Enjoy! It's a cliffhanger, but I cannot figure out how the next chapter is going to go. Sorry! Any ideas?
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Rufus looked out the window that was in the conference room, blinking into the afternoon light, still amazed that all of this was coming together so quickly. Their were people back in Midgar, taking the scraps of what was left of the ruined buildings and making new homes for themselves. He raised his eyes until he was looking out at the barren plains around the city, and had to fight to keep the grin from his face. Standing gracefully out amongst the dirt, tall white fans were moving fast enough to become a blur. The windmills were a new thing, designed by Reeve. They took the energy that the wind made, and changed it into electricity. With the oil that Barrett had discovered, there was now no need at all to even think about using mako to energize everything. He glanced over his shoulder at the light touch on his arm, and did smile when he saw it was Yuffie. The amber-eyed girl had calmed in the past couple months, even though she still had a sharp tongue, and sticky fingers.
"Yes, Yuffie?" She smiled at the gentle warmth in the blonds' voice, and looked up to meet his eyes, pointing a thumb behind her where almost everyone was gathered.
"The only people were missing are Vincent, Marlene, Cloud, and Sephiroth." Rufus groaned silently, and had to close his eyes as his smile became rueful. Vincent and Marlene just got back this morning, and Cloud and Sephiroth were always late. It was just like the four of them. He opened his eyes as loud laughter caught his attention, and as he turned, he saw a shocking sight. Marlene was walking through the door, but she had two huge wings folded tightly on her back. They were the deep red of a good wine, and each edge of the feathers sparkled with gold light so pale, it was almost white. What truly amazed him were the black demon wings that were against Vincent's back. He knew about the demon that lived inside that body, and as he took in the small horns and fangs that were a new addition to the human body, he realized something. 'I think him and his demon finally came to an understanding.'
Vincent felt as though he was finally free. He knew the merging of his and Chaos's personalities had unlocked something deep inside of him, and as he looked around at all these people he considered his friends, he realized what it was. His emotions. He finally felt free to care about them, because he now knew that no matter what he did, or tried, shit was going to happen no matter what. He could only do his best. He glanced at the woman next to him, who was joking around with Yuffie, and smiled. His best was very good indeed, as long as Marlene stayed next to him. He looked behind him as the door opened, and his smile just got wider as Cloud and Sephiroth walked in, hand in hand. He met Cloud's eyes, and his smile slipped from his face. He looked at Sephiroth, and the smile became a frown. He walked over to the two men, and grasping their clasped hands, he drew them out of the room and into the hallway. Shutting the door behind him, he looked at the two.
"What happened now?" Sephiroth shook his head, and looked to Cloud. The blond took his hand away, and wrapped his arms around himself, sighing deeply as he closed his eyes.
"Denzel left," he whispered. Vincent blinked, and opened his mouth to say something, but Marlene walked out of the room behind him, and shut the door.
"What do you mean, Denzel left?" she asked quietly. She listened as Cloud retold the tale of how he had gone to Denzel's room, and found it empty. There was a note on his dresser, explaining how he had to go find something, and not to worry. It had nothing to do with Hojo. Marlene took in a deep breath, and began cursing with enough venom, that the three men looked at her in surprise.
"Of all the stupid, idiotic things to do," she finished finally. She leaned against the closed door, the laugher behind her not even able to make her smile. She closed her eyes, and held a hand to her face as she thought furiously. Suddenly, she had it, and her eyes flew open to meet the red ones that were gazing at her intently.
"While we were with Hojo, he always talked about a weapon he was going to give Sephiroth, and then Cloud. I don't believe it was a weapon like the ones the Cetra created, but an actual blade. Hojo kept ranting on about how he had used Jenova to help make it, and its very make up was filled with mako, and her cells." Her voice had dropped to a whisper as the full horror of what Denzel was trying to do caught up to her. She saw the same emotion reflected in the three pairs of eyes that were looking at her. "He's going to go try and get it, I know he is."
Cloud growled softly, as his mind quickly went from scenario to scenario. They could try to get the kid, but it wouldn't do them much good with all the monsters out there. The meeting behind the closed door was about which one of them would get which set of troops. Something flashed through the doors like a bolt of lightning, and he was on the ground, holding his head in his hands as he screamed. Sephiroth was next to him, and in the other room, he could hear Zach doing the same. Pain, there was so much pain and death. He struggled to orient himself with this time, but all he could hear were the screams of the dying people, their bodies being ripped apart by horrible beasts. As suddenly as it came, it was gone, and he heard Aeris whisper through his mind.
'I am blocking you from it, but Hojo has finally got the monsters across the sea. He attacked Kalm, and is coming to Midgar. He has an army with him, Cloud. You need to do something, and do it quick.ยด Then she was gone. Cloud got to his feet slowly, and looked at Seph. With a deep breath that eased an icy cold around his battered heart, he went into the meeting room.
Everyone was gathered around Zach, and he knew the man caught his presence, because his violet eyes rose from the table, and met his. An understanding passed between them, and then Rufus was at his side. Cloud looked at the older man, and took a deep breath.
"We were just informed that Hojo has somehow managed to bring his creations across the sea, and is attacking Kalm, right this moment. We need to build defenses around Midgar, because they are going to be here by tomorrow morning." Rufus just stared at him, horror in his baby blues, before rushing over and grabbing his radio, sending messages to everyone he could to gather as much material as they could, and begin building a wall around Midgar. Everyone sprang into action, rushing out the door to go help. It left Vincent, Marlene, Cloud, Sephiroth, Zach, and Rufus in the room. They all looked at each other, and it was Sephiroth who broke the silence.
"We will go to the halfway point between the two cities. Maybe we can hold them off long enough for the defenses to be built, and maybe fortified." They all nodded, and Rufus shook his head, sighing.
"I need at least one of you here to help with the troops. Yuffie has promised that by next week, she will bring some of her warriors here to help us in training, and bolster our numbers. Obviously, we don't have that long." He took another deep breath, and shook his head again. "You know what, I will give the command of the troops over to Tifa and Barrett. They have the respect of the troops, and should do well. You need to go now, if you're going to make it." They all saluted smartly, and when they all finally left, Rufus allowed himself to sink down into a chair, holding his head in his hands as he shook. He really didn't like the idea of sending these people out to be killed. Having had a near death experience when the reactor blew in his face, he did not want any of these people to have the same. Now, he had Yuffie. She had gotten past the hard exterior he projected, and she would be fighting on the front line, in command of her troops. All of this shit was not good for his mental state. He breathed deeply, thinking about the loved ones he would have to tell, about their sons or daughters getting killed, because they has decided to put their faith and trust in the one company they should hate. He felt the door open, and looked up, expecting to see one of the SOLDIER's, but instead it was Yuffie. She walked over to him as he tried to compose himself, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"Rufus, it's all right," she whispered softly into his ear. He felt the tears rise in his eyes, and decided, fuck it. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulling her into his lap, he finally let the tears come.
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Cloud, Zach, and Sephiroth gunned the engines of their bikes, flying over the packed, dry earth. Cloud couldn't see them, but he could sense Marlene and Vincent overhead, easily keeping up with them. They had been riding for hours, and as he grabbed his phone to tell the others to stop, something leaped out of the darkness, and took him and the bike down. He growled fiercely as he felt sharp teeth dig into his shoulder, and ignoring the shooting pains that went down his arm, he reached up with his bare hands, and tore out the monsters throat. He threw the body away from him, and stood, staggering slightly at the pain in his shoulder. He felt something behind him, and rolled out of the way as a huge claw ripped into the air where he was. He cursed, and sprinted over to his fallen bike, getting his main sword out just in time to impale the beast through its throat as it struggled over him. With a another curse he threw it away, and quickly turned to gather the rest of his swords, locking them together. He heard one of the other bikes, and looked around to see both Zach and Sephiroth skid to a stop near him.
"Well," he said sardonically. "I think this is where were going to make our stand." The other two nodded, and they all looked up as Vincent and Marlene landed close to them. Cloud shivered, and they all turned their attention to the west, where a unearthly howl came from, soon followed by another. The five fighters stood, weapons drawn as the dawn came over the horizon, bringing with it a tidal wave of black.
Cloud look at his companions, and had to grin. "You all have the Fire materia, right?" They all nodded, and Cloud stretched out his left hand, where he had a band around his upper arm with different materia held in them. He felt the others do the same, with whichever instrument they were using to hold their materia. With a small nudge of his mind, he watched dispassionately as his arm, and then the rest of his body began to glow a sparking white. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the rest of them begin to glow as well, and could not keep the wide grin that stretched across his face. 'We must all look like demons from hell,' he thought with savage glee.
"When they get close enough, release the spells. I want to take out as many as we can with this first blast." He felt, rather then saw them all nod, and he let the fire build inside him, watching the wave of beasts steadily grow closer, their howling chilling his blood. They were only about twenty feet away, when he gave the signal, and pure white fire shot from their combined spell, roaring towards the monsters in a burning wave of death. As soon as his materia winked out, he fell back into a fighting stance, watching as the first ones to get hit were burnt to cinders in an eye blink.
Cloud watched the wave spreading towards them, and made a decision. He smashed through the doors between their minds, and in the blink of an eye, the three men were engulfed in flame. Cloud stood in the middle, with Seph on his left, and Zach on the right. Vincent and Marlene both took a couple steps away from the three men. Cloud felt the two men, and everything felt right, as through this was what they had been born for. The horde came closer, and the three shifted in perfect unison, before launching their bodies at the awaiting jaws.
Cloud slashed and struck the dark bodies flowing around him, until he was black with the blood of them. In that first wave, everyone had gotten separated, and was fighting in his own personal circle of hell. Claws got him across his back again, and as he turned to slash out at what hurt him, his right leg buckled underneath him. He fell to his knees for only a moment, before pushing through the pain and standing, quickly taking out two beasts who thought to catch him while he was weak. Suddenly, every beast stopped, heads cocked to the side as though listening. As one, they ignored the small group, and ran for Midgar. Cloud cursed, and looking around, spotted his bike. He had a brief glance at the burning forms of Zach and Sephiroth, and the prone body of Vincent, Marlene kneeling over him. Ignoring everything, including the blood that was dripping from his body, his own and the beasts, he righted it, and started it while still getting in the seat. He never heard the voices yelling at him to stop, the knowledge of all the innocent people who would be slaughtered in Midgar overriding any concern he had for himself.
Soon he was flying through the ranks of the beasts. He weaved through them, using his bike, his hands, and his sword, bringing death to any that he could reach. His eyes were black, burning with blue fire, and a fierce grin was on his face even as claws and teeth ripped through his flesh. He knew, knew that he couldn't let any of these monsters reach Midgar. He was ripped from his bike with a small gasp, and he went rolling on the ground, slamming into a rock, and the fire died around his body instantly. He lay there, gasping for breath as the beasts ran past him, staring up at the darkening sky. 'We've been fighting all day?' he thought. He pushed himself into a sitting position, forcing his body to move despite the pain now screaming through him. He staggered to his feet, and finally raised his eyes to watch the last of the monsters stream past him, and his mind refused to let him comprehend what he was seeing for a moment. Then it hit him like a hammer to his forehead, and hit him so hard he collapsed back to he knees, his breath coming in shallow gasps. The ground that stretched before him was covered with the dead and dying, the dry earth coated in the sticky black of their blood. He turned, and shook his head in disbelief as he saw Midgar, not 300 feet from where he knelt. The defenses had gone up, but there weren't that many monsters left, and even as he watched, the army took down what was left. He heard the engines of the other bikes, and as he came to his feet again, Sephiroth and Zach rode up.
Sephiroth looked at Cloud, and his eyes widened in amazement that the blond was even standing. As he shut off the engine, he slung his leg over, swallowing his energy, and walked slowly over to Cloud, taking in the his injuries as he did. Cloud had claw marks crossing his entire body, bite marks on his shoulders, upper arms, and thighs. Blood was dripping from very deep cuts on his chest, and even as he watched, Cloud staggered, and fell to his knees. Sephiroth knelt, and taking the other man into his arms, he looked down into those sparkling blue eyes. Cloud smiled, and raised a hand to touch Sephiroth's cheek, the world having gone white around the edges.
"We did it," he whispered. Seph nodded, and Cloud sighed, closing his eyes. Sephiroth's eyes widened as he felt Cloud's heart stutter, and his own died in his chest as he felt Cloud's do the same. He took a running start, Cloud in his arms, and jumped on his bike, making the tires scream as he flew towards Midgar. 'No, fuck no, not this, not now,' he repeated to himself, shoving his own energy into Cloud's body, not caring that he felt his heart stutter in his chest. Cloud's came back to life, and Sephiroth breathed a sigh of relief, before slamming the door shut between Cloud and himself, and Zach. He would not let Cloud or he take Zach down with them should something happen. He flew through new barricade, knowing that Zach was following quickly behind him, but as he parked the bike in front of the medical center, he felt Cloud's heart stop once again. Collapsing to his knees, he dimly heard Zach calling his name as his world went white. As his vision was growing dark, he shoved what energy he had left into Cloud, and as he collapsed into Zach's arms, he felt Cloud's heart beat again, as his own stopped.