ADVERSARY

Midgar, Sector 6, 0005 N.C.E.

He slumped down behind the alleyway wall for cover. The assault rifle's clip had run dry. He'd been improvising on empty for the last twenty-four hours he'd spent on the run from his own government, the people he'd helped stay in power in the face of Sephiroth, five years ago.

How the tables turn…

He'd been stranded within the city without his sword, with a rifle and thirty rounds, the entire Midgar police force on his tail. His wife and son were God only knew where; the entire Avalanche crew was isolated from one another.

Something was awfully wrong. Sephiroth was supposed to have died in an explosive assassination many months ago, yet he'd undoubtedly left some locus of control within the world through his two sons that he'd forced upon Aeris.

Aeris…

There was nothing worse that could have been done to her. Sephiroth could get into anyone and bend them to his needs. No will was strong enough to resist his psychological mastery.

To think that I would run away from you that night in the street…you've gotten more formidable. You were stupid to think I'd just lie there and die. So arrogant. That will never change…

He would kill Sephiroth a hundred times if he had to. He owed it to his family, his people, and the people of Guardia whom never had experienced a horror such as Sephiroth before.

One world not good enough for you, eh? Why not pull two together…

Sephiroth had to have everything just the way he wanted. Nothing was too far fetched. He relished in the ironic agony he put everyone through, bending them to the opposite ends of their wants and needs. Just like Crono and Yuffie.

I'll find you guys. I'll get you out of this alive. I promise…

He felt personally responsible for everything.

I should have killed him that night in the street…

He snapped to attention as he heard more footsteps around the corner. He rolled behind the dumpster to his right, pressing against it as if he were trying to become part of it.

"Sir, I think I heard something down here." A footsoldier informed.

"Go check it out." His commander barked from down the street. Cloud heard the young soldier advancing toward him with uneasy feet. It probably was his first taste of real combat.

Predictably, the youth walked right up to the dumpster, putting himself into melee range with Cloud, instead of stepping back and firing a clearing shot; a common early mistake. It was a blessing Cloud needed, and for that he was grateful.

A short, hard blow to the side of the youth's neck dropped him downward where he was quickly pulled up to avoid clattering noisily against the ground. Cloud took his rifle and sidearm, poked his head around the dumpster to make sure no more guards were coming, and then donned the young soldiers uniform.

The kid probably didn't have any idea what he'd gotten himself into, and for that, Cloud spared him.

Someone has to be the good guy, here…

Stashing the soldier inside the confines of the dumpster, Cloud strapped his newfound helmet on, and marched toward the entrance to the alleyway. Ever so cautiously, he looked out. The coast was clear. He moved.


"Hold it right there!" The guards shouted as the man seemed to suddenly appear at the blockade they'd set up. They snapped to attention, drawing their rifles up at the tall, wiry man clad in operations gear with long red spines for hair.

"Drop your weapons! Drop them!" The Sergeant demanded, inching forward, the man's head in his sights. To his surprise, the man shrugged, and did as he was told. He uhhooked the climbing harness, letting fall the SMG, the 9mm pistols, and the Samurai Sword. He stood calmly, looking the sergeant in the face.

"On the ground! Hands behind your head!" They began to pile in, the lead sergeant holstering his gun, pulling handcuffs off his belt. The man hadn't budged. The Sergeant huffed in anger. "I said get down!" He roughly grabbed the man's shoulder, pushing down.

The Sergeant stumbled as the shoulder gave completely under the force, the man spinning gracefully in the direction of the push. Out of the spin came a crescent kick, then another with the opposite leg, each grabbing a soldier by the helmet and sending him clear aside, rifle ajar.

The Sergeant frantically tried to draw his gun, but he felt the man grab him from behind, clamping his elbow in place, and seizing his firing hand, twisting his ring and small fingers back with a sickening noise.

"Aaahhh!!" He groaned, dropping to his knees in involuntary submission, trying to get a glimpse of where his other two men were. He recognized the sound of his own pistol firing twice, eliciting cries of pain from his men.

Shit!

He began to panic, struggling, making the pain worse until the thud of his own pistol against his skull sent him into blackness.


The sound of gunshots caught Cloud's ears, turning him to face their direction.

Behind that building…the entrance to the seaside district…

He moved quickly, using his guards uniform as the best possible form of camouflage. He weaved in and out of the short buildings, rifle trained on any entrance points. At last he reached the clearing. Ahead lay the police barricade. He cautiously stepped into the open.

Standing over three downed soldiers was the man he'd least expected.


"Crono!" He heard a harsh whisper from over his shoulder. Immediately, he stopped consolidating his arsenal, and spun to face the incoming. It was a fully armored and helmeted Midgar footsoldier.

He strafed left and fired three rounds with the Sergeant's pistol. With nearly superhuman skill, the armed soldier jerked aside, the bullets zinging by menacingly, yet harmlessly.

"Hold your damn fire, Crono!" The soldier jerked his open hand out, signaling to "halt", and did not, as Crono expected, return fire. Crono kept the gun on him.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Jesus, I get no fucking slack from you, do I?" The soldier removed his helmet.

Cloud Strife…

Crono stared absently for a moment. Cloud rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"I was afraid this was going to result in us fighting yet again…"

"No. I'm here to help." Strife was somewhat reluctant to accept, but he needed it now more than ever.

"How did you get here?"

"Yuffie and I came back for you. We saw you were in trouble."

"You don't have to do this…she needs you."

"I owe you. You could have let me die back at City Hall, but you didn't."

"And Yuffie?"

"She's rescuing Cid as we speak. He fell trying to save Aeris."

"Aeris?" Cloud asked, amazedly, yet earnestly. Crono looked down.

"It might be too late for her. I don't know."

"No. We're not going to give up on her like that." Cloud insisted. Crono shook his head.

"She…told me, Cloud. She said we needed to save this city." The ex-soldier frowned. He knew Crono was right.

"Alright then. I'm headed for the plate. Whatever is behind all of this probably has set up shop up there."

"Most of the Midgar soldiers have been reissued to fight in Guardia."

"That's our plan then. Let me get some of your weapons." They began to consolidate and divide, then stopped. A noise was approaching from up the street. They both jumped to cover as the silver bullet of a car streaked toward them, screeching to a halt between their points of cover. They'd nearly began emptying their automatics into the vehicle when the door opened, revealing Tifa Lockheart, Cloud's sword on her shoulder.

Cloud was speechless, he ran to her, embracing his wife. She stepped back a moment later, slinging his signature weapon off her arm and onto his.

"I really needed this." He told her, smiling for the first time in days. She nodded. She needed to see him in one piece just as badly.

"I guess we're a team now." Crono said, stepping out from his cover toward them. Tifa's eyes widened.

"You're okay." She marveled.

"Yeah. Indestructible." He smiled as they hastily moved into the car, Tifa in the shotgun seat and Crono in the back. Her next concern was Yuffie, her best friend, whom she assumed would have been nearby. "She's alright…she's doing what has to be done." He said, as if pushing himself to accept it. Tifa nodded slowly, understanding. Finished removing the soldier armor, Cloud slid into the driver's seat, gripping the clutch. He turned to his wife.

"As much as I'd like to tell you it's too dangerous for you, I have a sinking feeling you won't listen." He mused.

"You know me so well." She smiled, forcing an upbeat. Crono unfolded his map of the city in the back seat.

"Take a right at city hall and head straight down main. The lift to the plate will be right there." He advised. Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"You weren't thinking of something more circumspect?"

"Fuck them. We'll break through." The redhead smirked.

"That we will." Cloud affirmed, popping out the clutch, rocketing forward.


From the penthouse of the former ShinRa building, he could see the heavy losses the Midgar army had suffered in the collapse of the castle. Nearly half the invasion force was wiped out in the fall, and the rest were forced to fight the Guardians at close range. Rumor had it that the King had fallen, yet his daughter had taken up the lead of the resistance.

Incompetence…

He hated cutting losses; they were unacceptable. The only thing that kept him from rash action was the worse losses the others were suffering. He'd succeeded in isolating them all from one another. Magus was dead. Cloud would only last so long stranded in the city without his blade. Tifa was most likely already dead. Cid fell at the hand of his son Elianor, whom also lost his life in the process, but he felt no sympathy.

You deserve whatever you get…it was his own lack of skill that caused his loss…

Crono and his idiot ninja accomplice were no doubt going to stubbornly show themselves, along with whatever other excuse for help they could muster. He would be ready to correct his mistake.

It had taken a lot to realize his oversight, but he finally saw the poor judgment in involving such a bottled-up wild card like Crono, empowering him with the gift of Mako energy, training him as one of his own. It seemed too full of potential to pass up one who had escaped death in the past, one who could spawn magic from his own soul. What a gift! But Crono was too stubborn and tied up in his delusions of honor to ever reach his true prime. After tonight, Sephiroth would wash his hands of all of them.

The plate was rigged with an internal self-destruction system. They would come, he would surround them with soldiers. He would personally kill them, and then send it all crashing down, eliminating Crono and the entire Midgar military in one shot. Cleaning up afterwards would be easy. In one night he would form his own instant revolution, and rise up as the only formidable source of power on the planet.

Guardia, his mistake, would handle itself. It was the necessary hole he needed to rip in his prison to get back to Midgar. After the rains, it would vanish. The worlds would disjoin. It was less that he expected, but all part of the plan, in the end.

Time is of the essence…

"Alexander." He called, without turning his head. His eldest son turned to attention.

"Yes, sir?"

"Call all remaining soldiers stationed in Guardia and all Midgar police forces back to this building."

"But wouldn't that, lose everything we…"

"Are you questioning my order?" He asked calmly, with a magnitude of threat behind it. His son stepped back.

"No. No, sir. I'll do that right away." Alex hurried to the desk phone, setting it to dial all members of the military and law enforcement circuit for his announcement. Sephiroth sighed. It was all coming to a head. It would only be a short time now.

The drops of rain fell like angels from the heavens as their wings gently brushed against the window, leaving their feathery streams of water astray. Sephiroth smiled.

Full circle…


The car had been utterly totaled by gunfire by nighttime when they reached the lift up to the plate. They'd cut through a plethora of soldiers larger than any they'd anticipated. Someone must have called them back to hold the ShinRa building.

Someone's waiting for us…

Cloud conjectured, uneasily. Optimistically, they'd made it to the lift without suffering any injuries, except the supernatural stress that set in after killing those whom you had sworn to protect. Yet the hero's path often required such a choice of the lesser of two evils; taking down the soldiers was a better alternative than letting innocent civilians be laid to waste.

They were quiet as they entered the lift, the chain link grating closing in front of them. The ride to the top would cost them a single minute of anxiety-laden rest before the real assault began at the steps. A natural leader, Cloud spoke.

"No matter what happens, win or lose, we're all coming out of there alive. I'll see to it that we all do. That's my promise to you guys." Tifa smiled.

"I'll watch out for you guys too." She assured them. They looked to Crono, whom leaned against the wall with a faraway look.

"I'm not letting you guys down this time. No more of that." He stated. He seemed like he'd aged several years since they first met him, no longer a kid. Tifa looked down. Cloud braced him by the shoulder.

"You've always done your best, don't worry about it. Just…let's all stick together, and we'll be alright. Alright?"

"Alright." Tifa agreed.

"Alright." Crono nearly whispered, the pulse within him escalating to a burn.

The lobby doors blew off their hinges, sending guards scrambling for cover. The three of them dashed in, slamming aside two security guards, and heading for the mass of soldiers posed at the other end of the lobby, in front of the elevator doors.

Tifa slid below the firing arcs of several men, tackling their legs out from underneath them, and pinning their weapons down to bring the fight to close range. Slap blocking two rifles aside, she rose to one leg, then swirled herself around three hundred sixty degrees in midair, a ring of downed soldiers forming around her.

Cloud ducked back to avoid getting in her way, and circled around to meet the reinforcements coming out of the elevator. He headed straight for them, blade stretched out behind. Dodging through gunfire, he lunged through them, slashing horizontally. The shots stopped. The men teetered, then fell seconds later. He rushed to his wife's side.

Crono walked calmly through the fray, katana still in its scabbard. He looked to Cloud and Tifa, fighting side by side with incredible synergy.

They're part of each other…

He observed. They were strongest together. They belonged together.

I won't let them risk that…they fought this battle already…

He headed for the elevator doors, which had been left open and unattended for a matter of seconds. Cloud shouted over his shoulder.

"Hold them open! We'll be right there!" Crono did not respond. He stepped through, taking in the atmosphere of the circular glass shaft which traveled up seventy or so floors. It seemed like a lift directly into the night sky. He looked back to his allies, nearly finished securing the lobby.

This isn't your problem…you have a son…

He promised them they'd stick together. He promised Yuffie the same thing. He'd been degenerating ever since he left home.

I have to make this right…

His hand found the last button on the 70-floor grid. The doors began to slide closed.

"No! What are you doing?!" Cloud screamed, breaking from the scuffle, rushing the closing doors. Between the sheets of metal, Crono's face stared back blankly at him. "Open the doors!!" He shouted again as they snapped shut, trying to slide his fingers into a spot where he could force them open. No avail. The facility was much too secure.

He heard the platform beyond begin to lift. He drew back his blade. He slashed, again and again, tearing and rending chunks of steel, desperately trying to reach it in time. As he tore away the last fragment, kicking it aside, he stepped through, craning his head upward.

The elevator had traveled up fifty feet already. He could not reach it.

"Shit!" he roared, slamming yet another piece out of the wall.

"Oh, no…Cloud, he didn't…" Tifa's face paled as she realized what had happened.

"I can't believe this…He thinks he has to prove something…I can't believe I let him do that…"

"We have to get up there!" Tifa pulled him toward the stairs. Automatic weapon chatter spat toward them as they neared the staircase. More soldiers came flooding down from upper floors.

This isn't happening…


He remained fixed at the glass, a looming gargoyle in a large modern chambered office. It was minutes away. He could feel it. He turned to his son.

"Get to the first floor. I want you to keep them busy as long as possible. I have some business to take care of. Take the stairs." Alexander pursed his lips.

"I think they'll be plenty busy, sir."

"You have fifteen minutes until the building goes down. Whether you get out or not is your own choice. Get down there. Now."

"I'll get right on that…" he assured his father, gritting his teeth. He turned and passed through the doors.

I hope he kills you…


The lights of the Midgar skyline were now visible through the helicopter windshield. Her refugee resting in the backseat, she pushed the chopper clear into the red.

Come on…

It would be about fifteen minutes before she reached the former ShinRa building. She needed to be there sooner.

You promised we'd be together…

Just be alive when I get there…

THE END

Part Twenty-Nine