The Death of Cloud

PoV: Vincent Valentine

I, along with the others, watched as Cloud fell in the battle field. Shinra had finally beat him. Remi, Rufus's son and current president of Shinra Inc., has rebuilt Midgar alongside the old one and a bigger Midgar, as well as the Shinra Army (Rufus was assassinated not long after the events of Dirge of Cerberus). The eight of us have been fighting the Shinra army for months now, with help from Wutai's new army and Fort Condor's new army. Cloud led the attacks against Remi and his ever growing army. We were fighting "the last battle" against Remi in the Junon area. We were fighting in between Junon Harbor and Fort Condor and this time we were winning.

But we all saw it coming. From Midgar, three Mako-charged shots were fired from the Sister Cannon. They blew up on our forces and one hit a piece of Fort Condor. And although that didn't necessarily hit us, it was Remi's new SOLDIER that did. His name was Jericho. He had spiked blue hair, like Reno's without the ponytail. But more importantly, Jericho wielded a large-wide katana and a mini pistol. Cloud and Jericho engaged each other, both evenly matched. But Jericho cheated. As his sword flew out of his hand and Cloud's sword came down for the kill, Jericho fired his rapid-pistol right into Cloud's abdomen. Cloud fell to his knees as Tifa rushed to him. I aimed with my sniper rifle and fired, the single round blowing right into his head. Jericho fell instantly.

Cloud looked into Tifa's eyes, expressing his last wishes to her. Tifa watched him as he died in her arms. Barrett, as pissed as he was, began his rampage on the Shinra. Soldiers after soldiers were falling dead instantly. Yuffie was throwing her Conformer crazily, those that weren't dying by Barrett had their heads cut off. I looked at Nanaki and he was charging his Cosmo Canyon. He fired it and boom, it collided with the Sister Ray and blew the base of it, causing it to collapse. I looked at some of Remi's robo-soldiers. They were worse than Rufus' and Rufus' father's. They were five times the size of us and much more powerful. But what was worse than their mass amounts of guns and firepower, these robo-soldiers were amass in number. They came from Junon Harbor at lightning-fast rates.

We faced off with them for about three hours before finally destroying them all. We were worn, even with all of our material and summons. Remi came out holding his sniper rifle and escorts, which were 1st Class SOLDIERs. "Good morning to you all, AVALANCHE members and their fellow terrorists. I would just like to address you before you die, to inform you all that the planet is in good hands. Good day." He aimed his sniper at the still kneeling Tifa. As I aimed for Remi, Yuffie had successfully launched her Conformer to block Remi's shot. Cait Sith, Cid, and Nanaki had launched themselves in a charge to take down the SOLDIERs. Barrett looked down his prosthetic and aimed directly at Remi's head. But before Barrett could follow through completely with the shot, Tseng had appeared and shot Barrett with one of the Turks' net guns.

"You're wanted alive, Mr. Wallace." said Tseng as he revealed his pistol.

"Put the gun down Tseng!" I said, holding my Quicksilver up against his back. "Now!"

"Well, well, if it isn't the Legendary Turk," said Remi as he approached the two of us. "Vincent Valentine, the fool who fell by Hojo and his lust for Lucrecia. What a shame." Elena showed up and began to whine because of Tseng's position. "Elena, quit whining. Vincent…lower your weapon and I won't shoot you…I promise."

"You think I'd back down to an eighteen year old? Mr. President, you have a lot to learn." I lowered my Quicksilver and drew out my triple barrel shotgun-pistol. One, two, three shots I fired at the young President, where Elena, inevitably, jumped in front of Remi to take the shots.

"Elena!" cried Tseng, whipping his pistol around towards me. Suddenly, as I whipped around my gun to face his, Yuffie's Conformer came flying between Remi and I and sliced through the barrel of his rifle. Elena was fine. Two of the shots nicked her in the arm and the last hit her in the foot. "Bastard!" cried Tseng again. He fired and clipped my metal arm.

"Freeze, Tseng!" said Barrett, now out of the net and aiming his gun arm at Tseng.

"I don't have time for this, said Remi, raising his left arm. Seven comets came out of the sky and hit Barrett and I. We were left to die on the field.

Morning came with the rising of the sun. Tifa still knelt in her spot, having not moved an inch, protecting Cloud's body. Yuffie, Nanaki, Cait Sith, and Cit were sitting down with some of the other leaders around a campfire. Barrett was still out cold as I rose. I dragged his heavy body over to the campfire and sat down myself.

"She won't budge," said Yuffie, looking at me.

"Apparently," began Nanaki, "Cloud left her his sword. And apparently he died with the last words of his love towards her. Ever since, Tifa hasn't moved."

"Damn shame too," said Cid, removing his cigarette. "Cloud was pretty cool I gotta' say. Quiet, but cool none the less."

"Where did Remi go?" I asked, holstering my guns.

"He left," said Cait Sith, "He went back to his office in Neo Midgar. He's planning to repair the Sister Ray and then to use it on Fort Condor."

"Reeve, what're you going to do about it?" I questioned him through his damn cat-toy.

"I can't do anything from here (referring to Wutai), Remi put Neo Midgar on a full lock down/full alert. The only way to penetrate Neo Midgar is from Cid's Shera, from an aerial attack. If you could infiltrate it that way then you may have a shot."

"Some help you are!" said Barrett, sitting up now. "Stupid cat!"

"Shut up, Barrett," I said, analyzing Neo Midgar from here. "Impossible."