Disclaimer: Never met Nsync. Don't know em, wouldn't want to own em. Oh yeah, Final Fantasy belongs to Square.
Authors Note: Yeah well, you gotta be patient with me. I'm new to this and we'll have to see how everything works out. Anyway, I'm taking this slow, so read on if you're willing to wait for the sex. No sex for now, maybe in the future, maybe not. This specific chapter could be rated R for language (Sane talks like a sailor at times.) Anyway, without further ado, on with the show.
[Yeah, it's FF]
He rolled out of bed. It was a small bed, with room only for one. It was unkempt and decidedly still Spartan. The bedroom was also tiny, featureless, and sterile. The carpeting was a mute sort of beige and he groggily ambled across it with rickety feet.
He stepped out of his clothes and the bedroom and searched the living room for his towel. Wiping the sleep out of his eyes, he yanked it off the TV antennae. Stepping over scattered books, sketchpads and other debris, he ascended the stairs to the shower. The bathroom was so small; one could literally trip into the shower if one was not careful.
He threw the towel on top of the toilet two feet away from the shower stall, stepped in the shower, closed the transparent shower curtains behind him, and turned on the water. The warm water on his back was numbing and oddly ticklish. He closed his already tired eyes, threatening to fall back to sleep.
With eyes closed, he mumbled in an uneven voice, "When you fall down the stairs, tuck your head in. You don't want your neck to bend 180 degrees the wrong way. Try to cover your face and roll with the fall. You won't get killed from the fall, but you will probably be in traction for a while."
The intruder, who had until now thought that he had snuck in the apartment unnoticed froze with his hand about to draw out his handgun. More than a little confused; he tried to piece together some response but ended up babbling a, "Wha...but...how did you?"
Turning off the water, he turned around to catch his first glimpse of his would be assassin. He was dressed as all the other ones were. All black, polished army boots, with a facemask to conceal his identity, a couple spare knives and guns on his person. Actually, the boots look really nice. "Two other guys before snuck in through the window you did. They just waited 'til I had clothes on before they tried and kill me. By the way, those are nice boots, where'd you get them?" His voice was beginning to sound less like a hangover.
"Wha...What?!" In all his years of jobs, the hitman had never quite dealt with a naked hit that asked him about footwear before, "Fuck this!" He whipped out his gun.
There was a sudden desperate flaying of the shower curtain.
BLAAM! The hitman crashed through the bathroom door and flew down the stairs, bouncing once, twice, three times before landing on his back with a thud at the bottom of the steps.
Sane stepped out of his shower and looked down the stairs. "Idiot didn't even fall right. Well, at least he's still alive. Not by much though." Surveying the broken and splintered bathroom door, he sighed, "I think it might be time to cut my losses and move." The rest of his shower waited.
A couple blocks away, in downtown Chicago, Joshua Chasev and Justin Randall Timberlake were staring at the skyline from their swank hotel balcony. It was a cold autumn morning, and terribly grey and bleak, and not just outside, not just physically. Their cappuccinos were of little consolation.
Joshua noted the chilling breeze that seemed to threaten his very bones; "You're serious aren't you?" He took another scalding sip out of his paper cup and looked at that rather than make eye contact with Justin.
Sitting back in one of the hotel's upholstered chairs inside the room, he murmured, "Yeah." He set his drink on the table, and cradled his face in his hands, almost as if he were about to cry.
"Have you told the guys yet?" The people below, so small like black ants, he thought.
"No." Justin eyes stared two feet in front of him, oddly enough at Joshua's heel. "Just you so far."
Joshua's jaw tightened, and said in an unconsciously deeper voice than before, "You can't quit. I won't let you, we won't let you." He turned to make eye contact, but Justin averted his gaze. Joshua, for a moment, realized that even Justin looked washed of colour, as if the cold grey of the sky had seeped into him. He didn't want the autumn to win.
"Don't you think I've thought of what I'm doing before?" Justin rose to his feet, yet only slightly angry, "I want to go on! Really I do, but I just can't. Okay. So maybe it's a lame reason to quit, but I just can't do this anymore! I just have to!"
"You can't quit over Britnney goddammit!" Joshua yelled suddenly, flustered and annoyed by Justin's immaturity, "I know it hurts, but you move on. You pick up the pieces. For fucksakes Justin, we write songs about this!"
"Yeah, whatever. Like you know what it's like to lose someone." Justin said, stepping up eye to eye with Joshua.
Joshua's eyes turned to steel, "Don't you fucking go there. I might haven't had a relationship in a while, but I know when you find someone that's right for you, you don't fuck around!" He bared his teeth slightly and reiterated, "You don't fuck around unless you want to screw over what you might have."
Suddenly, Justin's resolve evaporated like so much ether. He tried to fight it for a second, but his lips began to quiver and his eyes water. He looked down and began to cry, "Oh god, you're right. What the hell was I thinking, cheating on her like that? Oh god."
Guilt instantly washed over Joshua. Pulling Justin in with one hand, he hugged him and said, "Just, I'm sorry, I'm an asshole. I shouldn't have said that." Justin was taking this really harder than he thought: where was his head at? Josh's other hands was stilling hold onto his drink, awkwardly jutting out like a scarecrow appendage. The alarm on his wristwatch went off and said to his crying friend, "Dude, we have to go, we got stuff to take care of with the guys pretty soon." Perhaps it was because he was so taxed by the morning events or it was some spontaneous miracle, but Josh felt the need to toss the cappuccino over the edge of the balcony. And he did.
Justin choked his tears. Despondently, he said, "Listen, maybe I will quit, maybe I won't, but I just don't feel the same anymore. I don't know if I've still got my heart in this."
"Some progress at least," Joshua thought. He looked his friend in the eye, "Alright man, but just try to think of all the good things you got going in your life." He tried to cast an infectious smile for Justin to catch.
Justin cracked a halfhearted smile, grabbed his coat as Joshua started to run down the list he had going for him.
"We get to do what we love, girls screaming your name, we get to stay at nice hotels, we get to go to any VIP clubs, there are plentiful fanfics of us on the net..."
"Alright Josh, I get you." Justin stepped into the hallway.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, but think about it," Josh turned off the lights in the room, "can you imagine doing anything other than singing and dancing for a living?" He closed the door behind him and the two walked down the hallway.
Sane had spent the last ten minutes or so running in the streets of Downtown from many more men dressed in black, except now they were in suits and sunglasses. He was taken by surprise when they attempted to catch him the very moment he exited his condo. Such a sudden change in their usual method of operation was not anticipated. He ran straight into traffic and ran along the top of an incoming blue Sedan just as two of his pursuers seemingly got decked clear across Lake Shore Drive by the Sedan's fender.
"Not that I'm unprepared," Sane smirked to himself, running even faster. He turned a corner and his smirk disappeared. A barrier of them was blocking off the entire street and when he turned around the twelve or so that had been chasing him were now practically on his back. He was surrounded in the middle of the street.
Sane hung his head low and put his had on his hips. "Dammit, fell for a classic pincer maneuver," Sane said.
The leader of the group stepped forward, and solemnly proclaimed, "You have no means of escape. For the last time, come peacefully." His lips were tight and didn't ever quite seem to meet as his teeth were always clenched so tight.
Sane sort of turned his head in a conversational manner, "No, no John-boy, I don't think I will." Sane had didn't actually know this particular man in black's name, but Sane encountered him so often that he decided that he needed a name. Two year ago he dubbed him John-boy and the name stuck. "But you know what we can do? We can talk about movies. You guys see Men In Black II? I really think there are some really super fashion tips in that movie for you guys." Sane smiled.
John-boy murmured through clenched teeth, "Why you little arrogant."
"Me arrogant!?" Sane adjusted his glasses (an unconscious action he did only when he was truly nervous but didn't want to show it.) "Johnny-Booy! I'm not the one who suddenly decided to show my face in public. Tell me, how long did it take for you to get enough nerve to try and attack me in broad day light? Did you get tired of me beating all your hired guns and kidnappers one by one simply because anything more forceful would have attracted attention? And now look at you. Risking exposure and total public scrutiny just to try and catch little old me. But you're still not quite sure enough to use all your resources to try and get me, so you try this half-ass shit to get me." Sane leaned against a hotel wall and smiled deviously, "How fucking arrogant of you Deep-Eyes to think you'll get away with this entire fiasco in Downtown Chicago without a single witness."
"Priorities have shifted," John-Boy almost smiled back, "You're capture now supercedes the need to maintain anonymity. Besides, you haven't exactly been using your full abilities either. Perhaps we are not the only ones a little shy in the public eye."
Sane's smile grew even wider, "Touche. Still, you Deep-Eyes will never catch me." He had stalled long enough; all he needed was one distraction and he could plow his way through John-Boy and fend off the rest during the resulting confusion. Hopefully. Just one distraction was all he needed.
Just then, a scalding hot cappuccino landed all over John-Boy's head.
Screaming and cursing, he took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes in pain. A little jilted, and more than amused, Sane said, "Uh.okay." Sane kicked John-Boy's legs from under him and before he could land face-first on the cement, kicked him into several other Deep-Eyes agents. However, before Sane could take advantage of the opening he made even more Deep-Eyes covered his escape route and tried to attack him all at once. Ducking the first punch, Sane caught that Deep-Eyes in the ribs and the backhanded the one who tried to get him from behind. To make space he did a wide left spin kick behind him and another lanky right spin kick in front of him. Deciding not to take anymore chances, he headed back to his original escape route and then flipped over John-Boy's crumbled frame and out of the circle of Deep-Eyes.
Turning on his heels Sane yelled, "Like I said, you Deep-Eyes will never catch me, 'cause I'm only getting even better!" Running, Sane recalled how much he hated that name: Deep-Eyes. They had tormented him for as long as he could remember. Always chasing him, always pursuing, denying him a normal life. But this sudden change could mean they'd stop soon. Maybe they're deadline was coming up. Maybe not. But in the mean time, Sane just ran.
John-Boy got up, positively fuming. Fumbling, he got his now moist sunglasses back on his face before anyone could see. Several Deep-Eyes rushed to help him, but he swatted them away, "You idiots! GET HIM NOW! WE CAN'T AFFORD TO DRAW ANYMORE ATTENTION TO OURSELVES!"
"Whoa, check out all the men in black, they're really drawing attention to themselves," Justin said from the front passenger seat, "Wonder what that's all about."
Josh pulled the car farther out into the street to get a good view at what Justin was speaking of and immediately got a disgruntled look on his face. "It 's all about making us late. The street map and traffic were bad enough without all these roadblocks set up. We're going to be late." He spied even more blocked roadways further down. "Shit."
Fiddling with the radio, Justin tried to comfort Josh, "Don't worry man, it's not like we've never been late before. What radio station?"
Joshua started to rub his left temple, "Take your pick."
Abandoning the radio because he was feeling partially responsible his headache, Justin tried to comfort him again: "Listen, what I said back there, about you not knowing."
"It's alright man. It's not hitting below the belt if you're being perfectly logical about it."
"What?" Justin said, wrinkling his nose in confusion.
"You were right. I don't really know what it's like to be in a relationship, at least not in this millennium," he admitted. "I don't really have any idea of what you're going through."
"Don't talk shit about yourself, especially when it's not true. I still turn to you for advice for a reason. You've got a good head on your shoulder, you know that."
Joshua turned around yet another roadblock surrounded by Deep-Eyes, "Yeah, except when it comes to love."
"You'll find someone. I've told you plenty of times you deserve someone, you just got to believe that yourself."
"Yeah, well, for now my love is my work," Joshua said, looking over to Justin.
Justin was quick to retort, "That's not.."
WHUMP! While he had his eyes off the road, Josh had hit an Asian kid wearing glasses who was now crumpled up on the hood of the car. Joshua's jaw hit the floor. He prayed that the impact wasn't strong enough to seriously injure him, they were fortunately going fairly slowly. Justin frantically undid his seat belt to try to check on him but Joshua could only maintain his shocked expression.
"JC, would you help me here!?" Justin yelled, turning over the body to reveal that the victim was now.laughing.
Sane slowly peeled himself off the windshield, chuckling at his own stupidity, and thought to himself, "Note: the `getting them hit by a car' trick can backfire." He twisted his neck, feeling several vertebrae snap back in place and opened his eyes. Realizing he had an audience he casually waved to a very bewildered Justin and turned to Josh to do the same when he suddenly made eye contact.
Joshua and Sane stared at each other for what seemed to be years, trying not some way to verify their feeling of deja vu' but rather something to disprove it. Vehemently they searched each other's faces for something that could protect them from the chill running up their spines, to stop this ear-burning pulse-inducing sensation they were picking up from each other.
"GET HIM!" a Deep-eyes yelled from the intersection, followed by an entourage.
"I'm not even close to being out of tricks," Sane said, finally breaking his stare with Joshua. Flipping head over heels off the front of the car, Sane narrowly avoided a Deep-Eyes that nearly got Justin instead. With his typical shit-eating grin, he prepared to pull another stunt, when he suddenly realized his chest was shining a luminescent white that was slowly spreading across his body. "What the!?" was all he could get out before his form was turned into a bright flash of light that dispersed just as quickly as it had made. He didn't even have time to land.
Catching his breath, Sane could taste the charged air, and his eyes slowly fluttered open under a dark sky filled with pregnant clouds and thunder already breaking. Getting his bearings, he felt grass tickle it's way into his ears and then the rustle of the wind. It was suddenly a struggle to regain his very mind, even with open eyes, like he had to swim through some ink black pool just to get back to the real world. He finally sat up with a jolt and found himself in the middle of a large field surrounded by forest. "Okay, I can deal with this. So I'm alone, that's okay." He thought some more, "Wait, I 'm all alone.that means no more Deep-Eyes! No more Deep-Eyes, if only for a little bit; now all I have to worry about is taking care of myself!" To a loner like Sane, taking care of oneself was an art form to be cherished. "Yes!"
"Ow." Justin said, just now sitting up a couple feet behind Sane.
"Yeah, what he said," Joshua croaked.
"DAMMIT!" But babysitting, that would never be an art form. Bad enough Sane was literally dropped in the middle of nowhere, but he didn't want the burden of babysitting these two.
"C'mon, get up." Sane said impatiently, standing cross-armed over the two. As the two got to their feet, Sane took the opportunity to size them up. "The blonde looks physically capable, they both do, but they've also got PAMPERED tattooed across their foreheads. What luck. Well, I'll have to see if these guys are as hopeless as they look. Wait a minute, these guys look familiar."
Sane's thoughts were interrupted by Josh rushing up to him and grabbing him by the shoulders, "Are you okay?! Ohmygod, I'm so sorry I hit you back there. Are you okay?! Is anything broken?" Joshua was almost crying, staring straight at Sane's chest as if making eye contact would kill him.
Putting one hand up, partially to calm him down, partially so he would shut up, Sane said, "Yes, yes, I am. I've taken much worst then that, trust me. So you ran me over, big deal. Just curious, aren't you guys singers?"
Sane's innate ability to ask unsettlingly simple question during times of emotional duress didn't go unnoticed by Josh, "Err.um.yeah. We're from Nsync. You know.big multi-plantinum albums.'No Strings Attached'?.'Celebrity'?" Josh was beginning to feel stupid explaining all this considering he rammed him with a car minutes earlier plus Sane had an absolutely clueless look on his face. "You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?"
"Kind of like those Backstreet guys.?" Sane said.
Josh admitted defeat. "Yeah, kind of like those Backstreet guys." he said tiredly. "Anyway, my name is Joshua Chasev." He pointed over his shoulder: "That's Justin Randall Timberlake. And you are?"
"I'm Sane."
"We'll that's a good quality to have I guess." Joshua was getting tired of being confused.
"No, Sane is my name." Sane corrected.
"Oh sorry."
"Trust me, you're sure as hell not the first."
Joshua had taken Sane's facial features, and for the first time noticed how bright the eyes on this Asian boy's face was. The glasses only made them seem larger so not even his unkempt hair could draw attention away from them. Then Joshua suddenly realized that he was staring as Sane like an idiot and that he needed to start conversation fast. "Such a strange name, where."
"Sorry to step on your line there Jayce," Justin said as he surveyed the surrounding, "but anyone else noticed the whole, I don't know, `Un-Chicagoesqueness' of the area?"
"Oh yeah." Josh added dumbly.
Sane wanted to slap his forehead. "Listen, I know were all wondering how we got here, but I really don't care about that now. It's going to rain soon, night will follow, and it doesn't look we're close to any civilization. Let's find someplace for the night, and figure things out from there." He sounded like a teacher on a field trip, but fortunately neither Justin nor Joshua noticed the condescendence in his voice.
Joshua squinted in the distance, "Well, that looks like a camp down there." He pointed westward and walked in that general direction. Justin followed before Sane could protest.
Mumbling below his breath, Sane cautioned, "That was way too fucking convenient."
At the under end of the clearing, Sane, Joshua and Justin all look down at the imploded tent and the ramshackle pots, pans, journals and a burnt out fire. Actually it reminded Sane of his now abandoned room from that morning. He also noticed that it was at the edge of the clearing, right where the forest began. Perhaps whatever caused the owner of the tent to evacuate so quickly came from the woods.
Then from the back of his mind: IF he made it out in time. "This has Blair Witch written all over it." Sane said to the other two.
"Wait, you know the Blair Witch, but don't know who we are?" Justin asked.
Sane shrugged. He didn't feel like saying that movie theatres could be good places to hide when you're being chased.
"Doesn't matter," Joshua said, having regained his composure, "We need to get ourselves set up, that's all that matters."
"Justin, get firewood. Joshua and me will set up camp in the center of clearing away from the wood. Be quick, and we'll be done about the same time as you will be. If he have time before dark, we'll get water." Sane ordered.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Justin yelled, "You say this is Blair Witchy and then you tell me to go into the woods? Are you kidding?"
Sane was about to do something uncalled for when Joshua stepped between the two and pushed them apart. Joshua looked at his friend with calming eyes, "Listen, Justin, you don't have to go that deep into the woods. Just stay at the edge, we'll be able to see you the entire time." Joshua narrowed his eyes as he threw Sane a cautious glance, "And besides, Sane sounds like he knows what he is doing."
Justin and Josh had long ago formed the habit of listening to each other when they made sense and Justin figured now wasn't the time to break old habits: "Fine, but don't forget to look out for me, okay?" He still didn't have to like it though.
Josh just nodded and Justin sulked toward some sticks lying on the ground.
"You're not much of a people person are you Sane?" Joshua said, trying to sort out the tent.
Sane adjusted his glasses.
An hour later
Night had fallen after the brief thunderstorm subsided into a steady rain and the air had a dull sort of humidity. The fire was crackling in the center of the newly established campsite with Sane hunched over a large travel journal while sitting on a damp log. Fortunately the tent had a canopy in front that extended outward to protect both him and the fire from the rain. All three had decided that they should read the available travel journals in case they contained any valuable information of wildlife, environmental dangers, directions, etc. However, as they're were only two journals left intact, Justin was the left without any reading material for the night. The fact that most of the food rations where still left intact didn't instill any confidence in Sane; it just meant that the previous owners had to leave all the more quickly, which probably meant whatever chased them off was all the more dangerous. And one last fact agitated him more than any other: there were no synthetics among the tent materials, there were no sleeping bags, only animal skins, and the travel journal was bound in leather and twine and with unrefined paper. Everything was old or at least made like it was old. Medieval old.
Inside the tent, Justin fussed over and over while lying down next to Josh. "Dude, what's your problem?" Josh finally said, annoyed with the whole situation rather Justin. Bad enough that he had to try to make sense of some decrepit old book, and had nothing to eat but friggin' salted meats, but he didn't want to deal with Justin's tossing and turning.
Justin rolled over to look at Josh, crumpling up the blanket beneath him, "Calm down. I just have to go."
"Then go!"
"I don't want to do it in the rain."
Josh considered it for a little bit. "Okay, number 1 or number 2?" He wouldn't want to squat down in the mud either.
"Number 1."
"Then get you ass out there already!" Joshua nearly hit him the book.
"Okay, okay!" Justin hurriedly put on his sneakers without tying them and traipsed out of the tent in only a wife beater and khakis, only giving a cursory wave to Sane on the way out.
Once Justin had ducked out of sight behind the tent, Sane yelled into the tent, "Where's he off to?"
"Number 1." Joshua's voice said from behind the tent's front flaps.
"Looked pretty urgent."
"Listen, I'm not getting anything with this," Josh said as he got up and began to step out of the tent with book in hand, "it's all worn away."
"I can still make out some select pages, mostly on wildlife. Nothing on.." Sane looked up and realized that they had both taken off their shirts because of the humidity. They nervously regarded each other for a second: guiltily memorizing the curve of each others chest and silently watching droplets of sweat roll down over nipples, down stomachs, along treasure trails, toward their..
"*Cough. * Nothing on a way to back to civilization though." Sane finished, trying to retain his dignity.
Josh followed suit, "Yeah, assuming we could back to civilization. Have you seen the equipment this guy had? I mean, who needs so many weapons like maces and swords and shit? Half of them look really used, and I didn't even know they made huge ass swords like that!"
"They're called Claymores." Sane said.
"Whatever. The point is he had to have it for a reason and they show wear and tear."
Sane said gravely, "I know what you're thinking: `What if whatever he was fighting with these weapons got the better of him? And what if it comes for us?'"
Josh just nodded. "And I suppose you don't want to talk about the fact that everything looks like it came from King Arthur's fucking Court but also looks brand new."
"Actually, it gets more confusing. I don't recognize half the animals mentioned in this book. Maybe this guy was schizo or something, but he's talking about stuff like Hedgehog Pies and Chocobos."
"What?" Josh said as he hurriedly sat next to Sane.
Pointing to several illustrations, Sane explained further: "See, he calls this a Hedgehog Pie." Sane's index landed a short fat pudgy pink and red thing that stood upright with spikes on it's back and beady little eyes. "They're only suppose to be a foot tall, but these," Sane pointed to what looked like a bright yellow canary with an elongated neck, much thicker legs, larger tail feathers and a wide parrot like beak, "are bigger than ostriches."
"They're the Chocobos?"
"Yeah, according to this guy, they're to be ridden like horses and their cries sound like `Kweh.'" Sane duly noted Joshua's confused expression. "And, also, according to this guy, the cute canary ostrich is potentially way more dangerous than small, short and spiky. In fact, that seems to be the general trend with all the wildlife here."
"What do you mean?"
Sane turned the book over to Josh so he could get a good look at it, "Here, take this thing for example."
Joshua looked down to what appeared a squinty eyed white koala bear with the body proportions of a teddy bear, relatively small bat wings, and a small antennae with a pom-pom at the end. "What?" he thought. Looked closer. "Yeah, it`s a pom-pom. And incredibly cute too."
"The book says these creatures are only three feet tall, highly intelligent, known for tool-making and complex social structures. They practically set up villages and anyone who visits them are said never to return."
Joshua found all of this a little hard to swallow. "You serious? I don't know. What are they called?"
"Moogles. And they speak to one another with a call that sounds like `Kupo.' The point is, the general trend around here is the cuter something is, the more it can kick our asses"
"Sane, you can't honestly believe all this."
"I know it makes no sense, but I've got a gut feeling we should pay attention to what little we can learn from these books."
Josh just sighed, and then he paused for a second. "Is it just me, or is Justin taking a long time?"
Behind the tent
Justin leaned down toward it with a smile, "Aahhhh. Aren't you the cutest thing I've ever seen."
"Kupo, Kupo," it said back.
Author's Notes: So there you go. In case you don't know, they are now officially in the video game world of Final Fantasy. Anyway, this concept it a little farfetched, so please give me some sign whether or not I should keep at this. Anyway, Read and Reply to kyosuke@planetout.com, kyosuke@gaywired.com or psuban1@uic.edu. And no, my name is not kyosuke!