Cid's
crew shook their head. They were too busy just now and didn't notice her. Then,
one of the crew said.
"I
saw her still checking the cable underneath!"
Cid
was shocked to hear this. She was just below the cannon? If something went
wrong, she could be…
Cid
ran towards the hatch and opened it. He climbed down the ladder and shouted for
Shera.
"I
am here!"
Cid
ran towards the voice and saw Shera still checking the cables.
"Come
up! You could get killed anytime!" Cid shouted.
"Wait.
Just wait a little while." Shera replied and continue her work.
"No!
Come up now!" Cid shouted again.
Shera
ignored him. She just continued her work.
"Sir!
We saw something around the army. It looks like some sort of barrier. Shall we
fire?" One of Cid's crew asked.
Cid
took a look outside. From the place his is in, there is a window. Cid saw a
huge semi-sphere surrounded the army.
"Just
fire the damn cannon!" Cid commanded.
"Fire!"
A
loud blast was heard again. Cid watch as the shell shot towards the army. It
hit the barrier and didn't get through.
But
then, Cid got the shock of his life. The shell shot back towards their
direction. It was heading straight towards them. That barrier was a huge reflect
magic.
"Take
cover!"
Cid
shouted at the top of his voice. But it was too late. Soon, there was a huge
explosion. Cid ran with all his might towards Shera. He saw Shera staring at
him. He was getting closer and closer towards her. Then, everything went into
darkness.
The
Shinra soldiers below the plate of Midgar were shocked to see this. They saw
what happened. The cannon was so easily destroyed and now the army is coming
for them. He readied their weapons and wait for Joseph to give them orders.
"Wait
till they get nearer." Joseph commanded.
The
Shinra soldiers were now getting more and more nervous. This army easily wiped
out the Fort Condor army. The Fort Condor soldiers are elite fighters but they
couldn't defeat them, The cannon was so easily destroyed. All these thoughts
came into every Shinra's soldier's mind. They can't imagine what this army is
capable of.
Now
the ancient army was visible. Men in robe were slowly marching towards them.
They probably still didn't know there were Shinra Soldiers all around.
"Open
fire!"
The
moment Joseph shouted. Countless missiles and rocket were fired at the ancient
army. Explosions were heard and it was soon followed by gunfire.
But
the ancient army didn't retreat. They were prepared for this. In just a short
while, barriers were cast and absorb most of the Shinra's fire.
"Cast
offensive spell."
A
command was from the ancient army. Then, all sorts of elemental spells came
striking down and hit the Shinra army.
"Fall
back! I repeat, fall back!" Joseph shouted and led his army into the slums.
Joseph's
army was soon in the slums. But the number of his men weren't even half of what
it was before the attack. Many of them were killed in action.
Suddenly
a loud cry was heard. It came from just behind of Joseph. Joseph took a look
behind, one of his men was struck by a lightning spell.
"They
are just behind us!" A Shinra soldier shouted.
"Take
cover and counterattack!" Joseph commanded and found a place to hide.
"Fire!"
Joseph
shouted and fired his rifle. Although there were only a few ancient soldiers
chasing them, but they were so hard to defeat. Joseph's men didn't stop firing
at the enemy but they just won't fall. Their barrier spell was just too strong.
"Ah!!!"
Another
cry was heard. Joseph took a look at his men, there were only a few of them
left.
"We
will take over from here on!"
Joseph
heard a shout behind him, before he could even turn his head, he saw Cloud
slashing with his murasame at the enemy. The enemy was attacked by surprise and
with only a few slashes, a few of them fell death on the floor. Cloud that was
in Sephiroth's body was really powerful.
Then,
a woman dashed past him and attacked the ancient soldiers. She was so skilled
and dodged the magic attacks and kicked an ancient soldier right into his
chest. In sent the ancient soldier flying away.
Joseph
turned his head. The Avalanche had arrived.
Soon,
all the members engaged into battle. Red XIII attacked the enemy with his claws
and Barret opened fire like a mad man. Yuffie jumped skillfully on the ruins
and attack whenever possible. Aeris didn't stop casting defensive spells while
Vincent suddenly appeared and fire his gun at his opponent. Cait Sith shouted
at his megaphone and his huge mog dashed at the enemy. This mog not only can
absorb a huge amount of punishment, it could dish out a lot of punishment too.
"Damn
barrier!" Barret fired at an ancient soldier non-stop with his gunarm.
"Attack
him hand to hand! They are weak in physical strength!" Cloud shouted and
slashed a few more ancient soldiers with his murasame.
Barret
stopped firing and jumped to the front of the ancient soldier. The ancient
soldier was shock to see this. Barret whacked the ancient soldier with his
gunarm. The ancient soldier past out straightaway.
"Oh
I see." Barret exclaimed.
Cloud
was too powerful for the ancient soldiers. The ancient soldiers kept on coming
but they just kept on falling. They couldn't get past him.
Joseph
fought with the butt of his gun. Cloud was right. These ancient soldiers were
really weak in hand to hand combat. The remaining Shinra soldiers did the same
too. There were only a few more ancient soldiers left. They were on the winning
side.
Suddenly,
Joseph heard something falling behind him. He turned his head and saw an
ancient soldier behind him. This soldier wore a different robe. The other
soldier wore green robe but this one wore a black robe. He put up his hand and
readied to cast a spell.
Joseph
brought up his gun and he is going to hit the ancient soldier in any moment
now. But suddenly he saw a skull in front of him. He then started to suffocate
and felt like his life was slipping away. Then, he fell on the floor, not
breathing.
Everybody
looked at the soldier that killed Joseph. He sneaked behind him and cast a
death spell. But he still didn't escape. He just stood there quietly.
"Tifa!
You take the left while I take the right!" Cloud shouted.
Tifa
nodded. The two best hand to hand combat fighters dashed towards the ancient
soldier that killed Joseph. There is no way this ancient soldier could escape.
The
ancient soldier suddenly opened his arms widely. A bright green light grew
around him and then it exploded. Cloud and Tifa were flung backwards and were
in pain when they fell onto the floor.
Aeris
quickly cast cure spells onto the two. The other members of the Avalanche and
the other Shinra soldiers ran towards the ancient soldier.
But
the ancient soldier just jumped up really high. He mumbled something and then
there was two of him.
"What
in da world…"
Before
Barret could finish, one of the two image of the soldier cast an ultima spell
and sent everyone flying away. This time everybody was injured and could barely
move.
"It
is the image on the left!" Cloud picked up his murasame and slashed at the
image.
But
what he slashed was thin air. The image didn't disappear and soon Cloud was
struck by a lightning spell. Cloud fell onto the floor and cried in pain.
"You
will pay for this!"
Tifa
shouted and attacked at the second image. But the same thing happened. Tifa hit
nothing and she was hit by an ice spell. Tifa fell next to Cloud and past out.
This ancient soldier was just too powerful.
The
other members of the Avalanche and the remaining Shinra soldiers forced
themselves to get up. They fired at both of the image with their weapons but
the just hit nothing.
"You
can't kill me. I am invincible." The ancient soldier spoke for the first time.
"Good
trick. But not good enough."
A
burst of electricity was heard and then the two images disappeared.
Everybody
didn't know what happened. They just crawled up and walked towards the place
where the ancient soldier stood before he jumped up.
They
saw a man in blue suit with red hair walking towards them. He was holding a
nightstaff in his hand and walked casually.
"Reno?!"
Cait Sith said.
"I
found this guy hiding behind this piece of junk. He was concentrating on
something so I killed him and saved the day." Reno replied.
Reno
healed Aeris first. She then helped Reno healing the others.
"Where's
Joseph?" Reno asked.
Vincent
pointed at the spot where Joseph died. Reno took a look. He just stood there
for a moment. Then he turned back and looked at the Avalanche and the remaining
Shinra soldiers.
"Are
you all ready?" Reno asked.
"Ready
for what?" Cloud asked.
"There
is a battle going in sector 1. It seems the ancient army managed to find
another entrance." Reno answered.
"What
are we waiting for? Let's go!" Cloud shouted and led everybody to sector 1.
Cloud looked at Reno before they left. Reno looked quite sad.
"Don't
feel too bad about it. You can't bring Joseph back to life." Cloud consoled.
"Then
you too." Reno replied.
"What
did you mean?" Cloud asked.
"Didn't
you know? The cannon on top was destroyed." Reno answered.
This
struck Cloud at once. He didn't even know the cannon was destroyed. He thought
the explosion was just a normal explosion. If the cannon was destroyed, this
means…
Cloud
ran towards the center of Midgar. There is a chopper there to bring him up to
the plate.
"Where
are you going?" Reno asked as Cloud leave them.
"Led
them to the sector 1! I am going up!" Cloud shouted as he ran away.
"Come
back here you idiot!" Reno shouted but Cloud ignored him.
"What
happened?" Aeris asked Reno.
Reno
looked at everybody. He didn't know how to tell them.