell it was all their homes, with the exception of Rinoa. They were all in agreement that they had to do something, give everything they had to stop those missiles. It wasn't just about them anymore; it was about all those innocent people who considered garden home. Wasting no more time they quickly clambered into the only vehicle in the parking lot that looked in working order and set off in haste to try save their homes.

Irvine was driving; Rinoa and Selphie were also upfront, leaving Zell, Quistis and Squall in the back. The later was still unconscious, and worryingly he had shown no sign of improvement since they rescued him. There was a visible tension in the air on the journey as the five conscious people were lost in their own world. They came to the desert cross road when the tension proved too much and the bonds of team work and friendship were tested. They had to decide which direction to travel first and this was causing a heated exchange of opinions.

"I'm going to Balamb and warn them" said Quistis.

"But what about Trabia? They need warning too" Said Selphie.

"We can't warn both" Rinoa added.

"We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't involved SeeD on live television". Said Irvine while he bore his eyes into Zell.

"Fuck you cowboy" Zell retorted defiantly. He felt guilty enough without him putting this shit on him as well. To his surprise Quistis leapt to his defence.

"If you'd have fired when you should have we would have been in prison to begin with and they wouldn't have tortured Squall". She was furious. Her usual tact and composure was absent after the recent experiences.

"It's not his fault she repelled the bullet" Selphie protested.

"Enough" Screamed Rinoa. She couldn't take any more. "We need to work together, now more than ever".

"You're right" Agreed Selphie. The group may not have been arguing anymore but there was still plenty of resentment and anger lingering in the air. "We need to stop the missiles or warn the gardens. That's the priority now."

"Agreed. We split up into two teams. One team will try and stop the missiles. The other team will go warn the gardens." Quistis ordered, the instructor in her taking charge once again.

"I will be on the missile team. Trabia was my home; I have to try save it".

"I'll go with you". Offered Irvine.

"I have to warn garden. I can't let the garden pay for my mistake." Zell spoke honestly. To which Irvine offered the slightest nod of recognition in respect.

"Rinoa. Go with Selphie and Irvine to the missile base, Zell and I will warn garden." Quistis suggested.

"But what about Squall? I…" She started to protest, she wasn't use to taking orders.

"We'll get him home." Quistis barked, leaving no further room for argument. "Irvine, take us to the train station and then take the car to the missile base, and step on it."

"But the trains aren't running. Edea ordered them stopped after the attack." Irvine informed her.

Quistis heard his words and was cursing been the butt of fate's cruel joke once again. She looked over to Squall and her resolve was renewed.

"I'm not giving up. We have to get to Balamb."

'_He can't die out here', 'I'll do whatever it takes to keep him alive'._


End file.

Final Fantasy VIII, Drama