Chapter 7: When Friends Are Enemies
Jeiko gulped, it was two on three; Leon would be no problem and neither would Riku, but this new guy was another story! He looked tough. He had a black wing and a sword bigger than Jei's, Jeiko just hoped Jei could take care of him while he fought Leon and Riku.
Sora started moving and mumbling as Kairi dragged him to a safe vantagepoint, out of the rain. Riku waited until his friends were safe, then he roared and threw a fireball at Jei. Jeiko blew the fireball away with a gust of wind, then cast thunder on his adversaries. Cloud merely flicked his wrist and the thunder stopped,
"No, I want the one who hurt Aeris," he said calmly,
"Then you want me!" roared Jei as he dashed forward and swung his blade at Cloud's torso. Cloud, with blinding speed, brought his massive buster sword up to block the attack, then spun and slashed at Jei. He jumped back batting the flat of the blade down with his gloved hand, then shoved forward, leading with the tip of his broadsword. Cloud leapt high into the air, Jei missing and stumbling, then brought the sword down on the dazed boy's head.
Selphie skipped down the path near Geppito's shop when she saw the bright flashes coming from the second district. Everyone around her stopped to look at the lights, and she shrugged it off, thinking it must be those two guys fighting someone again. She realized what she had just thought of, then ran off towards the plaza, images of Jeiko's smile flashing in her mind.
Jeiko was faring better than Jei; the only problem he was having was Leon's slashing from the front while Riku attacked from the back. He could take on these two, but it would have been easier with Jei by his side. Jeiko danced between the two infuriated warriors, throwing magic occasionally, and every so often dodge a barrage of ice, or nimbly dodge when one of the two lashed out.
Kairi crouched next to Sora's unconscious body, sobbing. She didn't want her friends fighting, it was wrong. If only Sora would wake up, then he could tell them what really happened. He was with Jei when the problem happened. Yuffie was across the plaza with the girl, bandaging her wound. The girl would call to Cloud, and he would hesitate for a split second, then attack more with more passion. Selphie was running up to her, yelling for Jeiko, but Yuffie did something that sent her running for the another alley.
Jei barely missed the attack, rolling out of the way as Cloud came crashing down. The buster sword let out a metallic clang as it stuck the concrete, then swished and smashed into Jei's sword,
"Calm down! It was an accident, she thought I was you!" yelled Jei as Cloud attacked relentlessly,
"You hurt her, you die," was all cloud said as he lashed out again and again. Cloud was older than Jei, so he was faster and had more experience. He was able to attack Jei again and again, giving the boy no time to counter his blows, only parry. If I try to use my glove-hand to block, that sword will probably cut it all off, thought Jei as he parried again. With every cry of the girl, Cloud attacked more and more. She yelled out his name, and he whimpered then began to glow.
Riku ran behind and attacked Jei as Leon did the same from the front. He should have been cut to pieces by now, but he was just too fast. Jeiko paused for a split second, and saw Yuffie slap Selphie, making her run the an alley,
"This ends now," he yelled as he jumped into the air and began to glow like Cloud. Jeiko screamed as beams of energy started streaming from his hands, arcing down onto Leon and Riku. The two were engulfed by thousands of explosions, Riku was thrown out of the fireball and slammed into a wall, knocking him unconscious like Sora. Leon took most of the blow, when the smoke finally cleared, he lay there, gunblade in hand, bloody. Jeiko fell from the air and hit the ground with a thud. His hands were injured badly, and bleeding, he had only enough energy to look up as Cloud shouted "Omnislash!"
Cloud flashed white, then dashed forward, swinging his buster sword with unimaginable speed. Jei couldn't move fast enough to block the attacks, he was cut and stabbed in hundreds of places. Jei brought his gloved-hand up, only to have it lopped off, landing with a smack on the growing puddle on the rainy ground. Despite her new hatred for him, Yuffie found herself screaming along with Jei as he was stabbed over and over again. She got up and started to run across the plaza as Cloud leapt into the air. The buster sword emitted flashes of black, white, gold, and silver and he twirled it. As he fell to the ground, he speared Jei in the chest, piercing his heart and exiting through his back; the buster sword had passed clear through him. Cloud, still glowing, stepped on Jei's foot, then pulled his massive sword out of the trembling boy and wiped the blood on his chest. Yuffie reached the dying boy, who stood for a few seconds, looked at her and said, "bye," then fell into the puddle of water-washed blood. She fell into the blood by him, cradled him and kissed the lifeless Jei and cried. Jeiko, having no energy to go after Cloud, yelled out at in anger as Cloud strode over to Aeris, took her in his arms, and carried her away from the storm.
