The Future Imperfect
AN -
Chapter Twenty
Angeal slipped into the cylindrical glass elevator behind Aerith, Red and Barret. The doors slid shut before the troopers that followed reached them, leaving them stranded in the lobby outside the President's office. The second elevator was nowhere in sight, giving them a decent head start.
He wasn't happy to be leaving Cloud and Genesis on the roof, but at least Tifa and Sephiroth had stayed to support them if needed. Not that he really expected them to need help against Rufus Shinra.
Rufus Shinra. About his own age if he remembered correctly, a young upstart that had always been cocky and arrogant when Angeal had come across him at various Shinra functions. Seeing him older now was a reminder of where they should have been, but were not. He tried to picture Genesis and himself aging, without much success. Maybe Genesis would complain about wrinkles and grey hairs, but Angeal thought he would personally age quite well. If he had had the chance to.
Sephiroth… well, whatever aged version of Sephiroth they had seen looked not a day older than his friend. Another strange fact to add to the growing list. He realised he still hadn't really discussed the appearance of the other Sephiroth with the others, he would have to bring it up once they managed to get out of here. If they got out of here.
"Think they can manage up there?" Red asked softly.
"You've seen Cloud and Tifa in action, and them SOLDIER boys ain't no slouches. They'll be fine. Besides –"
Barret was cut off when the elevator shuddered. "What was that?"
Aerith gasped, staring behind Angeal. He turned around to see flaming detritus raining down outside.
"Gotta believe they made it out." Barret said softly.
"I hope so," Aerith replied, clasping her hands in front of her chest. Angeal watched a particularly large and distinctive piece of metalwork sail past.
"Chances are good," he commented dryly. "That looked like the tail section of a helicopter."
"We should go back and help 'em, we should never have split up." Barret drummed on the glass with his good hand as another flaming ball that looked suspiciously like the rest of the helicopter dropped past the windows.
"Hey!" Red called out, urgency in his tone.
"What, Red?" Barret replied impatiently. Angeal turned and his eyes widened as he realised he was staring straight into a set of rotating gun barrels attached to a very large mechanised weapon. He dropped to the floor, pulling Aerith with him and caging her carefully with his arms while Barret hit the ground behind him. The gun fired, shattering the glass walls of the elevators into thousands of tiny shards that rained down upon them.
The mech was apparently in the second elevator, it must have been loaded on from floor fifty-nine and sent up to meet them. But the other elevator kept pace with them, at least until the cabling holding their elevator car snapped and sent them hurtling down. Angeal rolled onto his back so that Aerith was now on top of him, although they didn't fall far before slamming into the bottom of the elevator shaft. The impact did serve to drive some of the broken glass through the chinks in the SOLDIER uniform though and he winced at the tiny needle-like pricks of pain all over his body.
Aerith coughed into his chest, probably because of the dust that now filled the elevator. Barret was trying to lever the door open to get them out but he was having a hard time of it.
"You ok?" Angeal asked her. Green eyes flickered up past his chest to look at his helmet, before her whole face flushed red as she realised the position she was in.
"I will be," she spluttered out between coughs as she scrambled to her feet and lurched out of the door into clearer air.
"Still in one piece?" Barret asked them once they had scrambled out onto the floor. They were standing on edge of the Sky View hall, luckily devoid of people due to the late hour. Or was it early now? Angeal had lost all track of time while they had been stuck inside Hojo's laboratories.
"Just about," Angeal replied to Barret, checking his equipment. The SOLDIER issue sword had long since gone, dropped somewhere in the labs, but luckily he still had his Buster Sword on his back.
"Look out," Red called in his deep voice, and they all spun around to see the second elevator reaching their floor. Aerith cried out while Barret swore as the large mech turned his gun towards them and began firing again.
They sprinted away from the elevators, but the mech simply drove straight through the broken glass and a partitioning wall to follow them. It was an immense machine, with six wheels and two gun arms. A turret on top of the main body of the mech provided additional firepower – and it was swinging in their direction.
"What the hell is this?" Barret shouted as they ran across the hall.
"One of Scarlet's designs." Angeal replied grimly. "It won't be easy to take down."
It cut them off from the elevators that led further down the tower, spinning around and charging up a large cannon on its right side. They were trapped on a balcony that overlooked the floor below, but it gave them an option. Barret was the first to move, sweeping Aerith up into the arm grafted to a gun and using his good hand to propel them both over the railing and down to the floor below. Angeal looked at Red, who glared back before making the jump effortlessly himself. With a shrug Angeal followed suit, rolling to his feet in one smooth movement. The machine followed them off the balcony, crashing straight through the balustrade and landing on the floor behind them.
Barret charged up a shot and fired it at the mech, but before it could connect a trio of small drones had taken flight and set up a forcefield around it. The shot fizzled out before it could even reach the main machine. "Oh shit."
"We need to take out the drones." Red advised, leaping up at one only to find himself blasted backwards. Barret fired at a second, visibly damaging it but it was still in place. A quick thunder spell from Aerith finished it off, but the forcefield didn't fall.
Angeal leapt up and dealt a few swift blows to the next drone, knocking it down to the ground where he was able to ram the sword straight through the middle of it. Two down.
The third was currently preoccupied with Red dangling from it, mauling it until it too dropped to the ground. Angeal gave it the same treatment as the second, only to have to dive out the way as the main cannon of the mech fired a strong blast at him. He slid behind a pillar, wincing as he could feel the heat from the laser beam. That was a close call.
Now that the mech was no longer protected by a forcefield it became more mobile. Using six metal wheels it charged around the atrium, alternating between trying to run them over and using either of its gun arms. The left was the rotating gun that spewed out bullets while the right was the laser cannon.
Still, at least now they could actually try to damage the thing. Their first success was when Barret managed to shoot at the laser cannon just as it was gearing up for a shot. The resulting blast completely obliterated the right arm of the machine. Angeal managed to take out the gatling gun, using a forceful strike from the Buster Sword directly on a weak spot between the arm and the main body of the mech.
He then took a running jump up onto the mech and landed behind the turret. While Aerith and Barret distracted the machine with magic and covering fire respectively, Angeal worked with his sword to damage the top of the machine. It was solidly built and difficult to penetrate, but Angeal had all the strength of a SOLDIER First Class and a sword to match. Eventually, he dented the armour enough to open up a chink that he could drive his sword down into.
Almost immediately, the machine slumped. Sparks began travelling around the outside of the mech, not uncommon for one of Scarlet's designs as they weren't exactly built with safety in mind. Knowing what usually happened next, Angeal pulled the sword free with a heave and leapt down from his lofty position. Sprinting towards Aerith, he grabbed her and spun them both behind one of the large granite pillars that dotted the atrium. Red and Barret soon joined them, Barret sliding in just as the mech exploded. Shrapnel and bodywork flew in every direction, but the pillar provided the protection Angeal had been banking on.
Aerith shook her head to clear the ringing from her ears while Barret sat down with a relieved sigh. "Damn, does it feel good to be alive."
Red sat on his haunches, shaking his head in such a way that the decorative tassels attached to his mane rattled. "Quite. But we may still die later tonight. The others may be dead already."
Angeal huffed out a laugh. "No, they'll be fine. I'm more worried about us. There's still a long way to go until we're home free."
"Then we need to find a way for us all to escape."
"Come on then." Aerith stood up and swept her hands down her dress, feebly trying to remove some of the dirt from the pale pink fabric. She smiled sheepishly and shrugged when she saw Angeal watching her.
"Elevators are this way," he simply said, choosing not to comment on the futility of her actions. Personally, he thought there probably wasn't much chance of the dress being salvageable, but it wasn't like any of them were looking particularly fresh at this moment in time.
The ride down the building was remarkably smooth and they exited the elevator on the second floor without any hassle. Barret headed straight for the stairs. They traipsed down silently, finding the empty atrium a bit strange in the stillness of the early morning.
"All we gotta do now is find the others." Barret said as they reached the ground floor, stopping in front of the reception desk. "Find that spiky ass merc and your friends and… get… oh shit."
Angeal agreed with the sentiment. The Shinra lobby was rapidly filling with troopers, guns cocked and pointed in their direction. As they all took up position all around, a large figure in an overblown military coat strode in behind them through the main doors, his hands clasped behind his broad back. More footsteps echoed behind them as they were flanked by soldiers that now lined the stairs. Angeal shifted closer to Aerith, hovering just behind her protectively.
"We have them surrounded, sir." One of the troopers barked out. Angeal barely refrained from making a comment at that. Heidegger was not quite as tolerant.
"Yes, I can see that!" He looked away from the trooper to cast his eye over them, lingering on Barret as the obvious leader. Angeal tried to be as discreet as it was possible for a six foot five man-mountain to be. "It was only a matter of time, and here we are." Heidegger threw his head back and laughed; a barking, grating laugh that made Angeal wince. "So then – what is this ragtag group I see before me?"
Barret waved his gun in the air. "Avalanche!" He shouted proudly.
"Local florist!" Aerith cried, spinning her staff. Red snarled and took on a fighting stance.
"Lab-rat-dog."
All eyes turned to Angeal. He shifted uneasily and in a much quieter voice added, "Ex-SOLDIER."
Heidegger's lips drew back in a snarl at that. "And where are the rest of you?"
"Up your ass." Barret told him.
"Hm, charming. Though not what I would have chosen as my last words." Heidegger turned to the trooper next to him, likely his OIC. "Secure the Ancient, but feel free to kill the idiot, the traitor and the dog."
Barret cocked his gun and looked at Aerith. "Aerith, you saved my Marlene. Now… it's time I returned the favour."
Angeal stepped up next to Aerith and was about to reach for his sword when he heard a distant sound that didn't seem to belong. He looked up the stairs as the others began to shift, also picking up on the sound of a revving engine.
A motorcycle soared over their heads from the floor above. Landing sideways, the bike slid in a wide arc, knocking troopers out of the way as it did so. It stopped in front of them, its very familiar rider looking up and giving them a small smirk.
"Cloud!" Aerith called, running a couple of steps towards the blond. Angeal could only stare in shock as first a three wheeled, pale green pickup truck came down the stairs with Tifa at the wheel, followed by a pair of motorcycles roaring straight through the glass doors from the garage section. The shower of glass shards caused the nearest troopers to duck reflexively, only to find themselves being sent flying the next moment by motorcycle wheels.
Tifa threw open the passenger door of the truck. "Everyone, get in!" Aerith slid into the seat while Barret and Red jumped straight into the open bed at the back of the pickup. Angeal was about to follow suit when the largest motorcycle pulled up alongside him.
"Not you," Genesis sighed, an exasperated tone in his voice. "You're with me. Keep your sword handy." Angeal climbed on behind him whilst noticing that unlike Sephiroth and Cloud, Genesis still had his sword sheathed. The reason became clear almost immediately when he realised Genesis only had the use of his right arm and needed it to steer the bike. The left was clutched against his chest, held there by a crudely made sling. "A bullet," Genesis grunted out when he saw Angeal looked. "Now hold on."
"Stop them you fools!" Heidegger was screeching, spittle flying. "Don't let them escape!" The next moment he was knocked onto his backside by Masamune, still in its scabbard and being used to send troopers flying like skittles.
Cloud's bike shot up the stairs to the second floor, the truck engine whining as it bumped up after them. Genesis swung the large bike around and headed back towards the garage, Sephiroth following closely.
From what Angeal could see of the garage as they sped through, it was mayhem. Troopers were milling everywhere, several cars had bonnets up with someone frantically poking the insides and bikes were being wheeled on foot across the floor. Of all the vehicles, Angeal estimated that only about a tenth seemed to actually be working. They had no chance at stopping Genesis and Sephiroth as they shot through the centre of them. The barrier was blasted out of their way by Sephiroth as they approached, the flying wooden debris slamming straight into a pair of motorbikes that were idling, knocking their riders off and sending the motorbikes crashing into a concrete wall. Genesis snickered.
And then they were out of the garage and on a highway. Ahead of them, they could just about make out the back of the pickup and the other motorbike.
"Show off," Genesis grumbled, hitting the throttle in order to catch up. He drove up the left side of the green truck while Sephiroth flanked on the other side. Tifa looked out of the window towards them both and smiled. Then her eyes flickered down to the wing mirror and she frowned.
"What is that?"
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Are you guys seeing this?!" Barret shouted loudly from the back of the pickup. Angeal looked over his shoulder and sharply drew a breath. Genesis slammed the brakes on the bike as they all came to a standstill, gaping at the sight behind them.
The Shinra tower, standing tall at the centre of the city, was more than half obscured by a swarm of whispers that were circling it. More flashed through the air around them, heading towards the tower where the swarm was steadily creeping higher.
Aerith got out of the truck and moved closer, staring up at the tower as she clasped her hands in front of her. "Whispers." She breathed.
"Goddess above," Angeal heard Genesis murmur. "What are those things?"
"Arbiters of fate." Angeal replied in the same soft tone. "Supposedly they exist to make sure that events are enacted as per the planet's plan, except there seems to be something wrong. Aerith tried to explain it to us earlier."
"It's like the whole damn building's made of them." Barret's tone was also hushed, watching the spectacle in front of them. The tower was now fully obscured, and they stretched into the sky above it; a menacing cloud that seemed to spread out across the whole city.
"What are they even doing?" Tifa asked.
"Who knows…" was Aerith's quiet reply.
"When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end, the goddess descends from the sky." Genesis recited, looking up at the column of whispers above them fanning out across the Midgar skies. "Wings of light and dark spread afar. She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Tseng hung up his phone, sliding it into his pocket. Only those closest to him would recognise that he was very unhappy with the news he had just received from downstairs – namely, that the intruders had managed to escape and Heidegger's forces weren't yet able to scramble a team to follow them due to extensive equipment failures.
He strode through the door of the President's office, noticing Rufus's tight expression. The new President was standing beside his father's former chair, looking at the blood stain on the desk. Tseng had only briefly been able to review the security footage to confirm that the former President was dead and that Rufus had now been elevated. Even so, the brief glimpse had been… alarming. He would need to review every minute of footage from every camera the tower had to offer once this night was over. He had already sent Rude and Reno out to collect it all.
Given Rufus's tense state, his news probably wasn't going to go down at all well. "They got away, sir."
Rufus's hand tightened on the back of his father's seat, his leather gloves creaking. "Get a cleaning crew in here."
"Sir." Tseng quickly did just that while Rufus walked around the desk, coming to stand in front of it.
"To think, how long have I dreamed of this." The blond seemed to shake himself and turned on his heel. Tseng fell into step behind him as they left the office and headed down the stairs towards the suites.
Rufus's gaze was darting about, almost as though he was following something with his eyes. Tseng looked around in confusion; he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary in the stairwell. Rufus paused, frowning as he peered into the empty space in the centre of the stairs.
"What is all this?"
Tseng looked again, but still couldn't see anything different. He slowly followed Rufus down the stairs, watching with concern as the new President seemed to be distracted. "Is something wrong, sir?"
Rufus looked at him sharply, almost incredulously, and headed to the large window where he could see outside of the tower. Tseng joined him, admiring the view of the city below. Rufus didn't seem to be admiring anything though, his expression was still tense as he stared out of the window.
Tseng's phone vibrated in his pocket. He answered it silently, rewarded by hearing a crisp voice on the far end. "Sir, we have a group ready to deploy now."
"I see. Very good." Tseng turned to Rufus. "The men are on standby sir. Your orders?"
Rufus was obviously distracted by something as it took him a moment to focus on Tseng's words. "Bring them in." He stated eventually, repeating his earlier instruction. Tseng turned away to relay that order, whilst Rufus continued to stare at the whispers shrouding the outside of the tower, obscuring his view of the city he now ruled over.