By a Fraction of a Degree
A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129
Rated T for Violence and Language.
I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spin-offs That honor goes to Square-Enix.
Part II: Reunion
Chapter 40, Encounters We Wish We Could Avoid
January 2nd [ ν ] – εуλ 0008
Cloud and Kunsel raced forward, swords drawn to meet the Behemoth with Tifa and Cid close behind. Nanaki had catapulted himself off a nearby wall to go for the monster's throat. The Behemoth roared and made to beat the Guardian away with his claws, but Cloud covered for him just in time, striking at the approaching limb and causing the beast to back away.
"Clear!" Elena shouted from the back of the room, and everyone only just got out of the way in time to avoid a large explosion that erupted right on top of the beast.
"All right Elena!" Reno unleashed a ball of flaming energy from his rod at the thing as Rude struck the ground, the two attacks providing a pincer that the animal couldn't escape from above or below. The Behemoth growled. Apparently it hurt, but only enough to make the monster angry. It crouched to the ground and then sprang into a charge, creating the need for the entire party to scatter.
Barret snatched Aerith out of the way, unloading his gunarm as he carried her to the left, only just missing being trampled by a hair's breadth. Aerith unleashed Ifrit to rain fire as they passed while Yuffie and Cissnei dodged in opposite directions, both throwing their shurikens at the monster's head.
It roared again, coming around for another charge, but as soon as Ifrit's fires vanished, Cloud jumped up to grab a handful of the monster's golden fur and pulled himself the rest of the way onto its back. The animal was so distracted by the shurikens and the Ifrit summon it hadn't noticed yet, so he took the opportunity to slice the Yoshiyuki along its side, before leaping away to avoid being thrown into the wall.
As soon as he was clear, he heard the report of Freya's shotgun going off in unison with one of Cait Sith's megaphone blasts and Barret continuing to pepper the beast with gunfire. A blast of lightning caught everyone's attention as Tifa cast Ramuh, and the spell only just died down before Kunsel went in with a hard strike to the monster's throat where Nanaki had injured it.
After a moment's deliberation, Cloud raced under the distracted beast and drove the Yoshiyuki deep into the animal's chest. He was barely able to pull out in time and was still clipped by one of the the Behemoth's claws as he rolled out of the way. That was when he noticed it howl at the ceiling. Almost instantly, he felt magic wash through the area and saw that Freya was also casting. Given that the Behemoth was still roaring without making any noise, he could only assume she'd Silenced it.
Having been caught totally unawares by this, the Behemoth crouched down for another charge but Cid picked that moment to channel a limit break. The pilot had leapt into the air and struck the ground right at its feet. A second explosion echoed through the chamber. Taking a last gasp, the Behemoth fell to the ground, having finally succumbed to its injuries.
They waited until it started vanishing into the Lifestream to be sure it was really dead and then Aerith looked around, asking "Does anyone need a Cure?"
"I think we're okay over here," Cid said, a crazy grin on his face. He was obviously still feeling the adrenaline rush, even as he reached for a fresh cigarette.
No one else answered so Kunsel secured his sword on his back. "Okay then, let's go. We've still got several more tunnels to get through, right Cissnei?"
The younger Turk nodded and once again took the lead. The rest of the party gathered behind her, but Cloud pulled ahead to stand next to her and Kunsel. "How long?" he asked.
"It might be another hour or so before we reach the barrier. Longer if we have more fights like this."
Cloud nodded and after a moment, remembered to put the Yoshiyuki back in its sheath above the Buster Sword, before following the others further into the deep and away from the cavern where the monster they'd just fought had finally vanished.
Reeve was working on paperwork in his office when his PHS buzzed. "Yes?"
"I was hoping you would join us," It was Rufus's voice.
"For what?" Reeve asked.
"There is something on which I would I would like your input, regarding the current situation with Sephiroth at the Northern Crater." Reeve's heart caught in his throat. It probably wasn't so much of a stretch for Rufus to know that he had infiltrated Zack's group as a favor to Tseng, but… what did he want out of this?
"I am on the board Mr. President, but are you sure Urban Development is the appropriate department for this?"
"Tseng did ask you to spy on the group led by Zack Fair did he not? I simply wanted your opinion. As one who has infiltrated the ranks of the organization that is about to face Sephiroth, I thought you might have some insight that Scarlet and Heidegger lacked."
"Well sir, if that's the case, I would really prefer to continue monitoring the situation from my own office. My equipment for monitoring my Cait Sith unit is here, and it could be crucial for them to have access to me."
"I only require a few minutes of your time, you can be back well before the fireworks truly begin," Rufus said. His tone now clearly indicated this was not a request.
Reeve did his best to keep his tone calm as he answered, "Very well, I will be there shortly."
Carrying a pager with him, just in case Cait Sith needed his input on anything, he walked out of his office and towards the elevator, pushing the call button upon reaching it. Not long after, the elevator door opened and he stepped in, looking out on the darkened sky over the glowing green of the Mako reactors and the city lights that he had once equated with a glowing jewel of civilization.
His loyalty to Shinra had been lost over a long period of time, what with the drama over Veld, with whom he had once been a good friend, and now the information about what Hojo had been up to under the very noses of everyone else. By the time he'd been made aware of Zack and Cloud's predicament, and the truth behind Sephiroth, he'd only been staying with the company because he had felt his efforts were valued both by the people and by the President, and after because of the idea the people needed him. Would he even be able to help them anymore if Rufus turned on him? He doubted it.
The elevator opened onto the floor where the president's office waited, and walked through the big double doors leading to the plush carpeted stairs lining each side of the room and leading up to the President's desk on the floor above. Walking up the stairs to his left, he found Rufus standing at the window behind his desk, looking out over the city, but he turned around to face him. "There you are." The young man in white did not move from the window, but instead gestured that Reeve join him.
"What did you wish to speak to me about?" Reeve asked.
"I wanted to know what you make of Sephiroth's prospects against these people," Rufus said, walking to his desk and gesturing to a small computer. On it, he could see a live feed from a hidden camera, possibly on one of the Turks, if he had to guess. Probably Rude, given that Elena was walking with Reno just ahead of the person on which it was attached. Up ahead, he saw a familiar shock of blond hair that definitely belonged to Cloud, along with Tifa's long tresses and the dust brown that he knew to belong to Kunsel, the current acting leader in Zack's absence.
"Well, there are quite a few of us," Reeve answered. "I'd say between AVALANCHE, the renegade Turks, our Turks, the ex-SOLDIERs, and everyone else we are quite formidable, though Sephiroth also seems to be a force to be reckoned with, given that he was able to capture Zack Fair and Vincent Valentine, and sent the Turks running for it the first time they attempted to find out what was down there. From what I can see, it could go either way."
Rufus nodded and sat down. "Seems to be a reasonable assessment." He watched the screen for a few moments. "Tell me, which outcome do you think would benefit this company the most?"
"I would think the answer to that would be obvious," Reeve said. "Based on the intelligence I've gathered, Zack Fair and his companions were doing nothing but mercenary work prior to their attack on the Shinra building. The most Fair and Strife seem to want after what happened to them in Nibelheim is to simply be left alone and Kunsel, the 1st Class who defected seems willing to follow their lead. Tifa Lockhart and Barret Wallace probably won't be any more trouble unless you seek them out to make them pay for their crimes. Given Strife's feelings about Ms. Lockhart and the fact he's nearly as powerful if not more than Fair now, I doubt that would be a worthy endeavor. The renegade Turks among their number will probably disappear, Yuffie Kisaragi will go back to Materia hunting, Red XIII will no doubt return to his home and Cid Highwind simply wants to be able to fly. The only person I might think could possibly be a threat to anyone without being antagonized would be Vincent Valentine, as if he survives, he will no doubt seek out Professor Hojo, but Hojo is no longer in our employ. On the other hand, should Sephiroth win, he will stop at nothing to regain the Black Materia and bring about the end of the world. By far, it would be better for everyone involved if we won."
"A rosy prediction. Even though Zack Fair is known to have a hero complex and could potentially rally an army against us if word got out about him and Strife, and Mr. Wallace and Ms. Lockhart are known terrorists. Cid Highwind stole an airship from us. Yuffie Kisaragi is a thief. Red XIII is a dangerous specimen… the list goes on… with such glowing recommendations, I find myself wondering a little about you." The unspoken question was clear. Where do you fall in this picture you've painted?
Reeve thought about it for a moment. "I will be doing my best to make life better for the people of Midgar, I assume, as your head of Urban Development. That's always what I have done…"
Rufus smiled. "I wonder, how you will be able to do that. Considering that I don't plan on having a department of Urban Development much longer."
"I don't understand," Reeve said.
"It's simple. Urban development was primarily a source of winning over the people. It was money my father threw away for the sake of keeping them favorable towards him when it would have cost so much less to keep them in line with guns. That being said, you are an excellent engineer and architect and I'm sure I could find you something meaningful to do, possibly even with better pay, assuming I still have your allegiance."
Reeve was struggling to contain his shock at this development as Rufus continued, no longer looking at him. "I'll give you a little time to think it over, say, until the end of the final battle? You're no fool Reeve, and neither am I. You have your uses, but that bleeding heart of yours really has no business tearing itself to pieces over those bottom dwellers in the slums, and as an advisor to myself you have no business trying to tell me that these people are not a threat when they have every reason to be. It makes me doubt your sincerity. I fully agree that Sephiroth needs to be stopped, but after this is over, should you decide you are staying with me, you will meet my guards outside your office and tell them to bring you to me. Otherwise, you will be arrested on the spot for being a double agent. Those are your choices. Choose wisely."
"This is insane…" Reeve began but cut himself off when he noticed Rufus looking at him.
"You wish to tell me to arrest you now? When you may be needed to save the world? I can do that if you wish."
Reeve took a deep breath and looked out the window again. Even here, on the 70th floor, the lights of Midgar sparkled like diamonds lit on a green backdrop. He'd built this place to be a metropolis, but his intentions had been undermined from the start, leaving half the population destitute in the slums while the other half was bribed and placated with living on the plate. Now that he knew the truth about what Mako was and what it meant, he found himself wanting to look away in shame. How much damage had he truly done? "That won't be necessary," he said at last. "I will consider your offer and you will have my answer before we leave the Crater."
With that, he walked to the stairs, preparing to leave. As he began to descend, he heard the young president call after him, "I sincerely hope you will make the right choice Reeve. Keep in mind, it would not be wise to cross me."
They had continued through the caves for quite a long time when up ahead, there was a turn off point and Cissnei paused. "What's up?" Kunsel asked.
"Both of these paths lead to the same place," she said.
"Which one is quickest?" Cloud asked.
Cissnei considered and then pointed to the right. "That way."
Cloud started walking and the others followed. Part of him was terrified of where they were going. Terrified of Sephiroth and what the man could do to him. But the further along they went, the more focused he felt. Zack was this way. After everything his friend had done for him, he would follow him into the pits of hell if he had to… if it meant he could make up for all the trouble he'd caused.
His boots crunched on the rocky ground and he could hear the others behind him. They were getting closer. He could feel it. The walls of the tunnels had become much less rocky, and instead were transitioning into more mako crystals than he had ever seen, even in the Nibel mountains. Lifestream filtered through the air over their heads, and the sounds felt less like the echoes caused by rock and were more muted by the crystalline barriers.
"How deep do you think we are?" Tifa wondered.
"We're actually rather shallow in relation to the floor of the crater," Cissnei offered. "The center of the cave system is blocked by a small barrier but survey data I looked at before I left has it that this part of the cave system will actually go up at some point. A lot of the Lifestream apparently filled its way around the meteor when it hit. That's why we have all these crystals."
"Speaking of the crystals" Yuffie remarked. "I know that Tseng was mako poisoned, but he said something about seeing eyes in the walls."
"That's not so surprising, there are WEAPONs sleeping here," Aerith said.
"You mean, like the one we fought in Junon?" Freya asked.
Aerith nodded. "The Planet says it called on them to destroy Jenova in the beginning, but after the Cetra sealed it, they were placed in stasis here, in case another outbreak occurred. At least, that's what it seems to be saying. It's hard to make out through its pain…"
There was a heavy silence as they continued through the tunnel and then it opened out into another chamber. It was pretty dark, in spite of the Mako crystals, but in the middle of it, stood a gigantic figure. For a moment, Cloud was certain it was Jenova, but then his eyes adjusted and his nose caught the scent of something foul. Kunsel stood next to him and he heard the man curse in a low voice. "Damn it, a Malboro? Here?"
"A Malboro?" Cid pulled up from the rear and looked into the room, sniffing. "I don't smell anythin'."
"With the way you smoke, you're lucky you can breathe at all," Kunsel muttered.
"You say somethin'?" Cid growled.
"No," Kunsel replied calmly. "But there's no way we can get by it without getting its attention."
"Then how're we doin' this? Full frontal assault?"
"I'd prefer going at it from behind. At least that way we won't end up getting the full brunt of its Bad Breath. That stuff is toxic," Kunsel said. He turned around and gestured that everyone gather in a circle. "So here's how we'll do it. Cid, you'll go high, we'll go low with the others and we'll attack from the rear. Freya, you and Cissnei keep Aerith safe. Everyone who works best at range, distract it from the front. Hopefully we can get out of this without it doing too much damage."
Cid nodded and started creeping around the side of the room to get in position. The Malboro looked like it was fully focused on the carcass it seemed to be gnawing on and didn't appear to have noticed. Silently, the rest of the close-range fighters in the party crept after the pilot until they were almost exactly behind the beast and Kunsel gave the signal.
Cid raced forward with a battle cry, using the end of his spear to vault himself up into the air, flying towards the beast as the others raced in from the ground. Almost at the same time, the monster's attention was distracted by being pelted with a flurry of various bullets and projectiles from the front. It probably never knew what hit it. Unfortunately, the front line fighters found themselves faced with the same problem.
"Ughh…" Elena pinched her nose trying to blot out the almost painful stench and several of the others in the party followed suit. The Malboro lay dead. By comparison to the King Behemoth, it had been a piece of cake, but that didn't mean it smelled like a bed of roses.
Tifa had to admit, the odor was quite overwhelming, to say the least. She made her way over to Cloud. Aerith was working with Cissnei, Rude, and the others to help patch everyone up. Fortunately, she'd been kind enough to channel her limit break that cured most ailments like Silence and Confusion, though even afterwards, Kunsel looked like he was still a little bewildered from almost getting the full brunt of the monster's second attack, it's last before it had died. Sometimes, enhanced senses weren't all they were cracked up to be.
She approached Cloud and asked "Are you doing all right?"
"I'll live," he answered. Somehow, the hateful thing had managed to poison him and they'd been afraid he was going to be frogged, but it had just made him small instead. Aerith had taken care of it, but he still looked a little green. Fortunately, it was only the front line that had truly taken the brunt of the damage, so most of the people who had attacked at range had gotten out unscathed.
Tifa nodded and they waited for the others to finish regrouping before Kunsel called a continuation of the march. "We still have a little ways to go," he said.
"He's right," Yuffie agreed. "We still haven't gotten to the hole Sephiroth put us in."
"Then let's mosey," Cloud stood up and walked to the front of the group again. Tifa followed after him amid the giggles and snickers from the others.
"Come on kid, you can do better'n that!" Cid called after him. "Can't you say 'Move out' or somethin'?"
Cloud gave the pilot a withering look before following Cissnei down the tunnel.
They had continued for a little longer, and Tifa was definitely beginning to see more evidence of Lifestream filtering through the caves. At one point, they'd found a place awash with strange moss and other plants giving off the impression of some kind of swamp, but they'd gotten through there fairly quickly. After a while, they'd stopped going down, and instead started climbing back up. But it wasn't until after they'd reentered the areas filled with mako crystals, that they came across what looked like a barrier of energy across their path. They found it splitting a huge cavern down the middle. The green crystals surrounding them had turned the whole area a dull green, and she was beginning to feel the cool air filtering down through holes in the ceiling above them, but the barrier blocked their path as though it were glass. Cissnei was the first to reach it. "As you can see," she said, reaching out and poking it with the end of her Rekka, "It's pretty solid."
"That is a problem," Freya agreed.
Cid walked up, evaluating the thing and started going through his pockets. After a moment, he unearthed a stick of dynamite and Tifa saw the lady Turk's eyes, and those of all the other party members sane enough to realize what he was about to do, widen considerably. "We might want to back up a little bit," Freya said and Cloud apparently agreed, because he'd grabbed hold of Tifa and Aerith to pull them out of the blast radius. Kunsel and the renegades were also pushing the others away before Tifa saw sparks on the end of the stick the pilot had just lit before he tossed it in the direction of the wall. At that point, everyone ducked for cover.
An explosion rent its way through the cavern, echoing for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few seconds. The barrier had not changed even a little. Cid had only backed up a couple of steps when it went off and now he was cursing heavily. "You were right, this thing's pretty solid," he said.
"So what do we do?" Aerith wondered.
"We could look around for an opening," Kunsel suggested.
"I don't think so," Cissnei said. "Mao and I already searched the area pretty thoroughly. It doesn't seem to have a weak point."
"Then what else is there?" Reno asked. "Thanks to captain crash over here, we'll probably be drawing every single critter within a mile to this location." Rude nodded in agreement.
"Test of durability," Cid countered. "And by the way, I'm not done lookin' this thing over, so shut yer hole before I decide Shera wants some revenge for the headache your friend gave her."
"I'd like to see you try," Reno drawled.
"Big talk seeing as how you keep running away," Cid narrowed his eyes at the challenge.
"Calm down, now's not the time, for fighting," Freya placed herself between the pilot and the Turk. "What we need to do now is find a way in, and hopefully before…" she paused in midsentence, listening.
Cloud and Kunsel had obviously heard whatever it was already, as had Nanaki, since all three of them were watching a tunnel that seemed to lead to another part of the caverns, on their side of the barrier. Now that Tifa was also listening, she could hear it too.
"…before we get some company," Freya finished, going for her shotgun. Cloud and Kunsel already had their weapons drawn, and Tifa took a defensive stance next to Cloud when the thing that was advancing on them pulled out of the shadows. At first, she thought it was a normal dragon, but when it came into the light, she saw that the wings were constructed of bone and the body itself was nothing but a skeleton covered in rotted flesh, in spite of the malevolent red eyes under hooded lids. She'd heard of zombies before, and she'd fought dragons, but she'd never fought a Dragon Zombie before. This could be a challenge…
That was when something else caught her attention. The buzz at her left that was coming from the barrier seemed to have changed in pitch. Glancing in that direction, she saw a black cloaked figure emerge through the barrier, before, in a blur too fast for her to see, it raced across the room and seemed to explode in a flash of light. The dragon let out an unearthly screech, spraying out in a thousand pieces raining dried sinew, bones and rotted gore across the cave floor. When the flash died, the figure was gone, only to be replaced by two very large beings. She hadn't seen either of them before, but Cloud definitely had because his expression hardened and he whispered the name they had all come to dread. "Jenova…"
One of the beings was the spitting image of the other two iterations they'd fought, a vaguely angelic form composed of tentacles, while the other bore the visage of a woman embedded across the front of a floating skull-like orb.
"So who wants to focus on what?" Kunsel asked.
"How about we make this fun?" Reno said. "We'll take the angel, you guys take the skull lady. First to kill their alien wins!"
"You're on!" Cid whooped.
"Everyone who shoots to the back!" Kunsel ordered. "If you heal or fight at a distance, you get free range of whatever you can hit!"
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about," Barret inserted a fresh clip in place on his gun arm and started unloading across the room. Tifa hurried to join Cloud and the others in getting into position. Freya had already fired off two shotgun blasts while Cissnei and Yuffie both deployed their shuriken again. Once the two of them were in position next to Kunsel, Cid, and Nanaki, the brown-haired SOLDIER called the charge, and everyone dived into the fray. Barret and the others had aimed high in order to avoid hitting them as they formed a semicircle around this strange new monster. Tifa rushed forward landing three hard punches just under the female figure's right side. Cloud was only a few feet away, slicing at it with the Yoshiyuki before both of them had to dodge out of the way to avoid being flung across the room by a rogue tentacle.
Everyone had to scatter for a moment as a Bio spell flashed across the room. Once the acid cleared, Tifa ran in again. Cloud and Kunsel had apparently both decided to follow Cid's lead as Kunsel leapt forward and Cloud used a nearby rock to propel himself into the air, both attacking slightly higher than ground level while Nanaki raced underneath the thing before clawing at it and retreating.
The form of Jenova they were fighting made an unearthly shriek and raised its tentacles in the air. Almost immediately, she noticed that Kunsel had frozen in place, stopped. Reaching into her pockets, she found the mastered Heal material Rayleigh had given her and cast Esuna. The SOLDIER shook himself out and they both jumped for cover just as Yuffie channeled a limit break, sending an explosion over the area their current target occupied.
Once they were clear, Cloud ran at the monster again with a powerful strike of his own. Jenova seemed unperturbed, and he had to duck to avoid a tentacle, however, he had been so busy focusing on doing so, he didn't have enough time to see the other one coming.
"Cloud!" Tifa called out to him.
It was too late. She saw him go flying across the room, straight towards the barrier. She looked away for a moment, expecting him to hit it, but nothing happened. Instead, the next time she looked she saw he had picked himself up on the other side and was testing the wall to see if he could get back out. She ran over to him. "Are you all right?"
He looked up at her as though he hadn't understood and she realized he couldn't hear her. He tried to get back through, but energy crackled off the barrier and he had to back away to avoid taking further damage. He was clearly frustrated that he couldn't come back through to help her, but then he looked away as though he had heard something else.
"Cloud? What is it?" Tifa asked.
He looked back at her, eyes wide with worry when his face suddenly went whiter than usual and he motioned that she look behind her. A hand grabbed hers and pulled her down. Kunsel had apparently spotted what was going on and just barely prevented her from being rendered a head shorter by another tentacle attack. Tifa pulled herself back up in a defensive position ready to fight, but stole a glance behind her anyway. Her blood ran cold at that moment. Cloud had disappeared…
And I have nothing to report this chapter. See ya next time!