"Wat
da hell are they doin' here?" Barret shouted to Red XIII.
"No
idea, but we are going to know real soon." Red XIII said and continued running.
Magic
attacks kept on striking Red XIII and Barret but their defensive magic bounced
them away. Still, rains of elemental magic still struck them and they kept on
running.
"Warkkkk!!!!!"
Barret
suddenly crashed onto the ground and felt a surge of pain in his back. He
looked at his chocobo and saw it charcoaled after being struck by a lightning
spell. Barret pushed himself up, but found himself too bulky and heavy to
outrun the ancient soldiers.
"Hop
on!" Red XIII turned back and shouted at Barret.
"Hop
on wat?!" Barret shouted back in reply.
"Me!"
Red XIII shouted nrevously.
"You?!"
Barret
answered in astonishment. But before he realized what Red XIII meant, Red XIII
kicked Barret onto himself and started running again. Barret, now riding on Red
XIII, had a bad time trying to balance and not falling down.
"Hang
on!" Red XIII shouted after running for a few yards.
Barret
just kept quiet. He can't believe Red XIII would carry him on his back in order
to save him. He was touched, but he had no time for that.
Suddenly,
a strong gush of wind then blew the two of the ground and send them flying into
a pile of ruins. Surprisingly, they were not alone there.
"So,
it was you they were after!" Elena shouted at Barret and Red XIII.
"Why
are they chasing you? And who the hell is this?" Reno asked and pointed at Barret
in Godo's armor.
"Me,
Barret! You?" Barret opened his head shield and made a joke. But, no one seemed
to laugh.
"Godo
send us to create a mass ancient gathering here. How, he will explain later."
Red XIII answered Reno.
"So,
now what?" Yuffie asked.
"We
will keep them here as long as possible until holy arrived." Red XIII replied.
"What
if holy didn't arrive?" Elena asked. Red XIII just looked at her. He didn't
reply.
"Now,
we will have to keep them occupied for sometime. Barret, how long left until
our shield run out of power?" Red XIII asked Barret.
"Around
two minutes more." Barret replied.
"Let's
rock." Red XIII said and jumped out of the ruins to divert attack. Barret then
put on his armor, and jumped out to aid Red XIII.
It
was a tough time out there. Although the two had shields around them, they felt
pain when the invulnerable magic started to get weak. It could only be
effective for less than a minute, then, they are doomed.
"I
go left and you go right!"
Red
XIII shouted and they two splited up. Trails of elemental spells tailed the two
and then they were went flying towards the ruins the others were in. Now their
spell just lost it defensive effect, injured and they very deadly vulnerable.
Any attack against them now would be fatal.
"Drag
them away to safety!" Reno said and Elena, Rude and the other soldiers dragged
them towards safety. Reno walked out towards the ancient soldiers, cast a magic
barrier spell, and attempt to stop them, even for a few minutes.
"Count
me in too." Cait Sith then came hopping behind Reno. Reno nodded but he was
touched to see even Cait Sith willing to die for his planet. Now, together,
they could hold the ancient soldiers for another couple of minutes, until Aeris
summoned holy.
Blasts
and strikes of magic came attacking the two and send them flying away again and
again. The ancient soldiers didn't seemed to stop. They just attacked again and
again and again.
The
two can't hold on any longer.
"Here!
Come get some!"
Rude,
Elena and Yuffie now joined Cait Sith and Reno to divert their attacks. They
were badly hit too, but their determination kept them from retreating.
Five
minutes past by. The swarm of ancient soldier didn't leave and tried to seek
out Barret, thinking it was Godo but was stopped by the others in the slums.
When they were to injured to do the job, a figure appeared and divert more
attacks. Vincent joined in too.
"Hold
on a little longer! It's coming!" Vincent shouted to the others.
The
others, believing it was holy coming, pushed themselves up and divert a few
more attacks. Nothing but more pain was felt. It was when all of them were
nearly knocked out, they saw bright, white shining from between the hole on the
top plate of Midgar. Finally...
"Uh...Red,
wat happen to us when holy struck onto us?" Barret asked Red XIII that was
lying, badly injured.
"It
depends to the planet. If the planet like us, our lives will be spared.
Otherwise..." Barret looked at Red XIII with his eyes wide open. Red XIII only
nodded slowly.
Then,
a long, bright flash of light blinded everyone. Barret closed his eyes and
hoped it will end quickly. But it only happened for a few seconds, then it was
gone. Barret, using all his strength, pushed himself up, then helped Red XIII
out of their hiding place. When they looked outside into slums of Midgar, they
saw nobody other than the Turks, Cait Sith, Yuffie and Vincent. The ancient
army was totally gone, and there were no sign of them. Barret looked at Red
XIII with a very happy look. He took off his head shield and a broad smile was
on his face.
"Looks
like we are exclusive members of the 'friends of the planet' club." Red XIII
made and joke and Barret laughed.
Finally,
their enemy was defeated.
Cloud
slowly opened his and felt extreme drowsiness in his head. He wanted to
continue being unconscious but he managed to force himself up.
After
a while, he heard something. It was someone sniffing, and it sounded real
familiar. Could it be...
Cloud
strained his eyes and saw Aeris kneeling in front of Sephiroth's body, sniffing
quietly. Beside her was Tifa with her face turned away, hiding away her
feelings. Before he realized anything, Tifa and Aeris noticed him and readied
to engage into combat. Cloud looked at them in horror, not believing what he
was looking at.
"Cloud
may not be able to defeat you, but I swear we will!" Tifa said and grabbed her
fist tightly. The look in her eyes were very scary.
Cloud
looked at Aeris and saw her getting ready her staff and was ready to attack at
any time. She looked at him straight in the eyes, and saw rage in them.
"Wait...
hold on... I..."
"You
killed Cloud!" Aeris shouted at Cloud that was trying to defend himself.
"But..."
"You
are evil, you take away everything that was important to me!" Tifa said and
will attack any minute now.
"Listen!
I am Cloud!"
Cloud
shouted at the top of his voice and looked at the two girls. The two girls
looked at Cloud, still not knowing whether it was him or Sephiroth. As you
know, Sephiroth had a lot of tricks up his sleeve, this time he could probably
be...
"Cloud?"
Aeris
spoke softly and slowly walked towards Cloud. Tifa slowly followed her too.
Cloud nodded as a reply.
"Cloud!"
The two girls shouted and grabbed his hand but Cloud screamed as his hands were
badly injured. The two girls let go and Cloud panted heavily to catch more
breath.
"Cloud
, you are back! In your original form!" Tifa cried out.
Cloud
then realized he was back in his body. He didn't have that long, silky hair but
his hair was spiky again. He was wearing his blue combat suit and his enormous
sword was lying next to him. He was back in his body again!
Cloud
was overjoyed when he knew this. No more explaining about he was Sephiroth and
Sephiroth was him! Cloud lay his head back on the floor and allowed Aeris to
heal him. He was very, very happy.
"How
was the ancient army?" Cloud asked Tifa.
"Aeris
summoned holy as soon as we were free from Sephiroth's magic. They should be
destroyed by now. But I still doesn't feel right, there was an itch all over
me." Tifa said.
"What
itch?" Cloud asked Tifa.
"I
can't get to kick Sephiroth's butt." Tifa said and Cloud and Aeris laughed.
Now, they will be known as heroes, again.