The President of the dominating Shin-Ra Company glared disapprovingly at the prisoners before him. Cloud, Barret, Tifa, and Red stood, or crouched in Red’s case, facing the massive desk with the short man behind it.
“Where’s Aeris…?” the blonde one piped up when he saw no sign of her.
“In a safe place,” General Heidegger answered for Shinra.
“We’ll take good care of her, as well as you,” Tseng said with a smirk. The leader of the Turks and his henchman Rude, Reno’s partner, stood on either side of reigning Heidegger, who had positioned himself behind the prisoners in case they tried to run. If they chose to, a bullet would be in their skulls instantly, courtesy of Tseng’s automatic machine pistol.
“Greetings, AVALANCHE!” said an energetic President Shinra, “Nice to see you and all that jazz.” He frowned at Cloud, Barret, and Tifa. “I’m surprised at you three troublemakers. First you bomb two of my reactors, then kill Airbuster, hammer young Reno, then interfere with the fate of the planet?”
“Damn right!” Barret boomed, startling the Turks and putting them on edge, “We plan on interfering with your future, too, ya fat geezer!”
Shinra took no heed of the insults. “And you, Red XIII? Why did you leave your cage?” That invoked a growl.
“You bastard,” Tifa breathed, “Your reactors are killing this planet. Airbuster was a hunk of junk assassin. Reno is responsible for the deaths of thousands! I hope he spontaneously combusts!”
“Watch it,” Rude barked.
“Oh yes, Turks do stick up for each other, don’t they? All buddy-buddy with each other!” Barret was speaking in a low, threatening tone.
Tseng let out a low growl and tightened his grip on his weapon. Heidegger cleared his throat, a signal for Shinra to hurry it up.
“Hrm,” the stout man acknowledged his adviser, “I believe it is about time to conclude this session.” He scanned his audience. AVALANCHE was a sad group now, in the shadow of defeat. Finally, the most dangerous rebels to date would be put to rest. But not yet. It had been a long day. “We’ll do something with you tomorrow. It’s too late at night to think any.” He turned to Heidegger, Rude, and Tseng. “Heidegger, take your Turks and their prisoners to their cells.”
“Hold on, you pig!” Barret roared, struggling against the chains that bound his arms together behind his back, “I got things I want to say to you!” He could do no more, as Rude came upon him, using his strength to restrain Barret from movement towards the President.
“That is all,” Shinra repeated as Rude dragged Barret off after his comrades, “If you have anything else to say, talk to my secretary.” With that, President Shinra returned to his work.
It was dark and cold, but not damp, Cloud thought numbly and without feeling. All emotion seemed to have been drained from him after their capture. They had done so well on the way up, even though it had been easy. Too good to be true, of course. Who had alerted the Turks? Was it Domino? The Midgar Mayor who had acted like a friend? Hart? Or maybe Hojo after he escaped?
Cloud sat in the corner of the rectangular cell, having offered the “bed” to Tifa, his cellmate who was now fumbling clumsily with a Potion, trying to treat the stinging cuts on her abdomen.
“Argh,” she conceded, frustrated.
“Here,” Cloud strode over and poured the Potion carefully. It landed on her stomach rather than the floor, where Tifa’s efforts lay. “There, see?” he said, monotonous as ever as he rubbed in the solution a little, “Magic.”
“Thanks…” Tifa sighed, leaning back against the wall.
“Pissed off?” Cloud asked as he took a seat on the floor, also leaning against the wall.
“Pissed off, frustrated, depressed, it goes on,” Tifa replied, “But not scared, for some reason. Guess it just hasn’t hit yet that we’re screwed.” She smiled, wryly. “You, too?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I don’t really want to believe it. It seems like I’ve pulled through tighter spaces than this, and yet, I’m screwed here instead of there. And at the hands of my old employers, at that.”
“Why did you quit, anyway?” She’d never asked that question before.
Cloud frowned, his mind a blur. Why had he quit, again? “Something…about morals, I think…”
An unseen flash of light blinded Cloud, and the blurs in his mind seemed to fabricate into a logical reason. Yes…that had been it, right? It had to be.
“Morals…?” Tifa frowned, unimpressed. She quickly became a bit nervous. The look in Cloud’s eyes was distant, and the young mercenary was shivering…but it wasn’t that cold, was it? She realized with a bit of embarrassment that she was wearing much less than Cloud was, and she wasn’t cold. “Cloud…never mind, it’s okay. Are you? Okay, I mean?”
A similar flash went off inside Cloud’s head, and the confused one leaned back slowly, so as not to startle Tifa any further. The blurs returned, and soon Cloud found himself thinking about Aeris.
“I’m fine…it’s Aeris I’m worried about.”
“Hmm?” a muffled voice came from behind the thin wall, “Cloud…?”
Cloud blinked. There were three cells in this block adjoining each other. Had Heidegger placed Aeris right next to them? What kind of amateur, stupid…
“Aeris…?” Cloud replied slowly, feeling a bit stupid for talking to a wall.
“Hrm,” she said, “Guess it is you…I just woke up, thought I heard someone…”
Tifa frowned at Shin-Ra’s intelligence. What had Heidegger been smoking? AVALANCHE was a group of effective terrorists. Sticking them next to the Shinra’s pride and joy was, well…a dumb move.
“Are you all right?” Cloud asked.
“Yeah,” Aeris answered slowly. “I think.”
“Your bodyguard screwed up again,” Cloud laughed softly.
“Nah,” Aeris shook her head though he couldn’t see it. Then, a bit mischievously, “The deal was for one date, right?”
“AHEM,” Tifa spoke up.
“Oh…! Tifa?” Aeris squeaked, “Ah, sorry, I…didn’t know you were there!”
“Riiight,” Tifa replied slowly and walked over to the wall so she could hear better. “Aeris, tell me something. What exactly is so special about the Ancients?”
“Uh,” Aeris didn’t sound too sure of herself, “We can trace our roots back to the Planet’s first inhabitants…but big deal for the Shinra. They want us because the Ancients had several different talents regarding the Planet itself.” She was getting in to her explanation now, and began to speak as if reciting some script that had been drafted by sacred hands. “The Ancients and the Planet were one. They spoke to each other, even. The Ancients, or Cetra, as they called themselves, were nomadic. They went from place to place, living strictly off the land. They never hurt the Planet, and in turn the Planet provided them with what they needed to survive. And at the end of the Cetra’s long, hard journey, they would find themselves in a land of supreme happiness, dubbed the Promised Land.” She paused. “That’s what President Shinra wants.”
“Of course,” Tifa nodded, taking in the information, “The Promised Land is bound to be full of the Planet’s energy…or…”
“Mako Energy,” Cloud sighed, “And the President wants to build another Midgar there.”
“I’ll die before I let him do it,” Aeris stated flatly, “I’m not positive such land exists, but…if it does, the Shinra cannot…will not…pollute it.”
“You said…” Tifa asked, “That the Ancients…uh, the Cetra, could speak with the Planet.”
“Yes,” Aeris replied, “The souls in the Lifestream can communicate with them directly, as well as the Planet itself.”
“Lifestream…?” Tifa asked.
Aeris shrugged to herself. “I wouldn’t know. In layman’s terms, I can speak with a few dead people.”
“Woo…” Cloud shivered, “Sounds like fun.”
“What is the Planet saying now?” Tifa again.
Aeris laughed softly. “It’s full of people and noisy. I can’t make anything out anymore.”
They were quiet for a while. Then Cloud announced that he was going to sleep. The other two agreed and soon their cells were quiet.
A cell over, Barret stared quietly at the floor, sitting on the small bed. Red didn’t seem to mind sleeping on the ground. To be blunt, Barret was dead to the world. His mission was a failure; his life was over. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, who had died for the Planet, would not be avenged. He’d gotten Tifa, a friendly girl he’d met one day in a Wall Market pub, into a lot of trouble, and her friend Cloud was probably kicking himself for joining up with AVALANCHE. It was funny. At the start, Barret had hated Cloud. The blonde kid had shown up on Tifa’s urging, his sapphire armor shining, his great sword strapped to his back, and no emotion on his face. He hadn’t said a word to any of them, taking a seat next to Biggs and listening intently to the mission orders and objectives. Whenever someone tried to make conversation with him, he’d just glanced up, and nothing more. In short, he was a cocky son of a bitch, and Barret hated those people. Cloud had cared nothing for the Planet, he’d only cared to fill his own pocket with gold, just like the Shinra.
Just like the Shinra… Barret let out a sigh. Cloud was not like the Shinra. In fact, Cloud seemed to despise his former employers, but Barret had no idea why. It was in his eyes every time he saw President Shinra, a curious look of hatred that anyone else might have taken as just a stare, but Barret had seen it. Cloud did not hate President Shinra for the same reasons Barret did. The Shin-Ra molesting of the Planet did not bother Cloud as much as something else did, and that something made him want to obliterate the Shinra more than Barret ever had. He’s had a hellish past… Barret realized.
“Grandpa…” Red’s voice startled Barret, and the big man turned to look at the creature, who had been lost in thought all this time. Red was flinching as though embarrassed at letting the words escape his lips.
“Grandpa?” Barret rolled the word on his tongue and started laughing.
“What’s so funny…?” Red asked, no longer embarrassed.
“Oh, oh it’s nothing!” Barret shook his head, though still snickered a bit. “It’s just…well, that ranked pretty high on the list of words I never ‘spected to hear at this point in time.”
“Hmm…” Red purred curiously, as if summing Barret up. “I was just thinking about him. That’s all.”
“S’ok with me, pal. Where is he now?”
“Living,” Red replied quietly, and tried to drop the subject. He didn’t quite trust these people yet, though he certainly wanted too. To Red’s annoyance, however, Barret wasn’t so eager to shut up.
“Ya know,” Barret said after a few minutes of silence, “That was an attempt at making conversation. I don’t know about you, but the rest of us people aren’t too fond of the sound of silence.”
Red sighed, and then tilted his head towards Barret, blowing the fiery, billowing hair of his mane out of his eyes. “He lives in an ecological preserve on the other continent. The place is called Cosmo Canyon.”
“Cosmo Canyon?” Barret smiled slightly, “Oh, yes…I’ve heard of Cosmo Canyon.”
“I thought you might,” Red nodded, “It’s where AVALANCHE was born…”
“How’d ya wind up so far away from each other?”
Red smiled sadly. “I’m one of few remaining members of my race. We have incredible longevity, which is why they wanted to mate me with Aeris. A filthy idea, I think. They brought me here as a test subject for some odd virus, but it didn’t seem to have much effect on me.” He flicked his tail, and for the first time Barret noticed that the fur on the end was so bright in color that it seemed to be…burning? “Except this.”
“Wow…” Barret breathed, “You got yourself a fire whip.”
“Bah, a small compensation!” Red breathed deeply, angry with himself for dredging up so much of his past for this stranger, and angry with the stranger for making him do so. But he calmed down quickly, and decided to try and shift the discussion from himself. “What about you? Family, friends…life?”
“Hrm. Got a daughter named Marlene. She’s about 9, I guess. Everyone else is dead and gone.” Even as he said it, anger boiled within him. He must have shown it somehow, because Red raised an eyebrow and spoke the cursed name.
“Shinra?”
Barret nodded, but would say no more. The memories were coming back, those killing memories of sorrow and pain…all caused by the Shinra bastards.
“It’s getting late.” Red was a bit ashamed of awakening these feelings with AVALANCHE’s commander. It was probably best to just go to sleep.
“Yeah,” Barret nodded again and leaned back against the wall. His last sleep? Would he die the next day?
Hell. Whatever happens happens. I tried, and that should count for something, somewhere.
Do you remember?
What? Remember what?
Him. The one winged angel of death…?
How…could I forget?
It is time.
Time? For what?
Time has come.
What?! Who are you?
Me? Who are YOU?
I’m Cloud!
Cloud…?
Yes! Who speaks?
I know no Cloud…
Then why do you speak to me?
The time has come.
For what? Answer me!
The time is now!
What the HELL?
Get up! See for yourself!
Who ARE you people?
Cloud’s eyes flew open, the words of the unknown demons still ringing in his ears. What was going on? He looked around. Something had to be up. He’d been told to rise and see…see what?
There it was. Cloud bristled. The door to his cell was wide open.
“Tifa!” he hissed sharply, shaking her awake.
“Wha…what? What?” she asked, confused and groggy.
“Look!” Cloud pointed to the door, “And keep your voice down!”
“Migod…” she breathed, getting up and off the bed. She peeked her head slowly out the door and to the left. “Oh…Cloud! Look at that!”
Cloud did so. The guard who had been watching over their cells was lying in the corner, weapon at his side. In his chest, there was a bloody hole that went straight through him.
“I’ll get the keys!” Tifa declared, running for the guard’s body. Cloud followed, looking curiously at the dead man and his fatal wound.
“No bullets did this,” Cloud said grimly, “This man was impaled, and by something fairly large.”
Tifa turned her head down the hall, where the doors to the prison area had also been swung wide open. She looked to floor and shivered. “Look.”
Cloud beheld a trail of blood leading around the corner. “Sweet Lord…” He looked back to Tifa. “Open Aeris’s cell!”
Tifa nodded and inserted the key. To Cloud’s relief, the flower girl was still sleeping peacefully, totally unharmed.
“Here,” he took the keys, “I’ll wake Barret and Red. I don’t know what happened, but…”
“This is our chance to escape,” Tifa finished for him, then went to wake Aeris.
Cloud darted down the hall and opened the door. Red sprang to his feet at the sudden intrusion, spinning towards the door and growling, but stopped when he saw Cloud.
“Wild thing, eh?” Cloud said without emotion.
“Just a light sleeper,” the beast responded.
“Barret!” Cloud barked in his ear, “Wake up!”
“Huh?” Barret flailed a bit before he focused on Cloud. “The hell! How’d you get in here?”
“Take a look outside…” Cloud answered. Barret shakily to his feet and walked out of the cell.
“Whoa…” he gasped, “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Cloud answered, “But there’s a trail of blood leading out of here.”
“Hrm,” Barret pondered, casting a look at a battle hungry Red, “Les’ follow it!” They ran to the end of the hall. “Yo! I think they cancel off all elevators at night, but Pappy Shinra probably has his own personal elevator working. We’ll head up there and clear away everything ugly. Bring up the rear!”
“I hear ya,” Cloud nodded. Barret and Red took off as Tifa and Aeris exited her cell.
“Cloud?” Aeris frowned, “Where are they going?”
“We’re all going,” Cloud answered, “Up to the top.”
They had no Materia with them, but they had their weapons. Cloud removed them from the cell he’d watched the dead guard store them in. After everyone was armed and ready, Cloud, Aeris, and Tifa started following the bloody road. Cloud cast nervous glances all about him. He never saw any signs of a threat, or if he did, they were full of Barret’s bullets. What else he saw was troubling.
Dead bodies were everywhere. Anyone who had been working on computers or desks or whatever they did to make a living now had their guts splattered around the room they’d been killed in. Each and every one had what Cloud identified as sword wounds. He ought to know, he thought, thinking of his own giant sword.
“Y…YOU!” a wild voice boomed. The three escapees spun to the right. Before them were two fair sized men, each outfitted in shining blue armor with silver epaulets, while carrying long lance swords.
“Did you do this?” one growled, sword ready.
“SOLDIERS…” Cloud hissed quietly.
“Oh no…” Tifa felt sick.
“They…they’re 3rd Class,” Cloud realized, “We can beat them!”
“AVALANCHE!” the other one screamed, “I don’t care if you did this or not! I’m gonna kill you just for FUN!” He charged, lance held outward to impale Cloud, who stepped aside and swept his enemy’s legs out from under him. The SOLDIER grumbled a curse and tried to get to his feet, but Cloud stomped down on his face, turning the lights out.
“Argh!” Tifa groaned, dodging her furious attacker. The other SOLDIER was hacking away mercilessly, and it was very hard for Tifa to dodge, much less get an attack in. The SOLDIER suddenly changed tactics, lowering his sword but just as quickly lancing a punch into Tifa’s ribcage, flooring her. Cloud’s sword was upon him before he could attack again.
The SOLDIER cursed and raised his sword to defend against a second blow. He stepped back, trying to put some distance between Cloud and himself, but wound up backing into Aeris’s staff, which lanced forward into his back. The SOLDIER fell forward, and the broad end of Cloud’s sword connected with his head. He fell to the ground like a sack of rocks.
“That was it?” Aeris frowned, “That was the SOLDIER threat?”
“Hey,” Cloud smirked, “I was 1st Class, darlin’. And they aren’t people you mock.
“Yeah, well,” Tifa had pulled herself together, “Who cares as long as these two sucked. Let’s get moving!”
Minutes later, the crowd found themselves on the floor below Hojo’s lab. Cloud felt a feeling of unease as the bloody trail led them towards the silver Jenova tank. Seconds later, he knew why.
“That’s bad…right?” Tifa asked, motioning to what remained of the tank. It was twisted and bent, as if something had exploded into it. Or out of it. Whatever had plowed through here had either stolen the beast within the tank, or provoked it to escape. Either way, Cloud looked like a man about to be shot.
“No, please!” Hojo’s guard pleaded, hands high, “Don’t shoot me!”
“One good reason, you sack o’ shit!” Barret snapped, “One good reason!”
“I can give you one!” He patted his pocket. “In here! There’s the keycard to the next floor! Would I be doing this if I was the enemy?”
Red pawed the pocket, checking it for a weapon. “Get it and give it to him.”
The guard obeyed, handing the keycard to Barret.
“Good,” the big man pocketed the card, “Now git! Before the big bad wolf of whatever did this gets ya!”
“Yes!” the guard nodded and took off.
“Mercy, Barret?” came Cloud’s questioning voice.
“C’mere, pokey head!” Barret took out a bag and dumped the contents onto the ground. “Here’s our Materia! I got it from Hojo’s big sanctuary up there!”
“I suggest we equip it,” said Red, “God knows what is waiting for us up there. I’m fine with my Fire, All, and Sense, Barret.”
Barret nodded and threw the Materia Red’s way.
“Bolt and All, please.” Barret handed Tifa hers.
“Uh,” Aeris thought, “I guess the Ice is good.”
“Give her the Elemental, too,” Cloud said, “And give me Poison and Restore.”
“Gotcha,” Barret carried out orders, “And that leaves me with Fire and All, jes’ like the cat.”
The next floor wasn’t much of a floor. It was for President Shinra’s secretaries, most of which lay sprawled out in a pool of their own blood now. Two massive staircases led up, as did the trail of blood. AVALANCHE proceeded solemnly and carefully up the stairs, each wondering what they would find.
What came next was a mixture of emotions, such as shock, disbelief, disgust, fear…and satisfaction. Behind the massive silver desk, President Shinra was sitting in his chair, though face down on some papers he’d been working on. Still sitting in a bloody hole in his back was a very long, very sharp sword, resembling one a master Samurai might use.
“He’s dead…” Barret whispered, breaking the long silence, “He’s dead! My god, he’s dead! The President of Shinra Inc. is dead!” It sunk in the last time.
“Haa…ha!” Tifa laughed softly, a faint happiness starting to emerge, “It’s over! Without President Shinra, the other executives will eventually self destruct!”
“Shin-Ra is finished!” exclaimed a very happy Red XIII.
Cloud had not said a word. Instead, he had been moving slowly back and around the desk, walking towards the President, eyes pasted to the sword.
“Cloud?” Aeris asked, “Are you…okay?”
“This sword…” he said quietly.
“What? Speak up, man!” Barret snapped.
“This sword!” Cloud said, louder, “It’s the Masamune long sword!”
“Whoop de shit,” Barret replied, “To me it’s the sword in the stone now, and I for one am not pulling it out!”
“No, you don’t understand!” Cloud insisted, “Only Sephiroth could use this sword! It’s too heavy for anyone else!”
“Hey,” Tifa tilted her head, “That must mean Sephiroth did all this!”
“Yeah!” Barret said, happily, “The champion SOLDIER killed his boss and all his associates!”
“But I thought Sephiroth was dead…” Red said, slowly.
“So sayeth the news,” Barret grumbled, “But the facts are right here!”
“So, does that mean he’s a good guy?” Aeris asked.
“Must be,” Tifa nodded, “Maybe he wants to save this planet, too?”
“Save the planet…” Cloud repeated in bewilderment, “A good guy?! No!”
“Huh?” they all asked, peering curiously at Cloud.
“That’s not Sephiroth!” Cloud answered, shaking his head furiously, “That’s not his mission! It’s…oh, god…” This meant so many things, and all of them were bad.
“Shh!” Aeris commanded, “I hear something!”
“Hey, me too!” Barret turned his attention to a pillar near Shinra’s desk, “Sounds like a pig.”
Promptly, short, stout Palmer squeaked in alarm and tried to run past AVALANCHE. Barret easily caught him by the collar and hoisted him up. This took quite a bit of energy, but the big man would never admit that.
“Heya, fatty!” Barret grinned, “I’ve been saying this phrase a lot today, and hey, what the hell, one more time! Gimme one reason why I shouldn’t kill ya!”
“Uh,” Palmer began to sweat, “Um…”
“Wait, Barret!” Cloud ran back around the desk to his comrades, “Palmer, did you see what happened?”
“Yeah!” Palmer nodded his head enthusiastically, “Sephiroth was here!”
“But he’s dead,” Red challenged.
“No!” Palmer squealed, looking very frightened now, “I saw him! I swear it!”
“Your word against your own newspapers, pal!” Barret said with an apologetic frown, raising his gun arm.
“NO!” Palmer wailed, “Would I really lie to you now?!”
“Good point,” Tifa nodded, “Continue.”
“Wha…?” Palmer frowned. “I saw him kill the President. I heard his voice, too! He was saying something about not letting Shin-Ra get to the Promised Land!”
“See?” Barret looked at Cloud, “A good guy!”
“Barret!” Cloud narrowed his eyes. “Sephiroth is probably more dangerous to this Planet than all of Shinra combined! You must believe that much! He is the real crisis for the Planet!”
Barret was quiet for a while. Then, he looked to Palmer and dropped him to the ground.
“Scram.”
On cue, the whirring of a helicopter was heard. AVALANCHE and Palmer looked up at the skies. A big smile lit up the fat man’s face and he ran off towards the spot where the helicopter was descending.
“Oh, thank god you came!” he called out, “Mister President! Hey! Over here!”
“Mister President…?” Tifa frowned. Suddenly, the look on Barret’s face turned very sour.
“Awww HELL!” he thundered.
“What?” Aeris asked, worried. Red, too, looked cautiously around.
“Vice President Rufus…” Barret was slightly deflated, “I forgot about him…”
“Rufus?” Red’s ears twitched. Indeed, the name was sounding familiar to all present now.
“He’s the President’s son,” Tifa stated.
“Who mated with President Shinra?” Red wrinkled his nose in disgust. In another setting, that
might have been hilarious.
“I heard he was away on assignment,” Barret said.
“I heard no one’s ever seen him laugh or cry,” said Aeris.
“Or bleed,” added Cloud.
“Les’ fix that!” Barret smiled evilly.
“Yeah,” Cloud started after Palmer, “He’s what’ll hold Shinra together. We take him out now
and save ourselves a lot more trouble.”
“Finally,” Barret said to himself, “AVALANCHE’s mission fulfilled!”
Rufus Shinra was young, and that was probably the most obvious thing about him. He wasn’t notably tall or short, but he was thin and fit. His face was sculpted rather well, and his hair was blonde like his father’s, though Rufus’s had an orange tint. He wore a suit and pants made out of a shade of white so bright that it gleamed. All in all, he was very handsome, yet probably very cold.
He was now frowning uncertainly at the crowd that had gathered before him. He spoke finally, and his voice was a deep, commanding baritone.
“So. Palmer here tells me you’re not the friendliest group of people ever to hit the planet. But that’s just him.” He glanced at their faces, and detected more curiosity than anything. So he fed the emotion. “I am Rufus Shinra, President of the Shinra Company.”
“You only Prez cuz yer old man died,” Barret stated.
“Hrm,” Rufus looked hard at Barret. “Yep. You’re right.” Barret hadn’t expected that answer, and it showed. “Well. Who all are you, anyway?”
Cloud answered first. “I’m Cloud. Ex-SOLDIER, 1st Class.”
“I’m Tifa, and I’m with the AVALANCHE gang.”
“Name’s Barret, and I’m the leader of the AVALANCHE gang!”
Aeris went next, and she spoke in a monotone. “Aeris, a flower girl from the slums.”
“Red XIII, a research specimen.”
Rufus smirked. “What a crew. Well, since you’re here, would you care to hear my inauguration speech?”
“Inauguration! Ha!” Barret laughed, “But go on, Great One.”
Rufus paid no attention to Barret. “My father ran things effectively, if not a bit foolishly. He believed that the people were important, and needed to be manipulated if anyone in Shin-Ra was to succeed. He made it all seem picture perfect.” As he spoke, he walked slowly from person to person, and the air got cold around anyone whenever Rufus stepped closer. “Get a job in Shinra, accept whatever comes your way, and if a terrorist attacks, Shinra will protect you! It was all so perfect on the outside.” He stopped, looking them all over again. “I run things differently. It takes too much time, effort, and money to do what my father did. I’ll rule ruthlessly. The people won’t do anything because they won’t dare. It’s simple, really. I don’t know why no one else thought of it.”
“He likes to give speeches, just like his father,” Tifa observed.
Cloud was quiet. Whatever Rufus had said may or may not have been true, but it didn’t matter. The speech was just an excuse for Rufus to examine possible enemies, and he’d by now summed them all up. No doubt he was armed, and he knew how to use his weapon. Just by observation, Cloud knew the new President Shinra had fought and killed before, and was not afraid to do either again. That made escape all the more vital, he realized.
“All of you!” Cloud did not turn around, but AVALANCHE knew he was speaking to them. “Get out of here! Get to the bottom floor! Keep Aeris safe!”
“Heh heh,” Rufus laughed quietly, looking at Aeris, “You don’t have to fear me, Ancient. And you, SOLDIER, stop being so paranoid. The Ancients don’t mean half as much to me as they did to my father.”
Aeris blinked, swallowing the information questioningly, hoping he was telling the truth.
“Come on!” Tifa ordered, “Let’s go! There’s a working elevator a floor down!”
“Yo!” Barret protested, shaking his fist at Rufus, “What about him?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Cloud snapped, “Now go!”
Rufus didn’t seem to care as the team disappeared down the stairs. He eyed Cloud curiously, Palmer still sweating beside him. For a long time, they just stared.
Barret, Tifa, Aeris, and Red moved swiftly down the staircase and to the elevator.
“Tifa?” Aeris asked her when she began to hesitate, “Something wrong?”
“I…uh,” she shook her head, “You guys go on! Someone should wait for Cloud, just in case.”
“All right,” Red nodded, “We’ll wait for you all at the entrance. Good luck.”
“Likewise,” Tifa waved.
The elevator doors closed. Aeris hit the G button for the ground floor.
Shinra Inc.’s elevators were located in pairs of two, and one could see the other one because they were glass elevators, but not the insides because the glass was darkened. Barret noticed it first. The other elevator was coming right down, and it was coming down fast. Soon, they were side by side, and no one was speeding up. Something was…fishy.
“People…” he said slowly, then his senses exploded with warning. “Get DOWN!”
They floored themselves just in time. A loud storm of bullets flew screaming into the thick glass, shattering it instantly. When the three looked up, they saw a large security vehicle in the adjoining car. Two sets of machine guns lined each side of the attacker, and a large cannon resembling that of a tank was embedded in its head.
“Unit 18, Hundred Gunner,” Red said instantly, “The Turks’ attack dog. I picked that up while imprisoned.”
“I’ll keep us healed,” said Aeris.
“Be careful, people…” Barret warned. “You screw up for a half second and that thing will rip you apart!”
As if to punctuate, the Hundred Gunner spat another salvo at them. The bullets zipped on past, shattering what remained of the glass.
“Don’t fall off the elevator, either,” warned Red.
Barret dared to attack. He got up and opened fire on the machine, but his bullets only slightly damaged the Hundred Gunner’s armor. It retaliated with a storm of gunfire in Barret’s direction. He ducked just in time.
Red charged up a Fire spell and sent it at the Gunner. The heat would eventually get to the machine’s internals, overheating it. But not yet. Another salvo flew at the team, this time concentrated at Red, but the beast was fairly close to the ground as it was, making ducking easy.
“Get the guns on the sides!” Aeris realized, “Stop its attacks!”
“Cover me!” Barret ordered. Aeris and Red replied by sending Fire and Ice spells into the sets of guns on both sides of the Hundred Gunner, charring and stiffening it. It sent is gunfire at the attackers, so Barret stood up without any trouble and started shooting at the right guns. Sparks flew, but the guns did not fail. After no more than three seconds, Barret threw himself back to the floor, avoiding the counterattack.
“Lay low!” he ordered, trying to angle his gun at the right side. He started firing from the floor. The first few shots missed, but Barret managed to line up his sights with the guns, letting a long stream of fire into it. The Gunner didn’t understand where the shots were coming from until it finally traced the stream of fire to three figures on the floor. By then, however, it was a bit too late. The right guns sparked and flared, then went inactive. The left guns, however, were very active.
“Move!” Red cried, rolling to the side. Barret sprang to his feet, followed by Aeris, both dancing around to avoid holes in their feet. Red used another Fire spell, distracting the Hundred Gunner’s targeting systems long enough for Aeris to stiffen the left guns with an Ice spell.
Barret repeated the long stream of gunfire on the slowed guns. His bullets smacked into various vital points, destroying programs and functions. The guns eventually were destroyed, but not before targeting Barret and firing. The big man let out a grunt as the bullets connected, some ricocheting off the metal band around his waist, others hitting him in the chest. He sunk to his knees.
“Shit…” he choked out, in shock. Aeris crouched next to him, examining the wounds. The heart was fine, and she didn’t think the shots were close to his lungs, but she still had to work quickly.
“Don’t worry,” she coaxed, conjuring up a spell. Energy surrounded her fists, but flickered and died. “Damn…wait, I’ll try again…”
Red wasn’t having fun. The Hundred Gunner had chosen him as its primary target. Bursts of energy from the Gunner’s tank cannon collapsed into areas of the floor he’d been at seconds earlier, then he’d have to dodge again to miss another salvo. He couldn’t really stand still long enough to work up another Fire spell, his only means of attack at this range, and besides, he’d used enough spells that he was feeling weary. Not a good thing.
“A little help?” he winced, dodging another attack. The shells from Hundred Gunner were very explosive. Too many hits would disable the elevator. “We have to hurry!”
“Almost!” Aeris started her spell again. She tuned out the sounds of battle and thought to herself. Angry thoughts. She thought of her fear and anger when the Shinra captured her, she thought of Hojo looking her over like some kind of lab rat, and she pictured Red XIII faking an attack that was designed to end in a breeding party. That did it. Whispering the words of the Ancients, she began to gather soothing energies around her hands. She let them loose. Barret groaned in discomfort and wonder as he felt the bullets inside him slowly shudder and disintegrate. The wounds left by the hits began to heal. Aeris rested against her staff, tired, her Healing Wind limit skill having saved the day again.
Barret felt his own strength building up.
“Down, boy!” he commanded an irritated Red, who grew more so when he heard that. Barret’s gun barrel began to glow, fiery energies forming into a ball around it. Hundred Gunner lowered its cannon at the enemy elevator, and slowly began channeling its own energies to the barrel. It targeted AVALANCHE and prepared to fire.
It never made it. Barret’s blast flew through the air, slamming into the ball of energy around Hundred Gunner’s tank barrel. The two bodies reacted badly, creating a screaming fireball, consuming the machine’s body. Five seconds and a violent explosion later, the elevator car adjoining AVALANCHE’s was no more, as was its rider.
“Whoa,” Red panted, smiling a bit, “That was…fun!”
“F…fun?” Aeris asked incredulously.
“I think you’re something else that starts with F…” Barret muttered.
Red just shook his head, still grinning. “How much longer is this joyride?”
“Almost there,” Aeris answered.
Red’s grin slowly began to die. He heard it before the others, as his hearing was much better than that of humans. It sounded like a helicopter…
“Hello!” he snapped to attention, looking up, “We’ve got more company!”
“Aw, hell!” Barret swore, pointing his gun up, “What is it, Red?”
Red squinted, making out the attacker clearly. “It’s a Heli-Gunner. Cleverly named creature, I think. The Turks use it for surveillance.”
“Tseng must really want us to stay,” Barret said quietly. Aeris said nothing, though a slightly guilty look crossed her face.
“Let’s answer him appropriately,” Red said, mindful of Aeris’s embarrassment. She nodded.
Not a second later, before any of them could act, a hail of large bullets slammed into the elevator car, each exploding when it hit. The blasts were tiny, but too many were hitting.
“It’s gonna destroy the car!” Aeris cried, looking up and realizing the machine was out of range for her staff, and she couldn’t really concentrate enough to cast a spell.
“What do we do?” asked a suddenly frightened Red.
“Ya all shut up and draw its fire!” Barret barked, “I’m almost out of ammo! My attacks gotta count!”
"Right,” Red replied, using the last of his mental abilities to launch a final Fire spell up at the Heli-Gunner. It was startled by the attack, and it took its systems a while to register it.
Aeris used the time to work up an Ice spell. “Please work…” she said softly, and added a prayer before letting it fly. Heli-Gunner didn’t seem very affected by Ice, since it had few joints other than the spinning rotor atop its head. Its torso had a right gun and a left gun, nothing else. Still, it gave Barret time to line up good shot.
“Hoo boy, gotta stay steady,” he coached himself. The message went from his brain to his arm, and the gun fired a string of six bullets, Barret’s last. They plowed through the center of the machine’s torso, putting a big hole in it. But Barret was cursing.
“What’s wrong?” Aeris asked, confused.
“I was aimin’ for the head!” he swore a few more times, “If I could have destroyed the propeller, then…”
He was cut off when a furious stream of explosive ammo destroyed most of the car’s support. It creaked loudly, sparks flying all around it. And suddenly, they were descending much faster.
“NO!” Barret boomed.
“Quick!” Red took charge, “Look down! The doors are open to that floor!”
“Hah!” Barret found humor in the situation, “Some asshole wants to use the elevator!”
“Look!” Red kept going, “Heli-Gunner is zooming downwards to keep up with us! Their CPUs aren’t famed for quick maneuvering. If we jump out there, maybe the Gunner will follow the car down and go to hell with it!”
“Smart man!” Barret clapped him on the back, mindful now of the exploding ammo falling all around him, “Or whatever you are.”
“Heads up!” Aeris braced herself, “It’s time!”
All three leapt at the same time. Their timing was a little off, though. Red sailed through the open doors, but Barret and Aeris wound up grabbing the floor, trying to avoid falling. Heli-Gunner whizzed right on past them as planned.
“Oh, no…” Red ran and offered his tail to Aeris. After a quick, painful procedure, they were both able to help Barret to his feet. None to soon, either. Their car hit the ground floor and exploded violently, taking the Heli-Gunner with it. A column of fire rose up the elevator shaft, singing Barret’s rear.
“OW, damn!” he swore angrily. All three moved away from the doors before collapsing in exhaustion.
“What now?” asked Aeris.
“Ground floor,” Barret answered, “We wait for Cloud and Tifa there.” He looked upwards, a smile forming on his lips. Hey, Rufus! Tseng! IN YOUR FACES, FOO’S!
The air was cold and thin, more so than usual, Palmer noted. Rufus and Cloud had been sizing each other up for what seemed like hours, and the stout man was getting tired of it. Thankfully, though, he didn’t have to wait long.
“So,” Rufus said, finally breaking the silence, “Why do you want to fight me?”
“It’s…hard to explain,” Cloud answered.
“How so?” Rufus frowned, “I think it’s a rather easy question.”
Cloud pursed his lips, thinking of how to answer. “You seek the Promised Land.”
“Yes,” Rufus nodded, “Yes, I do. Only I don’t plan on relying on some hapless Ancient to get there. Or actually,” he smiled, “I do.” He started pacing up to Cloud, and the mercenary started getting nervous. If Rufus got too close, he could pull off a surprise attack at any time. On the other hand, if Cloud tried to dodge, or make any kind of defensive move, it might provoke Rufus to attack, and Cloud wanted to give the others as much time as possible to escape.
“I won’t let you hurt her,” Cloud said simply.
“Her?” Rufus shook his head, “No, no, your friend is fine. I don’t even have anything against her. My business is tracking down a certain someone who is responsible for a certain something.” He motioned to the silver desk, far from their present position, where his father still sat in his throne.
“You know,” Cloud said hoarsely, “Sephiroth…”
“Hmm…” Rufus started pacing again, sapphire eyes looking hard at Cloud. “Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?”
Cloud stifled a hiss. Yes, he knew. He knew more than this little prick would ever guess. “A lot has happened.” His tone was no longer conversational. Instead, it was ice cold and threatening. Rufus was the Shin-Ra. Cloud would kill him, and with him Shin-Ra would die. That infernal company would finally see justice. He continued, Rufus noting his malice. “Anyway, I can’t let either you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land.”
Rufus looked at him with a little frown and sighed. “I see.” The wind tousled his wispy hair, blowing it across his eyes. The perfect touch. When he spoke again, his tone was every bit as ominous as Cloud’s. “I guess this means we won’t become friends.”
That was Cloud’s only warning, and it wasn’t enough. For the attack did not come from Rufus, but from Cloud’s side. A black beast was suddenly slashing into him, biting furiously at his hands. With a startled cry, Cloud fell over, mindful of Rufus’s mocking laughter.
“No wonder you’re an ex-SOLDIER! Dark Nation, old boy, finish him for Daddy, would you?”
How sweet, Cloud growled mentally and used all of his strength to shove Dark Nation off. He got to his feet, but before he could draw his sword, the wolfish creature attacked again. Its claws fell across his face, tearing the flesh in three spots. Cloud cried out, staggering back, and Dark Nation took the opportunity to launch itself into Cloud’s gut, toppling the mercenary to the ground. The beast itself rolled back away from Cloud, using the man as a springboard. It landed on its feet, growling sadistically and planning another charge.
Cloud thought about sickness and pain, hoping that this new Materia would do him some good. He needed to buy himself some time. Dark Nation charged, baring its vicious teeth. Cloud met it head on with a Poison spell, startling the creature. It coughed throatily, and a beast coughing throatily is not a fun sound. Both Cloud and Rufus flinched, but Cloud took the opportunity to jump to his feet. He ran towards Dark Nation, bringing his left foot out higher than he did for a normal step and planted it under the beast’s chin, snapping its head up and back, and sending the whole creature recoiling through the air. It landed in a stunned heap, but slowly came to.
“Impressive, Cloud,” Rufus clapped his hands dramatically.
“Strife,” he added acidly, “My name is Cloud Strife.”
“First name, last name, it really doesn’t matter to me.” Rufus smiled darkly as a flash of white light appeared in front of him, forming into a wall of energies. Cloud glanced at Dark Nation, who was just finishing with his Barrier spell. “Either way,” Rufus finished, “You’re dead.”
Cloud had a warning this time; the Barrier spell. Rufus wouldn’t have had Dark Nation use it on him if he wasn’t planning on fighting himself. He reached for his sword just in time. Rufus reached into his alabaster suit coat, pulling out a long, double-barreled shotgun, bringing it up and firing at Cloud in one smooth motion. The shell slammed into the broadside of Cloud’s sword, which he had just moved in front of him. A hair of a second sooner, and Rufus would have been victorious.
“Very impressive,” Rufus growled through clenched teeth. “Go around him!” Dark Nation roared in reply and ran in a circular motion around Cloud. Gut wrenching realization hit Cloud. Dark Nation would attack his back, tearing through him unless he spun around to handle the beast, but if he did that Rufus would shoot him. Either way, he was doomed.
“Clever bastard,” Cloud muttered, keeping his eye on the beast, which was currently the more threatening of the two villains. He let Dark Nation come from behind, and then rolled to one side, hoping Rufus would fire into his dog accidentally. He didn’t.
“Really,” he smirked, “You expected me to fall for that?” Even as he said it, he was raising his shotgun and pulling the trigger. All Cloud heard was the explosion, and suddenly he was in a world of pain. The shell had ripped apart the armor on his chest, and his Bangle was spent with that one blow. Without it, he realized, he would be dead now. He may be dead soon enough anyway, he realized glumly, feeling where the pellets had entered his body.
Just a little longer, he coached himself, Hang in there just a little bit longer! You can die then if you want, but hold on at least until you kill him! Kill the Shinra! Don’t give up now!
Dark Nation was moving. It raced towards Cloud, frothing and snarling. It was pissed. Cloud started climbing to his feet, but realized with horror that the animal would be upon him before he could take any action. He braced himself, waiting for the blow.
It never came. Cloud heard Dark Nation’s throaty cough once more, and looked at it with wide eyes, as did Rufus. The poison was really hurting it. Its black fur even looked like it was taking on an interesting shade of green. It was stalled.
Cloud’s eyes went from wide to wild. He pulled his sword back around his side, gripping the handle with both hands. He didn’t know how he did it, or where the idea had even come from, but he suddenly knew that he could do it. He swung the sword swiftly forward, arcing it around like a baseball bat. Out of the tip sprang a mass of blue energies that mowed into a stunned Dark Nation. Fur and flesh were burnt, bones were crushed, vital organs obliterated. Dark Nation gave a horrifying death cry and collapsed into a bloody heap, the Blade Beam having totally annihilated it.
Satisfaction bloomed within Cloud. He had turned all his anger and frustration into a new Limit Break, a fascinating attack that simply implanted itself in the fighter’s brain, letting them know how to use it without even training, and they appeared at the oddest times. So far, Cloud had vanquished Guard Scorpion with a powerful bash he called Braver, eviscerated Aps with a Cross Slash, and now…this.
He became aware that something was happening. Dark Nation’s body was glowing with the blue light that had killed it. Cloud realized that only seconds had passed, and Rufus was still looking in shock at his dead pet. He snapped to attention, however, when out of Dark Nation’s corpse sprang the remaining energy from the attack. It collided with Rufus, knocking him to his knees. It pulsated through the man, and he gritted his teeth in pain. When he raised his head to look at Cloud, his face was a mask of rage.
But he had little time to do anything. The ex-SOLDIER was staring at Rufus like he was Satan himself. With an angry cry, Cloud began to rush at him, Buster Sword hanging limply at his side, broad side facing Rufus. Before the Shinra’s new president knew what was happening, Cloud had brought up the weapon with all his force into Rufus’s lower chest, and the shockwave traveled up his body. He arced backward through the air, eventually flipping completely over and landing face down on the floor. Were it not for Dark Nation’s Barrier, which had decreased the power of Cloud’s swing, all of Rufus’s ribs would be broken.
Cloud just stood there, paralyzed by thousands of different emotions. Rufus Shinra cursed softly and weakly, using his shotgun as a crutch as he got shakily to his feet. The familiar sound of a helicopter filled the arena, and soon enough, one was descending into the battlefield. Both fighters realized that they had lost track of Palmer through the battle. The Head of the Air and Space Department was now throwing down a rope towards Rufus, yelling for him to take hold.
For a few seconds, both stared at each other. Cloud’s gaze was full of spite and disgust, whereas Rufus looked on with both anger and interest. Finally, the latter brushed a few locks of hair from his perspiring face and smiled grimly.
“Heh heh…that’s quite enough for today.” His voice was weaker, and somewhat breathless, as such was the state of his lungs. It was satisfying to Cloud. He took hold of Palmer’s rope and smirked a farewell to Cloud.
He finally snapped out of his trance, gazing in horror at the retreating helicopter. He was getting away! Shinra’s demise was evading him! Damn, why hadn’t he done anything? Cloud raised his sword and leapt up at Rufus, slashing furiously. Rufus barely avoided having his feet chopped off, and with a curse he fired his shotgun down, his final attack. Cloud was still moving through the air when the shot went off. He landed not a half second after the shell did, a few inches away from him. A chill went down his spine as he realized how close to death’s scythe he’s been.
“No…” he whispered, watching President Rufus climb the rope into the chopper. “No!” Using all the power in his vocal chords, he bellowed up at the fleeing enemy. “BASTARD! COWARD! COME BACK DOWN HERE! FIGHT ME! COWARD!!!”
Cloud’s words died in the air, never reaching the President, though he couldn’t know that. The chopper disappeared into the night, taking the President somewhere safe. Cloud wanted to shriek in fury, wanted to kill many things at once, but no noise came out of his mouth and he took no action. He just panted, feeling one of the most important opportunities of his life slip away.
Finally, he began to feel pain again. His attention turned to his wounds. His face stung horribly from Dark Nation’s claws, and his chest was beginning to ache. He took hold of the Restore Materia and worked up a healing spell. The pellets inside him dissipated, and the small holes in his chest were cleansed. The Cure spell was a great help, but he would still need a bit of medical attention later on. His face was still hurting, but the bleeding had stopped and he was no longer at risk of infection.
The air around him suddenly grew very, very cold. Many chills went down his spine. Was the quiet getting to him? Or was it the fact that he was very much alone on the top floor of Shinra’s Headquarters Building? A slight breeze moved past him. Funny, there wasn’t wind tonight…even out here. It was quick and passive, almost as if someone had just moved swiftly by him.
The thought was chilling, as was what followed. Almost without control over his own body, Cloud mechanically turned and walked towards the massive silver desk where the late President Shinra was seated. At first, he didn’t notice it, but soon, every part of him, every sense in his body, became focused on one detail of the scene.
Sephiroth’s Masamune long sword was gone.
Cloud stared, chilled to the bone. A hundred possible explanations filled his head, but only one stood out, only one could possibly be real in Cloud’s mind. He remembered his own words, which now haunted him with all the ferocity of an angry spirit.
Only Sephiroth could use that sword…to heavy for anyone else.
All the emotions he’d felt that night suddenly exploded into sheer terror. He turned and broke into a mad run for the stairs. He never once looked back.