Tifa risked a glance behind her and saw that the back wall was just a few feet away. They could not retreat much further. She cast an ice spell and stepped backwards, almost stumbling with weariness They were all exhausted, and she knew she would not have the strength to continue for much longer. It seemed impossible that they could have attracted so much attention without Barret and the others hearing or seeing something. Or perhaps they were in the same situation somewhere else in the vaults. She was just beginning to feel desperate about their situation when the seemingly endless line of zombies suddenly petered out. Cloud swung his sword one more time and the final zombie fell. Then they all stood in silence, hardly believing that the battle was finally over.
"We did it," Cloud said weakly, leaning on his sword for support. Cait sat down while Tifa leaned against the wall. They were too tired to respond.
"Looks like we caught you at a bad time," said a strange yet familiar voice. They all looked up to see a man in a neat blue suit standing in the doorway. Behind him two other people stepped into view.
"Turks," Cloud said softly. "Great."
"So what do we do now?" Yuffie asked.
Barret sat with his back against the wall, while Yuffie, without realizing it, was now pacing back and forth. Red was wandering around staring at the tunnel around them.
"I'm thinking," Barret replied.
"In that case we could be here a very long time," she remarked.
Barret did not answer. He was too worried to be baited by her verbal sparring. Someone had deliberately locked them in here, and the only reason he could think of someone doing that was to get them out of the way. He felt that Cloud and the others were in desperate trouble.
"We have to get out of here," he muttered.
Red strode over to them.
"Perhaps we can," he said. "Look at those pipes."
Barret followed Red's gaze. In the corner near one end of the tunnel, almost hidden in the shadows, two narrow pipes ran up the wall. He looked up and saw that they ran into the ceiling above, but another pipe ran out of the wall not to far from them. This one ran across to the other side of the tunnel into the far wall right next to the ladder.
He looked at Red.
"Someone might be able to make that," he said slowly.
"But those pipes would never support your weight," Red pointed out.
"And you, of course, have already mentioned that climbing is not one of your talents," Barret returned.
They both turned to look at Yuffie, who had stopped pacing and was looking at the water now, unaware of their conversation.
"Oh Yuffie, " Barret called pleasantly. "We've got a little job that requires your ninja skills. It'll also give you a chance to get over your fear of heights."
"Did somebody take out an advertisement in the paper announcing we would be in Midgar today?" Tifa questioned.
Reno stepped into the room and looked them over, a sly look on his face. Rude and Elena followed.
"I wouldn't know about that," Reno said casually. "The truth of the matter is we have no quarrel with you. We were sent here to obtain a particular item. An item that seems likely now to be in your possession. If you would be kind enough to hand it over we can all avoid an unseemly altercation."
Cloud gave a short bark of laughter.
"I seem to recall that the last time we had an unseemly altercation the Turks came up at the short end of it," he said fiercely.
Elena stepped forward.
"I told you they wouldn't listen," she said sharply. "C'mon, let's just finish them."
Reno held up his hand.
"Control yourself, Elena," he answered calmly. "In their weakened condition it would hardly be a fair fight. Besides, they were kind enough to open up the vault for us and eliminate any other opposition. We own them a debt of gratitude. Give us the Crystal Materia and I give you my word as a Turk that you will not be harmed."
"And if you are hoping that your friends will show up to give you a hand," Elena added, "then you are in for a disappointment."
"What did you do to them!" Tifa exclaimed.
"Just led them astray with a simple ruse," Reno replied. "I assure you they were unharmed when we left them. Now, I'm afraid I can't wait any longer. Will you give us the materia?"
Cloud lifted up his sword and held it in front of himself.
"Not likely," he answered grimly.
"So be it," Reno stated, as if he had known all along.
The Turks attacked simultaneously. This fight was considerably different from their battle with the zombies, who had used brute force and large numbers to try to overpower them. The Turks attacked with a coordinated well thought out plan. They did not press the attack at close range, preferring to hold back and pummel Cloud and his friends with magic spells. Tifa realized the wisdom in this. In their exhausted state they would soon be too weak to use their own spells, and this was a safer course then a direct physical confrontation, where even in his weakened state Cloud was still capable of doing serious damage with his weapon.
Tifa saw Cloud fall backward as he was hit by a blast from Reno's electromag rod. She turned to cast a cure spell but nothing happened. She realized she no longer had the strength to use her materia. With a sinking felling she realized they could not win this battle.
As if they could feel Cloud and his friends weakening, the Turks pressed forward, increasing the power of their attacks. Suddenly Tifa felt burning pain as fire flashed around them. She stumbled backwards and fell. She looked over to see the other members of the party down as well. With sudden resolve they all slowly got up, and stood with their backs literally to the wall. If they were going to lose, they would sell themselves dearly, she thought.
The Turks started forward but were interrupted by a blast of gunfire. With a shout Yuffie and Red ran past Barret and threw themselves into the fray. The Turks were instantly demoralized by the sudden appearance of reinforcements, and immediately were put on the defensive. With renewed vigor Cloud, Tifa and Cait sprang forward to join their friends, but the Turks gave way, knowing that the battle was hopeless now. They turned and retreated into the corridor, and Cloud was too tired to pursue them. Reno stopped and turned toward them.
"Apparently our simple ruse was a little too simple," he said. "You've won this round, but you know this isn't the end of it. We'll see you again soon enough."
Cloud knew that was true, but he said nothing as they turned and disappeared down the corridor.
"You guys got here just in a nick of time," Tifa exclaimed.
"That's apparent," Yuffie said, seeing their obvious exhaustion.
Barret resisted the urge to snap at her. After all, she had climbed across those pipes in the tunnel and gotten out quickly enough to release them and get them here in time. In spite of her character, she did have her uses.
"Well, it's all over now," Cloud said. "We have the Crystal. I suggest we follow the Turks example and get out of here as fast as possible."