The Day After

by Neal

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Chapters 1 - 5	Chapters 6 - 10	Chapters 11 - 14

Chapter 6

Edgar, Shadow, Sabin, and Relm were in the Zone Eater trying to get Gogo back. There weren't any soldiers in the Zone Eater, so the journey to get Gogo was very easy. Gogo joined right away, and the party headed back to Mobliz.

"What's the plan to get into the base?" asked Duane.

"We don't even know where the base is!" cried Celes.

"We've got to get a plan. We have to contact them somehow!" exclaimed Locke. Just then, Edgar's walkie talkie started sending a transmission.

"Attention all Returners," the voice said. "Attention all Returners."

"What's going on?" said Mog.

"Listen!" said Relm.

"We have Terra Branford and Cyan Garamonde hostage. Our ransom fee is 4 million GP."

"Phew. That's not too much," said Strago.

"For each of them," the voice continued.

"I take it back," said Strago.

"The drop off point will be on top of Mt. Kolts tomorrow morning. Locke Cole will make the drop off. He must come alone. Then he leaves, and Terra and Cyan will be returned to Nikeah where none of you must be. That is all."

"8 MILLION CREDITS?!? Where are we gonna get that?" shouted Locke.

"We'll think of something. Figaro has at least 5 million that we can use." said Edgar.

The party eventually came up with 8 million GP, mainly from each party member's money. Setzer donated a million, which really helped. Locke and the party members got ready in the Falcon to go to Mt. Kolts.

Cyan waited impatiently in the interrogation room. He hadn't had anything to eat in 12 hours, and he was hungry and restless. Not a good combination for Cyan. Finally Grehn walked in.

"I am Grehn, leader of the Cult of Kefka. You will tell us all about your master plan."

"What in the name of Tritoch art thou talking about? We have no plan," said Cyan, indignantly. "What is your plan with us?"

"I'll ask the questions here, Garamonde. Now, let's continue. Where is Returner headquarters?"

"We have no need for a headquarters, the Empire is dead," Cyan said.

"You have not defeated the Empire yet!" yelled Grehn, "You still have us to deal with!"

"And thou will be defeated too!" shouted Cyan, "Before long, the Empire will be dead forever!" And with that, he stood up and walked away.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm done answering the pointless questions."

"Fine then. Guards, take the prisoner back to his cell."

Chapter 7

Along the way to Mt. Kolts, Locke was pacing nervously.

"What if it's a trap?" was his biggest worry.

"Is Terra okay...?" was another.

"Can we defeat them?" was one of everyone's. Celes came out and suddenly gasped.

"What the hell is that?" she yelled. Everyone came out on the deck and looked. It seemed to be a base.

"That's gotta be their base! Setzer, dive down, I'm going in." said Locke.

"That's the best idea. Shadow, you should go with him since you can still throw," said Edgar.

"I'm going with them," said Celes.



The airship dipped down over the base.

"There doesn't seem to be any way in," said Setzer.

"Wait! There's a drain pipe, over on the east side!" yelled Sabin.

"Locke, Shadow, and Celes, it's time," said Edgar. "We'll rendezvous at Nikeah when you get out with Cyan and Terra. Good luck!"

The threesome jumped down into the drainpipe and into the base. They landed in a guarded area with around 6 guards. Shadow easily took out two of them with 2 sets of shurikens. Locke took one out with the Valiant Knife and Celes chopped one into bits with the Excalibur. Shadow hit one with the Stunner and Locke got rid of the last one with his Valiant Knife again, but not before he sounded the alarm.

"Oh great!" said Celes.

Locke ran around the corner and rammed 2 guards' heads into each other, then kicked another in the face, knocking them all out.

"Here, put on their clothes," he explained.

"Hey Locke, isn't that....Stealing?" said Celes.

"Whoa, my abilities coming back!" he joked. The three got the clothes on and continued their journey.

Back on the airship, Edgar was getting a transmission from Locke on the walkie-talkie.

"What's up, Locke?" he asked.

"We made it in safely, defeated some guards and disguised ourselves," he explained. "We haven't..."

"EDGAR!" someone he couldn't put his finger on called from the upper deck.

"We gotta go Locke, good luck, bye!" The transmission was over.

Locke stared at the walkie talkie strangely and said "That's weird."

Edgar ran as fast as he could to the flight deck and saw lots of Sky Caps and Spit Fires flying around.

"What's going on?" he yelled.

"We're under attack! Duh!" yelled Relm, attacking with her Magus Rod.

"Who is attacking?"

"It's the Cult of Kefka!" yelled Sabin, taking a Spit Fire out with his Tiger Fangs. "Get ready!"

A wave of Spit Fires came from behind, shooting the airship with powerful lasers.

"Hit the deck!!!!" yelled Duane.

Everyone went down and no one was hurt. Setzer threw his Doom Darts at the pilot of a Sky Cap, who lost control and crashed south of Mobliz. Mog attacked with the Aura Lance and destroyed another Spit Fire, while Umaro hit a Sky Cap with his Bone Club.

Back in the base, Locke, Celes, and Shadow walked along silently trying not to draw attention to each other. Unknown to them, a large Doberman Pincher was tracking them silently....

Chapter 8

Locke walked up to a soldier.

"Sir, I need to know the way to the boss," he said.

"Certainly. Right this way." The soldier walked his and the group to a door and said "Right through there." Locke thanked the soldier and walked through the door. Right into a room full of soldiers. The door was locked behind the trio.

"It's a trap!" yelled Celes.

"Of course it is...We all know that," said an ominous figure behind them. Evil music started playing from unknown speakers. Locke spun around.

"Who the hell are you?" he yelled.

"I am Grehn, the leader of the Cult of Kefka. And now, you are my prisoners." With that, Shadow kicked a hole through the door and bolted. Celes and Locke were close to follow.

"You fools! Unlock the door and GET THEM!"

Back on the airship, Edgar got a transmission from Locke.

"Our cover's been broken! Head to the north end, we're gonna try to make a break for it!"

"Ummm....Locke....We ummmm....Kinda can't do that right now," said Edgar. A high-pitched squeal combined with strange evil music came blasting through the walkie-talkie, and Edgar accidentally dropped it onto the lower flight deck, where it was unreachable. The squeal continued all the way down into the flight deck and didn't stop.

"Whoops!" said Edgar.

Locke glared at the walkie-talkie and threw it at a soldier, hitting him in the face and throwing him to the floor. He immediately covered his ears and yelled "What's that horrible noise?"

"I don't know, but the soldiers can't hear it, or something!" yelled Shadow back.

"Just keep RUNNING!" yelled Celes. Of course, they ran into a dead end.

"I'll take that," said a soldier, grabbing the walkie-talkie. He handed it to Grehn, and the squeal stopped, and the evil music started again.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Never mind that, where are Terra and Cyan?"

"They're being interrogated. You will be soon. Come with us."

Locke, Shadow and Celes were thrown into a jail cell and given a few pieces of bread, and some dirty water.

"That's all y'all get until tomorrow morning whin y'all wake up." said a soldier. He left, and all Locke could say was "Great."

Grehn contacted the airship, done with fighting the Air Force. No one answered the walkie talkie, so he blasted the squeal in morse code.

"What's going on?" said Mog.

"It's a message in morse code," said Sabin. "It says...this...is...taking...too...long...someone...pick...up...the...walkie...talkie."

Relm got a rope and climbed down to get the walkie talkie, then climbed back up and gave it to Setzer.

"I have changed the ransom," said Grehn.

"What do you mean?" asked Setzer angrily.

"I now have 5 of your members. At 4 million GP each, that comes to 20 million," he said. "That is all."

Chapter 9

Shadow was the first to be interrogated.

"First off, who are you?" asked Grehn. Shadow remained silent.

"Who are you?!" yelled Grehn angrily. Shadow didn't speak. Grehn resisted the urge to kill the strange man immediately and went on to another question.

"What are your plans?" he asked. Shadow still didn't communicate.

He's not gonna talk, thought Grehn. I'll have him tortured.

Grehn pushed a small button under his desk and two guards rushed in, grabbed Shadow, and took him to a small back room. Locke was brought in.

"Where's Shadow?" yelled Locke.

"Never mind that. Who is your strange silent friend?" Grehn asked.

"I'm not talking! There's nothing to be said."

"What are your plans?"

"We don't have any plans except to get our friends back!"

He's lying! Grehn decided. I'll have it forced out of him.

Grehn pushed the same button and the same two guards came in and dragged Locke away. Grehn sent for Celes.

"Where are my friends?!" demanded Celes.

"I'm," Grehn paused. "The one who is asking the questions here!"

"I'm not going to talk!" yelled Celes. "There's nothing to talk about!"

"What business do you have here at the Cult of Kefka?"

"To get our two friends back that you kidnapped!"

"I'm talking about your major plans!"

"WE HAVE NO PLANS!" screamed Celes.

"All right, shut up," said Grehn. He pushed the button and had Celes taken away to the back room.

We'll defeat them all, he thought, all of them. They will pay for destroying Master Kefka.

Much screaming came from the back room came and Grehn smiled. They deserved it.

Two hours later, after much pain and no talking, Locke, Celes, and Shadow walked back to their cells with grim faces. They turned the corner and were about to walk through the door to the cells. Suddenly, Shadow pushed the first two guards into the cell and slammed the door closed. He and Locke held it closed while Celes killed the guard. Shadow used his ninja skills to climb up the wall while Locke and Celes went behind the door. The door clanked open and Shadow tackled the first one. Celes grabbed the others sword and slit his throat with it, killing him. The transmitter on the guard's belt started sending a transmission.

"Trooper 2095, what is the status on the prisoners?" Grehn's voice came through the transmitter.

"The prisoners were successfully locked away," Locke said through the transmitter with a gruff voice. Celes held back a giggle.

"Excellent," said Grehn. "We are about to lower the base again."

"No!" said Celes. Shadow cupped a hand over her mouth.

"What was that?" demanded Grehn.

"N-n-nothing," stammered Locke. "Just the woman prisoner protesting."

"Magnificent," said Grehn. "They deserve any painful treatment they can get." Grehn clicked the transmitter shut and turned to his bodyguard.

"Sound the alarms."

As the rebels were running through the halls escaping guards, the ground started shaking beneath them. Locke stumbled and fell and Celes was thrown against a wall. Shadow's natural instincts kept him from falling and he helped Locke up. The trio began running again, when Celes gasped.

"You guys, look out that window!" she said. The two men were speechless. The base was sinking.

"We're all trapped in here," said Locke with grim realization.

Chapter 10

Grehn groaned to himself.

"Taking hostages is almost too much to handle," he said to himself. He flicked on the video surveillance camera and saw the three escapees. He grabbed the controls to his intercom and flipped it on. He grabbed the microphone.

"All guards! The prisoners have escaped! Report to section A-13 at once and capture those renegades!" He then flicked on the squealing alarm. He turned on Locke's walkie talkie, just to annoy the others.

Cyan and Terra were going back to their cells from newly being tortured. Cyan turned to Terra and nodded. They slammed into the soldiers behind them quickly, and Terra morphed. With her new strength, she broke the handcuffs off her hands and also a soldier's neck. She kicked the other guard in the face with blinding speed, and Cyan and Terra were off.

"We've got to get our stuff back," said Terra. Just then, Grehn's voice came on over the intercom.

"Report to section A-13 at once! Escaping prisoners!"

Cyan glanced up at the wall. Painted there were the digits B-06.

"Terra! Looketh up there!" Terra saw it and immediately said, "Someone's here for us."

Just then the alarm started blaring, and Locke, Celes, and Shadow were running from an armada of troops.

"I can't," said Celes, "Keep this up much longer!"

"We'll get out of this. I promise!" said Locke.

"You make too many promises." They turned the corner and ran into a door, and found themselves faced with 5 other doors.

"Let's split up," said Celes. "I'll go through.." Shadow cut her off.

"Just pick a door! We don't have much time!"

Locke ran through the second, Shadow through the third, and Celes through the fifth.

Locke found himself at a long corridor with lots of locked boxes.

This must be their storage room, he thought. Luckily I can pick locks! He ran to the first chest and unlocked it with a spare lock pick. Inside he found Terra's Scimitar and Cyan's Sky Render. He found a burlap bag on the side of the corridor and put the swords into it. He moved on to the next chest.

Shadow was in a long hallway with one door at the end. He ran inside and found it was Grehn's office. Fortunately, Grehn wasn't there. It was empty. He grabbed Locke's walkie talkie off of the desk and clipped it on his armor. He found his shurikens in one of the drawers, and he threw one at the alarm system, silencing it.

"Thank you," he said to himself. Then he saw the video surveillance system.

Celes found herself back in a jailed area. Fortunately, no one was in the cells at that time. The door behind her started to click and she ran in one of the cells and closed the door, but not locking it. A guard walked to her cell and stared at her, then turned to leave. Celes threw open the door and tackled him. He was unconscious, and Celes grabbed his weapon, a small Mithril Knife, and ran out.

Cyan and Terra walked through the empty halls, protecting their ears from the merciless racket going on through the intercom. The blast suddenly stopped and the two were greatly relieved.

"Where are we going?" asked Terra. Cyan shrugged. A guard cried out from behind them.

"Quickly, in here!" said Cyan, running through a door. Inside the door was a strange machine bearing a small label reading "Surfacing Mechanism".

Locke opened the second chest with ease. Inside was his Valiant Knife, Celes' Excalibur, and Shadow's Stunner. He stuffed them all in the burlap bag except for his Valiant Knife, which he kept with him. There was nothing in the third and fourth chests, and in the fifth chest was a surprise. It held only a small key. He grabbed it, thought of its importance and ran out the door, burlap bag in tow.

Shadow flicked on the surveillance camera. He spotted Terra and Cyan in a small room in area B-06. Locke was looting chests, as usual, and Celes was killing guards in jail cells. He set out to area B-06 at once, with his newly gained Shurikens.

Celes continued on outside of the cell room and a large dog approached her. It was Interceptor.

"Interceptor! What are you doing here?" she asked, then felt stupid. "Come on boy, let's find Shadow." Interceptor started smelling the ground, then barked and ran off. Celes ran off in hot pursuit and they soon came to Shadow.

"Shadow! Where are you going?"

"To B-06. That's where Terra and Cyan are!" The two ran off along with Interceptor.

Locke continued on outside of the storage room, after finding nothing in the rest of the chests. He was in area B-08. He walked off to another porthole, finding that they had stopped directly at the bottom of the Gulf of Nikeah. He groaned.

"Locke!" said a voice behind him. It was Celes, Shadow, and Interceptor. "Come on, we know where Terra and Cyan are!" Locke was fast to catch on and he followed them to area B-06. They ran in the door and came face to face with Terra and Cyan!