Yuffie's heart beat loudly in her chest as she landed within the ruins of Sector Five. This was nothing like she had expected. The war against Sephiroth had been just a struggle to try and save the planet and get back for Aeris' death, in Cloud's case. Kadaj had hardly been anything either, just one of the clones that had escaped Sephiroth's wrath.
But Deepground . . . they meant it.
"Alright," Yuffie shouted against the wind. "Our mission is to make out way through Sector Five to the Reactor opposite the housing district. Afterwards, we are to make our way to Wall Market which will lead up to the ShinRa building. Once there, we are too meet up with the other squads."
And while we do that, I'm finding a way into ShinRa, Yuffie thought. Vincent might need back up; why should he get all the fun?
"Miss. Kisaragi, what if –"
Yuffie held up a hand, cutting them off. "Yuffie."
"Miss. Yuffie, what –"
"Yuffie, only Yuffie."
The WRO agent rolled his eyes. "Fine then, Yuffie, what if we run into Deepground? We lost at least half our squad."
Yuffie shook her head, hands on her hips as she glared at her squad. "What did Cid tell us before we left? You live, everyone behind you lives! You remember that! I'll tell you something useful too. Use your ears, listen to your surroundings, and don't focus on only your sight – that's an ancient teaching of Wutai. Use all your senses; not doing that is an utter disgrace. Use them all and we'll win!" Yuffie yelled, pumping her fist into the air, looking at each member before her, daring any of them to contradict her. "Now, what's the motto?"
Silence, then: "You live, everyone behind you lives?"
"Right on!" Yuffie grinned, gripping her four point Shuriken tightly, multiple materia shoved into the device.
Yuffie let out a sigh, turning her back on the ground, taking her position of leader at the front. Yuffie took a deep breath, Sector Five lying before her with the crumbled remains of Aeris' church to her right.
"Okay guys, let's go!" She pointed a finger dramatically before running down the rubble strewn path, her WRO agents getting their various weapons out before following their headstrong leader.
---
Shelke's mako induced yellow eyes monitored the development of the battlefront. She nodded to herself, everything going according to her calculations. One squad had already dropped, and according to her projections the airship should have crossed into the next territory by now. "Advance squad away. Secondary squad, prepare for drop."
Shelke saw the hatch open and close on the small design on the Shera on her helmet screen. She nodded, the ship falling silent once more as it maneuvered through the sky to the next drop off point, the sounds of the ragtag battle echoing through the metal structure. Her mako eyes stayed trained on the many projections her helmet was giving out, the design on the Shera still as nothing was moving around the outside hull. Before her, taking up the majority of the screen, was an aerial view of Midgar, the sectors turning blue as the squads were dispatched.
"Everything's running according to plan," she commented, the majority of Midgar blue.
Surrounding the aerial view of the city was some video, showing her what was happening down below. The airship fleets were dispatching members, countless people in the sky, gunfire colouring the sky. Ground camera showed the onslaught of Deepground soldiers engaging the diminishing line of WRO soldiers. Shelke momentarily closed her eyes. If the WRO tried to continue this idea of close combat would kill them all.
She narrowed her eyes as she saw a red shockwave eclipse part of the Midgar plains. The Tsviets are here, she thought bitterly. That would only make this battle tougher . . .
Shelke let out a curse as she saw one of Azul's rocket launchers connect with one of the nearby airships. Smoke billowed out from the damaged ship, the ship moving erratically through the sky.
"What the?!" came Cid's yell.
Shelke winced as Cid's loud yell rung through her helmet's speakers. Her eyes widened as she was jostled roughly in her seat; her hands gripping the armrests tightly as she tried to keep herself upright, hitting her head on the cold metal of the helmet.
Shaking her head as she saw stars, Shelke quickly glanced at the model of the Shera, the display enlarged from the damage it took, the display flashing the words 'warning!' repetitively.
"Transmission with Bay 9 lost; damage to the Shera: minimal."
"Damn! They're going to pay for that!"
Shelke let out a quick grin at Cid's words; the pilot was a strange one; that was for sure. Her mako eyes narrowed as she enlarged the Shera's launch bat, calling upon the video screens within the room. A majority of the bay was on fire, the remaining WRO agents putting out the fires. Shelke nodded, putting the video screens away. They'd be fine. Seeing that Vincent had left the ship already, Shelke closed her eyes momentarily again. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes once more, performing a quick synaptic net dive.
She knew it was good idea to plant a tracker in Vincent Valentine's cell phone.
"What?" Shelke frowned when she found his location, letting out an irritated sigh. Punching in his number, Shelke glared at the screens in front of her when he answered. "What do you think you're doing? You have landed several clicks off your target destination. However, considering the location of your enemy this could work to your advantage," She nodded as she spoke; Sector Seven had the best access route to the ShinRa complex. "Head for the Central Complex and locate a means of reaching the top level. You will only be able to enter Deepground from the upper platform. I'll contact you again. Shelke out."
Letting the connection drop, Shelke let out a growl. Now that Vincent Valentine had landed elsewhere, her calculations were all off. Sighing, Shelke closed her eyes concentrating, her eyes golden as she opened them, quickly performing an SND.
Now she had to rewrite her whole set of projections for the upcoming onslaught.
---
Yuffie let out a yell, ducking behind a pillar. She closed her eyes as a round of bullets embedded themselves into the pillar. Storm grey eyes looked around her; most of her squad was hiding behind the many pillars and rubble, their magic nearly depleted from all their materia use. She hadn't expected to run into armored soldiers this early on.
"War's hell!" Yuffie yelled, a Cura spell engulfing her.
The war against Sephiroth hadn't been this bad! Although JENOVA's multiple appearances and forms pissed her off, they had survived. But this time, bullets flew from every direction, explosions happened every few seconds, unable to get near the Reactors.
They were going to fail.
Yuffie's eyes opened as she heard a loud scream. "No!" she yelled.
Two of her squad members had left their hiding place, guns out, shield materia covering them as they raced headfirst at the armored soldiers. Once finding their blasters weren't working, they aimed their guns for in front of the approaching soldiers. Yuffie's mouth hung open as the blasts hit, creating an explosion. Yuffie heard her team members scream before she had to duck back behind the pillar from the force the explosion created.
Fumbling for her pockets, Yuffie pulled out the small transmitter Reeve had given to her in case of emergencies. Pressing the button, Yuffie grinned when the red light came on; a connection!
"Hello?"
She heard a sigh. "What is it, Yuffie Kisaragi?"
Yuffie blinked. Shelke? She shrugged; at least Shelke would have a plan. "Hey, how do you beat those armored soldiers?"
Shelke sighed. "You have not reached the Reactor yet."
". . . has anyone else?"
"No," Shelke said. "It seems Deepground has anticipated our plans."
"I can see that," Yuffie grumbled, looking for an ether. "So, how do we stop them?"
Shelke shook her head. "Close combat is the only way to stop them. They were created with a high materia tolerance and were to be used to shield us when we moved."
Yuffie gave out a whistle. "Whoever's behind you is pretty smart . . ."
"Weiss did not create Deepground," Shelke muttered. "However, the only way to get past them is by close combat – shut down that Reactor."
Yuffie rolled her eyes as the connection died. She had to say it, she didn't really like the girl; there was something about the ex-Tsviet she didn't trust.
"Miss Yuffie!" her head snapped up as she heard her name, a female WRO agent kneeling before her. "We can't stay here!"
Yuffie blinked, looking around; the WRO agent grabbing her arm, trying to hoist her up. "What?" Looking over the pillars, the armored soldiers were still around, countless WRO bodies lying around them. Yuffie shook her head, she was a horrible captain! "We're not leaving," she commanded, jerking her arm free. "We're going to break their shields!"
The WRO agent blinked. "We're going to what? How? We can't even get near them!"
"Doesn't matter, you just have to get creative," she said, a sudden braveness over coming her. "We didn't run from Sephiroth, so there's no way I'll be the one to runaway now."
Cid would never let me live that down, she thought.
The WRO agent nodded. "So . . . what's our game plan?"
"Well . . ." Yuffie frowned. "Tell nobody else to run at them, let them believe they killed us or whatever. When I give the signal, everyone's going to fan out, no more then two, three people going in each direction. Hopefully this will buy us some time. Your mission is to get as close to the Reactor as soon as possible, with little noise or direction. When you reach the Reactor, you are to place these triggers on the outside," Yuffie dropped some black, round devices into their hair. "One for everyone, only one, got that? When you get these on there, you wait for signal, which is when all the other Reactors will go off, Reeve will give the command. Only when you get the command, do you press the detonator. Afterwards, continue to take out the remaining Deepground soldiers and help out our allies. I do not want anyone to die, got that? Everyone else will be able to handle themselves, but, if you can spare some afterwards, send them to Sector Six. As high and mighty as he is, I doubt Red can take them all down on his own." With that, Yuffie nodded, smiling at the agent.
"Wait Miss. Yuffie," they hissed as Yuffie started to leave. Yuffie paused, showing a frustrated look over her shoulder. "What about you? Someone should go with you."
Yuffie smirked, winking at the girl. "I fought Sephiroth, I'm a JENOVA war hero; I can handle those Deepground jerks no problem."
With a wave over her shoulder, Yuffie ran at a crouch from the pillars to the rubble surrounding it. Ducking out of sight behind a pile of scrap metal, Yuffie let out a sigh, eyes closing as she leaned up against it.
"I'm a coward," she mumbled, bringing a hand to her forehead.
She had given all the devices and the detonator to the WRO agent, her pockets empty except for the odd potion and useless materia. She had intended to stay until their task was completed, but . . .
Vincent, he was on her mind. It was up to him to fight the remaining four Tsviets on his own with no back up. Sure, they were all doing their part outside, but who was watching his back? It was unfair, she thought. Vincent didn't even want to be involved. The only reason he was here was because of her. Hiding behind the pillar, it had stuck her.
If Vincent did all this for her – even though he was against it, the least she could do was watch her back.
Opening her storm grey eyes, the ShinRa building visible through the mostly crumbled plate, she nodded. Without looking behind her, Yuffie pushed away from the rubble, silently stealing away from the battlefield, wishing her squad good luck at the task ahead as she left the destroyed residential area, Sector Six and Wall Market ahead.
---
Shelke sighed, slumping back in hr chair as she disconnected from Yuffie. How the ninja was a hero of the past war, she didn't know. Yuffie Kisaragi was a flighty teenager who jumped from one idea to another and back again in seconds. She was unable to move if she wasn't on land and her emotions were out of control. At that last thought, Shelke brought a hand to her cheek; if nothing else, the ninja had enough force behind her for a punch. She wondered what would have happened if Vincent Valentine had not interceded. No doubt Yuffie's body could not take much from Shelke, the latter being fused with unprocessed Mako daily.
All in all, she did not understand the erratic ninja.
At the same time, she wasn't sure she wanted too.
Before she could ponder the ninja, and the even odder how Vincent Valentine was attracted to the erratic girl, her connection line buzzed once more.
Shelke sighed; don't let it be Kisaragi, she thought as she opened the line.
"Shelke."
She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Vincent Valentine?"
What on earth would be need? She listened in silence as he spoke, telling her his current situation. Although she didn't show it, she was surprised he had made it that far with so little troubles. Finding out his location, she locked onto the train graveyard of Sector Seven on her Midgar display, pinpointing Vincent's location.
She nodded as Vincent fell silent. "The only way out of the graveyard is through a nearby underground passage."
"Where?"
Shelke grinned; straight to the point as always, how like him. Shelke copied the display of Sector Seven and seeing the connection to Vincent's phone, she nodded to herself, words and numbers scrolling across the screen. Pressing a couple buttons quickly, Sector Seven turned green, a bar indicating that it was sending. "I'm uploading the location, also, up ahead; Deepground has established a heavy line of defense. You probably won't even break a sweat, but I thought I'd let you know."
The Sector Seven display sent, Shelke cut the connection with him. She sighed, closing her eyes, she allowed herself to think. Although way off course, Vincent Valentine had made his way through the remains of the Sector quickly, with, by the seems of it, little problems.
"Finally, the nightmare can come to an end."
"Where's Riley?" Shelke demanded, twisting her hands in the bind they had placed on her.
Her eyes narrowed at the three men in white across the dimly lit room. None of them answered or looked at her; it was like she wasn't even there. After they had gotten her name, age, what Sector she lived in and how she had gotten to the upper plate, they had ignored her. The one in the middle left for a while, silence engulfing the room. When he returned, he spoke a little but seemed agitated and impressed by something. Shelke flinched, pressing her back against the chair as they turned to look at her one by one.
She cast her brown eyes up at them as they approached. Holding their gaze with her hateful one, she started again. "Where's Riley? Where am I, dammit! You can't keep me here, I have rights! Just because you're ShinRa, you can't control me!"
Her shouted rang loudly through the small room, but not as loudly as the sound of one of the male's slapping her. She fell silent, eyes wide as he hit her, her cheek stinging.
"Found on ShinRa property, trespassing and she dictates to us!"
"I wasn't! I was on the other side of the fence."
"The top plate."
The dark haired scientist cut him off. "President ShinRa, the girl shows much promise; a candidate for our current project, perhaps?"
"President . . .?" Shelke mumbled, looking up at the immense man. She breathed deep, she was in trouble, Shalua was right . . .
"Ah, see that, she knows who you are."
The President nodded. "Indeed she does, Heidegger," he cast his glance from the heavy set man to the other. "Hojo; do as you please, it doesn't matter. You've already dealt with the family?"
Shelke's head snapped up, glancing from President ShinRa to the scientist. What had he done to Skye? To Shalua? She went to voice those questions, but fell silent, her cheek still stinging. Hojo nodded, that nod pierced her heart – had his Hojo killed her family?
"They know the girls'
been taken, caught on ShinRa property; they won't interrupt us or
look for her."
Roughly, he grabbed Shelke's arm, forcing her up from the chair. Shelke winced as he grasped her arm tightly; for such a thin guy he had a good grip. No one would come and look for her.?
"Yes they will! My sister's going to come for me, she knows where I am! She's going to be a scientist – she'll come! She never lets me down!'
Shelke glared fiercely at President ShinRa, biting her tongue as his hand connected soundly with her cheek again. She would not cry in front of these men, never.
"She's feisty," President ShinRa looked at Hojo. "She might just survive, take her to the lab. Scarlet's there working on the Tsviet unit."
Hojo nodded, pulling Shelke roughly behind him, the three men leaving the room.
"You're an excellent specimen, the youngest in fact. You'll outlive the others by many years."
Shelke felt cold. What did he mean? "What're you going to do to me?"
Hojo didn't answer her as he shoved her into an elevator. Shelke closed her eyes as the doors closed; the elevator descending. The slums didn't have any elevators which made Shelke shiver, not only for the enclosed space, but also for the unknown of what was going to happen. When the doors opened, Hojo grabbed her arm once more, taking her down the dimly lit hallway, no windows present. At the end of the hallway was another doorway which Hojo dragged her through.
"Scarlet, we have another."
The blonde haired woman turned around, frowning at Hojo. "What do you want?" she snapped. "I'm busy right now; President ShinRa's waiting for my specs on the weapons."
Hojo shrugged, tossing Shelke in front of him, making her stumble. "She was found near the fence, Sector Five brat, lots of potential."
Scarlet raised a fine eyebrow at the smaller girl. "Kya ha ha! That? She's a little girl, the process will kill her – get her out of my sight."
Kill me? Shelke thought, desperately trying to keep up with their conversation.
Hojo shook his head. "President ShinRa's orders."
"President ShinRa?" Scarlet looked up expectantly. "Very well, if the President wishes it – pair her with Azul." She said, dismissing them.
Shelke jumped out of her thoughts as her helmet gave out a warning buzz. Snapping her Mako eyes open, Shelke glanced at the screen, a red dot indicating that her running program had located the gunslinger. Calling his number through her terminal, the connection quickly opened.
"Vincent Valentine," she said before he could speak. "You've reached the central complex. Proceed to reach the plate surface."
Shelke's helmet gave off another bleep, multiple dots appearing before Vincent. As he asked what was wrong, no real panic in his tone, Shelke hurriedly called upon the dots, wanting to know who – or what – was waiting outside, knowing the gunslinger was near.
"The approaching Deepground squa – no, it's nothing." It still felt strange helping the people who were supposed to be her enemies, take down her supposed allies. "I'll contact you again." Shelke was cut by the sounds of the aerial troopers closing in on Vincent – obviously still out of his enhanced sight – she let out a sigh. Only Vincent Valentine would answer his phone and keep going through the battlefield. "Aerial troopers – good luck Vincent." With that, she hung open knowing the gunslinger would need his concentration.
Her connection to Vincent cut, Shelke, not having anything else to do, watched the dots of the aerial troopers disappear one by one. Yes, she thought, watching them. This needs to end, tonight.
Shelke cringed, her breathing heavy as she fell forward, her hands and knees banging to the ground roughly. One hand rested on her heart, she could feel it beating. Her weapon lay at her feet, clattering as they rolled away from her.
"No," she said through gritted teeth. Forcing the pain away, Shelke slowly managed to pick herself up. Struggling, her body in immense pain, she narrowed her eyes at her competition. "I won't lose!"
Letting out a yell, she surged forward, weapon out.
"Stop."
The simulation disappeared, her opponent disappearing as if they were never there. The door to the control room opened, President ShinRa walking out, Heidegger, Scarlet and Hojo behind him. Although Shelke still despised them, especially the last two, she couldn't strike them. Mako was what kept her alive the past three years, without it – without them – she would cease to be.
"You have improved greatly, my dear," President ShinRa said as Shelke stowed her dual weapons away. "One day, she will be as cold hearted as Rosso, correct?"
Rosso the Crimson, Shelke thought, the hateful red head coming to mind. She had been a bounty hunter from Wutai, originally twenty five or something. Rumor had it she fought in the Wutai – ShinRa war, turned bounty hunter when she alone survived from her squad. Her last bounty had been from the Lord of Wutai five years prior, when she had been overwhelmed – ten to one.
Shelke hated her and Rosso hated her.
"She may have improved,
but that body is still weak!" Scarlet cut in, hands on her hips as
she glared over at Hojo. "You've been slacking off again, working
on those experiments! She's supposed to be a Tsviet? She's
the weakest link."
Hojo nodded, ignoring Scarlet for the most part. "The amount will have to be increased; after all this time, her fighting capacity and stamina should be further along . . ." Hojo commented to himself as he grabbed Shelke's upper arm.
Scarlet rolled her eyes at Hojo, before smiling at the President. "Why do you keep him? His JENOVA theories never do anything!"
Sighing, Shelke shook her head. She could finally put that behind her. Seeing the dots of the aerial troopers disappear, Shelke minimized Vincent's screen, looking at the whole of Midgar. By the looks of it, the Reactors were all still up and running. Knowing the blonde pilot wanted updates on the battleground before he went down himself, Shelke punched in the pilots' line, waiting for the connection.
What is it?" came his drawl.
"No one has breached the Reactors yet; all eight are still up and running at full capacity. Deepground has expected us to try and shut them down."
Cid grumbled something Shelke couldn't hear. "Damn, all of them outnumbered?"
"It would seem so," Shelke shrugged, the Reactors still lit up on her display.
"You sure your helmet isn't malfunctioning after that hit?"
Shelke rolled her eyes. How he managed to get a kid was beyond her. "It's working fine," Shelke grumbled. "I just made contact with Vincent Valentine; he is almost to the upper plate."
Cid shrugged. "Alright, so you're right," he rolled his eyes. "So, Vince's already near the upper plate huh? Reeve picked right in choosing Vince against those Tsviets."
"Indeed," Shelke nodded, loosing interest in the pilot, disconnecting from him.
Now, if only he doesn't loose control of Chaos . . .
Speaking of the gunslinger, Shelke called up Vincent's screen, the gunslinger having left Sector Seven. She raised an eyebrow; she wasn't sure where he was actually. Rolling her eyes, her display not completely accurate she suppose, she connected with his cell phone.
"Vincent Valentine," she said when she connected. "The ground squads have not been able to penetrate the Deepground defenses. The Mako Reactors are all still operating at full capacity."
"So it seems."
Shelke shook her head at his sarcasm. "What is your location?" she said, remembering her problem.
"ShinRa building," came his reply. "Or, what remains of it."
Shelke sighed, remembering what the remains of the ShinRa building looked like. That was the first thing she had seen after her long sentence. "The same as it was three years ago. Though, after Meteorfall, there wasn't much left of Midgar at all, with the exception of Deepground. The passage to Deepground should be located within the ShinRa building."
The ShinRa building . . . a nightmare.
Using her controls, Shelke cleared her mind of everything that had happened within the past few hours, Shelke let out a deep breath. Closing her eyes momentarily, she let her consciousnesses go, performing a synaptic net dive.
---
Yuffie let out a sigh, finally reaching the Wall Market. Without the use of a map, finishing her way through the Sector Five residential area had been a nightmare. She must have wandered aimlessly around for a goof forty-five minutes. With a majority of the upper plate in tact, using the remains of the ShinRa building as a guide was out.
She was just glad none of the Deepground soldiers or those mutant dogs were around.
"I can't believe they all lived like this," Yuffie muttered to herself, passing an inn. "It all looks the same."
Keeping her storm grey eyes open for any activity, Yuffie let out a wide grin as she past the fabled dress shop. Aeris had told her all about that . . .
Aeris grinned, throwing back the changing room curtain, clad in a pink bikini, a wrap around her waist that screamed Costa Del Sol. "What do you think?"
Yuffie shrugged, peering over her sunglasses. "Its fine I suppose," she shook her head as Aeris pouted. "Why didn't you bring Tifa with you then? I don't plan on spending any time on the beach . . ."
For their stay in Costa del
Sol, Yuffie had managed to get a job serving lemonade; the owner was
rumored to have loads of materia.
"You're just like Cloud," Aeris huffed, pushing her ponytail back.
Yuffie raised her eyebrow. "If you want his opinion, I'll go find him. He'd love this."
Aeris bit her lip. "Do you want to know a secret?"
Yuffie stopped, halfway out of her chair. "What kind of secret?"
Aeris grinned brightly, reaching forward and grabbing her arm, dragging her into the dressing room. Sitting down in the chair, Yuffie watched as Aeris closed the curtain tight, turning around.
"You remember the story I was telling you about Don Cornea?" Yuffie nodded slowly. "Well, I didn't tell you the truth . . . you see, the only part that was actually true was that Tifa had gone there and Cloud sent me in there to find her. What I didn't tell you was that Cloud was there too –"
"But, you said . . ." Yuffie's eyes widened. "No way!"
"Yes way!" Aeris said, rocking on the balls of her feet. "Cloud told me not to tell, but this was so similar!" Aeris let out a laugh.
"Why'd he do it?"
For the life of her, she couldn't fathom Spike cross dressing . . .
"He wanted to rescue Tifa, he brought it on himself though," Aeris shrugged. "I asked if he trusted me – we'd only know each other for about half and hour – and he said: sure, why not."
Yuffie let out a laugh. "I can't see him in a dress, you know?"
If she planned to stay longer, she'd torment the blonde leader about it. If she planned to stay longer, the fact that Aeris liked her so much would have torn at her heart. Yuffie, being Yuffie, shrugged it off. She met them on the road, and like countless other travelers, they befriended her.
It wasn't her fault that they let their guard down to a stranger.
Yuffie shook her head, how could she have forgotten? Three years really does make you forget the small things – not that she ever paid attention to their actions back then. How time had changed – them being her closest friends now. She smirked; no doubt Tifa was the only one who knew about that . . . she could wait to see Cid's reaction!
Laughing to herself as she climbed over the scrap metal at the end of Wall Market, the way to ShinRa before her. However, her grin faded, her eyes narrowing as she saw Don Cornea's old mansion.
She gritted her teeth together as she glared at the destroyed buildings; its neon signs having fallen from their hanging place. Hands balled into fists, Yuffie stepped in front of her sign, and bringing back a good, gave the sign a good solid kick.
"Stupid jerk," she grumbled.
"You hear something?" came a hollow voice.
"We must be close," another hollow voice responded. "Fan out, don't let them escape."
Yuffie let out a curse, the breaking of the neon lights when her foot connected with it, it had alerted Deepground. Yuffie's heart thumped loudly as she rolled her eyes, hiding behind the neon sign that depicted a woman's silhouette.
How close am I to Deepgound? She thought, straining her ears for their movement. I must have walked right past them, some ninja I am.
Closing her storm grey eyes to concentrate on the sound of them approaching, she hoped they wouldn't find her.
What a pathetic sight she'd be! A nineteen year old JENOVA war hero, hiding behind an old neon sign, clutched one of her smaller weapons, a handful of unmastered materia in hand. She shook her head, hearing their approach, their footsteps stopped a few feet away.
Yuffie strained to hear what the two spoke about. "No response from the building squad, captain," reported a voice. "Still nothing but static."
Silence for a while; Yuffie guessed the commander was thinking about what his companion said.
"The Tsviets will handle the intruder, he won't make it past Rosso the Crimson; she had met him twice and extracted what Weiss desires. He will not survive."
"Hail Weiss!"
Yuffie frowned. Vincent had already made it to the ShinRa building; possibly Rosso the Crimson again. Unlucky things did happen in three . . .
Yuffie blinked, the urge to call the gunslinger rising. She fought it back though, she couldn't call Vincent – it would give her unknown location away. Second, she had no clue what the gunslinger was doing currently. Knowing her luck, she'd phone him while he was fighting the crimson Tsviet. She shook her head, helping Vincent was out.
Yuffie's head snapped up t the sound of more footsteps approaching.
"Captain! The WRO squad of Sector Five has been taken care of. At the end they managed to get near the Reactor. However, their commander's body was MIA."
Yuffie froze; her squad had been killed because of her desire? She bit he lip as if to hold the tears back, she had failed. He squad died and she lived; she wanted to laugh at the irony of it all, Cid's words coming back to her.
"A Commander leaving their squad to die, how charming," the Commander replied, making Yuffie grit her teeth. "Is the Commander's ID known?"
"Negative, no report."
Yuffie sighed, clenching her teeth together. This wasn't good. She knew that they knew a WRO Commander was in the vicinity.
"Call the hounds," the Commander decided; his voice harsh. "They'll find the missing Commander – no doubt they are worried about their companion," he said, indicating the ShinRa building.
"If they're worried about him, it must be a girl."
"One of the two," another scoffed. "But a scared one at that and she'll be caught unaware."
"Kill her when you see her."
"Affirmative."
Yuffie sighed, shaking her head. She'd never be able to get away, they were too close.
"Wait a sec . . ." she smirked
This could work to her advantage. As quietly as she could, Yuffie checked the materia in her weapon and armor slots before slowly crawling to rest on her knees. Holding her breath, Yuffie glanced over the neon sign.
One . . . two . . . five soldiers and their commander; no hounds yet, good. Ducking behind the sign again, she grabbed her Shuriken tight. A plan in mind, Yuffie fumbled for the Comet materia.
"Comet2," she whispered.
A loud boom sounded from the sky, multiple comets falling from the sky with a rapid speed onto the unsuspecting soldiers. In quick succession, the Deepground soldiers grabbed their weapons, moving away from the Comets to find their target. Guessing their plan, Yuffie quickly dropped a smoke bomb, the smoke erupting over the ground, blinding them. Yuffie smirked, before throwing her Shuriken into the mess, grabbing her kunai, ran into the smoke.
---
Shelke awoke with a start, her eyes reverting back to normal. Rosso the Crimson had been defeated. Slumping back in the chair, Shelke was surprised at Vincent's success. When her SND showed her that Rosso was waiting in the President's top office for Vincent, she thought it would be the end of him. According to Shalua's reports, Vincent Valentine had met with Rosso the Crimson twice already.
"If Vincent Valentine could defeat Rosso, perhaps he can end this," Shelke mumbled, her eyes opening. "Just don't let Chaos have control."
Turning back to the many displays inside her helmet, she called up the ShinRa building, quickly locating him. She nodded; he was on the first floor. Nodding to herself, Shelke tried to contact his phone, hearing it connect and Vincent's sharp acknowledgement of her.
"Search for the President's entrance," she said, getting right to the point.
"Alright," came his short response.
Shelke's response died in her throat as she heard the rustle of clothing as Vincent fell to the ground, a howl getting picked up by the receiver before the phone fell to the ground.
"Is something wrong?" Her eyebrows rose; it couldn't be . . .? She heard another growl, the sound of nails on pavement, a short scuffle and one last growl. "Vincent!"
Silence came through the receiver, making Shelke bite her lip. Her mind getting ahead of her, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as the phone was picked up, Vincent's breathing heavy.
"What's going on? Why is Chaos . . .? Why now?"
Shelke shook her head, he really didn't know. "You really don't know, do you?" she said, voicing her thoughts, skepticism colouring her tone. "The Protomateria helped you control Chaos. Now that you've lost it," Shelke paused; she didn't want to tell him like this. "Your mental state has become extremely unstable."
Vincent paused, thinking over her words. "Protomateria? Control Chaos?"
Could he really not know what Protomateria was?
"Yes. If you recall, you had it extracted from your chest from Ross," Knowing the gunslinger would ask her about what it all meant, she closed her eyes, trying to call forward Dr. Crescent's findings. Nodding when she found it, Shelke opened her eyes, her eyes unfocused. "Chaos; while a part of you, the entity exists independently from your body/"
"Shelke?" she heard him say, his voice far away.
"Chaos – the harbringer of anarchy."
"Lucrecia."
It was a statement, not a question, Shelke was sure of it. When reacting to the doctors' files, she had to perform a type of SND linking her to Lucrecia; it wouldn't surprise her if she took on the doctors' traits.
"Born before the planet dies, he shall gather together all life for Omega's journey to the sea of stars. That is Chaos and he slumbers inside you," a she spoke, Shelke felt the pull of Lucrecia's final thoughts before she disconnected from the deceased scientist, the emotions of her overwhelming Shelke. "You must fight him. I don't want you to die."
Shelke gave a jolt, a surprised scream escaping her lips as her helmet sparked, cutting her off from Vincent, receiving a jolt of electricity at the same time. Quickly, Shelke brought her hands up, throwing the helmet away from her before she got sparked gain. Her mako eyes narrowed as she got rid of the helmet, the red emergency lights similar to the WRO headquarters were ringing loudly. Knowing something was wrong – had Deepground managed to hit them? – she threw herself out of her chair, heading for the bridge.
"Hey! Engine room! What the hell's going on down there?! Engine Room? Dammit!"
Shelke rolled her eyes as she heard the pilot let out a loud curse, how like him! She paused as she came around the corner, looking over at him. "What is wrong?"
She suppressed a smirk as she saw Cid jump, obviously unaware she was there. "Don't have a damn clue. All the sudden, engine levels started dropping like crazy. We haven't taken any direct hits, so everything should be running like clockwork."
"I will go have a look," Shelke said, turning on her heel, feeling something was wrong.
"Thanks," Cid nodded. "Counting on you."
Shelke nodded absently as she left the room. She paused outside the door with a frown. So many people seemed to be counting on her. It felt weird, but good at the same time. She was truly needed for once, seen as one of them, although, mere hours ago she'd been their enemy.
"I guess I'll have to get used to the swearing," she mused, starting down the staircase.
Momentarily turning invisible, Shelke sped down the curved stairs to the hallway, the engine room before her. As she raced down the hallway, quickly rushing past the remaining WRO agents who seemed unaware of her presence, she closed in on the room. The door loomed above her as she came to a stop, the first door opening for her. As she let herself in, Shelke closed her eyes. Vaguely, she heard the door close behind her, incasing her between the two.
She let out a shudder, he was close.
If it was who she thought it was, she wouldn't stand a chance – but she had to try.
Narrowing her eyes as she opened them; Shelke started towards the second door, it growing bigger due to her anticipation.
I won't lose, she thought as the door whirled open. Vincent, Reeve and Cid: they're counting on me . . .
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A/N: Merry Christmas!!
R&R!