“Fuck!” Paige kicked the metal wall of her cell. Joe watched her, twirling one of the sais he had hidden, in his right hand. “A lot of fucking help we turned out to be!”
“We got Quistis help.”
Paige turned on him, gray eyes filled with storm clouds. “We don’t know if he’s gonna keep his word! A scumbag like Martin Rueday?! We’re lucky that he hasn’t killed us already!”
“Hey!” Joe stood up and leaned over, nose-to-nose with Paige. “I’m trying to see the upside of the situation! Stop being so goddamn pessimistic!” They seethed at each other a few moments longer, before Paige turned her back and hit the wall, before leaning her head on her hand. Joe stared at her a moment, taking in the shaking shoulders, the weak knees, and the muffled noises, before sighing. “Paige, I’m worried too. But thinking the worst won’t make it any better.”
There was no reply.
“Paige?”
Still nothing. Then she turned around. Her head was held up, gray eyes large and intent on him…no, not him, on the cell door. Slowly, purposefully, she strode to the door, flicked out a dagger, and began fiddling with the lock.
“Paige, have you gone crazy? He probably has all sorts of alarms rigged to that!” Joe stared at her in complete bafflement, as she stood up to face him, dagger held in tightly closed fist. Her face was impassive, but her eyes blazed with a passion that Joe had not seen before in his normally passive aggressive friend.
“You can stay here and worry about alarms if you want. But I’m going to try and help,” she shot at him. “So either sit down, shut up, and wait for someone to rescue us, or start to devise a plan on how to find Quistis and Seifer! I don’t have time for helpless babies, like Rinoa!” So saying, she swung back around, red hair settling on her shoulders as she bent closer to the lock, ignoring him completely.
Joe’s green eyes narrowed. Helpless baby, he thought. Helpless baby, my ass! He walked over to her and lowered his voice. “Did you get a glimpse of the mainframe computer on the way down?”
Paige’s gray eyes met his green ones.
Both of them grinned maliciously.
* * *

Seifer’s jade eyes flickered open. He didn’t remember falling asleep. Unsettled, he moved to stretch his arms, but found himself unable to do so, and his eyes went wider as they adjusted to the dark room. No, not totally dark. There was a bright light in the middle…a very familiar bright light. And that bed looked familiar too.
Breath whooshed out of him as he realized why they were so familiar. His eyes focused on the five shadowy figures opposite him as their features began to take forms. From left to right, Squall, Rinoa, Zell, Selphie, and Irvine. Totally blank. They were all nude, yet tied to poles in ways to conceal. Vaguely, Seifer wondered why Rueday even bothered, before his own state of undress hit him. Not exactly uncomfortable with his body, he really did not care. Other than the fact that all of them were naked in the nightmares too. And the absence of Quistis. Slowly, warily, he raised his eyes to the light.
He leapt forward, but the chains binding him to the pole kept him well in place. “Quistis!” He struggled futilely, eyes fixed on the floating blonde woman.
“I assure you, it is quite useless.” Rueday’s voice. But where was he? There. A pair of unearthly green eyes seeming to float freely in the shadows, steadily moving closer. “Those chains won’t break.”
“You said you were going to heal her,” Seifer ground out, his own green eyes meeting the rather frightening pair opposite him.
“And I did.” The eyes laughed. “Her wound is closed and the poison has been extracted. Very potent poison, too. You’re lucky it was my scientists who designed it and its antidote.”
“You’re going to kill us anyway,” Seifer spat.
“True. But I want everyone alive enough to be aware of everything I do to you.” Rueday laughed. “Do you honestly think that a couple of SeeDs and resistance group members could take me out? It’s laughable! I expected better from an ‘elite mercenary force’.”
Seifer snorted. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“Actually, I believe it is you who will be disappointed. After all, you’re going to die.” More insane laughter. “You and Quistis need to learn how to act better. You’re very manner distinguishes you from everyone else. The way you walk, talk, hold yourselves at constant readiness. Although, I must admit that Quistis’ display of stupidity and, well, whorishness, threw me for a moment. Ah well. It doesn’t matter now. If only I’d been around to give you that advice before!”
“Yeah, if only.” Seifer tried for a more comfortable position. “So are you going to tell me what you’re up to? Villains always do.”
“You know about the drug. I would think you’d be able to figure out the rest on your own.”
“The drug manipulates the mind. In releasing it, you gain control of what people really want, thereby instigating a mass genocide of the human race, since no one gets along.”
“Quite right.”
“World domination isn’t very original.”
“I suppose not. But it’s very fun to accomplish.” The green eyes glowed brighter. “Especially when the only ones to survive the mass genocide are the ones I set aside; the ones who will essentially repopulate the world in my image.”
“You’re insane!”
“Most geniuses were mistaken for insane. A common misconception.” The eyes dimmed. “Any more questions before I kill you?”
“The trains…How do the trains figure in?” Eyes narrowed, Seifer opted for having the cold pole rest against his spine, as opposed to his kidney.
“The trains? Merely a side effect of the stairway mechanics in the compound. I still haven’t figured that part out, but it doesn’t matter. With SeeDs out of the way, I don’t need to hide the compound anymore.”
“Glad we could help.”
“Yes. Now who should die first? Since you’re the only one with any semblance of mind consciousness right now, I’ll let you pick the order in which they die.”
Seifer was silent, staring from the five across from him to the one above him and back again.
“Well?”
“You can’t expect me to make a decision like that!” Seifer hissed.
“What if I choose?” The green eyes moved towards the five. “Will that ease your mind?”
“No!” Seifer struggled against the chains much more.
“I already told you that was useless.”
“I can’t choose their deaths for them.”
“Too hard a decision? Oh, wait, I understand…You need more time to think about it. Very well.” The green eyes flickered with amusement, before fading back into the shadows, dimming once more, along with the sound of Rueday’s voice. “Make your choice. You have one hour.”
One hour? To decide the fate of his friends, his family, the only people who ever cared about him?
Seifer’s gaze switched from the team to Quistis, the team to Quistis, the team to Quistis.
What the hell am I going to do?