Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy or any of the characters or a Cadillac. Uhm, this story contains spoilers which means you probably should play the game first…unless you're lazy
Introducing…
It was a dark and stormy night in the middle of the summer when the group known as AVALANCHE made their way inside the Gold Saucer. It had been awhile since they had actually set foot inside the place, but that made no difference, as they could never forget the events that took place there. It was a while ago yes, but who could forget any of it, that was simply not possible. Still, they marched on because tonight they were here for a very different reason and no one would dare ruin it for anything.
"Cloud, why are we here again?" whined Yuffie, kicking a nearby soda can.
"Ok, I'll explain it one more time. We're supposed to meet a well-known revolutionary at the battle square. He's hired us to carry out something for him. I don't know what it is because he only told me that he would give the details on arrival. He's paying us a good chunk of change and I want us all to do our best because we need this money," he explained.
"Do you know the guys name?" asked Tifa.
"He's supposed to be the most hunted revolutionary in the world. His known name is uh…I forget…Slash something I think maybe," Cloud said, trying to remember the name.
"Who cares, lets just go meet him and get our money," Barret said, folding his arms.
"Let's split up, something is odd here and we should take different positions in case something goes down," Vincent murmured, walking off.
"Well, I'll take uhm…" Cloud started.
"Red, you go with Cloud, Barret with Cid and Cait Sith," Tifa ordered. "Yuffie and I will go to the battle arena."
"Alright, you heard her, move out," Cloud repeated, a little annoyed at her taking over his decision like that.
The group dispersed to their partners and took leave of each other. Cloud and Red went to the Wonder Square and the rest moved to the main gallery. Tifa and Yuffie shortly appeared at the entrance of Battle Square.
"Hmm, no one out here yet," Tifa said, looking around.
"Yuk, it's raining, can we stand somewhere less wet?" Yuffie complained.
"Fine. Here, over under this eave. We'll just stand here and wait for this guy," she replied.
The two girls stood there for nearly 45 minutes before a massive group of people came running up the stairs. The two looked through the group with their eyes for anyone suspicious looking but no one was even remotely different looking than the rest.
"Have you seen him yet?" a little girl asked Tifa.
"Seen who?" she asked, confused.
"Orion, who else?" the little girl said, kinda angry.
"Who is Orion?" Yuffie wondered.
"Oh my god, you don't know? Orion is only the most famous person in the universe, he's killed like a thousand people!" she replied.
The crowd ran inside and a slash of lightening slit through the sky. A shadowed figure appeared and approached the girls after the thunder sounded.
"Are you from AVALANCHE?" it asked.
"Depends, are you Slash?" Tifa asked in return.
"Yes, where are the others?" Slash questioned, looking about for more of them.
"Elsewhere, are you going to give us more detail on our mission?" Yuffie sighed impatiently.
"Yes, I will but perhaps we should move to a much safer location. You see, being as wanted as I am, I could be being watched as we speak," Slash said, looking around a bit.
"Well, where to then? How about a more public place like Wonder Square," Tifa suggested.
"Yes, that will do, let us go to the center of the square and talk there," he agreed, walking down the stairs.
"He looks like a pro," Yuffie said after he went through the portal.
"Well, I hear he's the number two wanted man in the world," Tifa spoke, walking down the stairs herself.
"Number two? So who is number one wanted?" asked Yuffie, curiously.
Tifa stopped at the last step then turned her head slightly back. "Sephiroth."
Another streak of lightening lit the sky and Tifa hopped down off the last step, Yuffie following her down.
Down at Wonder Square, Cloud was practicing his snowboarding skills on the snowboarding simulator. Red sat beside him and looked at his movements before speaking.
"Cloud, we are supposed to be looking around for Slash and not playing games," he reminded.
"Oy, don't be such a bore Red, who's the leader of the team?" Cloud asked, still snowboarding.
"Well, you are, but I…" started Red.
"No buts, I'm the leader and I make the decisions so what I say goes," Cloud snapped, interrupting the red lion.
"Well, I'm going to go look for him in any case," Red said.
"Go ahead, I don't care," Cloud retorted.
Red just sighed and turned around, walking off to the door. He stopped in the tunnel to peer out of the window in hopes to see someone suspicious looking enough to be Slash. After a few seconds, a man jumped out of the Battle Arena portal with a cloak and a blade on his belt. Immediately, Red began to head towards the downstairs portal at great speed. That is, until he saw Tifa and Yuffie come out of the Battle Arena portal as well. Thinking that they were with the man who was most likely Slash, Red stood his ground and kept a very eyeful watch on the trio.
"Ok, now will you tell us what the mission is?" Yuffie pushed.
"Yes. As you know, I'm a revolutionary and I want the fall of the Shinra Empire. I have a few resources to get what I want and the tools but no one to use them. In other words, I need trained and fully qualified professional fighters to help me complete my plan," the man explained.
"So, you heard about us and asked us to meet you here to discuss the plan," Tifa said, brushing a hair from her face.
"Almost correct," he said in return.
"You have a bounty on your head right?" asked Yuffie.
"Yes, I do, 5,000,000gil to be exact," Slash said, smiling sort of.
"Why smile? How did you get that much placed on you?" questioned Tifa.
"Well, let's just say I've been responsible for numerous attacks on Shinra troops, Mako Reactors and even Midgar itself. I also have been sought after for attempts on the life of the President himself and his son Rufus," he smiled.
"President is dead, Rufus is the one in charge and he's dead too not to mention the whole entire company is pretty much dead now…so why try to keep fighting the Shinra?" asked Yuffie.
"You are right but just because both of them are dead it does not mean others will not take their place…besides, you just never know," the man answered.
"You understand that technically we could turn you in for the reward," Yuffie reminded.
"Indeed, but who is to say you would actually receive that reward? I on the other hand can pay you now," Slash promised, pulling out a wad of bills.
"Hmm, why should we trust you? We don't have any reason to and what if you decide to turn your back on us at the last second? We can't have that happening," Yuffie interrogated.
"You know what…you're right and I'm surprised you figured it out that quickly because you see…I'm not Slash at all," the man chuckled.
"Huh? You mean, you're a fake!" exclaimed Tifa.
"That's right," he chuckled even more.
"But…why lie?" Tifa asked.
"Heh…because I hate people like you all. Always doing the right thing…destroying companies like Shinra…keeping the world behind in every way," he spat. "Losers…"
"Why you…" Yuffie said, reaching for her shuriken.
"Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you," he spoke, pulling out a gun. "It just wouldn't be wise if you know what I mean."
"Damn…so what are you gonna do with us?" Tifa asked.
"Well, we're going to go gather up the rest of your gang and then take you out to my plane I was given to haul you away," he explained, pushing them ahead of him.
"Oh no, they are in trouble, I have to go get Cloud!" Red shouted, running to go get Cloud.
The man pushed them again, harder this time making Tifa her fall to her knees.
"Get up you or I'll introduce your brains to light," he snapped at her.
"Then why don't you stop pushing me you bastard!" she shouted back.
"Hmm, I WAS gonna let you live but seeing to how you don't want to listen I think I'll just plug you right now," he said, aiming the gun right at her forehead. "Say goodnight!"
"Goodnight," called a voice from nowhere.
The fake looked around for the source of the voice but saw nothing. "What? Where are you?"
"Everywhere," the voice said again.
"Come out damn you!" the fake yelled.
"As you wish."
A calm breeze began to blow through the area and the moon shown through the glass ceiling. The breeze was quiet but soon began to pick up speed. Everyone looked around but saw no one anywhere as the wind blew very fierce.
"What is this!" Yuffie shouted, getting on her stomach in protection.
"I don't know! But it's not good!" Tifa shouted back.
Then, the wind stopped altogether and it was quiet once again. Lightening streaked through the sky and a loud crashing sound was heard as a shadow broke through the glass ceiling and moved down at the fake.
"What the! Who!" he yelped as the shadowed figure produced two long, shiny swords.
The shadow flew down at the fake and swiped his swords twice at the man before landing behind him.
"H…how…." muttered the fake as his body fell to pieces and blood spurted out all over the place, mainly on Tifa and also some on Yuffie.
The figure remained in his stance for a few seconds before standing up fully and sheathing his swords on his back.
"W…wow!" Yuffie exclaimed.
Tifa slowly looked up at the figure and noticed his golden eyes shining down at her.
"Wh…who are you?" she asked, still in shock.
"No one. Farewell," he said, winking at her and Yuffie then vanishing completely.
Tifa just sat there, pretty much in awe and drenched with blood. Yuffie on the other hand was more excited than a pit bull in a meat factory. Tifa began to wipe her face off with a handkerchief and the same group of people who they had seen earlier came in and crowded around the scene.
"Oh man! We missed him!" that same little girl who had told Tifa about a person named Orion said in frustration.
"Are you sure it was him?" a small boy with a red cap on asked.
"Who else could have done something like this," another boy said.
"Good point, but we still missed him," the other boy said.
Tifa and Yuffie watched the three talk to each other and the rest search the area for some kind of memento. After a few minutes, a girl with an "Orion is the best" shirt came up to Tifa and tapped her on her shoulder. Tifa, who was still sitting down, turned her head to the side and asked what it was the girl wanted.
"Uhm…hi, di…di di…did you see…ee…sse…Orr...ionnn?" the little girl stuttered.
"I don't know who that is, what does he look like?" Tifa asked, standing up.
"Well, he wears this dark colored cloak and armor with two swords across his back," the boy with the cap on described.
"Swords?" asked Tifa.
"Yes, two of them almost like the Masamune blade but made of materia. People say they were created specially for himself but no one knows it for sure," the second boy told.
"That must have been him then. He came out of nowhere and just sliced this guy up really good then left," Tifa clarified.
"You're lucky, you should have got his autograph while he was here," the other little girl said, running off. The others followed her through the Speed Square portal leaving only Tifa, Yuffie and two people in yellow costumes behind. Soon thereafter, Cloud and Red came through the window tunnel and down to the base floor where Tifa and Yuffie were.
"Yuck, what happened to you?" Cloud asked, looking at Tifa.
"I had an accident," she said back a bit annoyed at his tone.
"Where is that fake?" Red questioned, looking around.
"He's here, and there and over there and just about any place you see blood," Yuffie giggled.
"Did one of you kill him?" Cloud asked, doubtingly.
"No for your information, an assassin named Orion did no thanks to you," Tifa spat.
"Hey, I was busy alright? Who is this Orion anyways?" Cloud inquired, tapping his foot.
"Let's just get back to the Highwind so we can clean ourselves off and then we'll explain the whole thing," Tifa insisted.
"Alright, let's round up the others and head back," Cloud agreed, taking out the PHS.
Tifa and him hopped through the Station portal and Red moved towards it too.
"Aren't you coming Yuffie?" he asked.
"Yeah, in a minute," she replied.
Red jumped through the portal, leaving Yuffie behind.
"Orion eh? Hmm…" she thought, jumping through the portal too.
Back at the Highwind, everyone was gathered around Yuffie who was telling the whole story to the group vividly. Tifa was in the bathroom, cleaning off the blood left behind by the assassin's appearance. Vincent was nowhere around naturally and Cid was doing some repairs on one of the Highwind's engines along with Shera.
"So this guy drops out of no where from the sky and WHOOSH SLICE SHRIP SLASH!!! He cut that fake dude right into pieces!!!" Yuffie said excitedly.
Cloud was slightly annoyed that he had missed so much and that someone else saved Tifa's life and not him.
"Then what?" asked Cloud as he tossed a materia orb in his hand.
"Well he turned to me and winked! He said I was cute!" she yelled happily.
"He did not Yuffie," said Tifa, walking out of the bathroom using a towel to dry her face. "All he did was kill a guy, wink at me and Yuffie then vanish into thin air."
"Well from what I saw, he also saved your life Tifa," added Vincent, appearing from nowhere.
"You were there?" she asked unbelievingly.
"Yes, I saw you two jump through the Battle Arena portal because I was there also. I followed you but not through the portal. I went another way and watched everything from the shadows," the ex-Turk enlightened.
Tifa was kind of shocked but was soon shaken from it at the sound of Cloud mumbling something. Cloud sat down on the stool beside him and clinched the materia hard.
"So what am I supposed to do about it? Give the guy a medal? I don't think so. We don't even know who he is or what he is! He sounds like trouble and we don't need any more enemies. And you, you sound like your all excited about it!" he spat, chucking the orb across the room at Yuffie.
Yuffie, thanks to her ninja skills was able to dodge the orb with ease and watched it as it bounced right off the wall and right into Tifa's head. Somebody yelled watch out and that was the last thing she heard before the contact. It completely knocked her out and she fell to the ground with a thud. She didn't wake up until a few hours later and noticed everyone standing around her.
"Wh…where am I? Wh…who are all of you?" she spoke in a voice that trembled a bit.
"We're AVALANCHE" replied Cloud. "Don't you remember us?"
"AV…AL…ANCHE? Oh yeah! That resistance group!" she shouted.
Cloud shook his head sadly. "Think harder, remember you are Tifa Lockheart from Nibelheim?"
"Well yeah, but how do you know that?" she asked, doubting him.
"I know more than that. Your mother died when you were very young, you went to the Nibel Mountains to see if you could find her spirit," he said to her.
"You also have a final limit break called Final Heaven and own a bar in Midgar," Barrett noted.
"And you met Sephiroth and a soldier named Zack about 6 years ago now and fought against Sephiroth in the Mt. Nibel Mako Reactor after he burned down your town and murdered your father" Yuffie also added.
Tifa jumped up in a defensive stance and clinched her fist ready to punch.
"Who are all of you and how do you know so much about me!" she exclaimed.
"We're your friends Tifa, just try to calm down," Cloud said calmly.
"Cl…Cloud is that you?" she asked.
"Yes, it is me" he replied.
"Oh my god! It is! I can't believe you came back after 5 years!" she said just before losing consciousness once again.
"She has amnesia it looks like," said Shera.
"We probably should take her to a doctor, there should be one in Kalm" said Cid.
Cloud grabbed Cid by the collar. "Let's go then!"
"Alright man, just calm your #$ down and let go of me," Cid said, releasing himself.
Shera brought out a cup of tea and kneeled down to Tifa to give her a sip to wake her up.
"Mmmmm, that is so strong," Tifa said as she opened her eyes slightly.
"Take it easy, you have amnesia. We're taking you to Kalm to find a doctor," Shera said softly.
Cloud kissed Tifa's hand. "We've been through so much, I won't let you forget it all."
Tifa looked at him funny and then took his hand in hers. "I can tell we have just by looking at your face, you must be a special person."
"You are special to me Tifa," Cloud whispered, kissing her hand once more.
"Oh please…" Yuffie sighed.
"Yuffie be quiet, you should be more supportive especially in times like this," Red lectured.
"What for? They don't support me," she reminded.
"That's not the point and that is very selfish you know," Shera pointed out. "You never show any love or anything towards any of us."
"I know but…" she stumbled.
"Yea' Yuffie, either be mo' supportive or just getch'ya ass outta here," Barrett stated.
"I'll take care of you Tifa, we'll fix this…I promise…" Cloud sighed, kissing her cheek.
"You guys are disgusting, I hope I never fall in love, blech," cried Yuffie.
"That's it! Shut up! You'll never have to worry about it. No one would ever want to fall in love with a snot nosed, bratty, annoying, disrespectful little bitch like you! All you ever do is complain and bitch about everything! If you can't contribute then do what Barrett said and just leave because WE DON'T NEED YOU!" snapped Cloud glaring at her with his blue Mako eyes and growling a bit.
Yuffie was shocked…and everyone glared at her.
"I…I…(sniff)…you're right…" she said back to him before turning and running off the ship into the fields, leaving only a few stray tears to flicker in the wind.
Cait Sith looked at him and spoke up. "I don't like Yuffie that much either but don't you think that was a little harsh?"
Cloud simply shrugged and turned back to Tifa. "Let's go," he said.
Cid grumbled a bit before moving to the controls. Red spoke up and asked if they should just leave Yuffie there like that.
"She doesn't do anything but bitch and complain…just leave her," Barret said.
Everyone nodded and the huge ship left, leaving the young ninja on her own.
Yuffie ran through the fields, shedding tears, and not realizing where she was going. Eventually she came to the top of a hill and stopped for a second.
"I HATE YOU ALL!!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as the Highwind flew by. She continued to run but tripped and tumbled all the way down the hill, landing with a thump. Afterwards she just lied there crying, not only because of her hurt heart but also now because of her fall.
"Everyone hates me…I wish I were dead…" she sniffed.
She continued to cry softly as a calm breeze blew over her face. The breeze blew back again and took the shape of a person.
"Being dead will not solve your problems young one," the figure spoke.
"Wh…who said that?" Yuffie questioned while looking around for her weapon that she so stupidly left on the Highwind.
"You should already know me, this is not our first meeting," the figure replied.
Yuffie pulled back her fists ready to fight.
"I don't know your voice, show yourself!" she shouted.
"Very well."
The figure stepped out of the shadows and let the moonlight shine partially over his face, revealing to cold golden eyes and black hair blowing over his face.
"Oh my god! It's you! You killed that guy! Wow!" she screamed in excitement.
"My name is Orion and don't get excited, I hate my publicity," he replied, brushing his hair from his face.
"Oh? Ok. Hey, my name is Yuffie Kisaragi," she said, extending her hand.
Orion ignored her hand completely and took a seat on a nearby rock.
"Not the physical type I see. Well, that's ok. What do you do?" she asked him as she put her hand down.
"I am an assassin," he said coldly.
"Where are you from?" asked Yuffie.
"None of your business and don't ask me any more questions."
"Aww, why not? You are interesting," she whined.
"Whatever. What are you doing out here? Where are your friends?" Orion inquired, using one of his swords to cut an apple.
"Gone," she stated. "They all hate me, so I left. And I'm not going back either," she told.
"Are they not your friends?" Orion asked after finishing his bite.
"No, they aren't anymore," she sighed, hanging her head sadly.
"Well, that's life, live with it," he stated coldly.
"I'll explain it all to you," she said.
"Save your breath. I neither care nor want to hear your problems. Keep them to yourself," he growled.
"But…" she insisted.
"No," he stated.
"Fine you jerk! I thought you were cool! But I guess I was wrong!" she yelled before stomping off not looking back.
"Good luck fighting the Zolem without your weapon!" he shouted after her, still sitting on his rock and not even looking up.
"Phhh, Zolem, he doesn't even know what he's talking about. Zolem's only live in the marsh, they don't come out here," she commented.
Just as she finished her comment, she heard a huge roar and the ground began to shake vigorously.
"Uh oh. No, it can't be," Yuffie gulped, stepping back a bit.
The ground began to crack and split apart soon thereafter and a huge Zolem came up through the ground, fully extending itself into the air before coming down and hissing in Yuffie's face.
"Yipes!" she cried, looking at its huge slender, slimy body and fangs that could easily bite a young ninja such as her in two.
"Told you," commented Orion, peeling another apple.
The Zolem hissed and then roared in Yuffie's face, knocking her to her butt. She turned to run but was stopped in her tracks by the huge Zolem's tail.
"Oh no. Help!" she shouted as she once again tried to run.
"He's going to eat me!" screamed Yuffie loudly. "Do something! Please!"
Orion ignored her cries for help and took another bite of apple.
"PLEASE!!! FOR GOD SAKES!!! HELP ME!!!" she cried as the Zolem wrapped its tail around her. Orion still ignored her and continued to eat his apple.
"I'LL DO ANYTHING!!! JUST PLEASE HELP!!!" she shrieked in terror.
"Will you shut up?" he asked.
"YES!!!" she cried out in return.
"Very well," he said, disappearing.
A huge crack was heard and then a slash. The Zolem fell to pieces and dropped Yuffie to the ground on her butt. Orion appeared behind the Zolem as it vanished into nothingness. "Y…You just…saved my life…" she said out of breath.
Orion said nothing and began to walk away.
"You helped me! Thanks!" she shouted.
"Weren't you supposed to shut up?" he asked annoyed.
Yuffie quickly covered her mouth with her hands and bowed in thanks. He kept on walking a bit but stopped suddenly. "Aren't you coming?"
"Why and where?" Yuffie asked confused.
"You have nowhere else to go and you need to learn more on fighting," he replied.
"You're going to teach me how to fight like you?" she asked excitedly.
"Yes, now come, we'll go to a house I know of and get some rest," he replied again, walking away.
Yuffie then thought to herself for a second, "Cool, I'll be stronger than the other guys in AVALANCHE and I'll make them sorry they were ever mean to me."
She ran after him yelling, "Wait for me!!!" but also giggled at the thought of finally making them pay for being mean to her all that time.