Awakening Chapter 9-Whose Sword is it Anyway?
Cloud,Zack and the others were making their way to Rocket town as Cloud decided to finally bring up a subject that had been bothering him.
"So...I'm going to need a new sword." He spoke up fairly randomly it was surprising that he'd been the one to speak up and Zack was the first to say something.
"You mean to tell me...you've been relying on this old thing all this time?" Zack said in wonder holding up his sword.
"...yeah...I couldn't just get rid of it. So I kept it...as a reminder of why I'm still alive, I used it against Shinra against these guys...against Sephiroth...and now I've returned it to you. Everythings different now...I don't need a sword of vengance anymore. I need a new one."
"Hm...seems this sword has seen alot without me..." Zack said idly as he looked up and down the blade only now noting it's notable damages and the need to resharpen and repair it.
"this old sword..." Zack looked at it oddly serious for once.
"You're right...we don't need a sword of vengance...this sword has seen enough bloodshed. I need a new one too." Zack told him
"Huh?" Cloud was confused
"This sword...it's seen it's share of owners. It seems to have a way of finding people in need of vengance...It's a sword that has found it's way from master to son to freind to countless others. This sword wasn't made for me you know...I picked it up much like you probably did. For revenge after Wutai killed my commander he was a giant of a man and he wielded this sword like it was a paper weight. He died in an ambush one that I had been dumb enough to step into he came in out of nowhere fought them all single handedly while I lay wounded. He never saw that last one come out of the shadows though...before I could even say anything he was gone...they left me to die. alone and bleeding covered in my commanders blood...But I got up picked up his sword and made my way back mastered it and from then on fought in the war against Wutai with all my might...that's how I got promoted to first class...with this sword to guide me I took revenge on countless others and then...it fell to you Cloud and you used it to take down Shinra...how ironic...this sword brought down both of the worlds 'superpowers' with only a man with a vendetta behind it."
It was silent for awhile then Zack suddenly shoved the sword into Clouds hands "Here you keep it."
"Wha?" Cloud looked back at him rather puzzled.
"No you take it it's yours!" Cloud protested placing it back in Zack's hands.
"I said you take it!" Zack tried to push it back to Cloud
"I said I don't need it anymore!" Cloud replied
"and I said you keep it!" Zack said
"You just want an excuse to buy a new sword!" Cloud retorted
"what?! you're kidding me! that's what YOU'RE doing isn't it?" Zack replied
"NO! I just want to give you your damn sword back now take it!" Cloud said
"Fine..it's mine so I decide what happens to it..." Zack said taking it.
"Finally..." Cloud said with a sigh
"And I decide you'll take care of it for me." Zack replied putting it in Clouds hands.
Cloud sighed "Alright...I'll just sell it." Cloud said with a smirk
"WHAAAAAT?! Gimmie that!" Zack shouted snatching it from Cloud "you can't SELL this!"
"AHA! see! you took it back! it's yours!" Cloud said triumphantly.
"I...uh...gah! YOU TRICKED ME!" Zack yelled. "Besides no one would buy a busted sword like this anyway!"
Up ahead Yuffie merely shook her head as she walked ahead with the Turks "They're...almost like brothers."
"Yeah...they were like that before too." Reno replied
"huh?...you mean you knew both of them from before?" She asked
Reno nodded "Yeah...they were real trouble those two...we were the ones who went and got them after the whole Nibelham thing..."
"...wow...I didn't know you guys knew Cloud...you know..before the whole Avalanche thing.." Yuffie commented
"If someone doesn't mind shutting those two up...we're here." Tseng said
Cloud and Zack ceased their antics for the time being as both realised they were in town.
"hey so who's sword is it?" Reno turned and asked them seeing Zack had half of it and Cloud had the other half. they'd been in a sort of Tug'o'War...but in reverse...
Zack let go "it's his." he said pointing to Cloud.
"HEY! don't start that again! it's yours and you know it!" Cloud started
"If neither of you wants it why don't you just get rid of it?" Tseng commented rubbing his temple.
"eh?" Both Zack and Cloud said at the same time.
"You know...stash it somewhere...put it in a display case or something whatever...that way it's not really gone and neither of you have to use it if you don't want to." Tseng explained
"Heeeey now that's an idea!" Zack said "I'll go along with that...but where Could we possibly put it?"
Cloud lit up "I know where..."
"Cloud...you aren't thinking what I think you are...are you?" Yuffie groaned.
"What? He's not a bad guy...a little overbearing but he'd be glad to take care of it.." Cloud said.
"Uh...just who is this guy we're talking about?" Zack cut in
"Dio. The owner of Gold Saucer he's got a collection of weapons and such calls it his "Battle Musem" or something...I'm sure he'd be happy to add the sword that once killed Sephiroth and saved the world to his collection." Cloud explained. Then added "and while I'm there...I can pick up a new sword..."
"Right...so what am I supposed to use?!" Zack questioned.
"Eh...you'll find something you always do." Cloud told him with a nod.
Zack was quiet for a moment then slugged him in the shoulder and started laughing "Man you haven't changed at all...not one bit. It's good to know despite everything you've been through...the old Cloud is still in there."
Cloud nodded
"Looks like our ride's here" Yuffie said as she watched the helicopter approach.
"Just how long was that walk anyway?" Elena complained she'd been fairly quiet untill now because she was rather uncomfortable with the addition of Zack as it was but now having Cloud and Yuffie around...it was a little much for her. Even now she only spoke directly to Tseng.
"A couple hours. I'm surprised they weren't already here waiting for us...it must be bad at HQ." He replied.
An hour later they were in the air and Cloud could see Gold Saucer coming up.
"This is where I get off...I'll catch up to you guys later take care of Yuffie." Cloud said taking the Buster Sword in hand.
Zack nodded,Reno gave him a thumbs up and Rude gave his silent agreement a mere tip of his shades.
Yuffie hugged him tightly and kissed him goodbye. "You'd better not dilly dally" She said giving him a look.
He looked back at her wondering when she picked up those words but shook it off "yea yea I know...see ya!" He dove out wings spreading as he glid over to the Gold Saucer he wondered if he should try and revert to his original form as he had done before but after landing found it difficult to do much more than disguise the obvious features like his wings. Gold Saucer seemed fairly deserted...but then that figured considering there was a battle going on in the city below and in the world for that matter, just who had time to play?
Conversely it also occured to him that Gold Saucer might have been a place of evacuation considering Corel had a direct line to it via the gondola...it'd make sense for the civilians to come there to get out of the way of things then right? So where was everybody?
He wandered the various squares all of them empty untill he came to the round square and finally he found where everyone had been gathering Dio was up on the stage area trying to calm everyone a couple of actors were also on stage doing some acts to try and take everyones mind off the problems down below.
Cloud made his way over carefully looking through the crowd...no one here was changed...so he'd made a good call afterall. "Dio!" He called out trying to get his attention as he made his way toward the stage but it wasn't untill he was right up on the stage Dio saw him.
"Dio! I need a favor and it has to be quick."
"What? Not now! can't you see I'm busy?" He obviously didn't recognize Cloud.
"That's exactly why I'm here! can we talk somewhere else?...like the battle square?" Cloud suggested.
Dio shrugged and agreed "alright...but this better be good."
They exited to the battle square and Cloud led the way up toward the museum.
"The favor I need to ask of you is I need a new sword to fight with..." Cloud began
"A sword? what do you take me for a fool? you've got a perfectly good one right there!" Dio replied and then he recognized it.
"wait...that sword...you're not..." Dio started
"Yes...I am. We were the ones who got the keystone from you remember? Now I need a sword and in exchange you can put this one in your museum, the sword that defeated Sephiroth and saved the world the same sword that once belonged to SOLDIER first class Zack and came to be in my possesion after...an...incident...I'll let you have it to be put on display if you can get me a sword...and agree never to let it leave this museum for any reason other than myself or Zack coming to get it."
"Hmm..." Dio thought for a moment or rather pretended to in his mind he'd already been sold at "the sword that defeated Sephiroth"
"Alright kid you got a deal. But I don't have anything here in the museum quite up to snuff with a sword like that...come with me."
Dio led the way back to his private office. Inside he pushed a button and the back wall receeded revealing a secret room lined with weapons rows and rows of them all on racks and on the walls. All of them polished gleaming like they were completed no more than an hour ago. "This is where I keep the creme of the crop...the real good stuff legendary weapons of legendary warriors and weapons made by master smiths many of these have only seen little use if any at all. You'll find none worn down and everything is in tip top condition Take your pick of anything here and I'll take that sword off your hands...uh you don't mind if I restore it right?"
Cloud shook his head "No go ahead you can do what you like with it as long as it stays in one piece and safe here...it means alot though it's lost it's usefulness"
"I see...in that case I think I know just the sword for you..." Dio wandered back into the room to one rather large sword not quite as large as the Buster but damn close. It was by itself which was the one thing Cloud noticed immediately.
"This sword...is made of pure Mythril it'd take even you a thousand years to wear this down. I heard once that Sephiroths Masamune is made of the same stuff. Or possibly some other rare ore." Dio explained as Cloud looked at the sword with a gleam in his eyes. it was beautiful it gleamed like silver but it was strong and solid it was like something out of a childrens story it seemed so perfect.He lifted it and noticed immediately how light it felt in comparison to the buster and then what appeared to be a second hilt built into the blade...after grasping it he realised it split into two swords that could be recombined at or split at will.(If you haven't figured it out yet...it's the sword he has in Advent Children.)
"Dio...this is perfect. I don't suppose there's another one of these lying around is there?"
"Another sword? Let me guess for this Zack pal of yours?" Dio asked
"Yeah...without this...he doesn't have a sword anymore and well neither did I so it was decided rather than argue about who got to keep it we'd get rid of it and get new ones.." Cloud explained.
"Well..I suppose since you did save the world and all I can give you another...besides adding that sword to my collection more than makes up for losing any of these.." Dio replied walking around and looking for another suitable sword.
"Tell me..this freind of yours...is he like you in his taste in weapons?" Dio asked
"Yeah...like I said it was his sword to begin with." Cloud replied.
"I see...well here's just the thing then." Cloud moved over to where Dio was and spotted it. He almost drooled. It was a massive sword bigger than the buster sword even by about half a foot. The blade was a greenish color like it was made out of some kind of crystal. The hilt was black and had what appeared to be a Blue gem emedded in it.Oddly it had not one materia slot in it.
"what's with the blade itself though? what is that? some kind of crystal?" Cloud asked running a finger along the side.
"Yes...it is it's actually a fairly common one too but the amazing thing is seeing it in this form and structure...you see the sword itself is essientially one giant materia." Dio told him
"I see...so it's litterally a magic sword." Cloud stated
"Exactly."
"When was this made?"
"Sometime after meteor...so it's fairly new they say it came from some guy in cosmo canyon who found a way to make it out of some huge materia."
Cloud froze "what?! then...this is..." He trailed off.
"it's what?" Dio asked looking at him puzzled
"I'll take it." Cloud said simply.
"but what were you about to say? I'll still give it to you even if it's the most powerful sword in the universe." Dio said laughing. He had no idea how close he was.
"Alright...if I'm correct then this sword is made out of the Master Magic Materia. Which means...it would posses all of the spells from every magic type materia meaning the only types of materia you'd still need to carry around are Summons,Command types, and Support. Though...I have to wonder about the blade itself...it's made of materia...I've no idea just how resiliant materia is. How likely is it to break if it were in fierce combat with a sword like Sephiroths?" Cloud questioned
"hmmm" Dio thought a moment "I honestly cant say...from what I know the blade is designed like a diamond when pressure is put upon it, it reinforces itself but believe me when I tell you this thing has unbelievable cutting power considering it's humble origins as a materia." Dio replied.
"Mind if I test it?" Cloud asked suddenly.
"Go ahead...But what do you intend to test on?"
Cloud smirked. "Come on now Dio...you've got a battle square."
"Aha..."
They made their way to the battle square and Cloud weilded the oversized sword expertly against the monsters of the arena. Dio had been right it did cut exquisitly and it seemed to be taking the hits from the monsters attacks rather well he also thorughly tested it's ability to cast magic. He had been right it was the master materia. Or rather a significant chunk of it anyway.
As he slew the last monster Cloud turned to face Dio "Alright...one last test." He tossed Dio the Mythril sword he'd been given "Attack me with it. if this thing can hold up against that sword I'd say it's safe to assume it won't be breaking." Cloud told him
"you sure about this? I mean...if it breaks..." Dio trailed off
"If it breaks I'll probably be dead. I know" Cloud replied.
Dio took up the sword and charged Cloud prepared his defense and when the swing came he was surprised at the amount of strength Dio had the blade didn't break but it did crack.
"well...that's that...it just doesn't have the integrity to fight a battle on the level I'd need it to...much less a prolonged one." Cloud said looking at the cracked sword...though what happened next surprised him as it repaired itself and rehardened.
"what the...?" Cloud said in disbelief.
"Magic sword indeed." Dio commented
"...I..wonder..." Cloud muttered
"What?"
"When a bone breaks...it's comes back stronger...I wonder if the same is true of this sword... Dio I want you to attack again." Cloud told him. Dio gave a nod and they repeated the process it cracked again not as severly but it was cracked just the same.
"Hmm...I have one more idea." Cloud said "It seems to have gotten a little stronger...but it's not strong enough to withstand repeated hits yet...I'm going to try something and see if that helps it a bit." Cloud said
Dio looked on ever curious as Cloud cast Regen and Barrier but not on himself on the sword. Which was only possible because of it's semi sentient state being materia and all.
"ah..I see...because materia is semi alive you're using Regen to speed up it's strengthening process...and Barrier to reduce the damage to a managable point...ingenius." Dio said
"Actually...it's something I remembered Zack saying once about how he wished he could cast those two spells on his sword so it'd save him a load of money on repairs. Now come at me once more."
Dio attacked and this time barrier reduced the attack enough that the sword didn't crack much at all and regen made sure whatever damage there was quickly vanished. "Good! keep it up! we've gotta get this thing toughened up fast!" Cloud said as they entered a mock battle designed to force the two swords to collide as much as possible the sword absorbed blow after blow slowly strengthening untill finally it no longer cracked even after Barrier and Regen had worn off.
"this is perfect...a sword that hardens after every strike..." Cloud muttered
"It'll eventually reach a maximum hardness...and from then on it'll be like a diamond immutable and unchanging for all time...when it reaches that point..it'll truly be a fearsome weapon. Even now after just one session it's withstanding the blows from a Mythril sword...it's amazing." Dio stated
"Yes...it really is...just goes to show how little we really understand materia...it grows and reproduces itself but it's not exactly alive...not quite sentient but it does learn somehow...and somehow I get the feeling this sword is learning too. Thanks alot Dio...but I've got to get going now there's a battle going on and everyones waiting on me."
"Right...you go get em. I look forward to hearing of you doing great things with those swords." Dio said driving the other sword into the ground.
Cloud nodded and started off picking up the sword as he passed. He took to the sky with the pair of massive swords in hand silently debating which sword to give to Zack...both swords were incredible.
He found the battle ground easily enough. But the problem would be finding the others. He discovered that the transformed people he'd been looking for were apparently in Rufu's half of the army. He wondered why that was...it didn't take long to find the reason as he spotted what looked like Rufus but he was half transformed the entire left side of his body was changed by the right remained human.how such a transformation was possible Cloud didn't know nor was he all that interested in it what he was interested in however was the fact that his freinds were no where in sight. Prehaps Reeve was keeping them back as an ace in the hole...as last resort but the way things looked out there it was more than time to send them out...unless...he had some sort of plan.
No sooner had the thought occured to him did the Turks come rushing out of the main building like a pack of wild animals Reno and Rude always with a flair for the dramatic came out of windows Elena and Tseng came out the doors in their dignified, classy swagger. and Zack...Zack was the idiot jumping off one of the balcony's.
Elena and Tseng broke out good old fashioned guns to take care of business, Reno and Rude went to the usual business of busting heads. Zack Landed on a pair of unfortunates the first caught his boot in the face and the force drove him back through the second. as Zack Flipped backwards off him and began to go at them Hand to hand. Yuffie was nowhere in sight.
Now Cloud dove down like a whirlwind of death spiraling through their enemies as both swords cut through them like paper. He drew the attention of the others immediately.
"CLOUD!" Zack called out. as he floored another opponent "good to see you made it."
"Zack catch!" He tossed the lighter of the two swords through the air which just happened to be the Mythril one.
Zack jumped up using another soldier as a spring board and snagged the sword and was surprised at it's lightness despite it's size. Zack spun around as he landed slicing through at least 5 people.
"Thanks for the sword pal!" Zack called out as he went to work.
Yuffie made herself known with a series of Shurikan attacks from the balcony's
"Fall back! I'm going to let a couple big spells loose!" Cloud warned Taking to the air again as one of Yuffie's shurikan attacks whizzed past his head.
"Flare!" He called forth the large firball in the sky and it's explosive power pretty much vaporized a number of the enemies troops. Though some of their own weren't quite able to get away from the blast. Now he had Rufus' attention and he leapt up at Cloud like a raging bull "YOU!"
Cloud spun the sword "BOLT3!" the massive bolt of lightning shot out from the sword driving Rufus back into the ground.
But he was up again quickly as he pushed himself back up and leapt into the air Cloud repeated his earlier move but this time Rufus was ready "REFLECT!"
The spell bounced back and slammed into Cloud knocking him out of the sky in a stunned daze.
"My turn to unleash some destruction! Fire3!" The flames enveloped Cloud like he was covered in oil turning him into a rapidly falling fireball. He regained his composure and his wings Flared as he suddenly shot upwards again and the flames went out.
"You...are going to pay for that." Cloud said darkly the aura had returned to him as had the dark turquoise returned to his eyes his left arm became the bladelike wing like it had the first time he transformed. while his right still held the Master Materia Blade.
Rufus stared back in slight shock. "what the hell have you become?"
"...The Demon who'll bring an end to this..." the voice was no longer Cloud's it was someone else entirely.
"Demon...huh? that's fitting...but the title of Devil is mine...I'm the one who'll bring in the new era...Not you..." Rufus told him and stared a charge his arm morphed into a two pronged blade (think like Kadaj's sword.But with the blades spaced out a bit more...and connected to his arm instead of having a hilt..)
Cloud met the charge with his sword deflecting the attack downward as he brought up his 'wing' to finish the job but Rufus wouldn't go down so easily as he spun away and met the wing blade with his own blades. "Did you really think it'd be that easy?"
"Honestly? Yes" Cloud replied pushing him back Dragging the materia blade along the ground he swung it in a wide arc upwards which expectedly Rufus dodged and countered with his own thrust met by the wing it was now Rufus played his hand and his other arm pulled out his shotgun at this range there wasn't anywhere for Cloud to go except one. Down. He fell back and managed to get under the barrel just as the gun went off.
he rolled back as the gun went off a second time Rufus had quickly redirected his attack and now he pursued Cloud with his blade slashing downward Cloud took to the air to get away from the rapid assault.He had underestimated Rufus a mistake he wouldn't make again.
He rushed Rufus quickly and dodged the rounds that were fired at him when his sword connected with Rufus' they his sword of a standstil as Rufus moved to bring up his gun Cloud's other arm Sliced through it and found it's way into Rufus' chest. "Looks like it's over for you this time." Cloud said darkly.
"...u...un...unbelieveable." Rufus sputtered as he stumbled back. He decided if he was going to die he was going to at least try to take Cloud with him. "This...is all your fault...without you...I wouldn't have wound up like this...everything...the world...it's all screwed up because of you!" He lunged Cloud parried it and drove his sword into Rufus chest. "it's over." he stated and took off into the air.
"The Battle is over! Rufus is dead!" He proclaimed. Everything stopped as they looked up at him and the body of Rufus as he slid Rufus' body of his sword with a push from his foot and let it fall to the ground. "mourn him if you want...but the fighting ends now." Cloud's voice was his own again. and the wing arm had returned to normal as well as the aura having faded from him.
What happened next surprised everyone Rufus' body regenerated and he got up again. "hahahahahahaaaa...this power...it's incredible...I'm immortal! THIS This is how a leader of Shinra should be...POWERFUL not simply because of his money or the number of fools he's convinced to fight for him but because he himself posses power and the ability to fight on his own without relying solely on others to protect him like a coward. That's what my father did...and now I'll do things the right way. With my own power!"
Energy built up in his arm and he unleashed it at Cloud. Cloud flew forward and spiraled around the blast and in a moment of viciousness he drove the blade into Rufus, who made no attempt to defend himself because of his newfound arrogant belief that he was immortal, and then followed up with slicing off his arm and as he fell from the sheer pain Cloud spun around and beheaded him.
"Stay down this time!" Cloud yelled and this time Rufus actually did he was really dead this time.
"Now then...do any of you care to keep fighting?!" He demanded. to which the respone was the dropping of their weapons and turning around to leave normally they'd probably have been imprisoned but there wasn't any way Shinra could've imprisoned that many people at once...especially not with their powers it would've been a bloody battle just to do that much.
"well that's taken care of...Cloud muttered to himself exhailing sharply.
"Cloud...You...wow..." The others were in absolute shock. Yuffie came down quickly and hugged him she didn't know why she did but she felt he needed it like somehow she just knew. If he didn't get that hug or some sort of reassurance that he'd done nothing wrong that something bad would happen. As expected Cloud instantly curled his arms around her.
He allowed her to lead him inside the building away from all the stares.
Zack and the others continued to watch them. "Well...what do you make of that?" Elena asked no one in particular
"I'd say...That guy has a definate dark side hidden inside him...and we just saw the tiniest piece of it." Tseng replied.
"So what happened to him exactly anyway?" Elena asked since she was the only one who didn't know. The others just looked at her then at each other as if each looking to the other for approval to tell her.
"He was an experiment...one of the last of Hojo's horrible Jenova experiments...his mind was shattered but he was able to recover...or at least I thought so...it seems he's developed a bit of a split personality probably only made worse by this transformation of his." Zack answered
"Hey...Zack you were in that experiment too...why didn't you change?" Reno asked
"my body rejected the Jenova cells I had no reaction to them whatsoever I was considered a failure because the rejection forced them to destroy the Jenova cells in order to keep me alive Hojo was coming up with some other plan for me when we escaped. I never found out what it was and I don't care to know." Zack answered.
Inside Cloud was pretty much falling apart it was like he just came unraveled as soon as they were in private. "Yuffie...I...I need to go back..."
"Go back where?" She asked suddenly concerned
"I need to go back to the mansion...in the lab...I need to know exactly what they did to me...I didn't care no...I didn't want to know before...but now...it's a problem.It's...doing things to me...out there...I...I completly lost control...I have to know...I have to understand it if I'm to face them..."
"Cloud..." she stared into his eyes and saw the confusion and fear in them. "Alright...we'll go..."
End Chapter 9
Sorry short chapter but I intended to inject some comedy into this thing for awhile...and go through that sub plot that's been gnawing at me for awhile now. Oh and...you can all thank TifaValentine99 for the updates she got me talking about fics again and I decided to update these here...so be nice and go read her fics too ok? good.
Next Chapter- Chapter 10-Here comes another Sephiroth.
