Note: Just so you all know, this is the last chapter of Book 2,
"The Adventures of Nathan Strife and Ramza Bouregaurd." Chapter 17 will
kick off the next book, "The Rising Tide of Angus Murdoc." And now, on
with the fic!

 Ramza had gone to see Nate every day after he recovered from the coma. He was getting better every day that passed. After the forty days were up, Ramza went to have a cesarean section to have that god damned Pierce's baby. She was in the hospital for the whole day. Elena, Reno, and Nate came to see her. She was released the next day, with the baby.

 "One, he's not my kid! And I can't take care of him! I'm only seven years old!" Ramza protested. The baby was asleep in the crib
Ramza had slept in when she was a baby, and it snored loudly.

 "Fine then. We'll put him up for adoption." Elena agreed on both points. It wasn't Ramza's fault that she had a kid, nor could she take care of it. So Ramza and Elena went to the adoption center, filled out all the paperwork, and Ramza said goodbye to her baby, which she named, "Delita," before she left. She returned with Elena to their house, and Kitty greeted them warmly. Ramza kneeled down to pet Kitty, and she followed them around the house, begging for treats and the occasional catnip toy.

 "Hi Kitty! Are you being a good girl?" Kitty jumped up, and onto Ramza's shirt, and crawled up to her shoulders, where she perched and sat. "Her claws need clipping," Ramza thought. Kitty's tail was wagging and it got into Ramza's face. She picked Kitty up and set her on the ground. Ramza went into the living room to watch a broadcast Pink Floyd concert. She turned on the external speakers and the amp, and the room was filled with glorious Dolby AC3 digital surround sound. Suddenly, the phone rang.

 "Ramza, turn that down." Ramza turned the amp off, leaving the TV speakers on, which were much quieter. Elena picked up the phone.

 "Hello? Yes, this is she. Uh huh. Uh huh. What?? That's great!! We'll be there!" Elena was very happy at what the other party had to say. "Ramza, they found a way! They found a way to make you a kid again!" Ramza was overjoyed to hear this. Elena and her immediately went outside to find the Highwind perched at the town limits. Elena drove there as quickly as possible.

 "Hey babes!" Reno walked out, and gave Elena a kiss on the lips. Hidden, Ramza did that thing where you point your finger to your mouth and cough, as if you're throwing up. Reno turned, and went towards Ramza. "And how's my little girl?"

 "Dad, remember? I'm not so little anymore." He backed up, and remembered that Ramza was about three inches shorter than he was. He gave a laugh with that one.

 "Come on the Highwind." Ramza and Elena followed Reno on to the Highwind. The whole group was there. Cloud stepped out.

 "Hi Ramza. We did it. We found the way to return yourself to... yourself." Cloud brought them to the ready room. On the table was
several hypodermic needles, test tubes, and cups. The test tubes were filled with some sort of red liquid. "Drink this. We found that it has worked on several of the kids, and they are themselves again, no longer mindless and old." Ramza took the test tube of the red liquid, shrugged, and drank it. A few minutes passed.

 "I don't FEEL any different. I don't look any different." Cloud banged his fist on the table.

 "Did the same goddamn thing with Nate, too. Leave it to not work on you two. Kefka did something else to you, I guess." Soon, they tried the red liquid on all the children; they all reverted to being what they were. Young. Ramza and Nate were still old.

 "Oh well. I don't feel like being short again anyway." They turned around to find Nate. The Highwind stopped at all the towns and returned the children back to their homes. Now the Highwind contained the group, now including Nate and Ramza, and the crew.

 "You know, nothing ridiculously bad has happened for a while. I have a hunch that some maniacal genius is going to take over the world again." Tifa said, and Cloud shuddered.

 "Don't remind me."

= Somewhere Around Fort Condor =

 Angus Murdoc wasn't just any person. He was Rufus Shinra's half brother. But he was forgotten when President Shinra married, not just had an affair, with the woman who bore Rufus. He had just gotten a letter that his brother had died. Of course, the rest of the world knew that 8 years ago. Angus was mad. Very mad.

 "I WILL AVENGE MY BROTHER'S DEATH! Those who killed him will pay!" Angus was about 5'11" in height, with green eyes, and flowing brown hair. His goatee stuck to a fine point, and he was evil looking. He started planning a scheme that would make the heads of Avalanche spin on end. His laugh echoed through his cabin.

 "Oh great. The LAST thing we need is another madman trying to take over the world. We already had to deal with Kefka's madness. Who could be worse than him?"

 "Well, we have Sephiroth, evil oil magnates, energy business conglomerates, Evil omnipotent beings from millennia past..." Vincent
started saying, but Cloud cut him off.

 "You weren't supposed to answer that question! I was being sarcastic."  Vincent rolled his eyes at that remark.

 "Remind me to never allow me to make jokes with you again, Cloud." After that, Cid came out.

 "Hey! I made some lunch! Grilled Spam with eggs and tomato!" Everyone glared at Cid, who had a plate of assorted goodies, namely grilled Spam, Egg, and tomato. They all groaned. "Fine then. I'll make something else." Cid exited and returned to the newly installed galley, which was added in an old storage room. He returned there and started making something else.

 "Really, would someone seriously attempt to take over the world again?" Ramza said.

 "Maybe not, but they might try something else. As of right now, I'll believe what I see," Vincent said. The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

 "So will I. Too much has happened the past few months." Tifa agreed. What sort of madman would attempt to take over the world?
Only a really stupid one. And, they have learned time after time,
stupidity helps.

 "Let's see... that infernal airship is going to land at that town.. when that girl walks off, BOOM! HA, HA, HA!!" Murdoc's eyes
began to twitch involuntarily. He watched the group get off... a man with blonde hair, someone who looked like him, except with black hair, a woman with flowing brown hair, a tall woman with long blonde hair, followed by a shorter woman with trim cut blonde hair, a woman with black hair in a headcut, and a headband, followed by a dark skinned man with a gun for a hand. "THERE SHE IS!" He pressed a button on a cellular phone.

 "Oh gawd! What's that beeping noise?" Before Yuffie knew it, a ball of fire ensued under her and she blew into gore and several chunks of flesh. Blood spilled everywhere.

 "Oh, gross!" It got all over Elena and Ramza, and Barret got his share of it as well.

 "Oh my god! They've killed Yuffie!" Nate shouted. As of this moment, no more materia would be stolen from the group.

 "WOW!! I am a GENIUS!!" Angus Murdoc jumped up and down with glee. "Now to eliminate the rest of them!" He went to press another button on the cellular phone. He pressed it, but nothing happened. "What's this? Why didn't that work?" A few seconds later, after the group had moved out of the vicinity, the other bomb blew up. "OOOH!! I'll GET THEM MYSELF!" Murdoc picked up all of his necessary devices, and left his cabin, to find Avalanche, and avenge his brother's death.

 "That was messed up!" Ramza and Elena got cleaned up. Those clothes would not be wearable anymore.

 "Yeah. Watch your backs. Some madman is after us. We don't know what he can do, or what he can't." Cloud said. "We'll meet up with him eventually. We always meet up with the bad guys. Eventually." That made a cold shiver run down their spines.

Author's Notes

Yes, it's me again! Well, it seems that Nate and Ramza will always be like that. Yes, I did swipe the name Delita from FF tactics. It made sense. And, the name Angus Murdoc is from MacGyver. Angus is MacGyver's first name, and Murdoc is the assassin he tracks every now and then. A combination of the two should prove interesting. And a dramatic close to Book 2 of Tasteless Revenge!

Kefka