Final Fantasy

Alone on a cliff over looking the ruined city, a wolf sniffs at the ground. Next to it, a sword is planted in the dirt, sticking up at a slight angle. The wind ruffles the wolf's fur. It raises it's head, and looks toward Midgar.
*~*~*~*~*
The soil was so dry that cracks had formed all along the surface... There was no vegetation in sight, save for some very brown clumps grass scattered here and there.
Near the edge of a cliff, Taeyang sat astride a motorcycle, cell phone in hand, listening to the messages left on his voice mail.
"I got a phone call from Xiumin and them in Healin," Hyorin's recorded voice spoke, "They said it's a commission job. Taeyang... have you been doing OK?"
"You have no more messages," a recorded voice reported at the end of his message.
Taeyang closed his phone and put it away. As he did so, he briefly clutched his left arm, unable to ignore the slight twinge of pain. After a moment, Taeyang looked out across the rocky terrain. Grey clouds drifted steadily across the sky, driven by a restless wind. Taeyang hastily donned a pair of goggles before preparing to head off on his motorcycle.
Suddenly, he gasped in pain. Images flashed quickly before his eyes... too quickly to make them out. He clutched his arm, hidden by a long sleeve, and flexed his fingers tentatively as the pain lessened. When the it had past, he leaned low over the handle bars and sped off, sending up a cloud of dust from his rear wheel, traveling quickly across the barren landscape.
*~*~*~*~*
High on the cliff, where the wolf had been previously, three men on motorcycles stopped to look out across the plain at Midgar. The one in the middle kicked the sword from where it stood, and it fell with a metallic thud.
"Hey GD... Is that our brother's city?" asked the one on the right. He was slender and tall with white hair. Like the other two, he was dressed entirely in black leather.
"Yeah," replied the one in the center, G dragon, with a bemused laugh. G dragon has a look of cruelty in his eyes. His silver hair fell just below his chin. Despite his age, he was the leader of the trio.
"You think he'll be glad to see us?" the first man asked.
"Not a chance," G dragon replied, amused.
"Don't cry, Seungri" the third man quickly interjected, smirking. He was tall and muscular with short, cropped white hair.
"But Mother's with him..." Seung-ri mused.
"Maybe not," GD replied.
"Don't cry, TOP," Seungri admonished, mimicking the other man. TOP, in fact, did seem visibly upset. G dragon turned his gaze to the plains below the cliff.
"Look... It's our brother."
Seungri and TOP followed his gaze. Far below, a man on a motorcycle was speeding by. Seungri turned away from the sight to glance over at TOP, who smirked and chuckled in response. Without another word, Seungri and TOP revved the engines of their bikes, rocketing over the edge of the cliff and down the steep incline, heading straight for the man they'd seen from the clifftop.
As Taeyang turned his head to briefly cast a glance backwards, Seungri and TOP's bikes were catapulted into the air, flying over an outcropping of rock. They quickly fell into formation behind him. Dark shapes appeared on the ground in front of the two men's bikes, as if something evil were burrowing through the barren soil. They streaked forward towards Taeyang, and as they began to catch up, they emerged, revealing themselves for what they were.
Great four-legged beasts with armored bodies.... six of them. They had a vicious look to them, and did not hesitate to attack. A compartment opened on the side of Taeyang's motorcycle, revealing an array of swords. He quickly chose one of the blades, drawing it. One of the beast leapt at him, but Taeyang easily cut it down and then forced the motorcycle into a skid, swinging the sword with great precision to dispatch a second. A third went down as it tried to overtake him from the left. As the creature shrieked in agony, TOP pulled up beside Taeyang in the creature's place.
"Where's Mother?" he asked, brandishing a lethal-looking weapon attached to his left arm. He didn't bother himself to wait for an answer from Taeyang. The weapon crackled with energy as TOP took a swing at Seungri's head.
Taeyang managed to avoid the attack, throwing his motorcycle into a spin. As he fought to regain control of the vehicle, however, Seung-ri took the opportunity to attack from the right, firing at him with a short-barreled rifle.
"We know you hide her, Brother," Seung-ri proclaimed, maneuvering close to Taeyang. Taeyang deflected another round of shots from Seungri with his sword, and Seung-ri peeled off from the pursuit. A fourth creature attacked as Seungri moved out of range, forcing Taeyang into a skid to avoid it. A fifth beast fell into step beside it, continuing the chase.
Seungri and TOP circled Taeyang, attacking sporadically as they did so.
*~*~*~*~*
"Don't tell me... You're leading me on," GD said firmly, "Mother's really THERE, isn't she?"
G dragon was speaking into his cell phone as he watched the action below from his position on top of the cliff. He sat casually on his motorcycle.
"No need to shout," he laughed, as though whomever was on the other end of the line amused him greatly.
"I don't wanna talk to you anymore," he continued, suddenly becoming serious, "Put the president on."
Meanwhile, Taeyang was still fending off both the creatures and the two white haired men. He struck down the fourth creature, but two more still pursued him and Seungri and TOP still badgered him at every opportunity.
TOP tried a frontal attack, sending his motorcycle into a skid directly in front of Taeyang's, and forcing Taeyang to jump his bike right over TOP. Cloud came down hard, his bike wobbling as he fought for control. TOP was immediately after him again, riding alongside Taeyang on the right, his weapon poised to strike. Taeyang managed to fend off an initial blow, but suddenly he was assailed by the pain in his arm once again. He gasped, looking momentarily away from TOP, but he recovered quickly and struck at TOP.
TOP parried the attack, sending the sword flying from Taeyang's hand. Taeyang watched as it sailed away, and when he turned back, he saw that Seungri was on a collision course with him... and there was little he could do about it.
Seun-ri upended his bike, sending it airborne and taking careful aim with his gun as his target rode beneath him. Taeyang looks in astonishment up at Seungri as he fired. The shot struck Taeyang goggles, knocking them away, but leaving Taeyang unharmed save for a small cut above his left eye. Seung-ri landed smoothly behind him and resumed his chase.
The two remaining creatures, too, were still hot on Taeyang's trail, and as they ran, they were joined by still more, appearing from nowhere. The new creatures emerged seemingly from thin air to join the hunt. Taeyang wove back and forth trying desperately to avoid them, as Seung-ri and TOP fell back.
The creatures surrounded Taeyang, now having the upper hand. They converged on him and leapt. Taeyang's fate seemed sealed as the descended upon him.
High above the battleground, GD raised a hand into the air, and just as quickly as they appeared, the creatures turned to dust, vanishing in an instant. Taeyang looked around in disbelief, catching sight of GD on top of the cliff. TOP laughs as he and Seungri broke off their pursuit for good, leaving Taeyang to his journey.
As they rode out of sight, Taeyang came to a stop, turning to watch them go. GD smirked, and then he too rode off, leaving a very confused Taeyang alone on the plain.
*~*~*~*~*
Not much later, Taeyang's motorcycle was traveling down an unpaved, but well-worn road. Large boulders, and flourishing plant life adorned the road on either side.
Once again, Taeyang was checking his voice mail.
"What up, foo"?! It's Kai! I am the man! Oil, Taeyang. I just found the biggest damn oil field you ever seen! Survey is done, so I should be able to get out there and see Bora soon! You let her know, alright, Spiky?"
Higher up in the cliffs lay Taeyang's destination. Healin Lodge. He rocketed past a sign directing passersby to the place.
"Xiumin called again," Hyorin's recorded voice said, "He says to hurry. And he sounded kind of strange. Be careful, Ok?"
Taeyang drove over a short span of bridge. Healin Lodge was in sight. It was a building that looked quite small beside the mountain range that rose up majestically behind it. At last, Taeyang pulled up in front of the building, parking his bike. He strode purposefully up the long flight of stairs that led to the door.
He didn't bother to knock, throwing open the door while simultaneously drawing one of his swords from the sheath on his back, expecting the inevitable. Immediately, a blur of red, and Taeyang was suddenly attacked by an assailant who had been lying in wait. Sparks flew as his sword connected with his attacker's weapon... an arm-length metal rod. It was none other than Xiumin of the Turks. Xiumin backed off momentarily, but only long enough to gain ground to renew his assault. Again, he struck out with the rod, charging forward determinedly.
But Taeyang sidestepped, and the surprised Turk's own momentum sent him stumbling out the open door. Unsteadily, Xiumin wheeled around for another try, but Taeyang slammed the door in his face.
"Ok... so you're good," Xiumin drawls, his voice muffled by the heavy door that now stood between himself and his would-be opponent. Taeyang responded by flipping the deadbolt on the door, locking Xiumin out, and then turned back to the now-empty entryway.
Across the room, a door opened, and a second figure emerged. Taeyang took a few steps away from the door, ready for another fight. This time, it was Chanyeol. As the Turk advanced, he pulled on a pair of fighting gloves. Facing Taeyang, he took up a defensive stance.
"Yeah Chanyeol! Lookin' sharp!" Xiumin shouted from outside, eagerly cheering on his fellow Turk. The stoic man didn't reply. With a flick of his arm, Chanyeol revealed a weapon identical to Xiumin's, but Taeyang's sword was at Chanyeol's throat before the Turk could attack. Chanyeol said nothing, but backed off.
"Good... You fight like the Soldier you once claimed to be," proclaimed a voice from the other room. The soft whine of an electric motor droned in the air as a wheelchair emerged from the doorway. Taeyang turned to look, but did not immediately lower his weapon. The occupant of the wheelchair was shrouded in a white blanket, most of his body, and his face, hidden from view. He maneuvered the chair between the two men, and Chanyeol took up a position behind him, looking every bit the stoic bodyguard.
"You haven't lost your touch," the man in the wheelchair continued.
*~*~*~*~*
Flashback to the destruction of the SG Building in Midgar, its top levels destroyed by a blast from WEAPON... a loan figure within tries to shield himself from the shower of glass and flame that is suddenly upon him, only to be engulfed by the explosion. The tower erupts in flames, warning sirens droning all around the city.
*~*~*~*~*
Taeyang took a good look at the man before him.
"Is that you, Tao?" he asked, not sure he entirely believed that the president of SG Electric Power Company could still be alive. He glanced over at Chanyeol.
"Do I feel sorry for you," Taeyang said. Chanyeol shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked away, before clearing his throat and resuming his statue-like position.
"That day..." Tao began. But Taeyang didn't want to hear it.
"What do you want with me?" he demanded.
"I managed to get out..." Tao attempted to continue, but again he was cut off.
"Who were those people who attacked me?"
"... of the building before it collapsed," Tao intoned, wanting to tell his story.
"I'm leaving," Taeyang declared, tired of this little game. He turned away from SG's president.
"We need your assistance," Tao said at last, his hand reaching up to pull the blanket down to better hide his face. Bandages were visible at his neck, and on his right hand were black markings similar to those on Luhan's back in Midgar. It is clear that he, too, is infected.
"Not interested," Taeyang replied.
"I acknowledge that SG owes the planet a lot," said Tao, "It goes without saying that my company and I are the ones who put the world in the sorry state it's in. Therefore, it's our responsibility to set things right."
"I'm still out here!" Xiumin's voice called from outside, obviously annoyed. He had been listening at the door.
"As a first step," Tao went on, ignoring the Turk, "we have commenced an investigation into the influences on the planet that Daesung left behind."
"Yep, at the Northern Crater," Tao added from the other side of the door, unwilling to be left out of the discussion.
"What do you think we found?" Tao asked. Taeyangs expression changed, some amount of concern registering in his eyes.
"Nothing. There was nothing," said Tao, "You can relax... However, not everything went according to plan. We were... interrupted. By the same three who attacked you... G dragon's and his gang."
"G dragon?" Taeyang replied, more interested now.
"It seems he doesn't want us finishing what we started," explained Tao, drumming his fingers on the armrest of his wheelchair.
"Really, I don't know why..." he concluded with a sigh.
"What does that have to do with me?" Taeyang asked.
"You're our buddy, aren't ya?" Xiumin piped up, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Taeyang responded by giving the door a hard kick, in the hopes that the Turk had his ear firmly pressed against it.
"GD's group is young and violent," Tao warned, "They're extremely dangerous. So, we decided it might be in our best interest to hire a little... muscle."
"Too bad... I'm a delivery boy now," Taeyang insisted dismissively.
"You're all we have," responded Tao. His tone was insistent, almost pleading, "Taeyang, look... you're an ex-SOLDIER, aren't you?"
"Hmph... in my head," Taeyang replied, ending the discussion. He turned away and walked toward the door, unlocking it and pulling it open a crack. Xiumin was still lingering outside.
"What's this 'Mother' they were talking about?" Taeyang asked before leaving.
"Why? Did GD say something to you?" Tao replied with a chuckle, trying to make light of the matter, "Well, don't worry about that. There are children all over the world who yearn for their mothers. You're living with orphans, I hear... Think about it. Don't you want to put smiles back on their faces?"
Taeyang neither responded nor looked back.
"All we want, in the end, is to rebuild our world, Taeyang."
At this, Taeyang did turn back to look at him.
"But I..."
"Come on Taeyang, think about it. Together, we could rebuild SG," Xiumin cut in.
Taeyang turned back to the door, and pushed past Xiumin.
"Not interested," he said with finality, giving the door a pull behind him.
"Xiumin!" Chanyeol and Tao chorused, exasperated, and the redhead turned back as the door closed in his face a second time.

Notes

Thanks to ffrepublic!