Final Fantasy Vs.
Chapter I: The Gathering
The monotonous hum of the ceiling fan's motor, blades whirring round and round. Laughter and merriment, coming from Denzel and Marlene playing outside. His own steady heartbeat.
Aside from these few sounds, all was dead silent within the 7th Heaven Pub, the tension in the air seemingly tangible. Cloud Strife, taking in and releasing a silent breath, looked up from the cards in his hands to his friends, whom were all busy gazing at the cards of their own, or at the massive amount of Gil - about a three hundred thousand, give or take. Inwardly, Cloud shook his head. Only in a game of poker would people like these be so serious. Also, he thanked the skills he 'borrowed' from Zack Fair and power gained from Professor Hojo's experiments, giving the innate ability to read body language and facial expression more easily than most.
With a single fleeting sweep, Cloud looked over each one of his friends.
First was Tifa Lockheart, whose initial look of serene calm was had to decipher. But when she glanced down at her hand, a flash of annoyance unnoticeable to anyone else appeared before disappearing just as swiftly. Most likely a bad hand.
Barret Wallace, next in line, held his cards up in front of his face, trying to hide his barely audible grumbling. As if that wasn't enough, Cloud could see the veins in the arm with his Gun-Arm tightening up, meaning he was balling a first. Next to him, Cid Highwind was busy downing a full glass of brandy. When he finally put it down and looked at his cards, the would-be astronaut couldn't hide the hide the twitch his lips made. He had something good, and therefore was a threat. That is, if he wasn't trying to bluff everyone again, which wouldn't be a surprise.
There was no point in looking at Vincent Valentine. His face was permanently set in his stoic, melancholy expression that gave up absolutely nothing. Almost a complete foil to that, Yuffie Kisaragi stared at her hand with a visible look of frustration, and it looked to Cloud she was on the verge of throwing a tantrum. Apparently her training as a ninja, someone supposed to be all stealthy and hidden, didn't translate well into...pretty much everything she did. Granted, this was her first time playing the game, but it still wasn't anywhere near a decent excuse.
However, it seemed that while it was also his first time playing the game Nanaki - better know as Red XIII - wasn't having any difficulties at all. Probably due to the fact that the automaton cat Cait Sith propped upon his head. I swear, Cloud thought, ever since he got rid of that ridiculous Mog doll, those two have been pretty much inseparable. Cait Sith studied the cards, scrutinizing them needlessly, before letting Red XIII take a look and whispering something into his ear. The lion beast nodded, and both Cait Sith and Red XIII suddenly began to lose interest. Red XIII set about pawing a little ball red - a random gift from Marlene to 'her favorite giant talking kitty cat' - and Cait Sith decided it'd be fun to swat at Red's tail. Though to normal people this would mean nothing other then the two were bored or waiting, Cloud knew very well that when Cait Sith actually acted like an animal, he was up to something, a trait that seemed to rub off onto his new mount.
So more or less, Cloud found that if his assumptions were correct, he would be in pretty good shape. He looked back down at his own cards, thankful that this hand was significantly better then those he'd been dealt in the past few rounds. Thanks to them, Cloud was almost broke. Well, it's not like I had much to begin with. Or that I really wanted to play. Whatever, let's just get this done. All heads turned to Cloud as he shattered the calm by sliding his share of Gil into the pot. "Enough waiting," he said, sitting back in the chair, his face impassive. "Who's in and who's out?"
"I'm in," replied Tifa, adding in her money. "With a haul like this, I could pay off everyone's tabs. Maybe even spruce this place up a bit."
"You mean spruce up the Sierra! This haul is gonna be all mine." Cid said, also joining. At this point, Barret tossed his cards into the air.
"Dammit man, all y'all can kiss my ass!"
"You do know you're gonna pick those up right?" Tifa said, to which Barret replied with the lifting of his middle finger.
"So crude..." Red XIII muttered as he used his tail to put forth his and Cait Sith's money. "We're in as well."
"Oooh, this game stink!" Yuffie said, tossing her hand onto the table and crossing her arms. "I hate poker! It's thievery!" With a small breath, Vincent brushed black some of his hair with his clawed hand.
"Considering what you put us through in Wutai, I believe you don't have any room to talk." Vincent carefully put his hand down onto the table, while ignoring Yuffie sticking her tongue out at him. "I fold, as well. Though I really would've liked to have some of that Gil."
"What possible use could you have for Gil?" Yuffie asked, and though no others voiced it they somewhat wondered too.
"Well, I still need a new cell phone, and then there's the maintenance and ammo for the Cerberus...but other then that..." Vincent's voice trailed off, and his eyes flashed with the tiniest hint of malevolence. Whether jocular or not, everyone else decided that the game was certainly more worth paying attention to, rather then Vincent's mysterious motives.
"So, then, show us what you've got Cloud," Cid said, rather nonchalantly but unable to mask the challenge in his voice. He looked to Cloud after exhaling the smoke from his cigarette, which was returned in kind.
"Why so eager to see? Why don't you us yours first?"
"Humph, fine then." Cid laid out his cards on the table for all to see: the five, four, three, two, and ace of spades. "Try beating that!" He challenged, grinning and chuckling. This was cut short as Cait Sith revealed his and Red XIII's hand: the seven through the three of diamonds. Cid peered at the cards, and then glared up at Red XIII and Cait Sith, both of whom shrugged.
"You were the one who said to beat what you had..." Red XII said, accompanied by Cait Sith's snickering. Cid grunted rose form the table, taking his glass to refill it with more brandy. Red XIII both looked to Tifa and Cloud in turn. "Well then, do either of you have something to top this?" A hint of a smile touched Cloud's lips, and without a word he spread out his hand, a queen high straight flush. At the sight of it, both Cait Sith and Red XIII wilted just a bit. Though he continued to remain silent, Cloud felt like giving a little laugh as he reached for the money. There's no way Tifa has anything better.
And then, right in his face, Cloud found himself staring at a royal flush. He looked to Tifa, who gave him an innocent, friendly smile as she gently moved his arm away and used both her arms to rake the Gil towards her. "Why, thank you for trying to help, Cloud," she said. "But I'm pretty sure I can take care of this by myself." With a little giggle, Tifa picked up her money and took it into the back room where it safe was. Cloud watched her leave, disheartened; not because he lost, he knew that he wouldn't win everything, but because he'd let Tifa trick him like she did. He didn't even know she was that crafty, sending mixed signals. Heaving a heavy sigh, Cloud slumped back in his seat. Red XIII, also having watched Tifa walk away, growled softly and whipped the unsuspecting Cait Sith off his back with his tail. Before the stunned cat could say anything, one of the lion beast's claws was pinning him to the floor.
"I thought you told me we were gonna win this round!?"
"I didn't say that! I only said that we could win it! Trust me, the odds were in our favor, but it seems Lady Luck favored Tifa more." For a moment, Red XIII only peered at the trembling Cait Sith. But eventually the beast relented and lifted his paw, allowing Cait Sith to rise to his feet. And then just as the cat turned around, Red XII released a short but forceful bark that caused Cait Sith to jump, wail, and launch himself into one of the table's legs. Everyone couldn't help but laugh, and this occurrence served to diffuse the tension and ill feelings in the room. Cloud and co. slipped into small talk over the current goings on in the city of Edge and all over the world. Which wasn't much, Cloud thought, slipping out of the conversation to ponder.
About two years had passed since Edge was plagued by the disease Geostigma, the Remnants of Sephiroth - Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz - and Sephiroth himself with his plans for "Reunion". After the demon's second defeat and the healing of those infected by Geostigma's debilitating effects, coupled with Vincent Valentine's eradication of the Deepground SOLDIERS and their plan to awaken the final WEAPON Omega the year before, the planet and seemingly everything and everyone on appeared to slip into a sense of peace. All that was left for Cloud to do was for him and Tifa to deliver packages with their Strife Delivery Service. Occasionally there were jobs that called for a bit of violence, but other then that Cloud and Tifa had little need to fight. In fact, no one of AVALANCHE had seen much action.
Cloud was starting to miss it a little.
Luckily for him, and his friends, all that would soon change.
Laughing happily, both Denzel and Marlene burst through the door of the pub, the former playfully chasing after the later. Marlene quickly hurried to the safety of her father Barret's arms, the huge man smiling like a fool as he lifted the girl onto his shoulder. Denzel gave up the chase then, opting to rush Tifa with a hug as she appeared from the back room.
"Whoa!" She exclaimed, keeping herself from tripping, then smiling and ruffling Denzel's hair. "You little scamp! What have I told you about playing inside the bar?"
"But I wasn't playing!" Denzel protested, to which Marlene nodded.
"We're finished playing for now. We just came into to tell you and Cloud that you got some visitors!" Both Tifa and Cloud perked up at this, as work had been rather slow.
"Well, where are they?" Tifa asked. Denzel slapped his palm to his forehead, before running to the door and sticking his head out, calling.
"Hey, you guys in the black jackets! You can come on in now!" Denzel hurried back to Tifa's side, and smiled up at her. "I dunno who those people are, but they're awesome at playing ball."
"Yeah!" Marlene said, nodding emphatically. "Well, the man with the spiky red hair was....the girl with the blonde hair just complained about wanting to finish up their business." Spiky red hair and blonde hair...sounded like Reno and Elaine of the Turks, a few of them thought. But to those that care enough to keep up with then, they knew those two were with Rufus Shinra and Reeve Tuesti at the ruins of the old Shinra building, overseeing the construction of the new headquarters for the World Regenesis Organization.
The sound of footsteps drew everyone's attention to the door. It was pushed upon rather forcefully, and in stepped two rather imposing figures clad in just black jackets, with hoods shadowing their faces. The one of the right was slightly taller then the other and stood with their arms folded, giving off a sense of satisfaction. The second stood with a hand on their hip with a clearly feminine and bored air. There was a moment of silence, before Cloud rose from his seat, and he and Tifa stepped forward. The first figure looked at them both, before speaking.
"Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart?" He asked. Both of them were a little taken aback, as not many people knew their names, much less their full names, and called them by it.
"Yeah, that's us. We're the Strife Delivery Service. If you need something delivered quickly, then -"
"We know who you are," snapped the second hooded figure, now confirmed as a female. "And we really don't care about what you do." She was about to go on, but the other one silenced her with a look and a hand.
"Yeah...just lemme do the talking for now, okay?" He said, shaking his head before looking back and Cloud and company. "Forgive my associate, please...she lacks manners. We've tried training her, but it's like trying to teach a brick...hell, anything." He chuckled softly, and then reached up from his hood. He pulled it off, revealing long, spiky fire-red hair, peridot eyes, and little teardrop shaped marking beneath them. With a smirk, he gave a little bow. "The name's Axel. And the little charmer beside me is called Larxene." After a little scoff, the second hood also revealed her face: short blonde hair with and blue eyes, and a very bored looked up her face.
"Delighted..." She muttered, looking at her nails, before Axel went on to say, "We've come here as representative for our group, on behalf of our leader. We'd like to commission you, Cloud...and not just you, but all of AVALANCHE as well."
Everyone exchanged looks now. No one other then the WRO had ever asked for the services of AVALANCE; those not aware of their assistance in their defense of the world (which was more than you would think) thought of them as terrorists (from their primary exploits causing havoc) or most didn't have much to say about them at all. And for someone to actually find them, much less know who is in AVALANCHE...
"What is it that you want?" Cloud asked. His tone was cautionary, and by now everyone was ready to move, just in case. He hoped that neither could tell this, but with complete stranger you never knew.
"Like I said, we're here to contact you all on the behalf of our master," Axel repeated. Folding his hands behind his back, he took small slow steps forward. "He's a very busy man, and didn't have the time to come him himself...but he's been watching you, Cloud. All of you. Mind you, he's not a stalker or anything, but your various exploits have intrigued him. Your various skills and fighting prowess are some of the best he's seen." As he finished speaking, he was now standing between Cloud and Tifa, looking at each other them from the corners of his eyes. "Basically, you kick ass, just like us, and therefore the boss wants to meet ya!"
"And for what?" Cid asked. He once again downed his brandy, and replaced his cigarette into his mouth. "To be congratulated for being able to slay monsters?" He took a long drag, chuckling softly as he blew out the smoke. "Or, if I'm gettin' ya right, from what you're saying, your big boss man wants us to have some sorta fight to see whose better...right?" Cid looked to Axel, and he shrugged.
"Beats me, geezer! He just told us to come and retrieve you guys. We're just following our orders."
"Geezer!? You little...!" In his quickly lit temper, Cid grabbed hold of his lance, the Venus Gospel, and leapt over the bar. But before he could do anything else, even stand back up completely, something - many somethings - whizzed past him and landed in the wall with a thunk. Cid's eyes widened in shock, as he turned to look at wall. Eight yellow throwing knives stuck out from the wood, some still vibrating a bit from impact. And one of them, that happened to fly by Cid's face, had impaled his cigarette. Until then, he didn't even notice that it was gone. Everyone turned to face the two strangers, and saw that Larxene was standing there with arms outstretched. Tiny tendrils of darkness spiraled their way down along her arms, until the reach her hands, at which point it turned into electricity. The electricity sparked and crackled, and with a tiny outburst the electricity transformed into more knives held between Larxene's fingers, four in each. She gave everyone a smile...albeit a mischievous one, and her eyes twinkled with a chaotic light.
"Oh my!" She said in a way too innocent voice. "It seems my hands slipped! But don't worry...next time I won't miss!"
The members of AVALANCHE, at that point, needed no more indication, all of them brandishing their weapons. Marlene and Denzel hurried up the stairs, but remained on them so they could peek out and see what was going one. Axel shook his head again and sighed, turning upon his heel. "Larxene! Our orders were to bring these guys in without starting trouble! The boss'll pissed at this...and I'm not gonna save your lousy hide this time."
"Oh, shut up! Beside, the geezer was gonna make a move first! I just beat him to it." Axel sighed, ignoring the dark looks his companion was getting, and turned back around.
"Look, we don't want any trouble, guys. We're just here to take you back to meet our leader. He's a highly esteemed scientist, and he would like you're help in conducting an experiment."
"What kind of experiment?" Red XIII, unable to keep the growl from his voice. He was still slightly troubled by what he went through in Shinra's old Research Department.
"We dunno either." said Axel, shrugging. "Like I said, we're just following order. And that's to bring AVALANCHE back with us."
"Well, we're sorry to disappoint ya," said Barret, opening up his Gun-Arm into its numerous barrels. "But we ain't going anywhere."
"I'm going to have to agree," Cloud said, lifting the First Tsurugi towards Axel. "Unless you plan on giving us more info. Like whom your leader is exactly?"
"You'll see when you get there." Replied Axel, who again shrugged. "And though I respect your adamance about not coming along...again, it's all order. We're supposed to bring your back...whether you want to or not. Now, unless you guys plan on messing this place up, I suggest we all just calm down, you guys just..." He didn't get to finish, for both Cloud and Tifa skirted away and cast simultaneous Fire spells, which struck Axel's head. They only poured a tiny bit of magic into, enough so that it would hurt and send the message, but not kill him.
A bright flash filled the room, and the house shook a bit from the impact. Axel didn't have time to move, but both his arms had dropped to his side as his head was engulfed in smoke. Larxene narrowed her eyes as the two warriors moved, but after it was done, she smiled...and even began to laugh. "Nice going, fools!" She said. "Let me tell you something. Those in our group get special nicknames based on our powers and other traits. I'm known as the Savage Nymph and my friend Axel..."
"...is called the Flurry of the Dancing Flames." The smoke around Axel's head swirled a bit as he spoke, and then it rather quickly dissipated. Cloud and Tifa were surprised to see that there wasn't a mark upon him. Not even his hair seemed out of place. Axel let his head hang back a little bit, his smirk growing rather large. "Meaning, I share a sort of kinship with flames. Also meaning, that move you just pulled didn't do squat." He chuckled again, running a hand through his hair. "Normally, at this point, I would totally start ripping into you guys....but my job is to bring you back unharmed, so this'll just have to do." The following snap of his fingers seemed louder than it should have been. Everyone tensed, expecting something to happen at that instant, but nothing did. Of course, when they began to relax and wonder....
Springing up beneath the feet of the members of AVALANCHE, swirling vortexes of darkness appeared. From each of this dark constructs, pairs of strange, grey colored creatures with wriggling bodies materialized and used their tentacle like appendages to latch onto Cloud and his friends. Struggle as they might, once attached they would not released their hold.
"What are these things?!" Yuffie cried, flailing about wildly with her fuma shuriken, the Conformer. Red XIII was growling and roaring, gnashing and trying to bite that the things that held him and Cait Sith. As he continued to do so, the lion beast began seemingly sinking into the ground.
"Those things are Dusks, but overall they're referred to as Nobodies," Axel explained as walked back over to stand beside the grinning Larxene. "Beings that posses a body and soul, but no heart. Try not to kill them, they're just merely guiding you." At this point in time, every member of AVALANCHE was being pulled into the darkness beneath them. Though to varying degrees; Red XIII and Cait Sith were almost gone, thanks to their early decent and small size, while Barret, Cloud, and Tifa all managed to stave off the sinking for a moment. Alas, their efforts were for naught; one by one they were pulled into the darkness, until only Cloud remained.
"You'll pay for this!" He spat at Axel, still struggling. Axel and Larxene both laughed, and the later walked up and dealt Cloud a little kick to his chest, as only his upper body was still there.
"Sorry! We're out of Munnie, and we don't know the exchange rate for Gil." Cloud only glared at that, and then finally but grudgingly stopped struggling, letting himself sink into the darkness at last. Once he was gone, the dark vortexes of darkness all closed up. When it was done, Axel grinned again and made as if to dust his hands. "Well, that takes care of that! C'mon, Larx, let's go." With that both of them turned to leave out the door. But before they went too far, a glass was thrown at the wall beside them. Stopping, Axel and Larxene turned to find Denzel standing there, another glass in his hand and his face set in a rather angry scowl.
"Denzel, no!" Cried Marlene, running down the stairs to his side, trying to urge him back. He resisted, keeping his eye fixed on the two cloaked one. Larxene rolled her eyes and took a few steps forward. Denzel tossed the glass at her head, which was dodged with a simple move of the head and was caught by Axel before it hit anything.
"Such an annoying boy..." Larxene said, looking at her nails in boredom. Then in a blink of an eye, Larxene moved in a blur; one moment she was near Axel, and the next she was crouched down beside Denzel, smirking evilly as such dealt a blow to the back of Denzel's head. He was so shocked, he didn't even have time to make a sound as he slipped into unconsciousness and Larxene's awaiting arms. Marlene opened her mouth to scream, but Larxene quickly put a finger to her lips, calling for silence. "Now now, we've had enough noise. Don't worry, we're just taking you to stay with Rufus Shinra and the Turks while your friends are with us. They're fine! no need to worry...yet." Giving a little giggle and an unusually warm smile, Larxene tossed Denzel over her shoulder and held out a hand for Marlene. Hesitantly, Marlene took it and walked along with Larxene back to Axel.
"I swear, you acting nice is so freaking creepy that it's not even funny." Larxene looked to him, and for the briefest moment the smile became a spiteful sneer. Without a word, the Savage Nymph headed out the door, and once on the porch opened up a corridor of darkness. Marlene hesitated, but Larxene drug her along as if she didn't notice, both disappearing into the shadows. Running his hands through his hair, Axel followed behind, saying to himself. "I have a feeling things are going to get pretty darn fun soon! Can't wait!"
xxxXXXxxx
I'm...I'm falling. Cloud thought as he slowly came back to his senses. His eyes slowly opened, and he realized that he was in fact falling, headfirst to...somewhere. All around him was a column of thin darkness that shifted through colors of violet, dark red, and black. But even that blackness had nothing against what lay outside the column, dark then anything he had ever seen.
Luckily, he wasn't alone; the other members of AVALANCHCE were there, in their own dark columns and falling as well, though unlike Cloud they were still all unconscious. "Hey!" He called to them. His voice took on an eerie, echoing quietly. "You guys, wake up!" His attempts were to no avail, so Cloud decided to simply enjoy the ride as much as possible. His sense of time was skewed in this place, sometimes seeming to whiz by, sometimes seeming to drag on, but apparently getting nowhere near their destination. Cloud figured if someone ended up in here without going anywhere, they'd eventually go mad, and quickly too.
Nothing of much happened for quite some time, but at some point something caught Cloud's attention. Ahead of him in the space of his column - how far he couldn't say, as distance also seemed to be off here - a small twinkle of light appeared. Narrowing his eyes a little bit, Cloud gripped the hilt of the First Tsurugi, still in his hand, as he righted himself in anticipation of something hostile. However, as he watched the light, which winked in and out at sporadic intervals and grew larger each time it reappeared, Cloud found that there was something strangely familiar about it. He continued to watch in caution as it came closer and closer, and before he knew it the light was floating right in front of him. Staring at the light, Cloud felt the familiarity of it grow enough so that he felt the First Tsurugi was to be put away. As he did so, a voice sounded within his head.
"Cloud..."
His eyes widened, and his heart nearly stopped. Not of fear, but of the sound of the voice. "No. it can't be..." Cloud whispered, just as the light suddenly began to grow in length and become somewhat thinner. Then, it became roughly human shaped. And finally, in a final dazzling flash, the light took the form of a person. Someone Cloud never though he'd never see again.
Floating before him, eye closed and arms crossed over her chest, was Aerith Gainsborough.
As Cloud stayed pretty much frozen, Aerith slowly opened her eyes, and smiled upon seeing Cloud. "Cloud....It's been awhile."
"Aerith...you...you're alive," was all Cloud could manage to get out. Aerith giggled softly, unfolding her arms and opening them, as if presenting herself.
"Yes, I am. Strange, I don't know how it happened. One moment I'm part of the Lifestream, a single consciousness among countless others. And then I am here, alive in this body...with you, no less." Moving forward, Aerith hugged Cloud tightly, which he returned. There was no need to further express how glad they were at this mysterious turn of events. When they pulled away, a look of recognition upon her face. "Before I left the Lifestream, I heard from Zack....he wanted me to remind you that you still hold the honor of SOLDIER upon your shoulders, and you should never forget it. And that you'd better take good care of me, or he'll come back too and kick your ass." Cloud, even while partial suffering from shock, laughed at that. Though his memories of Zack Faire, the 1st Class SOLDIER whom had saved his life and given him the Buster Sword, were rather hazy, Cloud was sure that would something his friend would say.
After that, the two fell into silence. But it was a nice, comforting thing, not awkward. Aerith took the time to look around, smiling at the sight of the other members of AVALANCHE. She then looked down, and then back up to Cloud. "So, do you have any idea where we're going?"
"No, none. We're all being taken there against our will by some fools in black cloaks."
"Really? Well, I'm sure that everything'll be explained once we get there…Oh?" Aerith was again looking down now, and Cloud looked as well to find that further along in the column, a hole had opened open up. The destination, wherever, it was appeared to be on the other side. Wrapping an arm around Aerith's waist, Cloud readied himself in case there was any trouble. However, nothing came, and he and Aerith were safely deposited. A few moments later, everyone else appeared too, falling gently to the floor of this new place from dark portals that opened in the air. Cloud quickly went to make sure that everyone was okay, while Aerith watched him.
"They're all okay," he confirmed finally, walking back over to her. "I dunno how soon they're wake but…" Just as he began speaking, almost simultaneously everyone began stirring. At this, Aerith smiled and quickly moved behind Cloud. He opened his mouth to speak, but she shushed him with a finger to her lips. Sighing, he returned his attention to his party, whom were all slowly getting up.
"Wha…" said Tifa, rubbing her eyes before looking up and around. "Wait, what happened, where are we're?"
"Five more minutes…" Yuffie complained, simply rolling on her other side. Red XIII, head clearing and remembering the Dusks about him, sprang to his paws and barred his teeth, waking up Cait Sith. This also caused the other who weren't fully there to come up as well. After their mumbled repeats of Tifa's words, Clouds said,
"Like you, I have no clue where we are either..." He took this time to look around. They were in a fairly large, square room, made completely of white. Even the decorations, the vase with flower like decorations on top, were made of the same white material. There was only one door, sitting in the center of the wall atop a small flight of steps. "And what's even stranger..." Cloud figured that Aeirth would want some sort of introduction, and his assumptions were right. After he had let his words trailed of, Aerith stepped out from behind him, hands clasped behind her back, smiling.
"Hello again, everyone," she said softly, giving a little wave. "Glad to see you're all doing well." Everyone's mouths fell open, all of them gawking. "You've gotta be shittin' me..." Cid breathed. Tifa shook her head in disbelief.
"Cloud...is that...?" She didn't finish, and Cloud smiled and nodded. Red XIII, after Cait Sith scrambled back onto him, slowly walked up to Aerith looking her up and down before sniffing lightly.
"I cannot believe it..." He said. "Her scent...it's the same since I last remember it. Exactly the same..." His face moved into the semblance of a smile, and Red XIII couldn't help himself as he began nuzzling against Aerith's leg. Smiling even wider, Aerith bent down and wrapped her arms around Red XIII's neck. Yuffie, then on the verge of tears, sprang up and joined in on the hug, as well as Cait Sith if only to avoid getting in the way. But just as the remaining members of AVALANCH where coming to greet Aerith as well, a voice dressed them, seeming from nowhere.
"Forgive me for breaking up such a heartwarming reunion..." Surprised, everyone stopped what they were doing, and looked around, some even reaching for weapons. At the top of the stairs, before the door, a portal of darkness opened up and from it stepped another black cloaked individual. This set AVALANCHE on edge, but the voice didn't belong to either Axel or Larxene, so they refrained from attacking...this moment. The figure apparently took a moment to look them over, before speaking once more. "It seems that everyone made it here safely. I'm surprised that the corridors of darkness reach you and the other." With slow, deliberate steps, the cloaked individual made his way down the steps. "Hmm...I can sense some unease amongst you, like you wish to fight. Then I can assume that your encounter with the Flurry and the Nymph didn't go over so well." Chuckling, he shook his head. "I knew sending them were a mistake."
"Tch! Got that right, brutha!" Barret said, agreeing. The cloaked one, finally reaching the group, stopped and turned to face him.
"Yes, Barret, those two can be difficult. But please, accept my apologies for their actions. Just be glad you met them now opposed to a while back...they're much more behaved then they once were." Though he did hear what was being said, Barret was surprised that he was addressed by name. As if reading his mind... "Yes, Barret Wallace, I know your name. And yes, Ms. Kisaragi, the rest of you as well." Yuffie squeaked as she jumped, certainly creeped at the cloaked one's recognition when she hadn't even made a move to ask her question. "I and my colleagues know a great deal about all of you. Among others, your exploits are the most popular of the Organization, especially that of the Superior."
"You mean your boss?" Cloud asked. "Cuz if so, then we'd really like to meet him. You know, find out where the hell we are, what are we doing here."
"In due time, my friend, in due time." The cloaked figure lifted a hand, and snapped his fingers. A tiny light appeared then before AVALANCHE, flashing and becoming a black blue card with a picture of a crown upon the front. "Please, hold onto the cards. You will need them during your stay here. And now, if you please, step through the doorway." He motioned to the door, then disappeared suddenly. He showed up again at said door, and turned to face it. Producing a card of his own, he held it up to the door, which shone around the edges and then opened outwards by itself. The destination couldn't be seen, as it was just more light. Cloud and his friends all looked to one another for a moment, watched as the cloaked figure stepped into the light, and then cautiously followed suit. As they walked through, they became totally immersed in the luminescence.
And then it suddenly died down, as all of them at the same time found themselves standing in a fairly large room. Though mostly white, there was a large red carpet that stretched from the door behind them up a flight of stairs onto the dais upon which sat thirteen thrones. At the top of the thrones were the Roman numerals for one through thirteen; the biggest and most regal throne, numbered one, sat in the center. To the right hand side were the numbers two through seven, and the left hand thrones were numbered eight through thirteen. On the corners of the number "I" throne sat the numerals for zero and fourteen, to the right and left respectively.
Hanging at the center of the room from the high ceiling was a massive chandelier, made of thousand of pieces of rectangular crystal, about a foot long, three inches wide and a fourth of an inch thick. Beneath this, though not as grand as the thrones, along each side of the carpet was a set of fancy looking chairs, twelve on one side and eleven on the other. The were cushioned, and looked big enough to comfortably hold someone of Barret's girth.
And sitting in some of the chairs, the others standing around, were fifteen other individuals. All of their eyes turned upon Cloud and his friends, some with unease, some with excitement, but all with as much curiosity as this entering them room. With looks from each other, two of these fifteen - one a man with dark brown hair with a black jacket with fir trim; the other a tanned, dirty blonde boy with a rather outrageous style of dress - stepped forward to Cloud. "You guys are the ones called AVALANCHE, correct?" Asked the browned haired one.
"What's it to you?" replied Cloud. The two men looked to each other, and then back again.
"Hey man, no need for that," said the blonde. "We just figured that, since we're were told that we were still waiting on a group with that name before things got started." He held out his hands, giving a small smile. "The name's Tidus. I'm a member of the Gullwings, a sphere hunting group. And the guy next to me is Squall Leonhart of SeeD." Cloud, who had his arms folded, undid them to shake hands with Tidus and Squall.
"Cloud Strife, of AVALANCHE and the Strife Delivery Service." He and his friends followed Tidus and Squall to the rest of them, where mostly murmured greetings passed. "So, did you guys get brought here against your will as well?"
Tidus and Squall again glanced at each other, and then shook their heads. "No," replied the latter. "Both our respective parties were given the chance to decline, but we took it, despite not knowing what exactly we're getting into. Did that happen to you all?"
"You betcha ass it did!" Barret burst out suddenly. "And when I get my hands on tha black coated freaks that did it, I'm gonna..."
"You're gonna do what?" A voice from nowhere finished Barret's sentence. He and his friends all jumped, but the others seemed less disturbed by this, and turned up to the set of thrones. There, portals of darkness opened up before the lesser thrones and two beside it, from which emerged fifteen individuals in dark cloaks. A great sense of darkness filled the room then, seemingly tangible. As the portals of darkness faded, the cloaked ones all gave little laughs, except for the two on the center throne's sides and the one in front of the thirteenth throne. When the laughing died down, the cloaked one before the eleventh stepped forward, the one who'd spoken. "If you are implying that you intend to hurt us, then you are sadly mistaken. You couldn't touch us if you tried."
"You wanna bet!?" Barret called out, raising his Gun-Arm and bracing it for fire. But then, nothing happen. "The hell?" He asked, shaking his hand and trying to activate it. More laughs from the cloaked ones.
"Like I said, you couldn't touch us if you tried. None of you can. From the moment you set foot into this place, your abilities have been sealed. As Barret has so graciously demonstrated, any sort of fancy weaponry has been rendered useless, as well as magic and your combat skills."
"And would you mind telling us this reason?!" Barret asked, folding his arms, flexing his Gun-Arm in annoyance.
"Of course," said another new voice. A final mass of darkness appeared, this time before the center throne. "It's a little experiment, you see...but don't worry, it's not permanent."
Emergin slowly, a tall and rather foreboding man came to stand at the stop of the stairs leading up to the thrones. He was garbed mostly in red and black, the most distinguishing features being that it mostly consisted of numerous belts, even creating a sort of mask over his face. A smile played across the man's lips, as the darkness behind him fell away. He looked upon everyone with a sweeping gaze, before deigning to speak once more.
"Welcome, everyone! Welcome to our world, and to my humble abode Castle Oblivion. No longer will you have to wonder why you are, as I am about to tell you. My friends, I have gathered you all here for one thing, and one thing only. And that is to fight! You all have been chose to take part in the greatest spectacle ever witnessed....The Vs. Tournament!!!"