Wutai Shore Line

[phauxx]

Phauxx turned to Nanaki and used the barrier materia to put up a barrier, the round pinged off it at center mass of Nanaki and Phauxx yelled to him, "WE ARE GETTING SHOT AT, IS THIS ANY TIME TO BE COOKING FISH!!!" Fox barked a few times and Phauxx turned back to the hillside waiting for another round to come downrange in hopes of getting a muzzle flash.

Geoffrey was still looking down the scope to see the round he had shot at Nanaki Ping off of a barrier. Damnit, if he is using his barrier I won't be able to get any of my shots through. Suddenly he heard a voice from behind him. Exdeath speaking in a monotone fashion about needing them for a while. He laughed, "You do know who those people are don't you?" He took his left hand and held up the file on Phauxx and Fox. "That is Christian 'The Unbreakable Barrier' Phauxx. He is a menace to society, he shouldn't exist in the first place, he was a mistake. I have been assigned to ensure his existence ends and I intend to see my mission through to the end."

Phauxx looked up at the hillside and saw a silhouette. He didn't know who it was but he was going to find out quickly. He turned to Nanaki, "Stay here and stay under cover, I have a guest I need to entertain." Phauxx stood up and stared at the hillside where Geoffrey was at. Geoffry, who was still staring down his sights noticed this, Son of a . . . this dickweed behind me gave away my position. He rolled over and looked at Exdeath, "Thanks, he knows where I am now." He turned back around and fired three rounds at Phauxx. Phauxx saw the muzzle flash and knew it was time.

In the blink of an eye he was gone, already 200 meters closer to Geoffrey. The rounds that he had sent downrange now punctured and obliterated the Golden Bass leaving nothing but bones and its head behind. "Shit, we are in trouble now." Geoffrey rolled left and unholstered his dual pistols and unloaded them dead center mass at Exdeath only to have every round ping off his armor. "Mother ... " Geoffrey grabbed the file and started to run up the hill to his assault chopper he had taken there.

He didn't even make it half way to his chopper before Phauxx was standing between them. "Shit . . ." They stood deadlocked in a stare. Phauxx stared at him with malice in his eyes. "I thought I told your organization to leave me alone."
"You were a mistake, you shouldn't exist in the first place, I was appointed to correct the error we made." Geoffrey was trying to buy some time so he could think of a way out of this situation.
"What do you mean a mistake? Who am I?!?"
Geoffrey smirked, Jackpot. "So you really don't know who you are? You know its all in this file here." He tapped the file that was in his hands, "You want it?"
"Give it to me and you can leave here with your life."
Geoffrey smiled, "Sounds like a fair bargain." He placed the file on the ground and began to walk around Phauxx and continued to run to his chopper.

Phauxx walked over and picked up the file only to see a timer click to 00:03, 00:02. "Dirty." He quick put up a barrier around himself as the explosive detonated and sent him flying into the air as a barriered projectile.

Geoffrey had just gotten over the hill and saw his M2660 Assault Apache and sighed as he looked back and saw the explosion engulf Phauxx. Ha, mission completed. He turned and continued toward his chopper when out of the sky fell Phauxx right next to the chopper. Smoke rising from his clothes and the file now burnt to a crisp. He looked up at Geoffrey, his eyes now burning red with a lust for death. His neck twitched and his head cocked sideways with the twitch then returned to normal. "You think that can end me?" Phauxx pulled out one of his Diamond Rods and held it at the ends then slid hands out even further holding it beyond the rod. He hand used his ability to make a Trident out of a Barrier and it gave off a slight blue hue. "Now, I will end you."

Geoffrey laughed, "Well, Lets see how you like a lead Salad." He pulled out his dual tech 9's and began to fire at Phauxx dead center mass. Phauxx spun the trident around so quickly that all the rounds that would have struck him were deflected down into the dirt. He took one step forward and Geoffrey took one back. Geoffrey reloaded and began to fire again but all he saw was a dust storm forming around him. Phauxx was flash stepping circles around him and Geoffrey began to fire through the dust, unable to tell where Phauxx was he figured at least one of the rounds had to hit him.

Phauxx was sick of toying with him. He stopped behind Geoffrey and let the dust settle around him. Geoffrey smirked a little when he didn't see him in front of him but then a sharp pain in his back caused his smiling to stop. He glanced down to see three prongs of blood coming out of his chest. He reached up to touch them and cut his finger on one of them. "But . . . I never miss." His eyes rolled back into head and Phauxx dropped the lifeless body to the ground, his near invisible weapon glistening in Geoffrey's blood.

He dissipated the barrier that made his trident and Geoffrey's blood just fell to the ground. "I warned you all to stay away. Why can't you people just listen." Phauxx shook his head as he sheathed his weapon. He looked up at the assault chopper and smiled, "Hmmmm. So if you were headed back to this chopper, you must have the keys then." Phauxx crouched down and began to pat down Geoffrey's body. He emptied his pockets which held a wallet with 50 gil, a few credit cards, and a picture of what he could only assume to be his girlfriend as Geoffrey had no wedding ring on. "Such a shame. I bet she begged you not to take this mission." Phauxx shook his head. "Only those left alive are left to suffer alone." Phauxx continued to dig until he pulled out a single key on what looked to be a set of Dog Tags. "Well Mr." Phauxx looked at the key ring, "Geoffry Dahmer, Thank you for the Helicopter. I apologize for your loss but I am not ready to leave this world yet." He tossed the keys up and caught them in the same hand.

Phauxx walked over to the Apache and looked around, "Hmmm . . . how to fly this thing." Phauxx opened the hatch and crawled in. He looked around and saw a universal port gave a smirk. He pulled the sleeve up on his cloak and pulled a wire out of his bionic arm and hooked it into the universal port. He pressed a few buttons on his forearm and a picture of a girl came up, "Phauxx, where the HELL have you been?!? You skipped on your last scheduled maintenance and how do you ever expect to have full use of that arm if you don't get the updates i make for it?"
Phauxx smirked, "Its nice to see you too Tech. Listen, I need a flight program upload for an Apache. You got one handy?"
"What the HELL do you think this is, a book store?"
"Do you have one?"
She gave him a foul look, " . . . Of course I have one just shut up and give me a minute." Over the screen you could hear some beeps and Tech curse a few times but an upload bar appeared in the bottom left of the screen. "There, all this will do is start the damn thing and control your altitude. You have to control the chopper with your right hand using the joystick, you can also run a diagnostic on the chopper. Are you stealing things again Phauxx."
"Well the current owner . . ." Phauxx looked over at Geoffrey's body. ". . . gave it to me, as a parting gift."
Tech raised an eyebrow and gave a shrug, "As long as you didn't steal it."

Phauxx smirked as the upload finished. "Thanks Tech."
"Hey don't forget you have . . ." Phauxx stopped the call and started the Apache program. The engines flared to life a big grin appeared on his face. He adjusted the altitude to 200 feet off the ground and the chopper took off. "Fantastic." He pushed the joystick forward and it adjusted the height as he came over the hill and back to the campsite where he was when Geoffrey first started to fire at them.

I'm sure the chopper looked ominous as it flew towards the campsite. Phauxx could only Imagine what was going through Nanaki's head as he approached. He landed the chopper about 100 feet way from the campsite and shut the engines down. He unplugged the cord and re coiled it back into his cybernetic arm. After opening the hatch and hopping out he walked over to the site and gave a smile.

Suddenly something didn't feel right, Fox was barking uncontrollably and Phauxx looked at her. "What's the problem?" He said as blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He felt it and reached up to wipe it away. He looked at the blood on his fingers, "What the . . . Hell." Only after the adrenaline wore off did Phauxx notice the incredible searing pain in his stomach. He looked down to see the front side of his shirt and pants soaked in blood. He fell to his knees and then sat on his feet. That bastard really doesn't miss does he.

Phauxx blacked out and fell back. Fox ran over to him and tried to put pressure on the wound but she was too small to do anything effective and she began to bark towards Stanvis and Nanaki pleading for help.

[emperorzerox]

Exdeath just stood there as Geoffrey unloaded some bullets into his armor. The mage was almost offended that such a pathetic weapon was used on him. Not long later Phauxx arrived so Exdeath departed. As he did, he mentioned something;

"Your job still stands. However long it takes them to arrive." As Phauxx left Nanaki felt inclined to follow but a gut feeling told him not to. This is a personal battle. I cannot interfere. Its just like Cloud and.... Nanaki lept as his huge fish was suddenly obliterated. a tear running down the firecats face from the freight. Staniv eventually woke up after all the comotion. It was then that the explosion came from the top of the hill. Staniv was about to run up but Fox ddin't seem too worried and it knew him better than Nanaki or Staniv did.

Once the chopper returned, Nanaki was on alert with his tail coiled like a scorpion. Staniv equipped a staff and was also waiting until Phauxx came out, but their stance didn't change. He was in a very bad way, but it seemed his body never told his head how hurt he was or looked. Once he finally collapsed, Staniv quickly applied pressure to the wounds. Nanaki looked around for something helpful.

Exdeath though appeared near the body and cast sense. He paused briefly before looking at Staniv.

"He needs a Phoenix down. Otherwise he'll bleed out within the hour." Exdeath paused before casting regen. All the spell would do is slow the bleeding and slowly cure the open wounds, but regen could not wake him. Staniv quickly ran back into town while both Firecats kept watch. Once regen started taking effect Exdeath departed as fast as he had arrived.

"I'll need him at full strength to stop those two" Exdeath mumbled to himself.

[phauxx]

Fox was panicking until they managed to get the bleeding to stop but he still didn't wake up. Fox went to Phauxx's Bag and began to dig through it pulling out anything and everything she thought might help. She wasn't stupid, she knew the things Phauxx used when he was injured, the potions, the x potions, she continued to dig them out and throw them around until she found the X Potion and she carried it over to Phauxx. She held it with her paws and pulled the cork out of the top and held it in her mouth while she poured a little bit of it on the wound to help in closing it up and then she poured the rest of it into Phauxx's mouth.

He choked on it a bit and gagged since he was unconscious but he managed to swallow most of it in his unconsciousness. Fox curled up into a ball next to Phauxx's head and whimpered a bit. As if she was begging Phauxx to be alright.

MEANWHILE . . .

Inside Phauxx's head, his dreams were stirring again. The nightmares from the past about his fathers death and what truly happened. All Phauxx wanted was to wake up again but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't force himself to wake from this dreaming hell.

[emperorzerox]

As Staniv arrived in town, what awaited him was just hard to put into words. The people wandering in the streets were in a complete trance and some walked into objects like posts and walls and never reacted. One was bleeding from the head and was still unaware.

Once he reached the item shop, it was eerily quiet inside as nobody seemed to be inside. Staniv knew it should be open by now so he called out and nobody responded. He saw various potions and other items around and soon found the feathers with the strong odour.

"Damn. I keep forgetting how strong the smell from these phoenix downs are. Guess ill just take one." Staniv took one and left the shop.

[phauxx]

Fox walked around Phauxx nervously. She was worried, not so much about his physical wounds, but the emotional trauma. She knew that ever time he dreamed he fell deeper and deeper into a darkness that consumed his very being. The memories of his past haunted him in his sleep and she knew this. She curled up next to his head and tried her best to comfort him just hoping that some of her warmth got through to him.

IN PHAUXX'S HEAD

Phauxx new this place, it was the hillside he trained on with his father. The grass was just about waist high, the fresh breeze blowing through the grassy knoll. Completely hidden by the grass he lay on his back basking in the glow of sunlight. He could have not had a care in the world, if only this world were real. He knew it was all in his head, a lie created by his mind only to make him feel at comfort.
The dream continued on, until the sky became clouded as thunderstorms rolled in. Phauxx sat up quickly and looked around only to see his father standing on the other side of the hill. He stood up and began to run toward him but no matter how fast or far he ran he couldn't get to him. It seemed the farther he ran, the younger his age appeared to get. He heard a sound from behind him and turned to see a figure holding a sword pointed at him. He reached for his own weapons but found them to be missing. He picked up some rocks and threw them at the figure and screamed at it, angry at how powerless he was.
The figure held up his sword and brought it straight down piercing the ground. He felt the earth give under his feet and begin to slide down the hill.
Somehow there was a barrier materia in his hand and he managed to put up a barrier to hold the ground in place but there was suddenly a sharp pain in his left upper arm. He reached over to try and rub the pain away only to find his arm missing and bleeding profusely. The shock from missing an appendage turned to anger and hate and without even thinking Phauxx put up a barrier around the shaded figure and began to slowly compress it. The last thing he heard was 'I'm sorry son, Go to the mansion, find a book titled project unt. . . ' then silence as the barrier crushed the shaded figure. At the last second Phauxx saw his Fathers face in the compressed barrier and as it shattered everything around him shattered like glass and he began to fall into a dark nothingness.

Back to Reality

Phauxx was sweating profusely, he had never dreamed this long before. Usually he would wake up at regular intervals to keep him from falling into the darkness that consumed him. He was beginning to shake as if he was cold and had the shivers. Fox started to paw at him and licked his face to try and wake him up but still nothing.

[emperorzerox]

As Phauxx started to tremble from the dream he was having, Nanaki moved over closer to him. He wasn't sure how to help but had decided on chasing after Staniv to get the phoenix down back faster. He was getting worse by the minute.

"I'll go and see whats taking Staniv so long. Don't worry about...." Nanaki paused as he heard footsteps heading their way. Soon Staniv came into view and raced over to where Fox was lying. He took out the phoenix down, coughed twice from the odour and placed it on Phauxxs' chest. Once enough of the Down was inhaled the item would become useless and odourless.

"Smells like wild bird droppings. No wonder they're more widely used than smelling salts" Nanaki said as he remembered the amount he had seen on his journeys with Cloud. He just hoped that the smell was strong enough.

[phauxx]

Fox stood back a few feet, the smell was overpowering. She watched in bated anticipation.

Phauxx's nightmare was still occurring, falling into an endless abyss, nothing could compare to the hatred he felt toward himself for being too weak, unable to control the ability that ended his fathers life. Continually falling face first, there was a faint light, and with every breath the light came closer and closer. After a few deep breaths there was a massive pound in his chest and the light exploded into a brilliant display of blue and white of the clouds in the sky.

Phauxx awoke with a sudden burst of energy and sat up like a bolt of lightning had just shot down his spine. Without even thinking he reached for his sword and threw a barrier up around himself so quickly that it knocked Staniv back a few feet. He looked around shaking uncontrollably, barely able to see and then felt the pain in his stomach again. The wound had healed but it was still sore and needed more time to heal completely. The potion had mended the wound but the energy that was drained from the wound was still keeping him down. He fell back again and the barrier shattered as his back hit the ground. "What happened? All I remember is . . . pain" He rubbed his stomach, "Lots of pain."

Fox barked a bit at him and then curled up into a ball at his side, relieved to finally see her master awake again. She snuggled close and Phauxx managed enough energy to lift his hand and place it on her back.

[emperorzerox]

"It doesnt really matter what happened anymore" was Nanaki's response. Phauxx looked too dazed for Nanaki to say anything that might trouble him, so he had decided to wait until he got better. Staniv landed on his back and slid a few feet. He quickly picked himself up though.

"It wasn't just us. That strange armored character told us what we needed. If it weren't for him, you may have just perished altogether. I recommend we just remain here for a while." Nanaki looked over at what remained of the huge fish he caught and sighed. Looked like the fish was off for todays breakfast. Nanaki headed towards the water again and looked into the water and it had suddenly become quiet.

"Strange....this water was overrun with fish barely a half hour ago. Something must have spooked them."

[phauxx]

Phauxx heard Nanaki's reply and was worried that he was left out of the loop anyway. When he heard Staniv mention the strange armored character he gave a little laugh. He knew it was Exdeath and it was odd because he didn't take Exdeath to be one who actually cared about the welfare of other people. Phauxx sat up and gave a slight groan.

He heard Nanaki mention that there was nothing left in the water. "Sorry about that, when I pulse it sends out a short burst wave and scares all of the wildlife away. The only one who has gotten used to it has been Fox. That's not to say something else didn't contribute to it but its generally my fault." Phauxx scooted his way over to a rock and leaned against it. Ok, that was not something to be expected. Damn organization, didn't even get the file. What an idiot, all he had to do was give me the file and he could have gone home.

Phauxx closed his eyes and continued to ponder on what had happened and what went wrong.

Fox looked around for something to eat but she couldn't find anything. She began to circle out and look even further from the campsite for food.

[emperorzerox]

"Dont worry about the fish. I might need to go on a diet soon anyway" Nanaki rersponded as his stomach cried out in anguish.

"I should have brought back something from my own place while I had a chance" Staniv said as he stood up.

"No. You needed to get in and out of town as fast as you could" Nanaki walked towards the sea and sniffed the water. the smell of seasalt causing his throat to roar.

"I'm not that thirsty" Nanaki thought as he noticed Fox had wandered off somewhere. Did she have the scent of something? Nanaki soon noticed that a small distance south of them, a stream was entering the sea. Stream water wasn't salty.

"Looks like theres a stream just below us if anyone needs a quick drink"

Down at the stream though a familiar suit was standing, watching the water flow.

[phauxx]

Phauxx laughed at the growling stomach of Nanaki. "Your stomach obviously disagrees with you." Phauxx got up, the pain in his stomach was still there, but it was bearable at this point. He walked over to his bag and began to rummage through it. He pulled out a couple of Meals Ready to Eat and looked at the contents. Egg Omelet was the first and he gagged a little, the next one was Tuna and he grimaced at the thought of ingesting the, god only knows how old, vacuum sealed fish.

He looked over to Nanaki and Staniv, "You guys hungry? I got Tuna and Egg Omlet." He tossed the two MREs over to them and rummaged through his bag a bit more then pulled out a canteen. He shook it a little bit and the water sloshed, bout half full. He tossed it over onto the MRE's. "Use that for the heater. You can argue who gets which one." He dug through his bag a bit deeper and pulled out an energy bar. That'll suffice for now. He tore it open and took a bite, a little stale, but better than nothing.

Phauxx sat down on the rock and Fox hopped up with satisfied look on her face, like she had just enjoyed a large meal. She was probably eating all the bugs around, Phauxx laughed at the thought. They were both scavengers, he was proud of the fact that he could live off of the land for as long as he needed.

Phauxx looked at the two, "So now I guess all we have left to do is wait. Man it sure is getting boring." Phauxx sighed. "So Bored!!" He fell back and lay on the rock, looking at the sky, thinking of how he could have completed his other mission by the time these two he was waiting for would show up.

[emperorzerox]

Nanaki took the Tuna ready meal. Staniv wasn't hungry, or more likely, the look of the ready meal scared the hunger out of him. Once the canteen was ready, Staniv started to boil the Tuna for Nanaki. While it cooked, Nanaki went towards the river and spotted some large salmon jumping as they made their way upstream.

"Strange. The Salmon egg laying season isnt for another two months at least. Maybe its all this strange energy reeking around." A small distance upriver, Exdeath was swinging his sword. Each time he swung, he decapitated a fish and it then floated back down the river. Nanaki was half tempted to take some of these fresh kills but spotted a huge fish. Looked close to 20 lbs so Nanaki ran alongside the fish as it swam and waited for it to jump. Exdeath also saw this fish and his blade turned aiming for it as well. When the fish jumped, Nanaki used Sled fang to catch the fish as he shot across to the far side of the river. Exdeaths blade also came in as Nanaki pounced and took a few hairs off of his mane. Nanaki though didnt notice as he was too focused on the fish which was now fighting in Nanaki's jaws. Exdeath grunted and vanished from the river. Nanaki was happy enough and just as Staniv was about to place the ready meal tuna in to boil, he spotted Nanaki returning with the monster of a fish.

"The size of him. Biggest fish ive seen was 16 lbs and he looks to outweigh that." Staniv said as he quickly moved the Tuna, breathing a sigh of relief as the smell coming off of it, even before it was cooked, was killing him. Once the Salmon was thrown on the steamy fresh smell coming from it was overwhelming.

"Theres definitely enough for four there" Nanaki barked. The fish looked like it could feed about 10 people so hopefully it was as delicious as the smell was telling him.