A/N
I do not own Final Fantasy 7
It was like any other day. Not a single cloud hid the warming beams of the sun that shined above. Birds twirled and danced, serenading the people below with their charming melody. A pleasant breeze frolicked throughout the town and slipped through the opened windows of the bar. Tifa hummed happily as she wiped the counters. Cid was smoking the day away beside Cait Sith, the comfortable stuffed animal-like robot that was fast asleep on Red XIII's head. A smiling Barrett brought Marlene onto his lap who giggled and threw her arms around him.
"Hey, where's your little boy toy?" Barrett laughed loudly.
Tifa raised an eyebrow at the comment, but continued to smile.
"I'm not really sure. He's running late today," she shrugged. "He probably had extra deliveries to run."
Right then, the blonde threw the door open, leaped inside, and slammed the door shut, causing the walls to vibrate. Tifa looked up at him, a look of concern crossing her face.
"Cloud?"
He panted and tried to speak, but the energy was quickly fleeing his body while the oxygen refused to enter his stubborn lungs.
"We…need…to hide. Quickly!" he gasped.
She stepped away from the counter and rushed to his side, her hands grasping his arm.
"Why? What's wrong? Cloud," she reached up to his face to focus his attention on her, "what happened?"
Even though he was looking directly at her, his eyes seemed to be staring right past her. Sweat had gathered on his forehead and neck, causing the rays of sun to make his skin shine. Though, the shine was fading as Tifa realized the clouds were beginning to drown the sun, wrapping and sinking their claws into the vanishing orb. She stepped back and, to her horror, she heard everything go silent. She knew the people were running to their homes to hide; even the birds were long gone.
"Oh," she choked. "Oh no…"
Marlene curled closer to her dad and gripped onto her teddy bear.
"Daddy?" she whimpered.
Tifa snapped out of it and turned abruptly.
"Quickly! Everyone to the basement! Barrett, keep an eye on the kids."
Following orders, they each rushed to the basement. Red XIII stopped and turned to the brunette.
"Tifa, you must come with us!"
"I'll be down soon. I have to barricade the doors!" She grabbed blocks of wood. "Go and stay with the others!"
He hesitated, though listened and joined up with the others in the room below. Cloud was leaning against the wall, gasping for breath. Tifa hammered the boards into the wall, covering the door and blocking out any intruders.
"Cloud, it's going to be okay. Just tell me what happened."
He squinted and opened his mouth, yet the sentence came out only in fragments and pieces.
"A blur… I-I didn't…I didn't see it coming…Moved so fast…"
She nodded.
"I thought so."
She continued to hammer at the wood over and over, but suddenly stopped.
"Wait. Where is Vincent?"
Cloud peered up at her with a look of uncertainty. Her eyes widened and the hammer fell from her hand.
The streets were bare. Everything was silent. Life had completely abandoned the town. Black hair and a tattered red cloak glided around each corner in search of anyone who could possibly be found.
No one.
Vincent stopped to evaluate when his phone shrieked. He flipped the small device open and shoved it to his ear.
"Vincent!" The broken voice on the other side cried.
"Tifa?" he assumed. He was not certain, though, because the call was coming and going.
"Vinc—you need to get—quickly... she got…ouble—resso…"
The call ended.
He lowered the phone, closing it with a sense of uncertainty resting upon him. His mind reviewed the call he had just received and thought threw the facts. The caller was definitely Tifa. And she sounded frantic. But why? And who was 'she', the one Tifa had referred too during the short conversation? The last phrase he had caught was certainly vague. Ouble—resso? What did that even mean?
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something leap into the alley. He spun around, his hand resting on his gun.
Dead silence.
He frowned, though felt his spine stiffen as the hair on his neck rose. Spinning around, he barely managed to catch sight of a person with short, black hair. He also saw what appeared to be an x-shaped weapon on the being's back. He called out the name of the only person he recognized with this description.
"Yuffie?"
Without warning, the figure leapt onto him like an animal and brought him to the ground. It was certainly Yuffie, the familiar shuriken and tan shorts accompanied by the black top and fishnet-covered arms. But something was off. Her hair was ruffled, her breath was rugged, and above all, she had the eyes of a deranged beast that could to strike terror into the hearts of someone who had the unfortunate luck of crossing her path. And that someone happened to be Vincent Valentine.
"Yuffie," he stuttered. "What happened to you?"
His question was answered as her backpack fell off of her back and out rolled dozens of foreign containers. His gauntlet groped across the cement and retrieved one of them. Bringing it to the light, his eyes widened. Crimson eyes met the shadowy black lettering. It was a Starbucks Double-Shot Espresso.
He gasped and tried to stand, but she shoved her hands against his chest and ceased his struggle. He would have put a bet on Cerberus; he was that sure that he had seen her eyes go in opposite directions.
"I've been looking for you," she exclaimed wildly, bringing her face close to his. "Vincent…" her voice purred with caffeinated venom.
Not far away, Cloud sat with a pair of binoculars, watching the entire scene unfold through a window in the bar.
"Poor Vincent," he sighed. "I guess he couldn't make out your phone call that was warning him that Yuffie had managed to drink thirty-two double-shot espressos."
Tifa shook her head sympathetically, yet jumped when a shrill scream shattered the air. Cloud's jaw dropped while Tifa rushed up behind him.
"Oh, my word! I know Yuffie is a handful when she is hyper, but what did Vincent do to her to cause her to scream like that?"
"Uh, Tifa?"
She faced Cloud.
"What?"
He pointed slowly.
"That was Vincent screaming…"
A/N
HA-HA! Okay, this was, by far, my favorite final fantasy piece I have ever written! I didn't want to give anything away so I sort of kept the description vague. I have to say though, I feel bad for Vincent. Who knows what Yuffie did to him XD
Yuffie + 32 double-shot espressos = mass destruction :D
Well, I hope you enjoyed and remember to leave your reviews. I cannot wait to hear what you thought of it XD
Oh, and I didn't want to give too much info away in the beginning, so here is another disclaimer.
I do NOT own Starbucks or the double-shot espresso. Yuffie does. Ha-ha just kidding!