(The conclusion…*sob*)
In the early morning, two
days later, Rude, Reno, and Elena got out of bed, loaded their weapons, and
left the crowded observatory with a large and motley group of others, heading
for the plains nearby. Not one of them said anything, and it was a long solemn
walk before they got there. So many thoughts were passing through each of their
heads, that their respective silences went unnoticed by each other, lost in the
equally quiet throng.
After
the long and grueling walk, they all stood on the Great Plains where the
creatures where said to be touching down. Reno, Rude, and Elena cast glances at
the sky, partly calculating where they should be, and partly scared out of
their minds. Reno shouldered his electro-mag rod, and cast his eyes downward at
the ground for a moment. He felt Elena reach for his hand, and then saw her
reach for Rude's. Biting her lip, she clutched at the small support that would
give her, and then let go and drew her gun, seeing Rude draw his own.
When
the first person made the warning shout, everyone's eyes shot up towards the
sky. At first, no one saw anything, and then it was chaos. Huge crystalline
cubes were crashing down onto the ground, seemingly breaking open and tossing
forward ugly greenish monsters, so familiar to Elena and Reno and Rude, as the
monster that had attacked them in the forest. They had no time to think about
this before the battle was raging all around them, and the first squadron
attacked them.
Slashing
right and left, Reno made sure to keep an eye on how his friends were doing.
Rude and Elena were having more of a difficult time than he was, the things needed
several shots to kill. Their skins were as tough as anything Reno had ever
seen. One crept up behind him and he snapped his rod backward, hearing
simultaneous shots from Rude and Elena's guns, until the thing fell dead.
Breathing hard, He whirled to run backwards from the raging hords that were now
descending from the sky.
The
battle raged on and on, and though many were being killed on both sides, the
monster horde seemed never to end. Elena didn't feel the air grow colder as she
fought, barely noticed as it started to rain. But the downpour did slightly
cloud the vision of the horrible creatures, and gave the humans back the
advantage they so desperately needed. "Thanks, dad," whispered Elena, as she
shot one off Tifa's back. Tifa gave her a grateful signal, and moved off to
another monster. Elena shook the water out of her eyes, and tackled the next.
Rude
found himself on top of a rock, surrounded by creatures. Shooting all around
him, he realized he wasn't going to make it. Just as he was giving up, Cid
jumped up behind him and finished off some that he had already weakened, giving
him an opportunity to get his back against the wall. "…Thanks," Rude muttered.
Cid nodded, and kept fighting. "You fight pretty damn good," he commented to
Rude, before rushing off. "…" Rude replied.
After
a long while in the rain, Elena finished off a large group, and turned to check
on Rude and Reno. As she turned, she noticed Lena Ikoshii, another fighter and
a friend of Reeve's, trapped by two monsters, without weapon. Breathing hard,
Elena rushed towards her, unaware of the many monsters who were closing in
behind her. By the time she got there, it was too late. They were surrounded,
and as fast as Elena shot, the monsters approached faster. Elena watched in helplessness
as Lena went down, and was carried off by a monster. Then the others turned on
her.
Reno
heard her cries of rage and fear, and turned, grabbing Rude and running forward
as fast as they could. "Elena!" Reno was screaming, and he was running, running
as fast as he could, tripping and righting himself, running again, slashing
right and left as he went. Rude was right on his heels, as they both watched
Elena get slashed to the ground by a large monster. "ELENA! ELENA!" They tore
forward, killing the monsters around her with the strength of desperation. They
were just in time to see Elena lying on the ground, a huge bloody wound on her
stomach. As they reached her, she smiled weakly up at them, and then closed her
eyes…and lay still.
Rude
threw himself beside her, lifting her head gently. "…Elena," he whispered, and
looked away. Reno stared in shock and disbelief. "No…no…NO, ELENA!" He could
feel the hot liquid in his eyes, as he stared what had been his friend, lying
at his feet. "Dammit…" He knelt by her side, and closed his eyes, holding her
hand as Rude cradled her head.
Suddenly,
a monster leapt at them, and Rude shot it down. Reno looked up through his
tears to see more monsters coming at them. They were converging around him, and
he saw one go to take Elena's body. "NO!" He began slashing around him in a
blind rage, while Rude's shots fired around him in the fray, knocking out
monsters left and right, until they were all dead.
Reno
turned, to see Rude hunched over Elena's body, ready to lift her and carry her
out, away from the monsters. As he did so, a monster attacked him from behind,
and Reno ran forward to kill it. When he turned around, Rude was slumped on top
of Elena, unmoving. "RUDE! NO, NO…no…" He was sobbing now, running, unsure of
where he was running, except that he needed to kill the monsters that had
destroyed his friends, slashing, hitting, picking up weapons of dead friends
and using them blindly against the foes all around him. The whole time he kept
screaming, until he realized that he wasn't being attacked any more.
Looking
around through the still heavily falling rain, he saw no one moving on the
plains. No monsters. No people. No one. "They're all…dead…" he whispered,
shaking his head as the tears melded with the rain falling steadily down his
face. "Dead…"
After
a few moments, Reno walked back the spot where Elena and Rude had been. He'd
somehow managed to protect their bodies from the onslaught, and they lay there
now. Slowly, Reno lifted Rude off of Elena, and laid him beside her, the tears
still coursing down his cheeks. Staring at them for a long moment, he bent, and
lifted Elena's gun. Bringing it to his head, he looked one last time at the
bloody battlefield before him. Then he turned, and smiled at Rude and Elena.
"Hey guys…we've won." Then he pulled the trigger.
And
smiled as the gun clattered the ground. The tears stopped, and he fell,
embracing his brothers in arms for the last time.
