Chapter 26
Cloud didn't know what to reply to that. The first instinct that thundered up on him was to lie and lie big. But his conscience told him not to. After all this was the person who had just kissed him.
Damn, why hadn't he stayed out of this emotionally? Why did he have to go and become attached again?
Leon was still waiting for an answer.
"Well, um, you see-
That was all the further Cloud got as the doorbell sounded throughout the house.
"Time to move." Cloud couldn't sweep up his sword fast enough as he raced for the front hall thanking what gods there might be for incredible timing. Ok, so maybe an oncoming fight wasn't a good thing to be thankful for, but Cloud was happy for the distraction of not having to tell Leon that he was a mako freak. People in this country tended to not like SOLDIERS. Cloud really didn't want Leon to hate him.
"Calm down, Cloudster." Tifa greeted him in the large entryway, "It's just Reno and Saix."
"With good news I hope." Leon wasn't too far behind either of them and together they ushered everyone into the large dining room where a rather large bowl of mixed cookies sat. When anxious, nervous or bored, Axel had a habit of baking. Well, Cloud wouldn't complain. Maybe the redhead could teach Roxas. His little blonde brother could cook decently enough, but bake, no thank you Roxas, we'll just get something from the store.
It made Cloud wonder what Lea did with his spare time. That became clear when he and Sora clambered in with Vincent, covered in sweat and blooming bruises.
Cloud nodded in approval. His brothers had made decent first choices for boyfriends. Whether Cloud wanted to keep them around, he'd have to think about that.
"What have you got to share, Reno?" Cloud knew the former Turk would be a veritable font of information. Getting it out of him altogether, would be more difficult.
The red head gave him a saucy wink, "Depends on what you want me share, Spike."
"Information." Cloud smacked the back of Reno's head.
"OW! Ok, ok. Your group has settled in Radiant Garden, but it looked like they were getting ready for a raid before I hauled out of there. You can expect about eight people."
"Just eight?"
Reno shook his head, "These aren't any eight. They're the elite. The ones who didn't get caught. Maleficent, Ultimecia, Crimson, Xenanort, Ansem, no not that Ansem, same name, different person, Seymour, Sable, and of all people Weiss." As Reno named them off he pulled out pictures that included rap sheets. Cloud only glanced at the words, they weren't much good. All reading assault, kidnapping, money laundering, gun running, mako injections, and of course murder.
"What kind of weapons they hauling out?"
"Oh, all the big guns." Reno smirked.
Cloud glared.
Sighing, Reno grumbled, "How am I supposed to know, I couldn't ask them for their warehouse listing. However, I do know that they intend to hit this place tonight."
"Tonight?"
"How did they even find out?"
Reno could only shrug in answer to that, "Could have been anyone of them. They're all good at what they do."
"Sable, it was Sable. He can hack any database and no one would ever know he was even there."
The voice came from the doorway, familiar, slightly timid, but determined.
Cloud pulled his sword from his back, moving to stand before his brothers and every gun in the room was suddenly trained on Terra. Or at least someone who looked like Terra.
Cloud watched carefully as brown eyes grew large and Terra's arms went wide.
Leon suddenly pushed in front of them, "Stop it."
Cloud barked, "Leon! The last time we saw him he had a bullet in his brain. No one comes back from that, not even SOLDIER." Cloud knew firsthand about that.
"Exactly." Leon's retort didn't make any sense.
"Cloud, I carried him downstairs. For someone that skinny, the body weight was wrong. I wasn't thinking at the time, but the body was too heavy."
Cloud glared at Terra.
The boy stammered out, "He's right. It was just a collection of DNA, mechanical parts, and computer processing. I made it after my father almost killed me with one of his beatings. He never knew the difference. He was usually too drunk. It was Sable who gave me the idea. And then, by listening to him talk I figured out how to improve it. I was actually able to steal it back from the morgue and fix it. It's just outside, keeping watch."
Cloud stiffened as his ears caught the sound of a distant honk and screech, "How did you get here?"
"I followed Reno."
Cloud began to run for the front door, shouting, "Vincent! Get that cannon running!" The order was unnecessary as the black haired man was already flying up the stairs.
Auron was hauling the other Terra inside, "We've got company."
"I know."
Reno skidded to a halt beside him, "How did they get here so soon?"
"The boy followed, you and they followed him. Saix, get a gun and move to the second floor, Tifa take the kids to the back of the house, if they come around you guys will have to cover our flank. I've no doubt they brought lackeys. Lea upstairs with Saix and Vincent. Once they get so close that material cannon's no good. We'll need shooters."
"Where are you guys going?" Terra looked at Auron, Cloud and Leon.
Cloud didn't say anything just clicked a button and another sword sprang into his hand. Auron's sword appeared from beneath his coat and Leon's gunblade hissed from its holster.
"Get moving." Cloud opened the front door and darted across the driveway to hide behind one of the trees, Auron moved to the opposite side while Leon waited on the porch.
Cloud felt fear well up only to be tamped out by adrenaline and mako. Leon looked damn good leaning against the wall, sword casually hanging from his hand.
A car slowly crunching up the drive made him focus. Black SUV, tinted windows that were cracked open enough for a gun barrel. There were two more behind it. Roughly eight people to each car, three cars. Twenty four people.
Those odds dropped by eight people as the materia cannon silently boomed and took out the first car. People scrambled out of the last two and Vincent took the cars out. If anyone was leaving it would be on foot. Cloud felt a fierce concentration slip over his features. It was time to go to work.
The first man he cut into was still recovering from the smoke they'd inhaled. The second was to busy running to even know Cloud was there. The third turned to face him, getting his head sliced in half and the final five from the second care all turned on him at once. Their guns raised and barked in unison, but Cloud was no longer there. He let his muscles carry him into one of the trees where he threw the smaller blade slicing off an arm before he darted behind the trunk as the guns fired again. Knowing he'd be stuck very quickly if he didn't move Cloud jumped and rolled, dodging around several more trees before leaping again and backtracking to get behind the intruders. None of them were the eight Reno hand mentioned.
Cursing silently, Cloud listened to the gunfire coming from the house. It was sporadic. The trees lining the drive were providing too much cover. He had to lure them into the driveway. A second blade sprung into his hand and he scissored them, lopping off another head. Then it was a flurry of movement to block incoming bullets and taking another arm. He was close enough the cut gutted the man as well. Three left.
Running around another tree, Cloud weaved, heading for the driveway. Bullets fired around him, kicking up loam and chipping trees. A flying piece of bark sliced across his cheek, but it was healed by the time he slid onto the driveway. Auron clearly had the same idea as he skidded onto the drive not far from Cloud.
"How you got?"
Three. You?" Cloud brought his blades up.
"Two."
"Let's go up." Cloud nodded to where Leon still stood casually against the wall. The only hint that he'd fired was the smoke that lazily curled from the barrel of his weapon.
The two men began to run to the house. Leon straightened and took aim, Cloud had every faith that he'd hit the men behind them.
Three bullets sizzled between him and Auron. One man cried out. Four left. Cloud glanced back, hefted the blade in his hand, no it was too long, "Auron, hold this." He passed it to the other man who looked puzzled, but took it.
Popping the smallest blade free, Cloud hoped he could still do this. It had been a long time since he'd been called on to act as the Blood Scythe, but the mako was running high in his system. And he'd never missed.
"Keep running and duck!" Cloud jammed his sword into the ground, used the flying momentum to turn and released the short sword like a boomerang. It sailed around, sliced through one man's gut, cleaved the second in the side and planted itself in the third man's back.
Another blade was in Cloud's hand the moment he'd released the first. Blocking bullets he ran into the last man slashing his chest and cutting the throats of the two men still alive.
Cloud looked around, saw Auron on the porch. It couldn't have been this easy. He dashed to the porch, "Auron go around back. It can't be this easy. Leon go with him." He barely finished with a small plane flew overhead and four people dropped from it onto the roof.
"Damn, go, go!" Cloud raced upstairs, taking them four at a time, "Saix! Reno! To the roof." Cloud took a quick inventory, he was down to his main sword and three others. He had about fifty-five minutes left of mako high before he hit the floor. He wasn't worried about that. He'd never battled out the full hour that it was good for.
Gunshots sounded from upstairs, and Cloud pushed himself faster. He burst onto the top floor only to be laid out flat as an arm shot from the side to clothesline him.