Chapter 10: The EON seed

Memoria had simply vanished into thin air after Cloud collapsed. She told the AVALANCHE team that she was expecting them before she left and will see them again. After much debating and confusion, they got back into the truck after Reeve yelled at them. The truck drove off into the distance, night quickly approaching. AVALANCHE was stumped. They remained in silence for a couple of hours. Tifa tended to the fainted Cloud as the hours rolled by.

"…Hey Vinny. What time is it?" Yuffie asked.

"I am not Vinny. I am Vincent. VINCENT. And if you must know it’s about 11:30."

"I can’t wait to get home and be back with Shera. This all makes no sense." Cid mumbled.

"Dis is confusin. When we were against Sephiroth, they waz never any disappearing girls." Barret said.

"We’re here." A truck driver said.

"All right. Lets get this over with and go home." Cait Sith said.

"….Tifa?" Cloud sleepily woke up.

"Cloud! You’re awake!" Tifa smiled.

"Good. Now spiky ass can come with us." Cid said as he stepped out of the lit truck into the darkness.

Cloud got up. "…We’re at the dam?"

"Yup." Cait said as he hopped out after Cid.

"All right. Lets get this over with." Cloud jumped out after Cait Sith and Tifa followed.

** *

DING! The elevator shaft opened and AVALANCHE walked out. They were on the 30th floor of the dam. It was a dark room that had a door on the other side. Vincent flipped the light switch. A loud humming came up with it as well and the whole room started vibrating. Red XIII ran over to the opposite door and looked through the window to see this room was moving through a tunnel.

"Hey guys! It seems that this room is actually a transportation device. We’re moving through a tunnel." Red XIII said.

"Of coarse. This tunnel goes underneath a mountain range to the other side of the dam. They pump water through huge pipes through these tunnels. Midgar isn’t right next to the sea, ya know." Cait Sith said, trying to be smart.

"…right. So I guess the only thing we can do is wait." Tifa said.

"Well, I’m not sitting. I’ve been sitting for hours in that spoony truck!" Yuffie said.

"Me too." Barret replied.

"My legs can’t sit any more. My ass is gonna fall off if I sit anywhere." Cid said.

Most of AVALANCHE stood up, looking through the small doorway window as the room slid through the tunnel. Cait Sith started playing Triple Triad with Barret. The room suddenly stopped.

"What’s happening?" Vincent asked.

"The thing just stopped!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Well, I can see that much…" Vincent mumbled.

"We’re at a docking station." Red said. The door slid open as AVALANCHE filed out. IT was a huge underground subway station! Or at least looked like one. The roof loomed high above and catwalks circled the room like spider webs. Train tracks, for the rooms, lined the ground. Water dripped out of leaky pipes from far above.

"There it is! The sub!" Cloud called out. AVALANCHE turned around to see their submarine lodged on some tracks, with one operator standing by.

"Captain!" he operator called out. Cid walked up to him.

"Good job man. Let’s move out." Cid climbed up the submarine side. The rest followed pursuit. The operator pulled a lever and the sub started sliding down an incline into a pool of water deep below the sub station.

"This is one of the pipes. It leads to the Inner Sea. Just go forward!" Cait Sith told Cid.

Cid bit his cigarette. "All right numbskulls. Hold on to your drawers and don’t piss in em!" Cid pulled the "Full-Speed" lever down and cranked a few other levers. The rest of AVALANCHE prepared for their assault on the meteorite.

The submarine flew through the pipes, going at way past safety speeds. The water, of coarse, was pitch black, but Cid had the headlights on and sonar. The team and cargo flew from one side to another as Cid pulled off 90-degree turns down the pipeline. Sonar indicated a big passage up ahead, the end of the pipeline. Cid slowed down as the sub propelled itself out of the pipelines and into the sea.

"We got here under 20 %^&ing minutes. If you numbskulls were driving, we would have taken an hour!" Cid beamed. A happy expression appeared on his face. The rest of AVALANCHE rubbed their heads and bruises. Cargo was all over the place.

"Meteorite coming up!" Tifa said as she examined a sonar screen.

** *

The submarine had docked inside the meteor. There was a large cave, which had water and air in it, but also tunnels branching out. AVALANCHE had left the sub their and descended through the dry tunnels. The air was foreign and the sights and smells bizarre. They appeared in a large room. A room that seemed to go up and up, forever. Hieroglyphics were all over the walls. A mysterious blue light fell from the roof, which couldn’t be seen. Two large statues guarded the entrance to smaller room. The statues were also sick and bizarre. Part biological and part mechanical, they were large humanoids that stretched as far as they eye could see.

{Cloud.}

Cloud glanced over his shoulder. "Did anyone say anything?"

"No…" The rest replied.

{I am only talking to you. Your companions cannot hear me.}

"What do you want?"

{Step between the statues and enter the tomb…}

"Why?"

{You will find out.}

Cloud stepped out of the group and ventured into the room, leaving the rest of AVALANCHE confused. He walked into the small room. It had the same blue tint and hieroglyphics did line the walls. But in the middle of the room was a strange item. It was about 9 feet tall and looked mechanical. Its head was round and a spike protruded straight upward from the top. It had one red eye. From the sides of it’s head were antler looking limbs. The rest of its body looked like a mechanical dress, and two stubby pillars protruded from underneath.

{Life exists to die. First there is anxiety. Anxiety leads to fear, fear leads to anger, anger leads to suffering… It is my purpose to return this world to zero world, where there is no life or crystal to start life. This is what all life yearns for…}

"What the hell does that mean?!"

{Cloud. It is my purpose to bring life to what it wants. You want to see Aeris again?}

"Aeris?! How do you know about her?!"

{I know lots of things about you, Cloud. More things than you can possibly imagine.}

"…"

{You yearn to see her. You ache to be with your love. Do you not?}

"Yes. I want to be with her so badly…"

{Then press the crystal embedded on this seed.}

"What?"

{Press the crystal on this seed, and you will see your love again.}

"This can’t be true! You’re lying!"

{Why would I lie? It is my purpose to give life what it yearns for.}

Cloud looked down at his boots. "…Aeris…"

Cloud looked up again at the weird "seed". Hesitantly, he walked towards it and placed both his hands slowly on the small red crystal embedded on the mechanical dress. A flash of light occurred and the rest of AVALANCHE was blown to their feet. They stood up to realize that the entrance to where Cloud was closed. Light emanated all around Cloud. He began to feel weak. The eye began to glow. A silhouette of a humanoid creature began to form near the "seed." The silhouette materialized into a weird being. It was tall, about 6 feet. A helmet that rose straight up, like that of a pope and a jaw guard covered its face. Two white eyes glowed cruelly from the blackness that surrounded them. The red eye that was on the "seed" was on the helmet. Wiry hair fell from underneath the helmet over the large neck guard and shoulder pads. A large metallic breastplate, lined with spikes covered its chest, but it’s stomach showed. It had a thin but muscular stomach, and metallic legs and waist appeared below the pale white stomach. The legs ended in strong metallic boots. Its arms were also metallic, each hand having a sword attached to the wrist. On it’s back were four large black feathery wings, like those of a crow. The creature stood up.

Cloud fell over. All his strength had been drained. The entrance opened up again. The "seed" opened its pillar like legs to produce root like tentacles. The thin tentacles burrowed through the floor, going deeper and deeper till it went inside the earth. The creature walked towards Cloud.

"All life wants is death, but death comes through evolution. The stronger species wipes out the weaker ones. The EON seed has already sprouted roots and will soon evolve. I am the pinnacle of evolution, through technology, magic, and flesh I am spawned. I am Judgement. EON will soon evolve and bring death to your worthless world."