Brave New World

Prologue: Midgar

"Hurry, quickly. We don't have much time!" Tifa Lockheart could barely hear her own shouts over the streaming crowds of people that hurdled past her, bodies shoving her too and fro as they flooded into the three massive doors that led down into the massive network of tunnels beneath the city of Midgar. She recognized clothing styles from across the world from Neibelheim to Wutai, all driven here in a desperate attempt for survival against an enemy no one could quite figure out how to fight.

There was a chirp at her hip, and then the cell phone tucked into the front pocket of her black apron started to ring. She fished it out even as she shoved her way towards the edge of the crowd, putting the phone to one ear as she pressed her gloved hand into the other. "What?!" She had to shout the word, and even then she wasn't sure whoever was on the other end could hear her. The phones hadn't been working right for days.

"Tifa, if you're there, it's Elena," the female turks voice was distant and hazy, barely audible over the crowd. "Rufus and Cid have got the Sister Ray working, and that storm is almost here. You've got five minutes to get the rest of those people underground."

"Wait! We need more-" Tifa started to respond, but Elena was already gone. Tifa wasn't sure whether they had been cut off, or the young Turk had just hung up on her. Shinra's secret service agents had never been much for conversation.

The former bartender slipped her phone back into her pocket and started to climb up onto a nearby pile of boxes, kneeling on top so she could survey the rest of the crowd. There were maybe a thousand people still out there, but they were making good time. Not that being underground is going to save these people if we can't stop that storm…

Across the crowd, she could see the former thief, Yuffie Kisaragi, helping an old woman into the tunnels, and she lifted a hand to get the others attention, and then tapped her wrist and held up five fingers. She would have shouted the time, but the odds of being heard over the crowd were…slim. The ninja woman just nodded her head and went back to her work.

Then suddenly the entire metal city seemed to vibrate, and gave a deep, resonante 'gong' sound that nearly knocked Tifa off her perch. High above, with a grinding of gears that had not been used in years, the massive Sister Ray canon began to rotate around the ruins of the Shinra Building, spinning painfully towards Kalm.

--

A mile or so above the city, Shera Highwind steadied the controls on the Reconciliation, the latest of her husband, Cid's, airships and her own personal transport. Out the massive front window, she could barely make out the form of Red Thirteen, the massively intelligent tiger-man that had befriended Cid and the others back during the Meteor crisis.

The cat was perched on the very tip of the airship, crouched down, his unwavering gaze fixed on the distant horizon, where the rooftops of Kalm dotted the coast, and beyond it, the massive stretch of sea that eventually led all the way to Wutai. He'd been there for almost half a day, unmoving, unblinking…it was a job that only he could do, really. To be the first to give the warning when...

Elena frowned, her thoughts trailing off as she realized that his distant form was actually getting larger…and after a moment, she could tell he was barreling towards the center of the ship and the doorway into the command room. A second later he burst through the twin doors and slid to a stop on the wooden floor, claws scraping as he tried to steady himself.

"It is here," his guttural voice echoed through the room, and Shera couldn't resist the shiver that ran up her spine, even as she was scooping her radio up from the control panel.

The small device emitted a burst of static when she clicked it on, and she had to yank her ear away, but once it had settled she brought it to her lips. "Cid?"

After a count of five, the receiver crackled to life. "Shera, honey, you alright up there?" Cid's voice was tired but strong, and had that faintly muffled quality that meant he was talking with a cigarette in his mouth. She'd tried to get him to stop, normally she would have chastised him, but it didn't seem worth the effort today.

"I'm fine, Cid. Listen, Red's back inside. He says it's here. I think we're out of time."

There was a long pause, and Shera could almost make out the sounds of arguing voices in the background as she pressed the radio into her ear. And then Cid was back. "Alright, we're gonna go in five. You and the boys get ready. And be careful."

"Alright. Love you." Shera's voice dropped to a whisper as she said this last bit, and she let her eyes close.

"I love you too." Cid was almost as quiet, and there was a long pause before the radio clicked silent. Shera held in a breath and then carefully set her own microphone down and turned towards her controls. A pair of switches were thrown, and her voice stretched out to the three dozen airships hovering in the skies around her. It was a mixed force, mostly Highwind built airships with half a dozen remaining Shinra ships and helicopters mixed in.

"Alright people, this is it. Arm your ships, we go in five."

--

"So, you think it'll work? I think it'll work. It's gonna work."

Cloud did not respond to the quick, nervous words of the red headed turk standing next to him, his eyes intent on the city far below, where Tifa and the others were herding the last of the survivors down below the city. He'd wanted to be down there, helping, but it made sense for someone to be up here, to keep an eye on Cid. Rufus might have turned over a new leaf, but that didn't mean Cloud completely trusted him. Not yet.

They were standing on one of the observation platforms that ringed the Sister Ray command terminal, the canon rotating slowly beneath them, its shadow drifting over the few remaining plate sections and the distant slums beneath. As the canon rotated, the platform vibrated just a tad, making Cloud's muscles want to fidget. But he kept his arms crossed, staring down at the city. He was not going to end up dancing around like Reno was doing.

"It's totally going to work. I just wish we could've tried in Junon," Reno went on, and joined his words now with a faint, nervous tapping of his baton against the metal railing, making a quiet 'ping' noise over and over. "But with all eight of the old Mako plants running again, it's totally going to work."

Cloud grimaced at that, he hadn't wanted to bring the old machines back online, but it was the only way to power the Sister Ray…and honestly, there didn't seem to be any other options besides the giant canon.

"So, you think it'll work? I think-" Reno was saved from starting his rambling over once more by the sound of footsteps behind, and both men turned to see Rude standing at the bottom of the platform stairs. The bald turk pointed his gloved hand over his shoulder, peering up at them over the tops of his ever-present sunglasses. "That cat says we've got incoming. It should be on the outer cameras in a minute or so."

"Well, finally." Reno smirked and started towards his partner, tapping his baton against the metal railing next to him every couple of feet. "This is going to work, you know."

Rude just shrugged and turned his gaze on Cloud. "Are you coming?"

Cloud turned back to look down at the city one more time, then nodded and followed the two turks back towards central control.

--

In the control room, Cid Highwind was half-buried in wires and cables as he sat on the floor next to the central hub for the Sister Ray, carefully checking each connection one last time before he was satisfied. Rufus Shinra, the president of the almost-defunct Shinra Corporation, was sitting nearby checking the various computers that made all the wires actually do something.

It had been madness to think they could get the broken weapon working again, and yet…in three weeks, between the remains of Shinra's once massive workforce and Cid's own people working triple shifts, there it was. The barrel wasn't quite as long as it used to be, but otherwise…it should work.

Somewhere behind, he could hear several of the Turks speaking in hushed tones, Tseng and Elena and that red headed woman he didn't recognize, who had turned up a few weeks previously when they'd first begun getting word of…well…of the world coming to an end. Sissy or something. Cissnei. That was it. She'd been one of the first to warn them about the storm.

"Cid, are the monitors working?" Cloud's voice dragged him away from his wires for a moment, and he half-turned to shrug at the approaching blonde man.

"Maybe? They were earlier but that don't mean shit around here. I yanked out a bunch of…something…" He held up a fistful of purple wires. "So they might be down. Try the switch over there. Big and grey." He pointed a gloved finger at a nearby panel and then turned back to the last few of his wires.

There was a hum of electricity, the always-recognizable non-sound of a television screen turning on, and then all the quiet talking in the room went silent. After a few seconds, Rude's voice broke the moment, as he reached up to take his sunglasses off.

"Wow."

Cid set the wires down and twisted around, intent on seeing whatever had driven the almost always calm, emotionless turk to such surprise. A large monitor screen hung on cables high above Rufus's workstation, and on it they could see the town of Kalm, a rooftop view from just inside the now-empty coastal town. Beyond the houses and the distant wall, the ocean should have stretched out for miles and miles.

Instead, there was only a massive black storm stretching from one end of the horizon to the other, and from the top of the water straight up as high as the camera could see. Inside it, lightning raged and black clouds boiled together. It was racing across the water like a giant, unstoppable wall.

"The camera is on the roof of the city's outer wall, closest to us." Elena said suddenly, her young but almost always steady voice tinged with fear. "Whatever it is, it's now covering seventy percent of the planet. And it's almost here."

Cid tore his eyes away from the image and went back to his cables, checking each one quickly before jamming them into the panel. Behind him, he could hear Reno muttering to Rude.

"This is gonna work. We're totally gonna stop it."

--

Cloud said nothing as the Turks around him began speaking to each other again, tuning out their voices as he watched the monitor that displayed the edge of Kalm, and the approaching…whatever it was. People had begun calling it the Great Storm, and he couldn't help but think the term fit. Whatever it was, wherever it had come from, it certainly looked like-

He frowned, eyes narrowing as something moved on the monitor. Not the storm, something closer…near the top of Kalm's outer wall at the far edge of the screen. "We evacuated Kalm, right?" He asked, glancing over at Tseng and the other turks.

"Yes, the day before yesterday. Kalm and Junon and Fort Condor, all the cities on the continent are empty. Everyone is here." The Turks leader confirmed, and Cloud turned back to the monitor, taking a few steps towards it and staring at the shadowy movement. He was sure it was a figure, running along the top of the wall.

"Well, someone is still there." He came to a stop just under the monitor, peering up at it…and then his eyes went wide and he tugged out his phone, staring at the familiar flash of black and red on the screen.

He pressed a speed-dial and put the device to his ear, and a moment later heard the reassuring ring that meant it was still working. The figure on the wall stopped moving, and after a second someone picked up the other end of the line.

"What do you want, Cloud?" The deep, quick voice of Vincent Valentine was easy to identify, even through the static of the phones.

"Vincent, what are you doing? You need to get back to the city, you're going to be killed."

"I'm going to try Chaos. It stopped Omega, after all. It is worth a shot."

"No, it isn't. We're got the Sister Ray running, just come on home, alright? The canon can do more damage than you can."

"Sorry Cloud, I have to try. If this doesn't work, tell Shelke I'm sorry." And then the line went dead, and Cloud turned to stare at his phone. He considered calling the man back, but…he knew that he wouldn't answer.

"That's Valentine out there, huh?" Reno came up next to Cloud as the blonde man turned back to the monitor, tapping his baton against his shoulder lightly. "What's he doing?"

"He's going to try and stop it." Cloud said as he slipped his phone back into his pocket and crossed his arms again. The other Turks all came up next to the pair, their eyes glued to the screen.

Vincent was running again, and he came to a stop on the edge of the wall right in the center of the view, which was probably the center of the city. The storm was almost there, perhaps a hundred yards out to sea now, but Cloud's eyes were only on his friend. The distant red and black figure seemed to shimmer and fade, and there was a small explosion of blue and purple light…and then the winged Harbinger, Chaos, launched himself from the wall of the city and flew straight towards the storm.

Cloud was never sure exactly what sort of powers Chaos had…whatever they were, Vincent had used them to stop Omega, perhaps he was right? Maybe it could work. He found himself holding his breath, hands tensing where they were pressed into the folds of his arms.

On the screen, a circle of blue energy formed around the figure as he shot towards the storm, growing larger and larger, like a massive swirling bullet. It was perhaps a hundred yards across when it struck the front of the mass of clouds, and the whole screen exploded in blue and white energy, causing the whole group to turn their eyes away.

As the light faded, they all turned back…A chunk of Kalm's wall was gone, and a large crater stretched out where beach and ground had been, the water from the ocean pouring in…but the storm itself seemed unaffected, now almost to the shoreline.

"Damn, that looked like it worked," Elena whispered. Cloud said nothing, just staring at the spot where his friend had disappeared. The storm hit the coast, rolling across the beach and up into Kalm, buildings vanishing into the darkness. A moment later, the darkness overtook the camera, and the screen went dead.

"How much time do we have until it gets here?" The other female turk, Cessnei, asked.

"Ten minutes. Maybe."

--

"Everything is set. We can fire whenever you want." Cid called out as he plugged the last of the wires into the control panel and closed it up.

"One minute then, people! Call the fleet, let them know." Rufus called out without looking up from his panel, his fingers racing across the controls. The Shinra president had never thought he'd actually MISS Scarlet or Hiedigger, but those two had always been better with weapons than anyone he'd ever known.

But still…he was pretty sure they'd put it back together right.

--

The last of the civilians had just disappeared down into the tunnels when the distant hum of power began to roll through the city, and Tifa and Yuffie turned from where they were standing in front of the only remaining door down into the tunnels to peer up at the Sister Ray.

"They're gonna fire it!" Yuffie said, a grin on her face. "When Rufus suggested this, I thought he was crazy, but it should work!"

"I hope you're right." Tifa nodded her head. Far above them, the massive canon twitched backwards almost like a rifle, and fired, the green beam of energy lancing outwards.

--

"Everything's in the green." Cid called out, but no one was listening, all eyes intent on the distant skyline. The Storm was visible now to the naked eye, racing across the land towards them. The energy from the Sister Ray slammed into the storm, cutting through the clouds like a knife, and a moment later a hundred lasers and rockets from the airship fleet high above joined it.

For a moment, the storm seemed to slow, buckling backwards upon itself like a wave breaking against the rocks…but then it began moving again, slower than before, but steadily approaching.

"It's not working. We need to-" Reno started to speak, but Cloud suddenly lifted up a hand to stop him.

"Wait, look." He pointed out towards the broken and dead brown earth that surrounded the city.

As they watched, the long-dead soil wrenched itself apart, splintering and shattering in a dozen places, and from it burst long, streaming green strands of energy, stretching up towards the sky like strange, transparent tentacles. It surged out, a thousand feet off the ground, a wave of energy that twisted and turned and then rolled towards the storm just under the Sister Ray's beam.

Sorry we're late.

A voice in Cloud's head, distant and familiar and sad, and the blonde man actually took a half-step backwards in surprise. "Aeris?" He whispered the word, and no one else seemed to notice.

"It's the lifestream!" Elena said, the happiness obvious in her voice. "It stopped meteor, right? It should be able to stop this!"

There were nods of agreement from some in the room, as Cid walked up to Cloud, coming to a stop next to him and tugging his cigarette from between his lips.

"You think it's her?" The gruff man asked, and Cloud just nodded his head.

The wave of green energy slammed into the storm, and the mass of black clouds reeled backwards, driven further on by the Sister Ray and the weapons from above. It seemed to buckle and surge, sliding back almost to where Kalm had stood, and then even further, showing only barren land where the town had once stood. Still, there was an almost collective sigh of relief amongst those gathered in the control room.

"It's working. I told you it would work," Reno said, a grin evident on his face. He lifted up his baton to point it towards the storm. "See? Some stupid storm can't stand up to good old shinra engine…"

Suddenly, the entire platform lurched forward, and below them the Sister Ray canon seemed to shimmer and buckle, the metal twisting and curling as if it could no longer contain the energy it was focusing. Sparks began bursting from the panels around them, and the entire group retreated back towards the far end of the platform and the elevator.

"What's happening?" Cloud shouted at Cid, but the older man just shook his head. A second later, the canon gave an almost pathetic sounding groan of metal and shut down.

"It was a miracle it worked at all," Cid said softly, and the whole group turned to watch the storm again. With the beam of energy gone, the storm was slowly collecting itself into the hole that had been cut through it. The lifeforce was still pounding against it, trying to hold it in place…but something had changed.

"We should get you to the underground, Sir." Tseng came up and took Rufus by the arm, and a moment later he and the other Turks were running back towards the platforms that could take them beneath the city, leaving Cloud and Cid standing there watching the battle between the two massive energies. The airships were still firing, but most of them had exhausted their weapons, and were even now turning back towards Midgar, intent on finding the same safety others hoped could be found underground.

"There's the Reconciliation. I better go meet Shera," Cid said, turning to follow after the Turks, and Cloud just nodded, never blinking as he watched the distant battle.

Once the others were gone, he walked to the edge of the platform, ignoring the sparking machines. When he'd seen the lifeforce emerge, he'd been relieved…but now he was just concerned. The storm was no longer approaching, but it was not retreating either. The green energy of the planet was just…holding it in check. And for how long could it do that, really?

As if queued by his thoughts, the green wave suddenly buckled backwards upon itself, splashing backwards across the land. There was a terrible shriek in Cloud's mind, the voice all too familiar, and then the black storm washed across the lifeforce and swallowed it up like everything else.

And then it was racing towards the city again, but…faster than before, much faster. Cloud turned to run, then stopped and stared at the storm. It was much too fast, he'd never even make it to the elevators. A gloved hand drew his cell phone from his pocket, and he pressed the speed-dial button for Tifa, bringing it to his ear.

He had just enough time to hear it ring, once.

--

Far below the city, Tifa was racing through the metal tunnels with Yuffie at her side. The two of them had come inside the moment the Sister Ray had shut down…they had no idea if it worked or not, but it was pointless to stand there waiting to find out. Tifa slid to a stop though when her cell rang, and tugged it out of her pocket.

The screen flashed 'Cloud' for a moment…and then switched to the 'missed call' screen, and she frowned at it.

"Tifa, we have to keep moving." Yuffie slid to a stop a bit further down the hall, spinning around on one foot to face her.

"Cloud called me…but it cut off." Tifa pressed her speed-dial, calling the blonde haired man back, but after a moment just received a steady busy signal. And even that went dead, as the screen suddenly said there was no service.

"…I don't think it worked." She said softly, closing the phone. And then suddenly the walls around them were…melting? Fading and buckling, and the floor tossed both women into the air. Far up the tunnel, there was a sound like some ancient animal roaring, and then the storm raced down the passage, enveloping them both, and everything went white.

Tifa had no idea how much time had passed when she woke up, but from the feel of the warm light beating down on her face, her mind immediately decided she wasn't in Midgar. Dead, maybe? Maybe. Brown eyes opened slowly and she sat up, wincing in pain. Every muscle in her body felt like she'd been working out for hours…she hadn't felt this sore since the early days of her training.

Still, as the pain receeded she took stock…she was sitting on a rather pretty white sand beach that bordered a long green field. Beyond it stood a massive mountain range that almost reminded her of the mountains outside Midgar, except they were too tall…and there was a massive tower of earth and stone jutting out of the side of one of the cliffs, as if it had been thrown there like a spear.

At the base of the mountain sat a smaller structure, it was hard to tell from this distance, but it looked like a large white building with a…spinning yellow ring hovering around its stop? It was like nothing she had ever seen before.

Where am I?

(( Author's Note: Work in progress, obviously. Chapter 1 up in a few days, I hope. Feel free to comment! Yes, it's a crossover…no, it's not a normal crossover. I could use a decent beta reader, if anyone is interested. ))