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.
Alistor is an original character.
Part IV: Stigma
Chapter 87, Bahamut SIN
April 15th [ ν ] – εуλ 0009 10:00 AM Junon Western Time
Scarlet paced the floor of her bunker impatiently. A conservative estimate of their attempt to use the remnants as a distraction had been a complete catastrophe, and if they didn't get the huge materia Kadaj had stolen soon, their attempt to take over Junon would be a complete rout. She and Heidegger knew very well that the WRO's net was closing in. It had been all they could do so far to keep them from actually discovering their hiding place. She looked up at the large vehicle that loomed up in the shadows. She needed to augment its weapon soon, or there wouldn't be a chance in hell against Reeve's troops.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a set of footsteps approaching out of the gloom. Turning, she saw it was Heidegger. The old oaf didn't say anything, so she turned her attention back to the technicians that were in the process of making the last adjustments on the machine in front of her. "Is it almost ready?" Heidegger asked, and she felt grimly satisfied that he sounded worried. Apparently their interactions with Kadaj had left him jumpy.
"Of course," she said. "All we need is the huge materia and my Little Sister Ray mako cannon will be completed. And then, my second prototype for the Proud Clod will be complete." It was a work of genius that advanced technology had allowed her to build on a much smaller scale than her original cannon. The increased portability and the advanced structure of the vehicle on which it had been affixed would allow her to overtake enemy units with ease.
"Director Scarlet?" A voice called out of her communicator.
"Yes?" she responded. The last of the bolts had just been soldered into place, now it was simply a matter of getting the materia into its proper fitting.
"Two of those men have arrived… should we let them in?" The man sounded worried.
"Of course," Scarlet said, doing her best to remain calm. These two were supposed to be dead. Had she misjudged whether or not Strife and Fair were up to the task? Heidegger shifted his weight uncomfortably. A few moments later, Loz and Yazoo entered the bunker, and without so much as batting an eye, the bigger of the two tossed a small canvas bag in her direction which she caught.
"Our brother found what you were looking for," Yazoo said calmly. "Now how about that information on where mother is?"
Scarlet sighed. "You didn't hold up part of your end of the deal. You were supposed to distract Zack Fair from our activities in Corel, yet you didn't even so much as bother to show up."
Loz glared at that. "You want to mess with us lady?"
Scarlet walked over to the mech on which her subordinates had been working and handed them the bag. "Still, I suppose you did give me what I wanted. All right then, I already told you, Rufus might have some of her remains." She reached into her pocket, and produced a blank data disk. It would at least buy her time. "This should tell you where they are," she handed it to one of the more nervous looking technicians who hurriedly walked over to hand it to Yazoo, possibly out of the misconception that he was slightly less threatening. Scarlet knew better, but she could already see that her materia was being installed into the portable mako cannon. She silently motioned to Heidegger that he should get on board the mech while she continued. "Now, if you'll kindly excuse me, I have a city to conquer." And two remnants who wouldn't have time to verify that they had actually received the information they wanted before her Little Sister Ray disintegrated them into oblivion.
She could already see Yazoo hovering behind Loz expectantly while the other remnant fiddled with a data reader as she hurriedly climbed into the cockpit of the mech after Heidegger. Sure, there was still Kadaj to contend with, but there was always the chance that Strife or Fair would still eliminate him. The technicians were quickly scattering out of the way as she strapped herself into her seat, seeing that Heidegger was already set to go. Booting up the Proud Clod's computer, she began setting the parameters for aiming the mako cannon. The two remnants had barely looked up when she hit the button to fire, however, to her consternation, they both leapt out of the way as a mako blast discharged leaving a small crater in the ground where they had been standing.
"The disk!" Yazoo cried. It had apparently been shattered in the blast.
"What did you do that for you $!#&%" Loz shouted.
Scarlet chuckled. "Did you really think I'd let you destroy the world you imbeciles?! If you did, what would I have to rule? Now Die!" She pressed the button again, sending a blast of energy streaming across the floor. One of the techs had the presence of mind to open the blast doors, which was good. She needed to get out in the open, lest she bring the entire bunker down with her. Not that she would need it anymore since Junon would be hers by nightfall, but it was a shame to let this place go to waste.
"Scarlet?" She heard Heidegger behind her. "You said we'd rule together."
She glared at him. "Shut up, of course that's what I meant! Without you we have no army, but if we can't get rid of these monsters, we may not have one anyway!"
"Is that so?" Yazoo asked and she suddenly noticed him outside the blast shield on the cockpit's front window. "Well then, perhaps we should just kill you now!"
At that moment, Loz suddenly leapt into the air, and after gaining purchase on the mech's plating, pounded his gauntlet into the glass. Spider webs of cracked glass filtered out from the impact zone and Scarlet quickly activated the electrification feature on the mech. The remnants backed off, but she couldn't see them. This could not be! She started the mech towards a service elevator. It would take her up to the upper plate, directly below the Junon cannon. With all the space there, she'd be sure to defeat them and then she could get back to doing what was actually important. The city would be hers, no matter what!
She activated a com line to a set of cameras she placed topside as the elevator began to rise above lower Junon. They had been there to record her victory, but now as she watched she noticed something rather off. Near the site of the lift exit on the main street through the city, stood a crowd of children, and at their head stood a man wielding what looked to be a SOLDIER's sword.
The Shera was very close to Junon when the com channel on the airship's bridge suddenly opened. "Sir," the officer in charge of their channels spoke up. "We have a direct line from Commissioner Tuesti."
"Put it up," Cid ordered.
"Yes sir."
Barely a moment later, Reeve stood over the holo-projector, "Cid, we have a development under the Cannon, I'm sending you the live feed now. Where are the others?"
"They're in the back getting ready, we'll be at the airport in about 10 minutes."
"I might suggest a different approach at this point."
As Reeve spoke, the feed suddenly went live and Cid's eyes widened. "Scarlet?" he asked.
"Yes, and it would seem she and the remnants have had a falling out," another camera went online and Cid could see that the man who had attacked Barret along with another were attempting to fight it out with the mech along with another man who looked very familiar and was wielding a standard SOLDIER sword.
"I see what ya mean," he said after a minute. "Maybe an airdrop would make sense."
"You read my mind," Reeve said. "I'll be sending Yuffie, Cait Sith, and Nanaki to investigate further, but please hurry."
"You got it," As the call ended Cid turned his attention to the PA system. "This is your captain speaking. Get your asses into the cargo bay and get ready for an air drop.
Turning to his flight officer, he said "I leave the Shera with you. Find a clear space nearby to land. I know there's a park near the cannon that oughtta do just fine."
"Yes sir!" With that, Cid left the bridge and headed down the main corridor just as Cloud appeared with Tifa right behind him. "What's happening?" He asked just as Kunsel and Barret appeared in the hallway leading towards the cabins.
"Those remnants have shown up under the cannon. It'll take too long to actually get there from the airport, so we're doing an airdrop. Scarlet at least looks like she's there, and so are the kids, so let's move it people!"
He probably shouldn't have been surprised that Cloud and Kunsel were already prepping their gear before he even reached the cargo doors. Tifa was not far behind them. And Cissnei, and Vincent were right behind her. Barret had taken another moment to tell Marlene to stay in the cabins before joining them and the active Turks were still awaiting orders. A minute later, everyone was set, and the acting pilot spoke up over the PA system, "We're in position sir, commence drop on my mark."
Cid hit the button to unlock the cargo doors and waited. Down below, he saw a bright beam of energy blink into existence under the cannon. They needed to get moving. "Three, two, one, mark!"
At that, Cloud stepped forward, the Fusion Swords fully assembled on his back and dropped into the sky below them. Tifa dived out after him, then Kunsel and the rest followed until Cid was the last one. He ran for the gate and soon he was dropping like a stone, the wind whipping past his face as his speed increased and the adrenaline flushed through his system.
Once he'd dropped sufficiently he pulled the cord, allowing his parachute to open above him as the cannon got closer below. As he floated the rest of the way down, he could see Cloud and Kunsel already racing in the direction of the mech with the others not far behind him. Soon, he felt the hardened asphalt of the street below him and after disengaging the parachute, he took off after them.
Up ahead, he saw Cloud leap into the air to trade a series of blows with Loz while Tifa had broken off the attack upon seeing Denzel and was standing in front of him trying to get his attention. Barret meanwhile had headed straight towards where a SOLDIER in street clothes appeared to be assisting Yazoo in fighting the mech. Cissnei and Kunsel seemed to have decided that was the best course of action as well and Cid, not being the type to do things half-way, decided to do the same thing. Reaching for the summon materia he'd found in that cave outside Icicle Inn. As he finished casting, the giant fortress-like being sent a wave of powerful magic in the direction of the conflict. The two remnants seemed visibly mortified at the blast of destructive power headed their way and the pilot wasn't finished yet. He scaled the summon he'd just called upon and leapt off the top of it, channeling a limit directly at the heart of the mech.
Slashing at the mech and the remnants eight times, Cid jumped back, spinning his spear over his head with a grin. "That's how you do it!" He taunted. He was about to press the attack again when he noticed a black mist spreading across the street that was quickly forming into a series of four legged beasts.
Cloud ran through the waves of holy energy, dodging an attack from the mako cannon on Scarlet's mech before bringing the sword to bear on one of its legs. At that moment, Kunsel unleashed a barrage from his gunblade on the other before giving it a slash. The mech sparked as Scarlet threatened to send another blast in their direction, but right at that moment, Nanaki appeared between them with Cait Sith on his back as he channeled a limit which promptly caused the mech to burst into flames. "Good to see you," Kunsel commented.
"You as well," Nanaki said, before hurrying off toward the sound of several cries of surprise. Yuffie appeared half a second later sending her Conformer at one of the monsters that had just appeared near where the remnants were.
Cloud and Kunsel ran towards the other monsters, breaking off in different directions. Cloud headed off towards where he saw Barret fighting off a couple of monsters, though he definitely saw Kunsel going in the direction of Yazoo.
At that moment, Alistor entered his vision, about to take a slash at Barret from behind. Running forward, he was there almost before the SOLDIER had fully lifted his blade, blocking the swordsman's blow. To his surprise, the man had a pretty good arm on him for being also afflicted with the stigma, almost like he didn't feel it. Barret turned around at that moment. "Thanks Spiky!" He hurried around him grabbing Alistor by the arm as Cloud used the butt of his sword to knock him out.
The man took a step back, blinked in surprise and then dropped to the ground. Barret lifted him up and carried him towards the Shera while Cloud redirected his focus towards where Tifa had stopped to try and help Denzel. His heart nearly stopped, when he saw her turn to defend both herself and the boy from one of the monsters and instead get knocked over by one from behind, pulling Denzel down in the process. He quickly detached the hollow blade from the main blade and tossed it through the air like a boomerang. It flew in front of him as he broke into a sprint, promptly slicing the monster in two before spinning towards another one that had just been about to get Cid from behind. It returned to his hand as he approached them, seeing that the Shera had only come in to land about a block away. Good.
Looking down, he saw that Tifa and Denzel were picking themselves up and let out a breath of relief. Denzel noticed him there first. "Cloud?" he asked.
"We can talk later," he said. Thinking better of it he turned and looked the boy in the eye. "We will definitely be talking later."
"You mean you're going to come home after this?" Denzel asked.
Cloud nodded as Tifa turned to talk to him. "Marlene's on the Shera. Can you make it back?"
Denzel nodded before looking back up at Cloud. "I'll see you there, okay Cloud?"
The swordsman nodded and then, as Denzel ran towards the airship, they turned their attention back to the monsters. They had to destroy them before they could kill any bystanders or get to the rest of the city.
April 15th [ ν ] – εуλ 0009 10:30 AM
Rufus stood on top of a skyscraper near the cannon whose construction had been halted around the time Midgar had been evacuated. He knew that if he ran for it Kadaj would gladly gut him like a fish. But as things stood, perhaps he could still work the situation to his advantage. Off in the distance, he could see the Shera approaching and the tell-tale signs of parachutes. It seemed GUARDIAN had arrived. Scarlet and Heidegger didn't have a prayer. "Say Kadaj…" he said after a moment, "I have a question."
Kadaj scoffed as he playfully tossed a materia into the air that Rufus recognized as being a summon. "And I've got an answer," he replied.
Rufus continued, "You told me you needed Jenova's cells in order to be whole again, right? What did you mean by that?"
Kadaj caught the materia in his hand frustratedly. "Him. He's coming back…"
Rufus did his best to emulate Tseng and maintain his calm. There was no ambiguity as to who 'he' was. "Sephiroth… the nightmare…"
"So they say," Kadaj said over his shoulder.
Rufus was surprised. His initial theory about Kadaj was that he and his fellow remnants might have been from among the Sephiroth clones, perhaps a few that had somehow survived Sephiroth's initial attempt at the Reunion. But in that case, this didn't make sense to him. "You mean…"
"I've never known Sephiroth," Kadaj intoned, "I just… I sense him there… "It's unbearable… to think Mother might want Sephiroth more than…"
"Poor little remnant," Rufus taunted.
Kadaj turned to face him angrily and he had to resist the urge to step back. "It doesn't matter who she picks, you'll all meet the same end!" He raised his hands expressively as he stepped closer to the president. "Mother came to this planet after a long journey, to rid the cosmos of fools like you!" He brought the materia forward, shoving it in Rufus's face. It was a testament to his mental fortitude that he did not budge, no matter how much he wished he could. "But," Kadaj continued, walking back towards the edge of the platform on which they stood, "You know as well as I do. Nothing's changed since she got here. I have to change it, to make her happy! If mother willed it…" he brought the materia up to catch the light of the sun. "I'd do anything for her."
Rufus scoffed. "The nightmare returns," he observed.
Kadaj resumed tossing the summon and catching it with his right hand. "As long as you exist, the nightmares will come again and again."
Rufus smirked. "The Lifestream courses through our world, ever flowing on the edge of life and death. If that cycle is the very truth of life, then history too will inevitably repeat itself. Go on, bring your Jenovas and your Sephiroths, cause trouble to your heart's content. We'll do as life dictates and stop you every single time."
Kadaj was not even bothering to look at him. "Please sir, is that your excuse for going after mother yourself? You don't seem all that sorry."
"Sorry?" Rufus raised an eyebrow and his smirk became a little wider. "The truth is, I actually enjoy it."
It was at that moment when he saw that Kadaj had once again equipped the materia by slipping it into his arm. "Good." He turned back with a feral grin. "Then let's put an end to all this." For a moment, Rufus wondered if he had miscalculated and he was about to die as the remnant charged up the materia but then Kadaj turned and aimed the spell at the sky, directly about the Junon Cannon. As they both watched a dragon appeared and flew down towards the commotion below, but it was unlike any Rufus had ever seen. Perhaps the remnant's corrupted energy had caused it too to be twisted by exposure to it. But it was no more than a theory. Regardless, it seemed GUARDIAN had not succeeded in breaking off the remnants' attack yet, so he still needed to be patient, until the time came to play his hand.
Across the street from where Cloud and the others were dealing with monsters, Reno was surprised to find himself face to face with a familiar bald Turk he had not seen in a while "Rude! How did you get here man?"
"Took a plane," the martial artist responded. "How's Elena?"
"'Bout as well as can be expected, but we can talk about it later," he gestured at the monsters when out of the blue, Yazoo and Loz suddenly appeared in front of them.
Reno jauntily tapped his EMR rod across his shoulder. "And just where do you think you're going?"
"To find our mother," Yazoo said.
"Oh?" Rude replied.
"Yeah," Loz said. "We're pretty sure she's somewhere in this city."
"So you think we hid here here? Good luck with that. It's a big place," Reno commented.
"Well, did you hide her here?" Yazoo parroted back.
"Why ask us?" Rude said.
Reno grinned, trying to get in on the act too. "Where we hid her is classified info." He turned to Rude with a laugh.
"Oh ho!" Yazoo took a couple of steps closer. "So you do have something to hide."
Reno was taken aback by that. How could they have said something so dangerous. "Rude! You and your big mouth!" With that, he raised his EMR rod and charged. At that moment, multiple things occurred. Kunsel ran out of the crowd, Barret raced past them with an unconscious man over his shoulder just behind that kid Strife and Lockheart had adopted, several four legged beasts started fighting it out with Cloud, and a huge shadow suddenly appeared over all of them. Reno looked up and his mouth fell open, feeling his rod connect with something behind him. At that same moment, Elena ran up to join them, firing a hand gun up and the enormous dragon… thing… that had just dived down parallel with the cannon to come to rest with a Planet-shattering boom.
"Hel-lo…" Reno observed.
"Hell no," Rude replied.
"What are you talking about you wusses!" Elena said, running past them. "After Sephiroth, this should be easy! Besides!" She paused, lifting her gun and pointing it directly at Yazoo. "I've got a bullet with your name on it!"
"How cute," Yazoo scoffed. "Some measly little Turks are the least of my concern."
It was at that moment when Kunsel stopped behind him aiming his gunblade directly at Yazoo's head. "Then how about we add a SOLDIER to that equation?"
"Leave my brother alone!" Loz aimed a punch with his gauntlet at the SOLDIER's chest, forcing him to dodge out of the way, but then the situation escalated again as they all heard the dragon roar. That was when Reno noticed the blue glow of energy being gathered in its mouth. Rude grabbed Elena, while Reno and Kunsel both grabbed one of the children who were standing around nearby and started running.
They had run about 10 feet when Reno asked "Is it after us?"
Rude responded breathlessly "I'm not lookin'." Just as he spoke, Kunsel jumped over top of them, knocking them to the ground and Reno felt the energy of a Wall spell flicker to life around them. In that moment, a wave of energy blew out from near the cannon and he could see a series of other Wall spells activating where other GUARDIAN members had moved to defend those that they could.
As the dust cleared around them, Kunsel picked himself up, holding his gunblade in a defensive position as the two remnants approached them. "Are we having fun yet, hmm?" Yazoo goaded.
"The time of my life!" Reno gritted out, hopping to his feet and rushing past Kunsel. The SOLDIER dodged his EMR rod as he and Rude lunged at the two remnants, trading several blows with them before Yazoo knocked Reno back onto the pavement. "When are you gonna call it a day!" Reno growled, picking himself back up as Yazoo hopped onto a nearby building.
"Why? Just as soon as you give back Mother, that'll be the end of everything," Yazoo taunted. Reno glared angrily at him and took a running leap to start climbing the building with his bare hands. He was about halfway up when he saw Kunsel leaping through the air right after him. The two of them reached the roof of the building at almost the same time and the SOLDIER vaulted over the remnant so that the two of them were surrounding him.
"Because just ending one life wasn't enough!" Kunsel said bring up his blade in a cleaving slash. Yazoo blocked with his own gunblade just as Reno came closing in, but he broke the lock to parry the Turk's blows.
"Forget your little reunion and get a grip!" Reno shouted.
"All we want is to be with mother!" Yazoo returned and with a powerful blow, he sent Reno flying through the air to land on Rude who had been sparring with Loz below. As they picked themselves up, he suddenly saw Kunsel appear in front of them as Elena was running to catch up.
"Stay outta this SOLDIER!" Reno said, picking himself up.
"As if!" Kunsel said, not moving a muscle.
The remnants ignored him and Loz spoke up at that moment. "Mother will win. When she gets here, she'll decide what's best. Now where's mother?"
"Mother, shmother, it's Jenova's friggen head…" Reno taunted as he dusted himself off.
"Hey!" Loz shouted.
"I will not have you refer to mother that way!" Yazoo interjected.
"You meanie!" Loz added.
Kunsel seemed a little surprised when Rude spoke up "Our apologies."
"You're ma's cool…" it was then he realized that maybe he'd been knocked around a little more than he'd thought. "What the hell am I sayin'!"
Their banter was interrupted when a short distance away, the dragon suddenly started climbing. "We'll see how you handle your city being a crater…" Yazoo said and with that, he and Loz suddenly disappeared. Kunsel had apparently spotted something off towards the cannon because he had started sprinting in that direction, just as Elena reappeared next to them.
"Are you guys all right?" she asked.
"We need to find the President," Rude said.
"Right," Reno agreed. With that, they rushed back towards Shinra's Junon office. Hopefully they could find something there.
In Junon's undercity, several WRO units had a couple of houses that had been used as staging locations for Scarlet and Heidegger's attempted coup. It had been a successful rout with most of the officers neutralized. Valerie stood next to Allen, overseeing their two top prisoners, when a loud boom suddenly reverberated through the area.
"What was that?" she wondered.
"It was Scarlet and Heidegger you idiot! Don't you get it?! What you've done here means nothing! They will conquer the city and the rest of the world will follow." General Nietzsche seemed awfully confident in spite of being handcuffed to his fellow General Kant.
"How do you figure it?" Allen asked.
"Because under the old Shinra, the people were happy! And when we bring back the company, it'll be better than ever! There's no way those two would fail," Kant gloated.
"Is that so?" A familiar voice spoke from behind them. As they turned to see who it was, Lou appeared from behind a truck, along with Rod, Mao, and Tanjuu. To their surprise, Veld was also with them, along with Elfe and Shears. "Because we just got word that they got stomped on by a dragon," the blonde renegade finished.
The two generals suddenly became really quiet. "Is everything okay up there?" Allen asked.
"GUARDIAN's on it. And they've got Cissnei with them, they ought to be up to it," Rod said.
"Still, it's hard to believe…" Valerie said sadly.
She gave Tanjuu a concerned look but the lady Turk's former partner didn't return it. "She knew what she was doing." He said coolly.
"Yeah," Mao agreed. "Same with the others. They'll be all right."
"They will," Veld said. "Even so, I think times will be changing again soon."
Elfe nodded in agreement. "It's hard to believe anything will remain the same after this. Regardless of what happens." As if to punctuate her observation, they all suddenly caught a glimpse of a pale blue light emanating brighter than the sun on the upper plates of Junon above them.
Denzel was running back towards the Shera when he suddenly saw several of the monsters blocking his path, attacking civilians. There was only about two-hundred yards or so between him and the ship and if that wasn't bad enough, he suddenly felt the abscesses along his body seize up. At first he stopped, unable to move on and looking around him, he could see that others who had been in contact with the monsters seemed to be having a similar reaction, but up ahead, he saw one man being tossed around like a rag doll into a fire hydrant.
Breathing heavily he looked down at the black pus collecting in his hands and then at some of the people who in spite of their current state were trying to fight these things off. It the others were fighting, surely there could be something he could do too. "I can do this!" he gritted out, pulling himself up grabbing a pipe that had been knocked free in the struggle he ran over and struck the nozzle on the hydrant that was aimed in the direction of the monsters. As he struck it again, the four that stood in his path were alerted to the sounds and started charging.
Staring them down, he did his best to get over his fear, and swinging the pipe in the air for leverage, he brought it down one final time, bursting open the seal and sending a powerful stream directly at his attackers. The monsters were already backing off as suddenly Barret came barreling through with Al over his shoulder. As he passed him, he said "Follow me!" Denzel did so and once they were at the Shera's cargo doors, Barret lowered the SOLDIER down. "You keep an eye on him, all right? I gotta help the others!"
Denzel nodded and Barret wheeled around, heading back towards the cannon several blocks away.
Cloud and Tifa had dispatched the last of the monsters when above the cannon a shadow had suddenly appeared. "Is that a dragon?" Tifa asked.
Without bothering to answer, Cloud started running closer to the summon's location, pausing only to help Tifa leap to the top of a nearby building before pulling himself up after her. The two of them ran in the direction of the cannon's main support pillar, just as Yuffie pulled past them, swinging her Conformer which spun through the air. Sparks flew as it connected with the dragon's armor, and they had barely gone two more steps before Cloud spotted Cid climbing a nearby set of steel pilings to leap at the monster's shoulder while Nanaki let loose a limit below. Cloud pulled himself up to another steel crossbeam and prepped the fusion swords as he saw Vincent materialize onto another one nearby, firing several shots from his gun while Cissnei raced across the ground, sending up a Bolt 3 with one hand as her rekka went flying out of her other one.
Tifa joined Cloud on the crossbeam before giving him a leg up as he jumped to land directly on the monster's head. He gave the dragon several strong slashes to its face before it shook him off. Yuffie's Conformer flew past him as he landed on the ground and Vincent took his place leaping across the dragon's body while Cid catapulted himself up by his spear to join the gunman. Nanaki weaved in and out between the dragon's legs before casting Gravity on the dragon's center. The dragon roared angrily before shaking Cid and Vincent from its body.
That was when Barret appeared next to him, having returned from evacuating Alistor from the front lines. His gunarm blazing, he raced in with a battle cry, stopping a short distance from Cloud who had definitely noticed the dragon was headed their way. He spared barely a thought, automatically reaching out to drag the gunman out of the dragon's path as Tifa grabbed onto one of the dragon's legs and scrambled to one of its eyes before unleashing a Bio spell directly into its face. She landed on the cross beam directly next to where they were. "What kept you?" Cloud asked.
"That's real funny!" Barret gritted out before unleashing another barrage in the dragon's direction just as Cissnei retrieved her rekka from a second strike and Nanaki and Cait Sith had been knocked free from where the red-lion had attempted to maul one of the dragon's limbs.
The dragon had apparently decided at that point that it'd had enough, because it suddenly took flight again, a blue glow emitting from its mouth as it prepared to fire. Cloud looked down at the ground at that point just in time to see Kunsel sprinting back from where ever he'd gotten off to and began running up a nearby steel pylon. it was clear what he needed to do. The ex-SOLDIER was looking at him expectantly and he nodded, readying his blade before signaling that Barret throw him into the air. "Alley oop!" The gunman called after him, rocketing him up the side of the building. He flew up to meet Cissnei as she dropped from her perch, offering her rekka as she fell.
"You can do it!" She said. He grabbed the other end and she tossed him higher into the air to where Kunsel had just jumped into free-fall above him.
He grabbed the other swordsman's hand and Kunsel spun him around, propelling him further upward taking him towards the dragon's head. "Get 'im!" he heard the swordsman say behind him before he leveled another strike at it before being knocked away by the force of his own blow, but then he saw Cid, holding out his spear and he prepared to land.
Crouching down on the shaft, he felt it bend under his weight and he eyed Cid who nodded, knowing what he had in mind before he did it. "Giiyup!" Cid grunted as he used the spear as a makeshift catapult, propelling Cloud higher up their current skyscraper.
He felt Nanaki grab hold of his sweater behind him, throwing him further as Cait Sith called out "There ya go!" Before Yuffie also appeared throwing him higher with a battle cry of her own.
He was nearing the upper segments of the cannon tower when he heard Vincent's soft "Fly!" and felt himself being thrown still higher to where Tifa was waiting for him at the highest point on the tower.
She leapt out and took his hand. "No giving up!" she said before throwing him further. Above him, the dragon had stopped and he braced himself as it suddenly unleashed a powerful ball of energy directly towards him. Strangely, as it passed around him, he had the feeling that Zack and Aerith would be here soon. They were close by and their hearts were with him… and then…
Perhaps he had imagined it, but before him, he saw a woman with copper eyes reaching out to grab his hand. "No regrets…" echoed through his thoughts as he flew out the other end of energy vortex, piercing his sword directly into the dragons head as it dived after the ball of destructive force somehow starting to disperse after he'd gone through it. His boots connected with the dragon's back and he ran along it, digging the Fusion Sword as deep as it would go before jumping free. As he dropped back to the ground, he saw the summon dissolving ahead of him into tendrils of Lifestream until it was consumed by its own energies and became no more.
He landed in a crouch on a crossbeam near the cannon when his attention was grabbed by the sight of a bright flash of light from a nearby building…
April 15th [ ν ] – εуλ 0009 10:45 AM
Kadaj grinned as he watched the fighting in the distance and let out a laugh. "This is too fun sir! Any requests for the next act?" As he turned Rufus was already reaching into the confines of his coat, revealing a case that the remnant clearly recognized, because his eyes widened in shock. "Mother!" he cried out.
Rufus smiled condescendingly at the remnant. "Hmph, a good son would have known," he said. With that, he tossed the box over the side. In a fit of rage, Kadaj ran at him with his sword, but at that point, a man suddenly appeared out of the shadows. Tseng pushed Rufus aside, pulling out a grappling hook as he knocked the two of them over the edge. A disk flew free of Rufus's coat as they fell and he suddenly had a moment of horrific realization as Kadaj snatched it out of the air before turning his attention to the falling case below. "Mother!" he called out again before diving after the case as Rufus fired two shots at him. As he felt Tseng firing off the grappling hook he decided to change tactics. Instead firing a shot at the case. Perhaps if he destroyed it…
Below, he caught sight of Reno, Rude, and Elena running their way to assist and before he knew it, the youngest Turk fired off a net gun, providing a soft landing for both him and the Turk director. Fortunately one of his bullets struck home but it wasn't sufficient to stop Kadaj from reaching it before he hit the ground. As he watched the Turks approach, his attention was suddenly directed away by the sound of another motorcycle approaching and then he saw what it was. Cloud was on his way, and below him he saw the remnants hurriedly getting onto their motorbikes to flee the scene, before the swordsman sped past the building.
There are only about five chapters left and I need extra time to make sure they're good, so for that reason, next week is going to be a break week. We'll be back at the usual time, Midnight, Thursday the 23rd, Friday the 24th. See ya then!