Written by Benoit Goudreault-Emond
14. Raid on Shinra
Reeve was standing on the edge of the sector 3 "pizza plate" (as Barret called it), looking down at the slums below with a nagging sense of déjà vu. Seeing how little things had changed, he felt sadness. When he had undertaken to rebuild Midgar, he had hoped the citizens would choose to rebuild it minus the slums. Unfortunately, that would have taken too much time, cost too much money, and the citizens did not seem to care for some odd reason. Midgar was therefore rebuilt as it had been in the past. Reeve let the citizens choose their path. Besides, at the time, he had been very busy with his own corporation, and had had his hands full with managing research for a new source of power.
He now hoped he had paid more attention. He should have at least dismantled the Mako reactors. He hadn't; it didn't seem to matter at the time. He hadn't thought Shinra would rise from its ashes and revive the machinery. When he had found out, he had thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad; Shinra had done some good in the past. Then, the whole business with Aeris came along, and he had not given the matter any thought; he had been busy fighting a WEAPON, then cyborgs.
"Reeve?" said a soft, feminine voice nearby.
Reeve blinked, extracting himself with difficulty from the quicksand of self-doubt that plagued him. He turned and found himself looking deep in Aeris' brilliant green eyes. "Sorry," he apologized. "I was... elsewhere."
Aeris looked at him with compassion. "You looked troubled about something..."
"I am troubled," replied the businessman. "If I had been more vigilant, this whole mess would have never happened."
"I don't understand," said Aeris, frowning slightly.
"I was the head of the Midgar rebuilding project," Reeve explained. "I should have insisted on dismantling those reactors. I should have made sure that Midgar would be rebuilt right, not in a way that forces unlucky people to live in darkness. I should have..."
"But you haven't," interrupted Aeris.
"No," sighed Reeve. "I haven't. I've brought all this to us all."
"But nobody was hurt permanently," countered Aeris, her tone earnest. "We all came through all right. So why are you blaming yourself?"
"We didn't come through all right," muttered Reeve. "Cid lost his pride and joy. And from what I gathered, we may have made some enemies among the Ancients in the Lifestream."
It was Aeris' turn to sigh. "Yes, it's a shame we lost the Highwind. But I'm sure Cid can build another airship, probably better than that one! From what Cloud told me, it was pretty battered from your final battle against Sephiroth already, so it's not that much of a loss."
"But what about those Ancients?" asked Reeve.
Aeris avoided his gaze. "I...They're my problem, not anybody else's."
Reeve looked at her oddly. She had never seen Aeris being anything but totally open with all members of AVALANCHE. It was very obvious she was holding something back. He shrugged, letting the matter go. Nobody had told him that Aeris had had a similar reaction during AVALANCHE's meeting in Mideel.
"What's keeping Vincent?" Aeris snapped in a rare show of impatience. "He has had time to climb all the way to the top of the tower by now!"
Reeve felt a breeze on the back of his neck. He turned, and almost lost all balance when he nearly bumped into Vincent. Vincent's normal arm shot out and grabbed him before he fell.
"Thanks," Reeve muttered, rather embarrassed. He recovered his balance and moved away from the tall man, trying to regain some semblance of dignity. "Have you found what you were looking for?"
Vincent nodded. The other members of AVALANCHE who had been standing some distance away as sentries began to come closer as they spotted him. Cloud made his way to the front of the group.
"So, is the coast clear?" asked Cloud curtly.
Vincent nodded again. "I've gone as far as to cracking the door open. The corridor was deserted."
"And you're positive this is the closest tunnel to the number three reactor?" asked Cloud; but it was only a formality, as he knew Vincent's thoroughness well.
"Of course," confirmed Vincent. "All other entries are blocked. From that tunnel, there's about two hundred meters to one of the ventilation ducts leading to the reactor's control room. That's as close as we'll get short of entering the reactor through its exhaust vent. Which would not be a very good idea, given the Mako vapor coming out of there."
Cloud nodded in acknowledgement. "Very well, then. Let's go. Vincent and Reeve, you go first; you know the place best. Tifa, Yuffie and I will follow to help you deal with any nasty stuff that may be in there. Everybody else, wait five minutes, then scramble in. We'll be right next to the duct, and Vincent will pick you up if all goes well. If we encounter resistance, forget subtlety and just follow the noise of fighting. Any questions?"
"Yeah," asked Cid. "Why do you get to be point man?"
"Because I have a bigger weapon than you do," said Cloud, deadpan. Aeris giggled, Yuffie grimaced at the bad joke, Tifa covered her eyes with her hand in despair at hearing that one a second time, and everybody else rolled their eyes.
"Riiight...Someday, I'll swap that thing with a dagger, your ego's becoming as big as your blade!" retorted Cid. He could not, however, keep an edge of amusement from his voice. It's lousy humor, he thought, but I guess it's better than nothing, coming from him!
Cloud smiled, then became serious again. "Seriously, it's because Tifa insisted on coming with me, and I need someone to stay and lead the group in case anything happens," he explained. "Any other questions?"
"Yes," Aeris piped up. "Why am I stuck in the back guard?"
"Because Cid needs a good spellcaster with him," answered Cloud. "I need Yuffie, and Tifa's with me, so that leaves you and Red. I trust you'll watch old man Cid's behind for me," he added, smiling slightly.
"I wish I were coming with you," said Aeris, softly. "I'm rather out of practice..."
Cloud shrugged. "You're probably better off with Cid and Barret, then. I've grown too reckless."
"All right," Aeris sighed. "But be careful! And Tifa..."
"Yes?" asked Tifa.
"You be careful, too," urged Aeris.
Tifa smiled back without words. Then she saw Cloud turn towards the tunnel, so she waved at her companions and followed her team.
Vincent cracked the thick metal door open. He looked carefully, and, sensing no danger, opened it wide. The door squeaked slightly, making everyone flinch at the noise. They got out, weapons drawn, but nobody came in response to the noise. Reeve closed the door behind them, careful not to let it bang against the doorframe.
"Where to now?" asked Yuffie, a bit too loud. Cloud winced visibly.
"Quiet!" hissed Tifa. "The more noise we do, the quicker they'll know they have intruders!"
"I asked, where to now?" repeated Yuffie, whispering almost inaudibly.
"Straight down that corridor," answered Vincent, pointing in front of him, "and then the third duct on our right." He spoke normally, but his voice somehow did not carry.
"Oh, before I forget," whispered Reeve, "Do not break into a run unless you're in immediate danger."
"Why?" asked Cloud softly.
"At this level, there are motion sensors," he explained. "If we move too fast, you can be sure they'll send people to send out."
"You know this means we can't fight if we encounter guards, right?" Tifa pointed out.
"Leave that to me," said Reeve. "I'll pretend to be an exec, and you'll be mercenaries off to meet with the sector commander."
"That's not the best idea you've had, Reeve," whispered Cloud, frowning.
"I didn't have time to come up with a better one," Reeve hissed back. "You wanted to leave fast, right?"
Cloud just moved out of Reeve's way. "After you, mister executive," he said without expression. Reeve was not sure whether Cloud was being sarcastic. Then, he decided it did not matter. Trying to project as much cocky self-assurance as he could, despite being scared shitless, he led the way, trying to recapture the casual arrogance of a Shinra senior employee.
They reached the duct without meeting any Shinra staff, except a couple of technicians who seemed absorbed in some argument and barely acknowledged their existence. Vincent grabbed the gridded cover and, with a swift jerk, jarred it loose. It made surprisingly little noise when it came off the duct. He gave the grid to Yuffie without explanations. Yuffie just held it, puzzled. Then, Vincent jumped in and disappeared for about ten seconds. He wormed his way back out and turned to his friends.
"Looks clear," he said.
"All right, let's go in," commanded Cloud. "Vincent first, then Tifa, then me, then Reeve. Yuffie, you're in last; make sure you close that cover properly, then follow us. By the way, you're the one stuck doing this because you're the only one slender enough to turn around in that narrow duct."
"I hear and obey, oh fearless leader," quipped Yuffie sarcastically.
Cloud ignored her; he was helping Tifa climb in. Then, he hopped in. Reeve had trouble lifting himself to the right level, and Yuffie forcibly grabbed his pants and threatened to pull them down if he didn't hurry. He got in fast enough after that. Chuckling to herself, Yuffie jumped in after him. She tried snapping the cover in place, but the confounded piece of equipment just jammed, not quite fully in its groove, but not quite out, either. She grunted as she tried to unjam it, but it would not budge.
"Yuffie! What's keeping you?" hissed Reeve from some distance in front of her.
"Stupid piece of junk didn't go in properly!" snapped Yuffie, irritated. She then realized she had raised her voice again, and tried to lower it. "I can't get it loose!"
"You must make sure the top is snapped in first," explained Reeve. "See the little tab on the other sides?"
"Yeah, what do I do with them?" asked Yuffie.
"Just pull the bottom one. It should let it loose, but for God's sake, make sure you don't let it drop on the floor!"
Yuffie followed Reeve's directions, and managed to catch the cover before it fell out of the duct as it practically flew out of its groove. Then, counting down from ten in her native Wutai language to calm herself, she snapped the top tab in, then pulled the cover. It fit in its groove perfectly. Satisfied, she turned around, pushing her Materia bag in front of her.
"Did you do it?" asked Reeve. He seemed quite a bit further in.
"Of course I did!" Yuffie shot back. "I'd have done it on my first try if it hadn't been so poorly designed in the first place!"
"Reeve, watch the detector ahead," Cloud whispered over his shoulder to the businessman.
Busy trying to coach Yuffie, Reeve did not hear, and his foot brushed some sort of sensor plate.
"Cloud! Watch out!" yelled Yuffie from behind.
If the young ninja said anything else, it was drowned in the scream of twisting metal that followed as the duct slanted forward dangerously. Cloud barely had time to spread his legs, trying to use the tip of his boots to keep from slipping forward. Tifa, in front of him, did the same thing; he could see the sparks from the metallic ends of her boots sliding against the duct's walls. Reeve landed on him, and he lost his traction. He recovered it quickly, but not before having slid a couple of meters further down, dangerously close to hitting Tifa. In the confusion, he heard Reeve curse, and Tifa scream in horror. His reflex was to reach for his sword, then he realized that the only thing that'd accomplish is slice off part of Reeve, or jam the blade in the duct's wall. He breathed in deeply. Obviously, something had gone wrong; he had to try to keep his cool and figure out what was going on. His inner ear was telling him that the duct had slanted to a 45 degree angle; how the hell had that happened? Probably Reeve had triggered something inadvertently. He considered the next data point.
"Tifa! What's the matter?" he yelled forward.
"Vincent fell out of the duct!" replied Tifa.
"No, I haven't," said a familiar voice ahead. "I'm just hanging in mid-air."
"You OK?" asked Cloud.
"Fine, but my arm is getting tired," Vincent replied.
"Hang in there," said Cloud. Then, over his shoulder: "Yuffie! What the hell happened?"
"I don't know!" yelled Yuffie. She was definitely not happy at this turn of events. "The joint between your duct section and mine grew hot, and then, all of the sudden, it detached! But it stopped just next to my bag, and..."
She never had the chance to finish her sentence. The smell of burnt rubber got to her nose, and she suddenly understood what had detached the duct section, and why the bottom had remained there. The section had been detached through a heat-based mechanism, and the rubber of her bag had melted and stopped the process...for a while. She screamed a warning to her friends mere fractions of second before the rubbery material of her bag gave out and the rest of the duct's joint broke. The whole pipe detached itself and fell. It was closely followed by Materia orbs falling out of a wide gash in the bottom of her bag. The section of ventilation duct housing Cloud, Tifa, Reeve and Vincent tumbled down in a rain of colored orbs. Yuffie looked at the scene, and the only thought that would come to her was that it was the prettiest sight she had ever seen.
Barret was restless. He was pacing back and forth, back and forth, making everyone nervous.
"Wallace, quit it!" snapped Cid.
Barret stopped pacing, and started punching the concrete wall closest to him. Then, realizing how useless that was, he stopped and turned to Cid. "I'm sure the time's up, now!" he said.
Cid shook his head. "Nope. Still three minutes." The pilot took a long drag out of his cigarette, then dropped the butt on the ground and stamped it with his heel. It took him all his willpower not to light another right away.
"How can you stay so cool about it, dammit?" bellowed Barret.
"I'm not cool about it," retorted Cid. "I've almost smoked a whole pack in twelve minutes. Do you really think I'm so cool about it?"
"Then why won't you do something?"
Cid sighed. "Barret, listen. Cloud said fifteen minutes, so we wait fifteen minutes, and that's the end of it."
"Uuurgh!" protested Barret, throwing his arms up in disgust.
Cid shook his head wearily, then looked at his other companions. Aeris looked relatively calm, but he knew she wasn't by the set of her jaw. Only Nanaki seemed to be able to wait in repose, probably contemplating some philosophical insight. Deciding that his red-fured friend did not need as much comfort as the pretty young Cetra, Cid sat next to Aeris.
"Worried?" he inquired softly.
Aeris turned to him and tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. "Yes," she replied.
"Don't worry too much about them. We've all been through a lot of scraps, and Cloud and Tifa are the best among us," Cid assured her.
"Why are you worried, then?" asked Aeris, managing a smile this time.
It was Cid's turn to grimace. "So, OK, I lied. You have reason to worry. We don't know what's inside that damn building, and it's drivin' me nuts!"
Aeris grinned. "Thanks, Cid."
Cid looked flabbergasted. "Huh? Why?"
"For telling me it's okay to be worried," she replied.
"I aim to please," said Cid dryly. His watch buzzed. He looked at it, wondering what was wrong with that piece of junk, then it dawned on him that he had set the timer fifteen minutes ago. He jumped to his feet.
"All right, time's up! Let's move out!" the pilot said with enthusiasm. Barret immediately stopped brooding and ran to the tunnel's mouth. Cid was following closely. Aeris and Nanaki essentially ate their dust.
Aeris got up and dusted herself. She turned to Nanaki. "Boys will be boys..." Then she ran after the two men.
"Indeed," agreed Nanaki as he padded in the tunnel. He didn't want to admit it, but it took quite a bit of his willpower not to sprint at full speed as well, rushing to the rescue.
"Are you all right?"
Reeve opened his eyes, dazed. His right arm was throbbing in pain. He saw Vincent looking at him in the darkness. He tried to sit up, but pain shot up his right arm; he felt bones grate against each other. My arm is broken, he thought.
"I think my arm is broken," he said aloud. "Hurts like hell, anyways."
Vincent took a Restore orb from Reeve's gun and applied a Cure spell. The pain in Reeve's arm subsided, but he still couldn't use his arm. Vincent frowned, then understood: the orb was young, so it did not have enough power to mend bones.
"Tifa! Cloud! I need a better Restore Materia!" said Vincent.
Tifa came up to Reeve, a worried look on her face. "Cloud's looking for some of Yuffie's. All of her orbs fell at the same time we did, somehow."
"But if they did, shouldn't they be easy to find?" wondered Reeve aloud.
"It's not that simple," whispered Tifa. Reeve suddenly noticed she was dripping wet. "There's some sort of pool of liquid here. Water, maybe, but I'd rather not do a taste test. That broke our fall. But the bottom is some sort of sludge, and finding orbs in that is not really easy." She looked at Reeve and noticed by the set of his jaw that he was in pain. "Hey, are you all right?"
"Broken arm," said Vincent in a neutral tone. "My Materia's not powerful enough to heal it. The bone is out of alignment, and I'm worried it will mend like that if I apply the Cure spell once more."
"I can set it," said Tifa. "But it's gonna hurt, Reeve. A lot."
Reeve closed his eyes, considering that. If he waited for Cloud to find the Materia, it would take more time, but it wouldn't hurt at all. On the other hand, who knew what was in the pool? He decided he did not want to be a burden to them. He set his jaw and took his decision.
"Set it," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "Get it over with."
"You sure?" asked Tifa.
"Yes," Reeve replied. There was no waver in his voice this time.
Tifa took Reeve's arm carefully. Then, with one swift move, she set the bones back into position. Reeve screamed in pain. Vincent was there immediately with his Restore Materia; the pain subsided. A few more applications of the spell, and Reeve felt his bones heal. He sat up.
"Thank you, both of you," he said.
Tifa mumbled something about "just doing the right thing," and Vincent said nothing. Reeve got up, and looked around. They were all standing in a large room; in the darkness, its dimensions were difficult to evaluate, but it seemed to be roughly square with sides of about 150 meters. Now that the pain in his arm had subsided, Reeve could smell the stench of heavy Mako use in the chamber. It smelled like ozone, with a touch of sulfur and burnt rubber. He was standing on a narrow ledge (about two meters wide) on the edge of the pool. The pool's liquid gave a very faint blue-green glow, like that of the Lifestream, but somehow, the color was slightly off, and it seemed... sick. As he looked towards the center of the pool, he saw Cloud's blond head come out, gasping for breath. Strangely enough, his hair still stood somewhat straight, despite being as wet as Tifa's. He swam quickly to the edge.
"Here," he said, producing five Materia orbs. "That's all I could find. I'm blind down there--the liquid puts my eyes on fire, and I can't see spit!"
"We should vaporize the liquid in the pool," suggested Vincent. We could find the Materia more easily that way."
"Good idea," replied Cloud. "Maybe there's a Fire orb in there," he muttered as he pawed through the meager collection of orbs he had. There was an Ice orb, the Leviathan summon orb, an Ultima orb, and two Bolt orbs. No Fire. Cloud cursed loudly.
"Helloooo! Anybody still alive down there?" yelled a high-pitched voice from above. Tifa recognized the voice immediately.
"Yuffie! Are you all right?" she yelled back.
"Well, I lost almost all my Materia, but I'll live!" the young ninja replied. "Can you see my orbs down there?"
"They're in the bottom of a pool of some sort of liquid," said Cloud. "Do you happen to have a Fire orb?"
"Just a minute," said Yuffie. A few seconds later, she had her answer. "You're in luck, Spike--I got one! Why?"
"Cast it down there! Vincent suggested that we vaporize the liquid so we can recover the rest of the Materia!"
There was no reply. Cloud wondered what was happening, but then Tifa tapped him on the shoulder and pointed. Cloud looked in the direction she was indicating, and saw the yellow glow of spellcasting. He covered his eyes. Not a moment too soon: the chamber erupted in flames. But instead of the sizzle of a liquid evaporating under intense heat, he heard a loud, low-pitched shriek. Instinctively, he unsheathed his sword. He gave a quick glance towards Tifa and Vincent, and saw Vincent unholster his gun and Tifa crouch in her fighting stance. He heard Reeve curse behind him; no doubt, he was struggling with his gun holster. Senses alert, Cloud carefully waded in the pool. He got about waist deep when a deafening roar was heard in front of him, followed by a splash. Tifa screamed Cloud's name as he disappeared beneath the liquid's surface. He resurfaced, trashing, trying to untangle his sword from some sort of silk-like strands.
"Cloud! Take my hand!" yelled Tifa as she rushed in the water. Vincent let out a rare curse as she did that; he felt it was not a very good idea. He tried to distinguish shapes in the water. He chose the shape that was most plausibly part of what he assumed to be a monster attacking Cloud, took aim, and fired several shots. Cloud grasped Tifa's hand. There was a roar, a splash, and both Cloud and Tifa found themselves thrown on the pool's edge, missing Reeve by mere inches. They landed pretty hard, side by side. Cloud's sword clattered away and slid to the edge, almost falling down in the water. There were still some strands attached to it. More joined them, and the sword was pulled into the pool. Dazed, Cloud got up, then realized what was happening.
"Oh, no, you don't!" he said, running to the edge and diving to get his blade before it dipped below the surface. He got it just in time, got up, and then realized he had a problem.
The strands were more solid then they looked. Because of their mass and resilience, he could not move the sword fast enough to slice them off. Individually, the strands were flimsy, but somehow, when they merged, they got much stronger. Cloud cursed, trying to move his sword out of the grasp of the thin strands and failing. He was jerking the blade around, but more and more strands were added, and he was on the verge of losing his own grip on the sword. Tifa saw it, and came to his aid. But it was too late by then; the strands were strong enough to match their combined strength. Suddenly, the strands contracted. Tifa lost her grip, but Cloud obstinately held on. So, when the sword plunged in, Cloud lost his footing and followed, plunging headfirst in the pool.
"Cloud!" Tifa yelled. "Hold on!" She concentrated on the Ice orb she had in her holder, and cast the strongest Ice spell, hoping she wouldn't hit Cloud.
Nothing happened.
Vincent was right next to her, and saw her expression grow alarmed. "What is it?" he asked.
"I can't cast anything! My Materia's not working!" she replied, trying to stave off the panic she felt.
Vincent tried to cast Ultima using one of the orbs Cloud had recovered, but it had no effect. He tried the Leviathan orb, with no success.
"Mine don't work either," said Vincent.
"But you cast Cure on Reeve just seconds ago!" protested Tifa.
"It was one of mine," said Reeve. "Why--Wait! That's it! All the orbs that went in the pool won't work! This pool is where they stick the wastes from the Mako reactors, and our orbs got contaminated by a dead Mako coating!"
"What orbs do you have?" asked Vincent.
"Restore, Stop, Barrier, and Lightning," replied Reeve.
"Try Bolt," suggested Vincent.
"NO!" yelled Tifa. "If this liquid conducts like water, you'll fry Cloud too!"
"Ah, damn!" cursed Reeve. "And it does conduct current very well!" He looked up. "Hey, Yuffie!" he called. "Yuffie? Answer me, dammit!"
There was no response.
Tifa set her jaw and dived in. Reeve tried to stop her, but he wasn't fast enough. The martial artist swam strongly towards the spot where Cloud had disappeared.
"Shit!" cursed Reeve. "What now?" he asked Vincent.
Vincent did not reply. He took his shotgun out and started pumping shells in the dark mass. Well, I guess there's no other choice, thought Reeve as he took his own gun out and took aim, trying to hit the spot the farthest away from Tifa. The deafening sound of gunshots from both weapons reverbated back and forth in the chamber. It was followed by an even more deafening roar, and a tidal wave formed in the pool. Tifa plunged in the liquid to avoid it, but Reeve and Vincent had nowhere to go, and the wave floored them both.
"That's just great," complained Reeve getting up. "Now my Materia won't work either! And what are they both doing in there?"
"I hope they'll get out soon," said Vincent calmly. "The water jammed the firing mechanism of my shotgun."
Just as they said that, another wave built up. Cloud and Tifa were both thrown out of the liquid and came down on the ledge with a crash, as before. This time, however, Cloud kept hold of his sword. He got up immediately.
"Playtime's over!" he hissed. He gathered his strength, then, quicker than the eye could follow, he ran in the pool. A dark shape could be seen emerging.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" yelled Reeve. He had been preparing to cast Bolt. But Cloud wasn't listening.
The blond man ran to the dark mass that was coming out of the pool to meet him. Several strands tried to entangle him, but he drove on, sword forwards, slicing them off as they reached him. He reached the monster. Then, like a man possessed, he slashed, then slashed again, and again, and again. After a dozen strokes, he jumped high in the air and, in a blinding flash of light, he sliced downwards, rendering the mass in two. It was all over by the time Reeve had reloaded his gun to lend a hand. His jaw was almost dropping to the floor as Cloud surfaced, a tired smile on his face. Tifa gave him her arm. He gratefully took it, and she helped him out of the pool.
"Cloud... How did you..." stammered Reeve.
"Oh, you didn't know? When he's really mad, Cloud does this. That's how he killed Sephiroth," said Tifa.
"No, I didn't know!" replied Reeve. "Cloud? Remind me never to get you angry!"
Cloud just smiled. He looked around. "Well, how are we gonna get out of here?" he asked.
"We can't get out without the Materia," Vincent pointed out.
"Oh, right..." replied Cloud. He looked up. "Yuffie? Yo! Yuffie!" he yelled. There was no answer.
"I don't know what happened--I tried that before, but something must've happened to her," said Reeve.
Suddenly, a deep voice boomed from above. "Cloud, izzat you?"
"Barret?" Tifa yelled.
"Yo! You guys all right?" Barret asked.
"We had some problems, but we're fine now," replied Cloud. "Where's Yuffie?"
"You mean, she's not down there?" Barret asked, surprised.
Tifa, Reeve and Cloud exchanged worried glances.
"No, she was up there last time we talked," Cloud finally replied. "I guess something must've happened to her!"
"Shit! She's always getting in trouble, that one!" Cid said, loud enough to be heard below. "Hey, you want us to send a rope?" the pilot asked.
"Yeah, but first, does anyone have good Fire Materia?" asked Tifa.
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Benoit Goudreault-Emond April, 9 2001