Chapter 10: Into the Fires of Hell
Panting, heavily, I watched as the scorpions from hell screeched, the pheromone defence preventing them from coming any further. I was painfully aware of Barret's glare, which was directed at me. I can't blame him, really. I didn't give much of a warning to the others, did I? I just turned tail and did a brave, brave, Sir Robyn. He did bravely turn tail and flee, did you know? But that's a tale for another time. If ever.
Cloud was standing between me and the big black guy, though he looked fairly uncertain about his position, something that I don't envy him for, since I wouldn't want to stand between Barret and someone he's annoyed at either. Oh, excuse us for a a minute, Barret just started yelling, and the words he happens to be shouting are to be censored. Sorry, no corrupting people with the nasty words. See you in a while.
Sector 5 looks pretty much the same as before, with only one major difference: the dusty atmosphere. Now that I think about it, the Road-of-Mass-Scorpions-Chasing-You was also very dusty.
'It was the impact from Sector 7's destruction.'
Oh yeah, how?
'I don't know. It has something to do with the dirt on the ground, or the smaller bits off rubble.'
I shrugged to myself. It's not important, so why worry about it? Barret stopped at a large overhead TV screen and gaped, listening to the news report. I pause and listen, nodding to myself. What was told to the public was exactly what I had said would be said. In other words, the Shinra was placing the blame on us, and were going to supposedly start a rescue operation. How the hell can people believe this crap? There was no way in hell anyone could have survived the Sector 7 plate falling on top of them. I don't give much of a chance for survival to those who were on top of the plate either. It is just impossible for this tale to be plausible. Ok, yes, there was the possibility that it was AVALANCHE who decided to do the home DIY project, that part is vaguely realistic, but the whole rescue operation part is just a load of shit.
Cloud listened to the big screen as well, snorting. I get the distinct impression that he agrees with me. Tifa seems to be pointedly ignoring it. Good idea, that. It means no hearing a load off hypocritical bull. I'm rambling, aren't I? Ok, pretend that long rant never happened.
Cloud continued to leer at the large screen, before turning and stomping towards Aeris' home. Both Tifa and Barret followed, quickly falling into line behind him. I stood my ground for a couple of seconds, seriously contemplating getting out my gunblade and shooting the TV. I decided not to, probably to the relief of the local citizens. I doubt they'd be too joyous if I destroyed their overhead cinema. I know I wouldn't.
Cloud led the way to the only home in the slums that has a garden, which anyone could have found if they'd put there minds to it. He paused, however, at the front door, seemingly uncertain whether or not to continue inside. Me, being the insensitive jerk I am, just shoved him through the door (which was unlocked, why are doors always unlocked in RPGs?) and followed him in, waving cheekily at Elmyra as I did. The elder woman raised an eyebrow at us, an eyebrow which promptly had a companion as the other one joined it at the sight of both Tifa and Barret walking in like they owned the place.
The real owner of the house sighed, looking strangely... not worried. This isn't a regular thing is it? Strange people just walking into ones home should not be routine. Although this does remind me of the time my little brother played The Sims, created a new family, bought them a home, and some stranger just walked in, made himself at home, before burning the place down. Whereas, when it was me, I just had about ten strangers walk in, make themselves at home, and end up hogging the TV. I made my Sim have many enemies that day. But back to the point at hand. Elmyra turned to Cloud and nodded.
"Cloud... wasn't it? It's about Aeris, isn't it?" She asked, though from the tone of her voice, she seemed to know what the answer was in advance.
Cloud bowed his head, probably in shame. Shame on you Cloud.
"Sorry. The Shinra have her." He said.
Aeris' mum sighed, moving towards the kitchen.
"I know. They took her from here."
Cloud's head shot up in surprise, and both of the other members of AVALNCHE looked at Elmyra in shock.
"They were here?" I asked, the question obviously what was on every bodies minds.
"That's what Aeris wanted." She nodded, pulling several mugs from an overhead cupboard, and grabbing the kettle, which I hadn't realized was boiling.
"Why is Shinra after Aeris?" Tifa pondered aloud.
Again, Elmyra sighed, pouring the boiled water into the mugs. "Aeris is an Ancient. The sole survivor." She looked up at us, asking, silently, whether we wanted tea or coffee.
"Coffee, black, 3 lumps." I said, accepting the hot drink when offered, and sitting down on the sofa, waiting for her to elaborate.
"...What did you say? But, aren't you her mother?" Barret questioned, voice quieter then usual.
"Not her real mother." Elmyra countered, eyes getting a faraway look. "Oh... it must have been 15 years ago... During the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some far away place called Wutai."
"The Wutain War." Cloud mumbled, frowning.
"That's right. The war that got Shinra in the position of power that its in today. Shinra and Wutai were always evenly matched, until Shinra sent the new program into the war. SOLDIER."
"And leading the way was Sephiroth." Cloud murmured, this time his voice was so low, I wouldn't have heard it if I hadn't been sitting next to him.
"One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave. My husband never came back."
I could honestly see the result of this. I watched this documentary once, about those widowed by wars. They always cling on to hope, coming back to the place where they were meant to meet, or places that were special between them. They knew the truth, but denied it until evidence says otherwise.
"I wondered if something had happened to him. No, I was sure his leave was just canceled. I went to the station everyday. Then, one day, I saw a woman laying, looking almost dead, her daughter beside her. You used to see this sort of thing a lot during the war. Her last words were, 'Please take Aeris somewhere safe.' My husband never came back. I had no child. I was probably lonely. So I decided to take her home with me.
"Aeris and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything. She told me she escaped from some kind of research laboratory somewhere. And that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely…and many other things."
Barret frowned, those last words puzzling him.
"Returned to the planet?"
"I didn't know what she'd meant. I asked if she meant a star in the sky, but she said it was this planet… She was a mysterious child in many ways."
I would suppose so. If I were a kid, and I'd escaped from a research lab, I'd try to hide the reasoning.
"Then..." Elmyra continued. "Aeris just told me not to cry, right out of the blue. She continued on to tell me that someone dear to me had just died." Again, a sigh. "At that time I didn't believe her. But… Several days later… We received a notice saying my husband died… …and that's how it was. A lot had happened, but we were happy. Until one day…"
"Shinra?" I asked as she paused.
She nodded, mind still miles away.
"They just showed up. Of course I heard it. That she was an 'Ancient'. Aeris argued with Tseng, denying all his claims. But I knew. I knew about her mysterious powers… She tried so hard to hide it, so I acted as though I never noticed."
Cloud frowned, head bowed down in thought.
"It's amazing how she's avoided the Shinra for all these years…" He said.
"The Shinra needed her, so I guess they wouldn't harm her." Elmyra informed him, finishing her drink.
"But why now..." Tifa mused.
"She brought a little girl here with her. On the way here, Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. She decided to go to the Shinra in exchange for the little girl's safety."
"Must be Marlene." Cloud grunted.
Barret's face fell, at a brainstorm he had.
"Marlene!" Barret gasped. "Aeris was caught because of Marlene? I'm sorry. Marlene's my daughter. I'm …really…sorry…"
Elmyra's features darkened at what she heard and she glared at the Mr T wannabe.
"You're her father? How in the world could you ever leave a child alone like that?"
Barret looked at Elmyra, sighing. (What is it with people sighing here?)
"…Please don't start with that. I think about it all the time. What would happen to Marlene, if I… But you gotta understand somethin'…I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene… But I gotta fight. 'Cause if I don't…the planet's gonna die. So I'm gonna keep fightin'! But, I'm worried 'bout Marlene. I really just wanna be with her…always. See? I'm goin' in circles, now."
Barret has a soft side, who knew? Apparently his words touched Elmyra, who nodded, dark looks falling.
"…I think I understand what you're saying… She's upstairs asleep, why don't you go and see her."
Barret did that, quickly. I almost missed him as he ran up the stairs quicker then you could say 'daughter.' Cloud paused a moment, before following him up there.
"Why do you fight? For the sake of the planet, or something more?" Elmyra suddenly asked.
Tifa looked up at the question, but didn't answer, instead starting to do some deep thinking, if that frown is anything to go by. Why do I fight? So I can go home. But I can't tell her that.
"It's obvious that he doesn't fight just because he wants to protect the Planet," Elmyra continued, looking towards the stairs. "He's fighting to protect his daughter. He just doesn't realize it.
"You think so?" I asked, curious.
"It's obvious by the way he talks about how he worries about Marlene, even while fighting. I would bet that if anything were to happen to her, he would give up the will to fight. Possibly live."
The image of how Barret had been just after the destruction of Sector 7 can to mind. I might not have been around him for long, but I knew that that was not typical Barret behavior. He'd looked so helpless... But then when there was the possibility of Marlene being alive, it was like he was... I can't describe it, really. Words aren't exactly the best way of saying this.
I nodded, more to myself then anything. Elmyra smiled softly, glad that her point was made, I suppose. I turned at the sound of Cloud walking down the stairs. He looked determined, and had an aura about him that said that he was on a mission, and he would kick the ass of anyone who was foolish enough to get in his way... oh wait... that's the aura he always has. Well... it was just more obvious then usual then.
The spiky blond slammed the mug, that I hadn't realized that he was still holding, down on the tabletop, not breaking it, much to my amazement, and most likely Elmyra's relief. He glared at the front door, which I promptly noticed was still damaged from when I was clinging onto the frame for dear life, and he started towards it. Was he trying to look like a film star in some action flick? Rolling my eyes, I stepped up to him and 'accidentally' poured the rest of my coffee on his head. Luckily for him it had gone cold.
His hair now sagging, Cloud turned and glared at me, and thank you lord for making it so looks couldn't kill, else there wouldn't be anything left to identify me with. Tifa attempted to hide her giggle, emphasis on the attempted. I couldn't help but smirk at the swordsman; he looked rather amusing with the coffee dripping from his hair.
"Thanks..." He muttered, sarcastically.
"My pleasure." I answered, still smirking.
Cloud rolled his eyes, shaking his hair dry, like a dog would dry itself, getting some of the coffee on me. Once his hair was as normal as it could be, he gave me one last sour look, before making for the door again, this time not trying to look cool while at it. He was stopped, however, at Tifa speaking up.
"You're going after Aeris, right?"
Cloud hesitated a moment, before nodding. "Yeah."
"I'm coming with you." She claimed, tone of voice leaving no room for argument.
"We're going right to Shinra Headquarters… You gotta be prepared for the worst."
"I know. Right now, I feel I have to push myself to the limit. If I stayed here…I'll go crazy."
Cloud heaved a deep breath before nodding.
"Don't think you're leaving me behind. I'm coming along for the ride, whether you like it or not."
"Why?" Cloud questioned, though his voice betrayed the fact that he knew I was coming, whether he wanted it or not.
"Just because... Though if I want one of many specific reasons, then one is that I know that Aeris' fate could have just as easily been mine. You heard Tseng back there; Hojo would have loved to have gotten his grubby mitts on me. If I'm going to be discovered as still alive, which I will eventually, I want it to be because I let them know, I want to taunt them with the fact, not showing them that I'm now hiding from them."
'You really love speaking out of your ass, don't you?'
Shut up. So what if it was stir of the moment, it was good, wasn't it?
The lizard decided not to grace me with an answer. Lucky me. Cloud nodded, waving his hand in a 'come on then' manner, but didn't voice his thoughts on what I had just said. Must have made quite an impact, ey?
Barret chose that moment to come stomping down the stairs, thankfully not doing what Cloud did earlier, trying to look cool. He turned to Elmyra, looking nervous.
"Sorry, but can you take care of Marlene a bit longer?" He asked, sounding how he looked.
"Yes, I don't mind." Aeris' mother replied.
"This place is dangerous now. You better go somewhere else." Barret told her, turning towards us, all traces of nervousness gone.
"You're right. But promise me that you'll come back to her. Don't get yourself killed."
"I wouldn't dream of it." Claimed the leader of AVALANCHE.
Giving our various goodbyes, we left the house, feeling the biting chill in the air almost immediately. Most be nearing night. If it isn't already. It's kind of hard to tell, wheat with the great big plate hovering over our heads.
"How do we get to the Shinra building?" Tifa asked, once we could no longer see Aeris' home.
"There ain't no train that goes up there anymore…" Barret mused, aloud, realising our dilemma.
"What, the Sector 7 train station was the only train station in the slums?" I asked, eyebrow ridge raised.
"There was another one that was scheduled for building in Sector 3, but it was never finished." Cloud informed me, frowning.
"...Well, let's go to Wall Market. We might be able to find something there." Tifa said, optimistically.
"Better then nothing, I suppose." I muttered.
Now, with a destination in mind, we started to move with a purpose, towards the Wall Market, where, hopefully, we'll be finding a way to the top of the plate. Where we'll, you know, kick some Shinra ass, and take names. Only we won't, because the taking names part is just a pointless waste of time. We'll simply kick their ass, and spit on their lifeless, dead bodies.
We passed the giant TV again, and guess what folks, its still spouting out rubbish. Ok, despite what i said earlier, I unsheathed my gunblade and pointed it at the TV, squeezing the trigger. The TV shattered, glass raining down to the streets below. I stared dumbly up at where it used to be. How did that happen? I never actually fired. And since when does my gunblade make machine gun sounds... and still... is...
I turned and glared at Barret, who was still firing at where the overhead TV once sat, sadistic grin on his face. How dare he steal my satisfaction of destroying the propaganda spouting, load of crap? Finally holding his fire, he grinned at us, a grin which faltered when he noticed the three glares directed at him.
"What?" He asked, shrugging.
Cloud shook his head, muttering something, before continuing the trip to Sector 6. Me, Tifa, and Barret followed him, and I was only too aware of the foul looks sent at us by the citizens. Jeez, Barret, did you have to piss them off? Ignore the fact that I was about to do the same thing myself, but honestly, you've made us Sector 5 public enemy number 1. Taking a deep breath, I picked up the pace, jogging the rest of the way to the entrance to the scorpion infested road. Actually...
"How are we going to go along the road to Wall Market?" I asked, looking at the scorpions that were still hanging around from our mad sprint. "Those little blighters are still hanging around."
Cloud paused, looking at the scorpions that hadn't yet vacated the area. His face was devoid of any and all emotion, before a wide grin spread across his face.
"Well, we're safe behind the pheromones... why not just pick them off from here?" Cloud asked, gleefully.
That said, the swordsman focused on the scorpions of doom and cast thunder on a small group, frying them. Realizing what I had in mind, I smirked, pointing my gunblade at them and firing, repeatedly. Die, die, DIE, little buggers. I'll not have you make me live my life in fear any longer. MWAHAHAHAHA. Ok, maybe I'm getting rather carried away, butt I seriously HATE these things. Let them die. Everyone must die... Especially Bob, the very first scorpion I ever saw. I hope he dies a painful death. Barret joined in with the fun, opening fire with his own personal machine gun-arm. Tifa just sat back, watching the scene.
The air filled with the wails of dying scorpions... scorpions wail? Oh well, makes it more satisfying to KILL THEM ALL. I'll never be chased through this road again. NEVER. But then again, it's not like I'll actually have to after this. Chances are, like in the game, we'll leave Midgar, and go on a merry journey, battling evil where we come across it, in our band of misfits and miscreants.
As soon as the wails died down, we finally stopped raining death upon them, and stared out at the mayhem we'd caused. That... was a lot off scorpions. Just for the hell of it, I used my fire Materia, couple with my all-Materia, to cremate the lot of them. No sense leaving a mess, ey? That done, we finally set foot into the dangerous no-man's land. Guess what? No scorpions, no houses, no monsters in general. I think we have done a great service for the city of Midgar this day. I voiced those last thoughts aloud, and got the full hearted agreement of Cloud. It was thus, that we finally began our journey, following the cement road towards our destination, where we shall battle the evil Shinra... Am I starting to sound really cheesy? Yes? Then I'll shut up. Our journey to Sector 6 was otherwise uneventful, apart from when I threw a stone at Cloud for the heck of it, making him chase after me, waving that sword around. What is with the size of that thing anyway? Is he over-compensating for something, or is it just a coincidence? I'll leave you to be the judges of that.
We arrived at the Wall Market, a place that looked... like one of those Indian marketplaces that the spy always gets chased through in the movies. Only with actual buildings rather then stalls. Group decision was that we shouldn't stay in the hotel for the night, instead striking back at the Shinra, while we still had the element of surprise. Well, with luck, any attack on the Shinra by us would be a surprise, but they would still be so sure of themselves about now that an attack now would be especially surprising. You catch my drift?
Even though we decided not to stay the night at the hotel, through my incessant nagging, we did stop at the local diner for some dinner. We need to have our strength when we make the attack after all. I had a chili-burger, with loads of extra chilies. Oh, and a bottle of coke. Can't forget that coca-cola now, can we? Cloud decided on toad-in-the-hole, (the smell of that alone made me want some), Tifa a glass of water and some shepherds pudding. Barret had... a mountain of food that almost put my appetite to shame, a mountain of the diner special.
Food in our bellies, Cloud led us towards the area where the Don's mansion should be. And sure enough, there it was. What I wasn't expecting was Biggs talking to an official looking man, and handing him a small wad of cash. Barret's eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the sight of him. So, he did survive. Barret rushed forwards and grabbed Biggs in his bear hug. Did I just hear the poor bloke's spine crack? I sympathise, I really do, after having been in that position myself. Once the Mr T lookalike dropped the AVALANCHE member, Biggs started coughing, trying to regain his breath. I tell ya, not pleasant.
"Yo alive!" Barret roared, grin covering his face. Careful Barret, you may lose your hard nut reputation.
"Yea." Biggs coughed. "So is Jesse. She's inside the mansion."
Barret laughed, obviously happy that his lackey survived.
"You're going up in the world, I see." I joked. "One minute a secret basement, now a mansion."
Biggs grinned, waving his hand at the mansion.
"Yup. Me and Jess decided to make this the new base. We're going to make it a public building, possibly a posh restaurant, even hire a full time staff. Then the upstairs will be for our use only."
Barret's grin widened.
"Good job." He praised the smaller man.
"In the Don's old bedroom, there's a trapdoor that leads to the sewers. If you map it out properly, you'll also have the means to disappear and reappear elsewhere in the city." Cloud noted, obviously remembering the trap he fell for.
"Really? I'll have to check that out." Biggs noted. "Thanks, Cloud."
Cloud nodded.
"Erm... where's Wedge?" Biggs suddenly asked, looking at us, but, strangely enough, mostly me.
"He didn't make it. He died before we could tell him to get out of there." I informed him.
Biggs looked downcast a moment, obviously thinking about his friend.
"At least his death wasn't in vain. Strange, you would have thought that the Shinra would have been more inclined to pulling a stunt like that back when AVALANCHE was a bigger organization."
"Those damn Shinra never found out where we were based back then." Barret cut in. "When AVALNCHE had a more open warfare feel to it, rather then guerilla warfare."
"How old is AVANCHE?" I asked.
"Who knows?" Barret asked, rhetorically. "It could have originally started out as a terrorist cell, but then gradually changed to this group you see before you. It was all but dead when I became leader. We never did recover the numbers we lost when the Turks were through with us."
"Anyway, what're your current intentions?"
"We're launching an attack on Shinra Tower." I told him.
Biggs' eyebrows shot past his hairline.
"Really? Need me and Jess?" He asked.
"No..." Barret said, thinking. "After this attack, those involved will probably have to leave Midgar, for who knows how long. Yo' and Jesse... stay here, recruit more people. Wait until then, and then continue where we left off wit' those damn reactors. Keep givin' Shinra hell. We'll go somewhere else... maybe Junon, and we'll do the same there. They'll be fighting a battle on two fronts."
Biggs hesitated, before smiling sadly.
"I guess this is goodbye them?" He asked, holding out his hand. "It was swell knowing you Barret. Hopefully we'll meet again."
"Until the Shinra have fallen." Barret said, shaking his hand.
Biggs then turned to Cloud and they both shook hands, grunting a brief farewell. Tifa hugged the man instead of shaking his hand, almost sobbing her goodbye. Jeez, females and their emotional personalities. It's not like we'll never meet again, right. Biggs then turned to me and grinned.
"Goodbye, Spike. I barely knew you, yet, you saved my life, along with Jesse's. I hope we'll meet again."
"Me too." I replied, shaking his hand. "Don't die on us."
"I won't." He then took a step back and looked at all of us. "I overheard some kids talking about climbing a wire, one that supposedly reached the plates, down the alleyway halfway down the street. I'll tell Jesse you said goodbye."
With those words, we parted ways. I actually found myself regretting that I hadn't said goodbye to Jesse in person. Who knew whether we'd ever actually meet either of them again. Though I do hope that we do cross paths eventually, saving him... I have a feeling that it was one of the best things I could have done whilst here. I suppose that in the game, you're never around any of the three AVANCHE members long enough to get to know them before they died, unlike Aeris who was around to the point where everyone had their feelings towards her sorted. And the fact that, as he said, he barely knew me, yet he considered me a friend. Something about that made me feel good.
We found the alley that Biggs had mentioned and stepped though. It led us the the wall that gave this market its name, and stared at the long black wire that a trio of kids were climbing. On looking up, it did go pretty high. Who knows, maybe it does go to the top. But, it looked dangerous. If we fell while halfway up... no phoenix downs would revive us at that point.
"Awright! We'll climb this wire!" Barret exclaimed, excitedly.
Cloud shook his head. "There's no way we can do this. You know how far it goes up?" Erm... to the plate? Where we WANT to go?
"This IS away! Look! What's that look like?"
"Just a normal wire."
"Oh yeah? Well to me it looks like a golden shiny wire of hope."
"You're right. This is the only way to save Aeris…" Tifa put in her five cents. At least someone agrees that we should go.
"And this might be the only way up that won't alert the Shinra that we're alive." I added.
"Ok, that was a bad analogy, but, Barret, I understand how you feel. Let's go!"
"Wait... we're going to need some supplies. I want a nice fresh stock of potions before going up there." I claimed.
"Fine." Cloud grunted, pulling out a large wad of cash and handing it to me. "Grab as many potions and phoenix downs as this can buy."
I nodded and moved into the shop opposite. Inside, I ordered a handful of potions and managed to buy four phoenix downs. The clerk looked at me funny, but I shrugged it off, assuming it was the lizard body.
"You goin' up to the plate? You better have a Battery." He asked, right out of the blue. How the bloody hell does he know that?
"You're gonna sell me something you just found?" I asked, rolling my eyes. Honestly, I saw the scavengers outside, scavenging the heaps of debris.
"Hey, you knew? But I repaired it, so it's all right." Is he joking? How do you repair batteries anyway?
"Why do I need a battery to climb up to the plate?" Simple enough question. What do batteries have to do with climbing a length of wire?
"You'll find out when you get there." How do you know it's there? Did you climb it earlier? "How 'bout 100 Gil for each?"
"…All right, I'll take them." I mumbled pulling out my own set of cash. If I didn't, and I met an obstacle these batteries could have solved, I would scream.
Grinning, the clerk handed me a pair of batteries. They looked worn, but not that bad, condition-wise. Sighing, I stuffed them in my pockets.
"Pleasure doing business with you." The clerk called out as I exited the store.
I moved up to where Cloud and co were waiting, dividing out the potions. We took a Phoenix down, each. Supplies done, we started our long trek up the so called 'golden shiny wire of hope.' Cloud was right, that really was a bad analogy. But anyway, we began our long climb.
I took control of our body here. Climbing, while not in a forest, was still my area of expertise. Luckily, I still had the knack for it, even after completely changing body. Well, maybe not completely. I am thankful that this body retained my strength, no offence to Jethro, but if we had the physical strength he'd had before any of this had happened, we'd be stuck.
None taken.
Well, at least he agrees on the strength part. I started to climb first, then Cloud, then Barret, then Tifa. I think I can understand why Tifa demanded to be last, that mini-skirt isn't very practical when climbing. Not if there are people underneath you.
After climbing about roughly ten meters, I stopped, staring at the scene before me. Jethro was right, how could anyone believe Shinra about there being a possibility of rescuing the victims of their actions? The destruction was... indescribable. The fires that engulfed the whole sector were red hot, and I could feel the heat from here. Carnage is the closest word that could even hope to describe this, but that doesn't seem a strong enough word.
Prompting from my companions made me start climbing again. I deliberately kept my eyes off the scene below. Death, on such a scale... all because one man had the power to do so. It sickened me. Even my owner's thoughts were silent, where usually he couldn't stop thinking about something or other. He may protest otherwise, but he is still but a child, and no-one, not even adults, should have to bare witness to such scenes, knowing that there had been hundreds of people caught within. A comparison does come to mind. The Twin Towers. It's like that all over again. This place may only be a video game, but we're here now, and where you couldn't sympathize with computer characters that you never even saw, they were actual people now, and they had dyed. Only this was worse then Twin Towers, this was done by the person who was responsible for the well being of these people, the one who was supposed to care for them. And he abused that position of power, and he signed the death warrants for a whole eighth of his cities population. All to kill seven measly people, who were insignificant in the greater scheme of things.
So wrapped up in my thought, I almost didn't notice that we'd reached a small platform, where it was impossibly for my human companions to continue climbing, unless we turn that fan to create a bridge to the next bit of piping.
What would a fan be doing here? Jethro asked, curiosity making him forget he scene from earlier. Good, he shouldn't have to be plagued by such a memory.
'Who knows?' I answered.
Looking around, I noticed a small box to the side, and moved over to inspect it. By his time, the other three had reached the platform, and were searching for a way to continue. I reached the box and took a look. It had a large indent on the top, cubic in shape. Raising an eyebrow ridge, I pulled one of the batteries out of the coat pocket and stared at it. Exactly the right size. Coincidence? I have a feeling that the time between Sector 7's destruction, and our talking to Biggs, that clerk, or an assistant, climbed up here and took the time to take what wasn't theirs.
Sighing, I slotted the battery into the socket, and watched as the fan rotated itself, spinning around a couple of times before the battery died, stopping the fan. Luckily, it was close enough to the point where my human companions could use it as a bridge across. I pivoted around, and without waiting for any thanks started to climb again.
It was good to be able to climb like this, since being in this body; I haven't been in control except for fights. It's good to just be able to climb; like I used to take for granted before any of this happened. Well, not exactly like this, since I've never climbed a long wire, and never high enough to the point of death if I fell. But that's what life is about, tackling these challenges as they come.
We stood, down the street from the entrance to Shinra Tower. This was it. About an hour of climbing, and here we were, about to enter the devil's domain. Hey, was that good sounding? I like finding words that make it sound really good, like that. But anyway... Barret turned towards Cloud.
"Hey, you oughta know this building well."
"…Not really, now that I think about it, this is the first time I've ever been to the Headquarters."
"I heard about this place before. Every floor above the 60th is special and not easy to get to, even for employees. Must be where they took Aeris. The security's pretty light now. Awright, let's go!"
With those words, we charged towards the entrance. Just as we were a couple of feet from the door, Tifa stopped us.
"Wait a second! You're not thinking of just going right through the main entrance, are you?"
"Well what else does it look like? I'm gonna kick some Shinra butt and…" Three guesses who said that.
"That's not going to work! We've got to find another way…" Hey, Tifa, I thought you were the optimist.
"Ain't gonna be no other way! If we keep wastin' time like this, Aeris'll…"
"I know that! But if we get caught here… Hey, Cloud. …What should we do?" And thus Tifa turns to Cloud.
"I have an idea." I said.
"You do?"
'You do?'
I quickly revealed my plan to the lizard within, who quickly claimed that it wouldn't work, and he'd have no part in it. Unfortunately for him, he has no choice. I walked over to a sports store and smashed the window, much to Tifa's distress. Reaching in, I pulled out a baseball bat. I gave the trio a smirk, before explaining my idea. I'm going to be the distraction. The receptionist is going to be paid a visit by her very obstructive son, who enjoys dressing up n a lizard costume. The others were skeptical, but it would get us in, and the only alarm would be that a rebellious teen was smashing up the place because his mother was claiming she had no idea who he was. Idea approved, however reluctantly, I opened my coat and unclipped the sheath, pulling it, with gunblade still in it, out and handing it to Cloud.
"Take care of it." I ordered him.
Cloud nodded, accepting the gun-sword hybrid. Now, I must do my duty, and course as much mayhem as I could. This'll be fun. Resting the baseball bat on my shoulder, I casually walked in through the doors. Out of the frying pan, and into the fire. The receptionist looked up, and gaped at the sight of me. I barely managed to stop the smirk from reaching my face. Taking a deep breath, I began my performance.
"Hey, mom!" I called out, attracting the attention of everyone in the room.
The receptionist stuttered, unable to say a word as I looked at her, waiting patiently for an answer. When none came, I just continued my performance.
"Me an' some friends were playing baseball, when we accidentally smashed the neighbor's window again. He says he's pressing charges this time. He wants money, in other words. But then he said that he'll be willing to be lenient of you spend the night with him again."
By this point the poor woman was trembling. Dunno what with, don't care. However, she finally found her voice again. Oh, she was trembling with anger.
"Who are you?" She demanded.
Ok, crocodile tears anyone? Easy, just think up the most depressing thoughts you can. Once I had the tears going...
"Oh, god... not this again. Just because I'm not the perfect son, you start pretending you don't know me. It's not MY fault dad left. But no, you just have to take out your anger on me. My friends think I'm weird, because all I ever wear is this lizard costume, so I can hide the bruises."
Hey, I have the audience on my side, they're all either giving me sympathetic looks, or glaring daggers at mother dearest. Speaking of the receptionist, she's now turned a vivid red. Good on her.
"Security, get this little whelp OUT!"
"Whelp now am I? WHELP?" I'll give her whelp.
This was why I had the baseball bat. I started screaming, more crocodile tears coming, and commenced with smashing up the receptionist's desk. The woman gave a shriek and stumbled backwards, trying to get away. A couple of the security guards came over, and neither of them looked sympathetic. One made a grab for me, but he received a baseball bat to the side of the head for his troubles. I screamed even louder, climbing over the desk, in an act to get away from them. Now all the attention has been drawn from the door, so once the security guard who was still conscious has moved, my friends could get in.
The receptionist shrieked when I leapt off the desk, tackling a few guards while at it, and landing near her. She ran though a nearby door and slammed it shut. Huh, how's that for motherly love? Running away from your child for being slightly odd in the head. The security guard that I hadn't knocked out slid over the desk and made to grab me. I ducked under his hand and tried to move away, but he managed to grab a fistful of my trench coat. Here is the reason I took my gunblade and sheath out of the coat, if when the guard had grabbed my coat, he'd seen my weapon, he'd know I was dangerous, as it stands, I'm just a nuisance.
I spun my leg around, kicking the guard in the face, and spied my companions getting into the elevator. There, now I just need to find a way to get in it without alerting everyone that I'm inside the actual building. The longer they think I'm in the lobby, the better. I started to run towards the stairs to the next level, rushing past a large group of people. A guard tried to follow me, but he promptly met my tail, up close. Hmm, I have a strong tail, he just did a flip; he should be thanking me.
I sprinted up the stairs, and stopped at the top. No guard, well now, its not very secure then, is it? The security started to troops up the stairs, which were only wide enough for it to be in a single file line. Eying my baseball bat, I grinned, and threw it at the leading guard. The aluminum bat flew down and connected with the guard's nose, probably breaking it. He staggered back, missing a step, and falling down the stairs, creating a domino effect, knocking over everyone behind him. Hehe, they make this way too easy. Using the time I had bought for myself, I ran to the elevator and thumbed the call button. Now, while waiting for the elevator to get here, which will take a whole five seconds, I opened a random door and then slammed it shut. That should make them think I'm in one of these rooms, rather then entering an elevator. That's the way you do it.
The elevator doors opened, revealing Cloud and company. Using what little time I had left, I ran inside and hit the button for the highest floor I could. Now, I was safe, and they believed me to still be down there, somewhere. And no-one suspected the fact that AVALANCHE was in the house.
"Have fun?" Cloud asked me, sarcastically.
"Yeah, actually, it was pretty fun." I answered.
The Spiky blond rolled his eyes, handing me back my gunblade. I mumbled my thanks, clipping the sheath back inside my coat. The elevator ride was much smoother than in the game, what with no alarms going off. I leant back, resting against the wall, waiting for the lift to stop at floor 60. We stopped about halfway, much to our confusion. The doors opened, and there, standing before us, was that same Shinra executive from the train. Huh, what a coincidence. When he spotted us, his eyes grew large, and he stepped back in alarm.
"Oh, erm… I'll… wait for the other elevator." He stuttered, before running down the corridor.
I sniggered as the doors shut, and the elevator started moving again. Cloud took up his usual position of thoughtfulness. Tifa seemed to sense something was wrong.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"I didn't want to start a ruckus till we saved Aeris. I should have known that was impossible though…"
Barret gave Cloud a look and started chuckling to himself. Cloud shot Barret a weird look.
"What is it? You're givin' me the willies."
"So there are times when even you fight for other people. I am impressed."
"Who cares if you're impressed…?"
"Y'know, I ain't so good at sayin' this, but… Sorry…for lotsa things."
Wow, Barret, apologizing? That's it, where's Jesus? Cloud shrugged, before giving the faintest of nods.
"And anyway, the ruckus was contained to the lobby. Unless that worker starts talking about us, then they have no reason to believe we're here. Even if he does talk, we should be off this thing by then." I said, picking myself up from the wall, noticing that we were near floor 60 now.
The doors opened, and we stepped out. Well… this is exactly what I would have expected from an office building… a large empty space. That was sarcastic, by the way. A large empty space, with a couple of doors, and a glass elevator type thing, in other words, the exec elevator. Oh, wait… one of the doors just opened and a couple of soldiers just walked in. Oh, if the fact that their uniforms are the same as Cloud's clothes, then they aren't just soldiers, but SOLDIERS. Yes, the capitalized version.
One of them was wearing a helmet shaped like a dragon's head, and was twirling a lance around. The other wasn't wearing a helmet, so I could see that he had steel grey eyes and shoulder length, curly, silver hair. This SOLDIER was holding a broadsword. Both started at the sight of us.
"Think these guys are intruders?" The spear user asked.
"I recognize the description given to us. These guys are AVALANCHE." The other one replied.
Both tensed up, readying their weapons. I pulled Talon from its sheath and relaxed, mentally trying to tell which one was weaker. I thing I'll go for the lancer. If I can get in his face, the lance is not quite as effective. Cloud pulled out his sword, and he, Tifa and Barret got into battle ready positions.
"Let's get them Kain." The sword user grunted, before charging at Cloud.
I followed the SOLDIER's lead and charged at Kain. I swung my blade at the lancer, but he hopped backwards, parrying my slash, before he took a stab at me, which I sidestepped. It's strange, how unlike the game this fight truly is, in the game it was turn based, in this it's… well… all out fighting. I ducked under a wild swing from Kain and cast fire, throwing a fireball at his chest, causing him to stagger back. I took the chance to slash at him, but he recovered quicker then I had anticipated and he blocked the attack. He twirled his lance around, hitting me in the face with the handle part of it before jumping into the air… and seemingly sticking to the ceiling. Oh, he's that Kain is he?
This is no lancer… this is a Dragoon. And right now he's crouching on the ceiling, probably charging up his jump back down. I'm not about to let him. I lift my gunblade up and fire at him. I didn't bother aiming, since right now I just want him down, without it being because he did an attack that would undoubtedly hurt. He looked shocked at my shooting at him, and lost his concentration, falling back to the ground with a yelp. That was actually rather comical, especially the way he just landed with nothing more than an: 'oof.' Oh dear, I believe I just wounded his pride, since his companion stopped fighting long enough to laugh at Kain's misfortune. Of course, Cloud giving a war cry stopped that, since the swordsman was more intent on keeping his life intact than not.
I smirked at the Dragoon, watching as he picked himself up, with as much dignity as he could. I rolled my eyes at the glare he directed at me, and cast blizzard, however, I didn't aim the spell at him, but instead at the floor that he was standing on. Kain gave a small gasp as the floor beneath him turned to ice, and he slipped, falling back to the ground. Hey, this is fun, let's just torment the Dragoon, until he gives up and leaves us alone. Hmm… I wonder. I quickly cast blizzard again, this time freezing the ceiling above the SOLDIER and then cast fire on the same spot. Hah! Kain just got rained upon.
Crikey! I think he's getting mighty pissed off. At least, if the clenched teeth and growling were anything to go by. He stepped off the ice patch, and out of the rain, and glared at me, before his eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed. I grinned at Tifa, who had just done a Vulcan neck pinch, or something similar. She smiled back.
"Its not nice toying with SOLDIERS." She chided me, humorously.
"He shouldn't make it so easy." I sniggered.
She laughed, before turning towards the others. I looked and spotted Cloud and Barret, standing over the swordsman, who was panting. They seemed to be talking, but in hushed tones, so I couldn't hear from here. But it ended with Barret giving the man and helping hand up, which surprised me. A few more words, and the SOLDIER walked towards me and Tifa. I tensed slightly, but all the swordsman did was nod at us, before picking up Kain in a fireman's carry, and walking to the elevators.
"Erm… what happened?" I asked, looking at Barret.
"Cecil and Kain were only trainees, and hadn't known just what Shinra had done." Cloud answered for him. "When he learnt that it was Shinra that had destroyed Sector 7, he seemed to have a change of heart about his employers."
Makes sense though, the swordsman being called Cecil. That meant that they were the same guys from Final Fantasy IV. And they were good guys, so if they learnt that Shinra was evil, they would turn. But why did they believe Cloud and Barret?
"And he just believed you?" I snorted.
"Yes. Don't ask."
"And you just let him live?" I asked Barret.
Barret shrugged, looking at Cloud.
"If Cloud here can turn from Shinra, who's to say others can't?"
Isn't this just a tad out of character for Barret? Oi, Jade, what are you doing? Well, as long as this doesn't come back to bite us in the ass, I'll go along with it for now. But if this does go wrong, they'll be sorry they ever considered abusing this very un-Barret-like trust he was giving them.
Cloud moved over to the exec elevator, and slotted in a keycard. The doors opened, and he stepped in, motioning us to follow him. I walked into the glass elevator and stared at the view. Midgar was lit up, and it was a great view from here. I almost didn't realize that the lift had already stopped.
I stepped out and paused. Oh, jeez, that's a lotta guns aimed at me. Can't I ever get a break? The moans opened fire… and missed. Though they did come close, as it was I had to resort to looking like I was doing some weird dance as I ran back towards the elevator. However, Barret yelled at me not to go in, else they may... lob a grenade? Ok, point taken, I'll run about like a loony, hoping they'll continue to miss. Oh wait... stairs. Let's use them for cover. I never made it that far, since Barret waltzed out of the lift and gunned everyone down. I looked at the corpses and then at Barret.
"Next time, can we take the stairs?"
Barret snorted, searching the bodies. Eventually, he found another key card, which he pocketed with a smirk.
"Well, if they didn't know we're here before, the do now." Tifa snorted, looking at all the bodies.
"Relax." Cloud grunted, starting towards the stairs. "That was probably just a coincidence."
Well, at least we're taking the stairs this time. I might have been put off of taking the exec elevator for the rest of my life, solely because of my being shot at by a dozen guards after I left it. Well, at least the stairs offer more cover than an elevator which had walls made of glass. Just imagine if a security guard threw a grenade at us from while we were in the elevator. It's a long we down, and I have absolutely no intention of learning whether or not I'll suddenly develop the ability to fly. If I survive the explosion that is. See, stairs are better then elevators. Unless you're disabled, in which case, you're kind of restricted to the elevators.
Up the stairs we went, to the next level of entertainment... Ok, I really have to stop saying such things. This is hardly entertaining, for me at least. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to actually kick some ass, not merely taunt a Dragoon, and run around attacking people with baseball bats. We came up to the next level, and started at the number of executives just walking around. I don't know about the others, but I tensed right up, and my hand went to the hilt of Talon, prepared for alarms to start blaring. It didn't happen. Everyone... ignored us? No, not strictly true, an executive in an expensive black suit walked right past us and gave a small wave with a cheery:
"Good evening."
I just gaped at him, shocked that we weren't causing mass hysteria. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Cloud numbly waving back. Ok, this is weird. Am I dreaming? Or am I suffering from hallucinations for whatever reason? Ok... Let's make the best of it?
I have no idea how it came down to this. Rumors that Cloud heard and some other circumstances that I'm still trying to figure out. But honestly, why am I here? It smells. I'm sure there was a floater in that bog we had to stand on to get here, but, weird as I am, I am not going to start making a habit of checking random toilets for someone's un-flushed business. In case you don't know, we're hiding in an air duct that is right over a particularly foul smelling toilet. Only silver lining that I can see is our being over a meeting of the most powerful men in Midgar. Oh, and woman... if Scarlet counts as such. The meeting was just getting underway when we arrived.
"Geez, that's a lotta suits." Barret muttered, glaring down at the committee.
"We have the damage estimates for Sector 7." A young man spoke up, holding a clipboard. He was dressed in a light blue suit, but it wasn't the same shade as the Turk's suit. "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is…"
"We're not rebuilding." President Shinra interrupted him.
"They're not?" I asked.
"What?" The young exec questioned, in obvious disbelief.
"We're leaving Sector 7 as it is. And restarting the Neo-Midgar plan." The President claimed.
"…Then the Ancients?"
"The Promised Land will soon be ours. I want you to raise the Mako rates 15 percent in every area."
"Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la!" A fat bloke sung. "And please include our Space Program in the budget!"
"Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase." The President said through the singing, which stopped.
"Oh man!" Fatso whined.
"Sir. If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence…" Blue suit argued.
"It'll be all right. The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra, Inc. even more." The President calmly replied, looking rather bored.
Another man, this one larger then the whining fatso, (but it wasn't from fat, not entirely) started laughing, the sound of which made my spine shiver.
"Ha ha ha! After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!"
Barret started to shake his fist, fire in his eyes. I wouldn't put it past him to gun down everyone in the room right now.
"That dirty fuck." He cursed.
At that point, a scientist with very greasy looking hair walked into the conference room. Jesus... talk about stereotypical, he looks like the complementary picture for the definition of scientist. The President noticed the scientist and grinned.
"Hojo. How's the girl?"
"As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother. I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is 18 percent." Did anyone understand a word of that? It sounded like a load of complex words that have no meaning to me.
"How long will the research take?" The President asked, once his eyes had stopped clouding over.
"Probably 120 years." (Long time much?) "It's probably impossible to finish in our life time. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter. That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a long time."
"What about the Promised Land? Won't it hinder our plans?"
"That's what I need to plan. The mother is strong…and yet has her weaknesses."
Those words said, the President turned to everyone else.
"That concludes our meeting."
Everyone started to gather their note and leave. Scarlet was the last to go, but she suddenly turned to stare at the vent, making us shrink back, hoping that she hadn't spotted us.
"Something stinks." She said, to absolutely no-one. Pointless much?
Well, now that she was gone, we turned to look at each other.
"They were talking about Aeris… right?" Cloud asked.
"I dunno." Barret grunted.
"Probably." Tifa said.
"Let's follow them." I suggested.
We gave a collective nod and crawled back to the toilet, where we climbed out of the air duct. First thing that I did once free of the narrow space of stinky-ness was to run out of the restroom and breathe pure air. The others were quick to follow. Well, we knew where the conference room was, so let's go there and see if we can meet any of the execs to follow. Cloud took the lead, turned a corner, before spinning back to us again. Pressing his back against the wall, he stuck his head out, spying on someone.
"Hojo…huh…?" He muttered, before motioning us to follow him.
The greasy haired scientist was walking towards the stairs, deep in thought. He seemed to know his way around pretty well, because even without looking, he still avoided all obstacles in his path and found his way to the stairs, which then led to his lab. However, being so deep in thought, he forgot to shut the door, which would have prevented us from progressing into his domain, since our keycard was only any good up 'till the floor we were just on. Well... his loss really, isn't it? If he hadn't wanted us to snoop around his lab, he should have been more careful. We paused briefly when we entered, ad Barret seemed to realize something.
"I remember him. That Hojo guy. He's in charge of the Shinra's Science Department. Cloud, don't know him?" Barret questioned Cloud.
"This is the first time I've actually ever seen him. So…that's what he looks like…"
"Why would Cloud have had reason to meet Hojo anyway?" I asked. "I doubt those in SOLDIER would have that much to do with the science department, except for medical reasons."
Barret shrugged. "Jus' wondering."
We followed Hojo to the other end of his lab, where he stopped before a large glass cell. He almost caught us stalkers, but thankfully there was a large stack of crates for us to hide behind. The scientist turned to an assistant.
"Is this today's specimen?" The assistant asked.
"Yes. We're starting right away. Raise it to the upper level."
The assistant nodded, before walking off. Hojo examined whatever was inside the cell.
" My precious specimen…" The scientist mumbled aloud, before following the assistant.
We came out of hiding, now that there was no-one to hide from. Tifa walked over to the glass cell, tapping the glass a couple of times.
"Precious specimen…? Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?" The martial artist wondered.
I took a few steps forwards and examined the cell's occupant. Hey, its Nanaki. I stopped Tifa as she was about to tap the glass again.
"Don't." I ordered her. "I doubt I'd like being ogled at like a zoo attraction if I were the one in there."
Tifa nodded, hesitantly backing off. At that point, a loud scream made us both jump. I spun around, ready to unsheathe Talon, but lowered my hand at the sight of Cloud writhing in agony on the floor. After a couple of seconds, he returned to normal, but started mumbling to himself. All I caught was 'Jenova' and 'Brought it here'.
"Cloud, be strong!" Tifa called to Cloud, who started to pick himself up.
Cloud pivoted around sharply, an almost wild look in his eye.
"Did you see it?" He demanded to know.
"See what?" Barret frowned.
"It's moving… Still alive?" Cloud seemed to question himself on what he saw.
Barret gave Cloud a look, before peeping though the small window that Cloud had pointed at. He pulled away almost immediately, scowling.
"Where's its fucking head?" He cried out.
Raising an eyebrow ridge at them, I took a turn at looking through the peep hole. What I saw was the deformed form of a woman. Yes, it didn't have a head. But it did still have eyes. Only...
"It has an eye on its tit." I exclaimed, pulling back, pulling a face. "It has a fucking eye on its tit."
"This whole thing's stupid. Let's keep goin'." Barret said after a moment, which was spent mirroring my expression.
"Right." I answered eager to get away from the eye-tit thingy. We piled into a nearby elevator and rose up to the next floor. On exiting the elevator, we spied an exact replica of the glass cell from before, only this one had Aeris inside it. Her face lit up when she spotted us. Well, we have our target in sight. Now to threaten Hojo into releasing her, then we can all go down to the pub, have a pint and wait for this whole thing to brew over. Oh, wait... that's Shawn of the Dead. No, we'll leave Midgar, go to Kalm or something, go to a restaurant, order a nice meal, and wait for this whole thing to brew over. Now THAT is a plan.
"Aeris!" Cloud yelled out.
Hojo turned to look at us, giving us all, me especially, a cold, calculating look.
"Aeris? Oh, is that her name?" He turned back to Aeris, but quickly looked at again, asking in a rather polite tone of voice: "What do you want?"
"We're taking Aeris back." Cloud told him. Real smooth.
Hojo's look changed to a frown.
"Outsiders..."
"Shoulda noticed it earlier, you…" Barret started.
"There's so many frivolous things in this world." Hojo responded, sounding rather bored.
Barret lifted his gun-arm, aiming it at Hojo's head. Hojo gave it an interested glance, before turning back to Aeris.
"Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it? Hmm?"
Cloud made a sound of annoyance.
"That's right. I recommend you think things out logically before you make any rash moves. Now bring in the Specimen!" he shouted out the last part.
A hole appeared in the middle of Aeris' cell, a gap which was quickly filled at the floor from the cell below rose up and transported Nanaki to Aeris' cell. Nanaki started to growl at Aeris, moving towards her like a predator does his prey. Aeris dodged a lunge from the four legged creature and screamed.
"Cloud, help!"
Cloud turned on Hojo, angrily.
"What do you think you're doin'?"
"Lending a helping hand to an endangered species… Both of them are on the brink of extinction… If I don't help, all these animals will disappear." Hojo answered, still sounding bored.
Tifa snarled, advancing on Hojo.
"…Animal? That's terrible! Aeris is a human being!" She growled.
"You're gonna pay!" Barret swore.
"Humansss have NO right to play god." I hissed. "Nor are they any better then any other speciesss."
"Barret! Can't you do anything?"
Barret hesitated a moment, before nodding.
"Awright! Step back!" He ordered, aiming his arm at the cell.
For the first time, Hojo started to show emotion, panic.
"Stop!" He cried out, panic lacing his voice.
Too late, Barret fired a short burst into the cell, which suddenly emitted a white glow, engulfing those inside.
"Wh…what are you do-- Oh! My precious specimens…" Hojo rambled, looking at the cell, panic-stricken.
The door on the cell opened, and Nanaki flew out, tackling Hojo, pinning him to the ground. Aeris then stumbled out, but Cloud grabbed her, pulling her away from the cell. We didn't get a chance to do much else, before the elevator started moving.
"...The elevator is moving." Cloud mumbled, looking at the gap in the middle of the cell.
"This is no ordinary specimen. This is a very ferocious specimen!" Hojo cried out, struggling to get Nanaki's weight off him.
"He's rather strong." The four legged creature told us, making Tifa jump. "I'll help you all out."
"It talked?" Tifa exclaimed.
Nanaki got off Hojo, who started to crawl away. He gave Tifa an indignant grunt.
"I'll talk as much as you want later Miss."
"We'll take care of that monster. Somebody take Aeris somewhere safe…" Here, Cloud paused, thinking. "Tifa, I'm countin' on you!"
Tifa nodded, before running off to the sidelines with Aeris. Cloud turned to Nanaki.
"What's your name?"
He jerked a head in my direction as he gave his answer. "He used to call me Red when he was an infant. You may call me what you wish."
"Then we'll stick with Red." Cloud grunted, unsheathing his sword as he turned towards the monster which emerged from the cell.
I pulled Talon out and stared at the monster, Spike checking it for a weakness. I took a step back as the ugly slime ball suddenly stretched out and tore a part of its flesh. The flesh then mutated into a whole new monster.
"Oh... wonderful." I said, sarcastically.
"As ever, Spike, your sarcasm is much appreciated." Red muttered.
Ok, so I'm guessing that the dream I had before was telling me that I knew Red from before we met up here. He knows my name and I haven't given it to him yet. Plus, he knows I'm a very sarcastic person. Smirking, I charged at one of the smaller monsters, deciding to take out the defence. You never know, this thing may actually be rather weak without its support.
Talon tore through the creature's flesh, slicing it in half. I rotated on the spot, swinging my leg around in a kick that crushed the skull of another one. If they have skulls that is. Another two of them rushed towards me, forcing me to retreat slightly, until Cloud joined in and did a cross-slash, completely dicing up one of them; the other decided that my bullets were a healthy diet, as I fired a round where I believe the face should be. Lots of slime flew out of the bullet wound, and the thing dropped dead. The larger one made a gesture at me, and suddenly I was surrounded by a green bubble. When it disappeared, I felt nauseous, and started retching. Ok, if this is what poisoning is going to be like, count me out in future. Oh, God, I think I'm gonna hurl.
I left Barret to fire his gun-arm at the small army of mutant rejects, and slouched over to a corner where I emptied my stomach. Please tell me I have an antidote somewhere on my person. I didn't. Figures. After hurling again, I turned towards my comrades.
"Anyone got an antidote?" I shouted out.
Barret fished around in his pockets, pulling out a bottle made of green plastic. He tossed it over to me, and I barely caught it. Hesitantly, since usually when I'm sick I don't really feel like drinking, I took a large gulp. Hey, the effect was instantaneous. I feel great. Now that I'm better, I can fight again. Tossing the half empty bottle over my shoulder, I gave a war yell and leapt at the larger creature, which was trying to take out Red.
My gunblade sliced through its arm, which... turned into another of the minions. And guess what, folks? The arm instantly grew back. Oh, that's really pleasant. I cast fire on the newest minion, and it went completely ablaze. Making a really nasty sound, it ran around in a frenzy, before turning Cloud's general direction. Its kind of hard not to laugh at Cloud's face when he spotted the living fireball come charging at him at high speeds. He just a strange sound as he dived out the way, unfortunately, giving it a clear path into Barret, who gasped as his trousers started to set alight. He quickly patted the fire out, and shot Cloud a sour look before firing a Big Shot at the minion master. The big thing screeched for about 5 seconds, and then cast Bio on Barret in retaliation. It's kind of interesting, watching him go so pale in a span of a couple of seconds. However, he pulled out a bottle of antidote before I could get to the point where he was throwing up.
I cleaved another minion in half, and watched as Red was tackled by one of the minions. He closed his eye in concentration for a brief second, before rushing out of the battlefield and tensing.
"This ends." He muttered, focusing his energy.
He then proceeded to charge at the monsters at high speeds. I rolled out of the way when he came towards me, and from my position on the floor, I bared witness to him charge through the minion master. For a moment, nothing moved. Then, all of the monsters in the area exploded. No, not with fire as such, but they did blow up, sending gunk everywhere. None of us did the victory jig this time, we were to busy wiping the grunge off of ourselves.
Aeris and Tifa chose that time to make their reappearance. Both women were pulling faces at the gunk that was everywhere, and were trying to step extra carefully.
"Aeris, you all right?" Cloud asked, trying to look dignified whilst being covered in slime.
"She seems all right… in many ways." Tifa informed him.
Red paused, thinking something unknown to the rest of us. He spoke up after a moment.
"I have a right to choose, too. I don't like two-legged things." I shot him a look, and he quickly amended. "You're the exception."
"What are you?" Barret queried, looking at Nanaki.
"An informed question. But difficult to answer. I am what you see. …You must have many questions, but first, let's get out of here." Cryptic answer.
"Cloud…so you did come for me." Aeris smiled.
"I apologize for what happened back there. I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard…"
"Good acting. For a moment, I thought you'd lost it." I smirked.
"Now we've saved Aeris, ain't no need to be is this buildin'! So let's get the hell outta here!" Barret interrupted Red's coming answer.
"If all six of us go together, we'll be noticed. Let's break up in two groups." Cloud suggested. "Aeris and Red, you two with me. Spike, you lead Barret and Tifa. You take the stairs to the 60th floor, and then take the regular elevator to the ground. We'll take the exec lift."
"You got it." I acknowledged him.
With Barret and Tifa close behind, I ran to the stairs and started to make the journey down. I must have gone down five floors before I turned and skidded to a stop. Before me was a human barrier, consisting of three Turks. Reno, Cel, and Elena. Reno had a bandage wrapped around his head, covering one of his eyes, yet he still projected an aura of danger. Both he and Cel had their mag rods out. Elena was holding a pistol. Behind me, Barret and Tifa glared at the Turks. Hmm... what would be a good plan? We need to run, but how do we make sure that we get to safety? An idea came to mind, but the other two weren't going to like it.
I charged at Elena, pushing her over and leapt down to the next floor, my comrades close behind. Once there, I turned and pulled Talon free.
"Run." I ordered my friends. "I'll hold them off."
Tifa made to object, but fell silent when Barret rested his hand on her shoulder. She turned to him and he shook his head. He looked at me.
"Don't die on us." He ordered me.
"I won't if you won't." I joked.
Barret nodded, before leading Tifa down the stairs as fast as they could go. The Turks appeared in my field of vision. I moved to slash Cel, but he ducked under my gunblade and jabbed me in the stomach with his mag rod. I doubled over, and felt a sharp pain on the base of my neck, and I fell to the ground. I grunted, each time something hit me, continuously. After several failed attempts to get back on my feet, all of which resulted in a kick to the ribs, sending me down again.
After the fourth failed attempt, I swung my weapon wildly, and was rewards with the sound of someone gasping in pain. I used the momentary lapse in the assault to climb to my feet, but as I straightened up, I felt something forcefully enter my mouth. Looking up, I saw that it was a mag rod, being held be Cel, who gave a victorious smirk. His thumb flicked the switch, turning on the electricity.
I screamed as the high voltage surged through me body.