- A Moment Apart -
"Are you sure this will work?" Tifa asked, eyeing the bottle of liquid.
Vincent shrugged. Nobody really knew anything about it, since Yuffie and Elena had only recently brought the altered serum back from Kalm. They stood near the edge of the desolate city in the rain. Tifa tied her hair back and downed half the bottle fast. The risks seemed marginal compared to the reward. The liquid tasted sour and stung the back of her throat. Then she held the rest out to Vincent.
They entered the city from the southwest, specifically avoiding several patrols near Kalm. Covert movement was essential if they were going to search for Yuffie and Denzel, and naturally Cloud, too. Tifa's heart twisted as they traveled through the ruins in trails of dark gravelly mud. Her jacket kept the rain from soaking her clothes, but her boots were a sloshy mess. The gloves on her hands felt good, though. She was relieved to be back in action. It had been too long since she'd felt useful, and even though she didn't really know Zack at all — she'd only met him once, and even then they hardly spoke — she felt like she was somehow the best equipped person to handle the situation. The devious form the alien had taken was linked directly to Cloud's past and so was she.
They moved quickly and quietly. Tifa could guess where Yuffie and Denzel had been heading. If they were trying to find Cloud, then they would have likely gone towards the crash site, and so that's where she was going, too. But halfway through the trek, climbing over wreckage and navigating impossible terrain, it became clear the altered serum wasn't working or maybe she simply hadn't drank enough of it. The creatures were following them through the rubble, getting closer with each second. The horrid noise of scurrying claws drew louder and louder until suddenly it was all around them. They were surrounded!
Tifa breathed out and fell into her meditative battle stance alongside Vincent. There was no way out but to fight.
The moment they stopped moving, the snarling packs descended, clicking and tearing through the air. With clear rigorous steps, she kicked through the kneecap of one, the thorax of another, expertly annihilating the joints and weak points. She punched through their grotesque bodies with satisfying crunches of cartilage and bone, snapping through leafy thin wings and deflecting razor sharp teeth, but she soon realized it wouldn't be enough. There were far too many, and more coming.
Vincent fired away at her side. The gun reloaded supernaturally fast in his hands, and a bullet blew apart the head of the monster right next to her. Then another immediately took its place. It was a losing battle. Tifa knew it.
Through the turmoil, Vincent motioned for her to run. He could hold them off with Chaos, so she nodded and tore a path outward. The rain blurred her vision, thunder cracked above her. And somewhere in the distance, she felt Cloud was near. He had to be. He was somewhere in the city, and she would find him.
The distraction of Vincent's transformation was enough to draw the attention of all the monsters and they moved towards him at a startling rate. Tifa ran. Her flashlight bounced in a dim circle on the ground as she splashed through puddles while pulling errant strands of long wet hair from her face.
The sounds of battle began to fade behind her. Vincent had been enough to detract from her presence entirely, but now she was alone. He'd be fine, she knew that much, but he'd specifically done that to protect her and now she had to press forward. Find Yuffie. Find Denzel. Find Cloud. She repeated the words in her head. Up over the next ridge of broken concrete, she paused just for a second to catch her breath. Everything was quiet except for the occasional clap of thunder above. She leaned against a rotting support beam of some long abandoned building, waiting for her heart rate to slow.
"Hello, Tifa."
She jumped and turned fast, fists raised.
And there he stood. The alien. The calamity from the skies. It had driven anyone who'd seen it into insanity and yet there it stood, looking perfectly reasonable. The voice was human, normal, and it chilled Tifa to the bone. She hadn't even heard him approach.
"Zack..."
He was alone, looking exactly as she had last seen him in real life. Soldier's uniform clean and crisp, though drenched in the rain. Long dark hair. And the sword on his back was the same she'd found Cloud holding onto that fateful rainy Midgar night. She'd been expecting an unnatural ominous presence, but everything about him was completely ordinary.
"Guess my secret is out, huh?" Zack went on casually, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, "Though I'm sure you and I would've seen each other eventually. You've been looking for me, I understand."
"I've been looking for Cloud," she specified angrily, "What have you done with him?"
"Cloud? Oh, you mean the host." Then he waved a hand in the air like it was a misunderstanding. "He's long dead."
Dead? No, it couldn't be. Her heart stammered. She caught her breath. "No, you're lying."
The look on Zack's face was a cold calculating smile. A shadow of a real human expression.
"What was your plan, I wonder?" he said to her. It was a childlike inquisitiveness. "You come here alone, unarmed, with this picture of a dead man in your head. Did you think it would really work in your favor this time?"
Anger buried into her chest. In a flash, she charged with all the years of hatred tensing in her muscles, releasing a fast succession of devastating fists. He moved with preternatural speed, dodging and evading. She tore at him again and again in a series of perfectly executed strikes, yet her powerful kicks thrust into empty air each time. The two of them danced like this through the mud, and she noticed he hadn't even drawn his weapon. Whatever his plan was, it wasn't to kill her, and she knew she had to act fast to find an opening in his defenses.
Finally, it happened. One of her punches connected, blurring into his jaw, and pain erupted over her fist. In that sliver of a second as he recovered, she stabbed full force with the blade of her hand like a knife right towards his neck. A killing blow. But before she could make contact, Zack's hand snapped onto her wrist, stopping her hard. He stuck to her like glue and something awful seeped up like a poison. It crawled through her arm and into her chest. Then he twisted and threw her away with ungodly strength.
She got up immediately, but through the rain she could see something strange was happening. She watched, horrified, as Zack's image transformed right before her eyes. His facial features shifted and his black hair turned lighter, shorter.
"No…That's not..." Tifa's words felt distant, small. Everything was crashing in her mind.
It was Cloud standing there, in front of her.
The ability to change one's looks, voice, and words, is the power of Jenova. Tifa stumbled back, frigid fear spreading down her arms and legs, paralyzing her muscles, her voice. Even the sword on his back had changed into Cloud's sword, and now he drew it with ease then removed a secondary blade. His hands moved so practiced and flawlessly that Tifa could've sworn it was really him standing there before her. The mimicry was absolute, convincing.
A tiny buzz in her skull was worming its way forward, feeding her information, connecting dots in logical patterns, and the truth hit her hard and sudden. Cloud really was dead. And the thing she'd seen so many years ago had actually been Jenova. It spared her for some terrible reason, and now she was collapsing under the weight of years of searching and hoping and holding onto him. It was all dissolving into dust in her hands. She'd been so close, she thought. So damn close.
"Why are you doing this?" Tifa found her voice somewhere in the fog. "What are you?"
Cloud toyed with the swords, moving the blades between his hands in sets.
"I'm protecting my family," he replied at last, "I'm sure you understand that."
"Family? What family?"
"The one you call Jenova. The one your people butchered and tore into fragments and cast around the planet." Cloud held up one sword, motioning around them. "I came here to retrieve the last of her, but I find she's been reduced to a handful of cells locked inside a male host and a few scattered echoes." He gazed at the edge of one of the swords. "Your people are a scourge, and I am cleansing this place."
"You're the scourge! Jenova destroyed an entire race of people!" Tifa shouted furiously.
"We are explorers. Innovators. We consume and build. We take on the form of things around us to better interact with our environment. If native species are destroyed in that process, its for a greater understanding. A higher purpose."
Tifa couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"You can join us," Cloud went on darkly, "Your family is here, too. With us."
Her heart jumped. "You mean Cloud. He's still…?"
"In some ways, yes." That smile she loved so much traced the edge of his mouth for a second. "Aren't I right here, after all? I can give you what you want. You've been waiting a very long time, Tifa."
It was becoming difficult to breathe, as if her lungs were filling with sludge. "Why me?" She fought against the urge to cough. "Why wouldn't you just kill me or turn me into one of those awful things?"
"The host has a particular affection for you. You are important to him, and since he has bonded with my family you are important to me. I wish to preserve that."
She regarded him warily, trying to ignore the buzz in her head.
"I'm not a monster," he added as if hurt.
It was all so terribly convincing. The way he stood, the way he held the swords. Even the way he rolled one shoulder back with the weight of the weapon. His voice was identical. His mannerisms. It put everything she believed into question. How long had this calamity even been on the planet? Suddenly she couldn't remember exactly. Had Cloud, perhaps, always been this...thing?
No, there was a crash site, her brain reasoned. And she'd taken the protective serum so she wasn't under its influence, yet she couldn't deny the otherworldly sensations cutting into her thoughts. The doubt. The uncertainty of her own memories.
"Join us," Cloud's voice continued, "Denzel is here, too. He was once touched by Jenova, and so I am preserving him as well. The last living remnants. Once this planet is cleansed we can all travel the stars together and rejoin the others."
The others, Tifa heard it echo in her head. A chilly black void of space filled her imagination. There were more of them. A whole host of calamities.
Cloud stepped next to her and touched her face gently. His skin brushed against hers and ignited years of longing, hoping. She couldn't bring herself to move away. She gazed up into those eerie Mako eyes through the rain. The most beautiful shade of blue.
"I've missed you, Tif."
Suddenly she felt dizzy. The storm spun around them. Her mind felt thick, cloudy. He was so close to her. So damn close. This was what she'd been searching for. Wasn't it?
"Wait, no…" Tifa mumbled, brushing his hand away. "No, this isn't right. You aren't -"
Then he kissed her. Pulled in close, she was instantly lost to him, enveloped in his touch and scent. His taste. It was really him, every bit of it. Even the way he caressed the side of her jaw with exactly two fingers, the way he always would, felt genuine. It burned through her. And suddenly it didn't seem so bad. This was what she wanted, after all. To have him back. And this was him. She knew it without a doubt. He kissed her and held her tightly and everything was fine. Just fine. When he released her, she opened her eyes and saw him smiling.
They stood, two lovers in the rain, amidst a sea of architectural decay, but she wasn't afraid. She'd finally found him. In her mind flashed that moment so long ago when she'd seen him in Edge with those horrid creatures around him, with nothing but light between them, but the image extinguished fast like a candle when he spoke again.
"I never gave up because of you," he said softly, "I knew you'd come for me, and now we can be together here."
The strong sensation of vertigo gripped her, and she found herself holding onto Cloud tightly in the hurricane of dizzying shapes and dreary wet colors. His blue eyes kept her steady somehow. She felt warm and safe. Happy.
Then a sound cut through the air, shattering the enchantment. His face exploded in pain. A claw ruptured through the center of his chest in a gush of blood and bone. Tifa screamed, holding onto him as everything in her fell apart. Blood bubbled up his throat, dribbled down his mouth. The huge claw withdrew and Cloud crumbled to the floor.
"No!" she shouted desperately, collapsing next to him in the mud. "No, no, no!" Then she viciously turned her head to the murderer.
Vincent was behind Cloud, transformed into Chaos, with long claws protruding from his wrists and dark red wings spread around him.
"What did you do?!" Tifa demanded angrily. Hot tears stung her eyes.
Chaos lifted her up and pulled her away from the body. She fought and twisted and punched but he did not let her go. Her eyes were locked on her bleeding lover.
"Tifa," Vincent's voice emanated from the folds of red shadow, "It isn't him. I need to kill it. Let me finish this."
But Tifa wasn't convinced. Vincent was the monster, after all, and her poor Cloud was struggling to stand.
"Aren't you a curious one…" Cloud said to Vincent, wiping blood from his mouth, "You are also made of something ancient, except you are from the planet, not the stars. Do all your people infect themselves with things they don't understand?" Then he turned his attention to Tifa. "Tif, come over here. Get away from that thing."
The claw around her shoulders did not let go, and Vincent knew he had to make a choice. End it now and possibly catch Tifa in the crossfire as she would surely fight to defend what she thought was Cloud, or take her to safety away from the alien. Outside of its vicinity Vincent could only hope its influence would wear off and she'd come back to them. It was now obvious that the serums did nothing against the sheer force of will that the calamity himself presented.
Vincent thought of Tseng. Tifa would, perhaps, never be the same. This time she's had more than direct contact with Cloud. The alien itself had touched her, spoken to her, invaded her. Manipulated her.
"Let her go," Cloud demanded, holding one hand over the wound pouring blood from his chest. He would have been dead by now, but of course Vincent knew he wasn't human. Not in the least bit. "Let her come back to her family. She wants to be with us."
Tifa fought vehemently against Vincent, and with the alien wounded it was very appealing to simply release her and attack the true monster. Cloud stumbled towards him. Time was running out. He had to make a choice. So he let her go.
Being the only one mercilessly free of the calamity's control in any sense meant he had a duty to protect those who weren't. Tifa was deep down in the undercurrent, and even though Vincent cared very deeply for her, and her devotion to her lost love was admirable, he knew the only real choice he had was no choice at all. He had to attack the alien now that he actually had a shot. He'd never seen it, never been close in any regard. And now he could end it all. Tifa would understand.
She immediately rushed to Cloud's side and helped him up. His chest was broken open, but the gory wound was already coagulating. With swords in both hands, Cloud rushed at Vincent, Tifa not far behind, flexing her gloved knuckles.
Vincent had never considered what it would be like to fight companions such as these. It was jarring. The alien moved just as Cloud would, switching sets of blades flawlessly in his hands, before swiping at Vincent with heavy killing blows. Tifa was right there, throwing punches and kicks in fast deadly combinations. Chaos wanted full control, he could hear the demon enticing him in his head, snickering.
Cloud's sword moved effortlessly towards Vincent, but he avoided each strike. If nothing else, the absolute imitation of Cloud meant that Vincent could anticipate his attacks more fully. He'd fought alongside the real Cloud many years ago, and training as a Turk never left one's mind. He'd mentally catalogued every movement in the past. Then Tifa caught Vincent in the side with a monstrous painful kick, and Chaos responded in a snap, pulling the woman off her feet and slamming her against the side of a nearby concrete slab. Tifa crumpled and lay on the ground coughing. When Vincent turned his attention back to Cloud, he found the alien had once again elected to wear Zack's face instead.
"Never met me before, have you?" Zack challenged, "Let's see if you can counter me as easily as you could Cloud."
His stance was completely different, he held the massive two-handed sword with elegant ease, and he was right. Vincent had never met Zack, but he had an idea how First-Class Soldiers had been trained. Chaos laughed. Combat was the natural state of the demon and now it feasted hungrily on the alien standing there in a dark blue Soldier's uniform. Zack blocked and striked and Chaos evaded and swiped, and the two moved in synchronous ferocity until Vincent allowed Chaos full control. Wings lifted the demon into the sky like a hurricane and he appeared quick behind Zack, poised to strike.
The sword blocked again then sliced through the air, but Chaos was quicker. The winged monster moved fast, too fast for the sword to follow, and claws tore deep into Zack's abdomen peeling through bone and flesh. Within seconds, Chaos was ripping him apart. The alien withstood the onslaught for just one moment longer and sliced through a leathery bit of the creature's massive wing, but Chaos refused to disengage and tore into Zack until the pretender was nothing but a bloody pile. At last, the alien collapsed. In the corner of his eye, Vincent spotted Tifa slowly getting up.
"What...what did you do?" Tifa cried in alarm, still suppressed by the thing's influence.
Vincent stood over his victim, wings splattered in rain and blood. The pool of cells that had been Zack began to coalesce. It was re-forming. Of course, Vincent reminded himself, Jenova is nearly impossible to kill and the Lifestream hadn't surfaced anywhere on the planet in years, which had so far proven the only reliable way to permanently subdue it. Such a powerful being wouldn't be destroyed so simply in battle, but at least he had grievously injured it and perhaps that was all they needed to find Cloud and retrieve him.
Quickly, he went to Tifa's side. She stood with one hand over her mouth, mud streaked across her face. Vincent closed his arms around her, protecting her from the grisly mess, and then ascended into the sky with her. Safe from repercussions of the alien below, he brought them both over the skyline of burned and broken buildings. Through the sheets of rain, he saw a hollowed out area atop a skyscraper near the northern edge of the city and touched down there. His wings were damaged and he couldn't maintain flight through the storm for very long, but at the very least he'd put a lot of distance between them and the calamity.
Resting Tifa down, he coerced Chaos back into its dormant state, and the claws and wings faded back down beneath his red cape like a nightmare disappearing in the daylight. Tifa was very still, clutching her knees against her chest. The other Cloud had felt so real, she told Vincent, so damn real.
"That's why Reeve never wanted you here," Vincent replied, "You care too much about Cloud."
He'd said it like it was a bad thing, and she frowned. Then the fog around her head lifted, like coming off the dizzying haze of a deep debilitating drug. Clarity snapped around her, and suddenly she remembered kissing him, the calamity. When it was inside of her, she'd shared something with it. It had shown her something vast, ancient. Expansive. She'd felt it's reach. She'd felt every living thing it had infected. Not just people, but animals and plants, too. She'd felt each and every one of them. And, she said with a smile, she'd felt Cloud. And Denzel. They were alive, lost in the twisting otherworldly influence that permeated everything connected to the alien.
"It's timeless," she reported, trying to make sense of the images and things she'd felt, "Endless. Things just exist and happen and nothing ends. Or begins. It's...just a loop."
Vincent sat next to her, listening intently. What she saw could have been fabricated as had everything else, he reminded her. It had, after all, convinced her that it was Cloud and that Cloud was holding her. And furthermore, nobody has survived the alien unscathed so it was very likely she would experience something catastrophic soon.
"It may have already tried infecting you," he said, "and if it failed this time because of the serum, it may not fail again."
As he spoke, she felt something else happening in her mind. A deep undying link to Cloud suddenly illuminated, bright and clear. A path through Jenova.
"Vincent," she interrupted him excitedly, eyes wide, "I know where Cloud is. I can see him."
The older man regarded her skeptically.
"No," she insisted, "I see him. In Midgar. I can find him. He's in the old Sector Five. North of the crash site."
Tifa's eyes were alight with desperation and joy. She clearly believed wholeheartedly what she was seeing, and although she should technically be as babbling and inept as Tseng, the alien had shown significant interest in her and specifically hadn't harmed her. Maybe this was one way to take advantage of whatever connection she had with Cloud and Jenova, Vincent thought carefully. With the alien hopefully down for at least some time recovering, this could be exactly the moment they'd been waiting for. An opportunity to retrieve Cloud, truly their best weapon against Jenova. And if Tifa knew where to find him...
"Vincent, please, you must believe me!"
He had to at least try. And if she were correct, then this was the first good news they'd had in years. Briskly, he nodded.
"Let's go get him," he said, aware that time was of the essence, and her smile collapsed into a happy exhale of relief. Their luck was finally turning.