THE RED FIST
THE SECOND BOOK IN THE FINAL FANTASY VII SERIES
by Frank Verderosa
Stop thief!
"I've been expecting you" The Old Man
Trouble in Wutai
"Thanks for the concern" Cloud Strife
Men (and a woman) in Blue
"Can this thing fly in a straight line?" Aeris Gainsbourough
One Big Happy Family
"I know a lot of unpleasent things about you, but I never realized before
that you were such a wuss" Elena
Winter Wonderland
"Goddam stupidest form of transportation I've ever seen" Barret Wallace
Eating with the Enemy
"Great minds are never appreciated in their time" Reno
Acky Breaky Heart
"You asked me not to hurt him. I didn't listen." Tifa Lockheart
Baby It's Cold Outside
"You call this rescuing me?" Yuffie Kisaraghi
Finally, Some Action!
"Corret me if I'm wrong, but isn't that an incredibly foolish thing to
do?"Vincent Valentine
CHAPTER I
STOP THEIF!
The light in the corridor was dim. There were torches placed periodically
along the walls, but they were few and far between. They cast pale shadows
on the rough stone walls that rose up into the darkness of the fortress,
their light diminished by the immensity of the stucture around them.
Two men walked slowly down the corridor. They were dressed all in black
except for a red insignia on the left breast of their shirts. They talked
in hushed tones as they passed down the hallway, almost as if they were
intimidated by the cold walls that surrounded them.
They paused for a moment in the middle of the corrider as one of them lit
a cigarette. As they moved on a little bit of rock dust drifted to the
ground behind them.
Clinging just below the ceiling on the wall directly above where the two
men had been standing the young ninja breathed a sigh of relief as the
two men disappeared down the hallway. Much as she would have been amused
to see the look on their faces if she had dropped on top of them, it was
unlikely she could have taken them both out before they raised an alarm.
She slid silently down the wall. She stopped when she reached the bottem
and looked around quickly, more out of habit than caution. She knew the
next patrol would not come through for another ten minutes.
Smiling to herself, she quickly passed down the corrider. So far, things
had been absurdly easy. At the end of the corridor she turned left and
entered a narrow room, dimly lit like everywhere else. On the floor was
a brightly painted murel of a large red dragon.
She walked slowly across the room, being careful not to step on any portion
of the floor that was painted red. On the other side was a locked metal
door. She crouched down beside it for a few minutes.
There was a soft click, and then the young ninja stood up and swung the
door open. With one more glance around she stepped inside.
The room was circular, and even darker than the others. A flickering glow
dimly lit the room, but it was not the glow of torchlight. In the center
of the room stood a narrow pedistal. On top of it was placed what looked
like a materia orb.
The ninja could not help but stare in wonder at it for a moment. She had
never seen anything like it. It was huge, much larger than any materia
she had seen before, almost the size of an ostrich egg. But the thing that
really captivated her was the color. Normal materia glowed faintly with
a certain color depending on what type of materia it was, but this sparkled
with multicolored lights. Red, blue, green and yellow all flashed and flickered
within it.
She slowly walked over to it, unable to turn her gaze away. The colors
whirled around inside it. One growing brighter than the rest, then fading
away, to be replaced by another color. It was the most beautiful thing
she had ever seen.
"I've been expecting you."
She jerked her head up to see a figure standing in the darkness nearby.
Instinctively she flung her shuriken at point blank range.
Almost too fast to see the man stepped to the side, then almost casually
reached out his hand, and suddenly he was holding her shuriken.
Her eyes widened in spite of herself and she took a step back.
"I'm afraid you'll have to do a little better than that," he said calmly.
He tossed her shuriken aside and stepped toward her. He was an older man,
with white hair and a short beard, and he wore the same black uniform she
had seen on the other men in the corrider. On the left breast was the insignia
of a red fist.
The young ninja lauched a kick at the man's knee, but faster than she could
follow he reached down and intercepted her leg. He twisted it round and
she felt searing pain run up her leg. With a cry she fell to the floor.
The man let go of her leg and stepped up beside her. She turned to look
at him just in time to see him stoop down and bring his fist forward. Then
all was blackness...