Chapter 36

The shadows cast by the occasional tree along the highway had lengthened into grasping specters by the time Chaos – the otter once again perched on his shoulder – neared Junon. He had adopted a considerably slower pace than the one the whelp had set out at.

Not that he was scared to reach those speeds on the flat highway between Edge and Junon, no, but the gouges in the highway left behind when the Sister Ray – the giant Mako canon that had been the pride and joy of Shinra's Weapons Development Department – was moved to Midgar had never been patched and many of them had spread out and settled into persistent potholes.

Again, not a terrible problem if it weren't for the issue with his shoulder. Fate just had to go and send them to Junon of all places when every bump sent blinding sheets of pain piercing through his body. Weiss was going to pay just a little extra for this if they caught up with him in Junon.

His motorcycle tire caught the edge of another pothole, splashing its accumulated rainwater up around his legs, and he winced at the jar that jostled his bad shoulder. That issue wasn't going to wait much longer. He needed to get to Mideel, sooner rather than later. Just… not soon enough to make him to reveal his problem to the whelp. It had been bad enough going to Vincent, and it would be worse going to Reeve – there was no need to parade his weaknesses in front of anyone else.

Deal with Weiss in Junon, then head to Mideel. That was the plan. Simple enough. He could wait that long.

Chaos smelled Junon before they reached it. Neither the briny scent of the ocean nor the recent rain managed to mask the polluted odor of a small but crowded city that had ignored all common sense when it came to sanitation. And they called his kind selfish. At least he had the self-interest to keep his living space clean and not poison the very air and water he needed to live.

Not that it was the native residents of Junon at fault. No, once again this was a sin that could only be laid firmly at the feet of Shinra. Junon hadn't always been this way. At one point, it had been a quaint little village, but that was before Shinra had set up a secondary headquarters and military outpost there.

The concrete bulk of Upper Junon, with the dual arms of its artificial harbor cradling the ocean like some type of slumbering beast, dwarfed the tiny fishing village. Meanwhile, the flat concrete of the airport blocked out the sun from the village below it in a manner reminiscent of the plates of Midgar over the slums. For all its scientific advancements, sometimes Shinra lacked any imagination whatsoever.

What had started with Mako contamination from Shinra's reactor on the ocean floor spread with the occupation of the city by the military personnel stationed there who had no personal investment in the community. If toxins seeped into the ocean or pollutants clogged the air, what was that to them? They would be redeployed elsewhere before it could have an impact on them personally.

Eventually, the oppression and pollution from Upper Junon seeped down into the village below. The conditions had worsened until Junon was as well known for its polluted waters and smoggy air as it was for its unique profile and giant Sister Ray canon – which, of course, was gone now as well, its carcass still in Midgar where it had fired its last and inadvertently brought down the Shinra building.

The WRO had made attempts to improve the conditions in Junon, to be sure, and Shinra no longer had a presence there, but humans were a stubborn lot and habits decades in the making didn't disappear overnight. Rubbish still floated along the surface of the ocean and bumped gently against the hulls of the few boats moored at the pier as they made their way into the village. Paper and discarded packaging blew in the streets and more than once Chaos had to swerve to miss larger debris on their way to the elevator.

Upper Junon could only be accessed by land via the giant elevator on its southeastern side. Chaos supposed that was Shinra's idea of making the military installation more secure, but it also meant evacuating the city would be a near impossibility in the case of a disaster. That wasn't his problem though.

Chaos brought his motorbike to a halt, and the otter jumped off his good shoulder and shook out his fur while Chaos pressed the buttons summoning the elevator.

"Roight, now how do we go about findin' Kadaj?" the otter asked as he straightened his cowboy hat and adjusted his neckerchief.

Chaos nodded at the guard hound that had materialized at their side when they entered the fishing village. He had caught glimpses of her fading in and out of sight on the ride down from Edge, keeping pace with them even as she explored the fields to either side of them. Apparently their slower pace was more to her taste than the whelp's mad rush. The sight of her had been the one evidence that Kadaj was in fact headed for Junon.

Not that Chaos cared where the moody whelp went, but if he was going to come all this way and not go directly to Mideel, then the kid had better be there too.

"The cat can find him." She always did. Not even the overwhelming scent of Mako-poisoned water and rotting garbage would be enough to deter her.

Dusk was falling on Upper Junon, making it as dark as the village below by the time they emerged from the elevator. Streetlights lit the road and brightened the archways as they followed the guard hound down through the levels as the road wound towards the ocean. She stopped in front of an inn, and sure enough, the whelp's bike – Sleipnir, Chaos smirked at the whelp's sentimentality – was parked in front of it.

He pulled his bike in next to the other one and waited for the otter to lightly hop down again, grateful momentarily that the otter always seemed to choose his good shoulder to ride on. Then again, how did the otter know to choose his good shoulder? He cast a suspicious eye at the robot, who seemed blissfully unaware as he bounded after that cat. Nah, no way the fuzzball knew anything about his injury's failure to heal.

The cat didn't head into the inn but rather down towards the water. Sure enough, the whelp stood out on one of the concrete extenders that formed one side of the artificial harbor. The light of streetlamps illuminated the silver crests of the water as they flowed in and then settled out. The silver highlights of the teen's hair glinted back in reply, gently swept by the air coming in off the ocean. His black leather moved in the same breeze. There was something noble in his stance, but when he cocked his head over his shoulder at Vendetta's approach, something seemed broken in his features.

Gah. The pain was making Chaos see things, that was all. He inhaled sharply as he dismounted and followed the furrier members of his team.

Find Weiss, mop the floor with him, then Mideel.

Kadaj turned back out towards the waters. He wasn't in any kind of mood for Chaos' sarcastic wit or Kenji's chipper comments and didn't offer them any welcome as they pulled up and dismounted from Chaos' motorcycle.

Despite the stench, the waters had a calming influence on him that he craved. He was so terribly tired. Tired of it all. The fighting. Trying to measure up. The failures. The rejection. The loneliness.

Whenever he had managed to shift his thoughts from his latest snafu with Roxey, he only found himself thinking about his brothers. He clenched a hand over his heart. The emptiness he felt at their absence was as painful and as tangible as any physical wound he had ever endured.

He continued to ignore Chaos when he came to a halt beside him.

The little hairs on the back of his neck stood up. But not on account of the demon.

"Well, well, little brother," the words came from behind, and Kadaj whirled to face Weiss as the white-haired man stepped out onto the extender, flanked by dozen or so men.

"Don't call me that," Kadaj hissed between clenched teeth. He brought Souba's blade up before him. "This ends tonight!" he challenged, but his heart wasn't in it. He was so bloody tired of it all.

Beside him, Chaos growled and Vendetta bristled.

"Now, is that any way to talk? And here I was just going on to my inferiors about your promise and potential."

Kadaj didn't wait to hear any more. He leapt forward, and Souba clashed against Weiss' gunblades. Using the force of his blade, Kadaj pushed them apart. "I don't know what you think you see, but this is over now."

Weiss' laughter sent a chill across Kadaj's skin. Distantly, he was aware of Choas floating up on spread wings to engage Weiss' lackeys. Vendetta sprang past them, and he heard the song of Kenji's bola.

"It's only beginning… you'll see. When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end, then we gods shall descend from the sky on wings of light and dark."

What? Almost, the words seemed familiar, but… "That's not how it goes!" He rushed at Weiss again.

"How would you know, little brother? You've always been in ignorance and darkness. Foolish boy, you even thought Jenova was your mummy." Again Weiss laughed.

Kadaj screamed his rage and rushed in at Weiss.

Weiss' blades pressed him back until he felt the curve of the extender under his feet. One more step back and he would be pushed off into the ocean.

"You. Don't. Know. Me." He'd said the same words to Cloud when they had clashed at Seventh Heaven. Cloud had conceded his point and that had been the beginning of a fresh, if rocky, start for them. Somehow, he didn't think that would be the case with Weiss.

Weiss' laughter deepened. "I know you're neutered and impotent."

What? Kadaj's disjointed memories from Sephiroth were just intact enough to give him some idea what those terms meant. And he was quite positive neither of them described him.

"Not able to use Materia or activate a single summon, you're a shadow of what you should be. You should be Pure!"

Enough! Kadaj leapt in the air and angled Souba at Weiss' heart. Materia flashed, and Kadaj found himself on his back, his ears ringing.

When Kadaj's hearing returned, Weiss' words continued, "…but you could have it back, you know. You could be one of us, brother."

"What?" he gasped out as he gathered his strength for another attack. If only the man would ever make any sense.

"Yes, I could give it back to you, the power and the control." Weiss held a gleaming ball of Materia aloft and studied it in the light of the streetlamps.

Kadaj looked at the orb and swallowed. "You mean…" He swallowed again and turned his gaze to meet Weiss'. "You… You're saying I could manipulate Materia again?"

Weiss laughed. "That and so much more!"

Kadaj blinked. He had given up on the thought of ever using Materia again, but the thought of holding it once more, controlling it and binding it to his will… He swallowed again.

"Let us be partners and brothers together. Let us restore strength and purity to the Planet!" Weiss held out his hand.

Kadaj looked at Weiss' outstretched hand. It was an offer he'd never expected – a chance at brotherhood. There wasn't much time to consider. He looked to the Materia held aloft in Weiss' other hand, the orb's shimmering beckoning to him. Almost he could feel the rush that came with implanting it under his skin, its warmth as he activated it there. Every argument he might have made faded behind these two desires: a brother's acceptance and the thrill of Materia use.

Would it be so bad to have someone to guide him again? He had been failing miserably on his own. A part of him missed the certainty he had felt when following Jenova's lead – almost as much as he missed the smoothness of Materia against his skin.

What was there to hold him back? He was only a liability to Roxey. She was better off without him. She had Cloud and Tifa… and Luxiere too. Cloud and Tifa would probably be relieved to see him gone. Chaos didn't need anyone, and Kenji was just a robot. He glanced to where the two were finishing off the men who had arrived with Weiss. Clearly they were enhanced men to have lasted as long as they had against Chaos and Kenji… and Vendetta.

He looked back to Weiss' still outstretched hand as he heard the last of Weiss' men fall.

"Vendetta. Stay girl." She didn't belong in this. She wasn't a monster.

He watched, an enthralled spectator, as his hand reached out and clasped Weiss'.

Thank you to Nat for favoriting! And a huge welcome to guest reviewer MissMadHatter and consistent reviewer Viking. You guys have no idea how much your reviews mean to me!

Vendetta

10-21-16