Chapter 25: A Hero To Lead Them
Barrett stared angrily at the large monster in the distance.
It had taken a while, but while the majority of the residents had either taken shelter in the coal mines, or evacuated the area completely, several of the miners had stayed behind, setting up bombs in hopes of flushing Ruby WEAPON out into the open. After about a half-hour's worth of explosions, the creature finally began to emerge from the quicksand. Clearly enraged over being disturbed, it headed toward the main part of town, where several armed residents had followed it to.
Rufus glanced at the other four party members. "Everyone has their materia equipped, correct?"
Cloud, Tifa, Barrett and Jessie all nodded.
The residents began shooting at WEAPON. Cloud, Barrett and Rufus did the same.
Tifa cast a Comet spell, which seemed to have an effect on the monster when it let out a pained roar. Seeing that work, many others with the same materia began to cast the same spell over and over.
Shrieking loudly, WEAPON swooped down toward where everyone stood.
"SCATTER!" Barrett shouted as he ducked out of the way of WEAPON's claws.
The large group of vigilantes spread out across the city square. The large red monster glanced around the area confusedly, as if no longer sure who to pick as its target.
Cloud took the opportunity to open-fire at WEAPON's face. WEAPON held up its claw, using its rock-solid limbs to shield itself from the gunfire.
"Aim at its arms!" someone shouted, "Maybe if we blow its hands off, we can finish it off quicker!"
Barrett grinned. "I like that!" he shouted as he began to fire his miniature Gatling gun again.
"We need to get him from behind!" Tifa yelled as she began to run along the street, trying to face WEAPON's back.
"Wait, Tifa!" Cloud shouted as he ran after her.
Ruby WEAPON looked around and noticed the two teenagers running through the empty street. Not wasting any time, it raised its claw and swiped at the two.
"DUCK!" Cloud yelled as he tackled Tifa to the ground. He could feel a strong gust as WEAPON's claw whizzed by his head.
"Damn kids…!" Barrett cursed as he fired at WEAPON's now exposed head.
The monster was thrown back a bit, but still unfazed.
"RUN, YOU STUPID KIDS!" Barrett yelled at them.
Cloud and Tifa scrambled to their feet quickly and were able to make their way into an alley.
"Try casting another one of those spells," Cloud suggested.
Tifa let loose another Comet spell before collapsing to her knees.
"You all right?" Cloud asked worriedly.
"Yeah," Tifa panted, "Hey, you don't have an ether on you, do you?"
Cloud immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial, handing it over to his friend. Tifa opened it and drank, making a face the whole time.
"They can give us the means to cast spells, but they still can't make potions and ether taste good," Tifa muttered as she tossed the empty vial into a nearby garbage can. "But whatever. I'm good to go."
Cloud smiled and gave her a quick nod as he turned his attention to the back of WEAPON's head.
"This thing's built like Fort Condor!" Jessie exclaimed as she, Rufus and Barrett ran toward Rufus' plane.
"That's why we need a different plan," Rufus said, "If we confuse the hell out of that thing, it's going to end up letting its guard down, making it easy for everyone else to finish it off."
"What, are you some kinda stunt pilot too?" Jessie asked.
"Trust me," Rufus said to her.
Barrett snorted.
They reached the small plane and opened the doors, climbing inside.
"Go easy with the magic, Teef," Cloud said as he reloaded his gun. "I don't have any more ethers."
"What else am I supposed to do?" Tifa panted, "My hands and feet are all I have, and they're not going to do squat on this thing!"
"Don't over-exert yourself!" Cloud protested.
"I'm not made of glass!" Tifa retorted.
Cloud was about to fire again when he noticed a familiar-looking airplane zipping over the creature's head.
"Is that Rufus' plane?!" Tifa exclaimed as she watched the small aircraft whizzing by the monster again.
"I think so," Cloud said in wonder.
"Are they insane?" Tifa asked in disbelief.
Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Aren't we all insane for agreeing to fight this thing?"
Tifa smirked. "Good point."
Cloud watched as WEAPON swung its claws at the plane. "Still, I've got nothing on Rufus…"
"SHIT!" Barrett swore, "He almost got us that time!"
"But he didn't," Rufus pointed out as he continued to maneuver the small plane around the monster's head.
"Do you always keep explosives in your planes?" Jessie asked as she lobbed another grenade at WEAPON while Barrett continued firing at it through the open door.
"I figured we might need something considering what we're up against," Rufus answered as he steered the plane about twenty feet above WEAPON's head, "Managed to call in a favor. Good to know money isn't the only key to winning this war."
"Shit- why won't this son of a bitch die already?!" Barrett exclaimed as he reloaded his Gatling gun.
"We're up against the Planet's own handiwork," Jessie told him as she chucked two grenades out the door, "I have to say- for being the host of all living things, the Planet sure isn't the brightest crayon in the box..."
"Check under the seat closest to you," Rufus told her, "I think we're going to have to step things up a bit."
Jessie ducked back inside and looked underneath the seat, pulling out a box. Opening it, she found a few red materia orbs.
"Pass them around," Rufus requested as he held out his hand.
Jessie handed an orb to Rufus, and then handed another to Barrett.
"SHIVA!" Barrett shouted, summoning the ice spirit from within the materia.
The townspeople watched in awe as a giant, scantily-clad woman with blue skin appeared out of nowhere. The woman waved her hand, and WEAPON was suddenly assaulted by several chunks of ice. The woman then disappeared as suddenly as she came.
"Bull's-eye!" Jessie exclaimed, "My turn! KJATA...!"
"Get down!" Cloud shouted as he and Tifa hid behind a dumpster in order to avoid the large bull-like summon's flying debris.
"We should get back," Tifa suggested worriedly, "I think WEAPON is about to fall any time now. We need to get out of here before we end up getting caught in the middle of all this!"
"Yeah, fine," Cloud said reluctantly as he and Tifa began to back away from the area.
"Damn!" Rufus growled, "We're running low on fuel; I'm gonna have to land this thing."
"WEAPON's almost done for," Jessie said, visibly frustrated at the setback. She pounded the armrest with her fist. "God, we were so close!"
"So we'll finish it off in a couple minutes," Barrett said, "Don't make no difference to me now that we lured it away from town."
Rufus eased the plane back down to the runway just outside of town.
"Shit!" Jessie exclaimed pointing behind them, "WEAPON's following us! And there isn't anyone out here either!"
The plane had come to a stop, with WEAPON not thirty feet behind them.
"You said it was almost done for," Rufus told her, "It's no different now. Let's finish him off!" He then inserted his materia orb into his gun. Closing his eyes, he pulled then trigger as he shouted: "KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND!"
Just as the familiar green mist gave way to the summon, WEAPON managed to get close enough to raise its claws and take a swing at Rufus.
The vice-president managed to duck out of the way, only to still get clipped on the side of the head. The sounds of the knights approaching began to fade as darkness overtook him.
"...I think he's finally waking up!" Rufus could barely hear Tifa saying.
The young VP opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying in the bed of what looked like a hotel room. Tifa, Cloud, Barrett and Jessie were standing around the bed. Outside he could hear the busy sounds of Corel's residents.
"Hey, are you okay?" Jessie asked as she went over to the bed, "That was a pretty nasty blow to the head you took. Good thing the doctor got to you right away. He's gone now; he left to go tend to the other people who were wounded. There were quite a few."
"What happened?" he asked softly.
"It's over," Tifa said happily, "WEAPON's gone thanks to you."
Rufus looked at her and then shrugged. "Lucky shot. I guess that thing wasn't too fond of that particular summon. How long have I been out?"
"Two hours," Jessie answered.
"They're trying to move the body of WEAPON into the desert so they can dump it back into the quicksand," Cloud informed him.
"That'll take forever," Rufus commented, "They should have it airlifted. I'll see about getting someone out there as soon as possible."
"Your popularity seems to have jumped after everyone saw you flying your plane around like that," Tifa said, "Everyone's talking about your crazy heroics."
Rufus smirked. "Has it? Then they'll love it when I tell them we'll no longer be harassing them about us putting up a mako reactor here. My father figured they'd finally crack any day now. Won't he be angry to know I've spoiled all of his plans?"
"I'll believe it when I see it," Barrett grumbled.
Rufus ignored him. "Now that everything seems to be resolved, we should get out of here."
"Good plan, sir," Cloud said, "I got a phone call from Zack a few minutes ago. We'll be reconvening at the Ancient city tomorrow afternoon to figure out how we're going to deal with Jenova."
Rufus looked thoughtful. "Well, in the meantime, since this place is in absolute chaos, why don't we spend the night at the Gold Saucer, seeing as we're so close by? I can set us up in some nice rooms and everything. I think we deserve the night off for our hard work."
Tifa's eyes widened. "We get to go there after all?"
"I've never been there ever," Cloud admitted.
"Thought you were broke now," Jessie said to Rufus.
He smirked at her. "I've got connections."
"Dare I ask…?"
Rufus chuckled. "I suppose you'll find out eventually."
"Can you stand up?" Jessie asked him.
"I think so," Rufus shoved back the covers and climbed out of the bed, "Let's head over to the tram then."
"Go on without me," Barrett said.
Rufus nodded before leaving the room with Cloud and Tifa.
"Aren't you gonna come with us, Barrett?" Jessie asked.
Barrett shook his head. "Nah, I'm here tonight. I gotta help my hometown out, y'know? I'd go down with this town if it came to that."
"Yeah, I guess I'd say the same thing if something bad happened to Sector Seven," said Jessie, "or even Sector Five with all the time I spend there."
Barrett smiled. "I'll be here in the morning when you're all ready to leave. You go enjoy yourself…just keep an eye on the one who's providing the fun, though..." His expression hardened.
"So what- nothing that Rufus has done these past several days matters?" Jessie asked, somewhat frustrated, "I mean…"
"God, Jessie- are you seriously letting your guard down?" Barrett exploded, "He's from the Shinra! Hell, he is the Shinra! You surf the net together a couple times and you're all buddy-buddy now? The guy's probably expecting that. I mean, Medea's married, Aeris is sick, and Tifa's just a kid who already likes that trooper. Guy's gotta have some girl ready to-!"
"Do NOT finish that sentence!" Jessie cut him off angrily as she blushed furiously.
"You know his reputation is that of a damned psychopath!" Barrett argued, "How do we know he's not gonna go back on his word if he does take over his old man's company? I'm just saying be careful! You're too damn smart to get tangled with Shinra's crown prince. Hell, you're the smartest girl I know!"
"Jessie!" Rufus called from the lobby downstairs, "The tram's gonna leave without us if you don't hurry up!"
"Coming!" Jessie called as she ran off, trying desperately to will away the burning sensation in her ears.
A/N: Working double-time at this. Enjoy!