Final Fantasy VII - A Novel

by Squee61842

This is a novelization of the classic Playstation RPG. I am keeping it as true to the actual storyline of the game as possible, while still adding some of my own own ideas to it. Let me know what you think of it so far. I just added a new chapter, and

11. Into the Heart of the Shinra

Chapter Nine: Into the Heart of the Shinra


Cloud Strife sighed as he stepped into familiar territory. It had seemed like just a few hours ago when he'd last been in the Wall Market. In fact, he wasn't far from the truth. Unfortunately, they needed to get to the Shinra Headquarters in order to save Aeris. The Shinra Headquarters lay in the center of Midgar, at the very center of all eight sectors. However, it's entrance pointed in the direction of Sector 6 so it was generally associated with that sector, since it had to be passed through on the upper plate in order to enter the building.
Tifa had suggested that they see if they could find a way to the Headquarters from the Wall Market, which was located in the Sector 6 slums. Cloud was doubtful of finding any way to the surface from there. The only other alternative would have been the train station in Sector 7, but unfortunately that was no longer an option. So he had little choice but to search for another way in Sector 6.
The Wall Market was exactly the same as it had been before, although gossip had spread quickly since he'd left. He could hear the conversations of people around him, and every one of them seemed to focus on either the destruction of Sector 7 or the rumor that Don Corneo had accidentally picked a man when looking for a bride.
Cloud looked around him, and saw that Barret and Tifa were doing the same. He wasn't exactly sure what they were looking for, but the plan had basically been to look for people that looked like they knew something. As far as he could tell, most of the people in the market knew very little. It really didn't surprise him.
As they continued to walk, they came nearer and nearer to Don Corneo's mansion. Cloud and Tifa couldn't help but laugh at the misfortune that they'd had when they were last at the mansion, and also the misfortune that Don Corneo had. An embarrassed Cloud had to explain the story to Barret, who found it very amusing, especially the part about Cloud having to dress as a woman. He was disappointed that Aeris hadn't had the foresight to take a picture.
As they neared the mansion they noticed a few children running around what looked to be a dingy back alley behind the market. Cloud wondered why he hadn't noticed the alley before, but then he realized that it normally had cloth draped over the front to hide it from the public eye. The children must have discovered it and removed the cloth. He wondered if there was anything of interest in the alley. He was about to suggest this to the others when one of the children ran up to him.
"Hey, mister. Want to see something awesome?" The young boy asked.
Not really knowing what to say, Cloud just nodded. The boy ran into the alley, yelling to some of his friends. Cloud turned to Tifa and looked at her inquisitively. She simply shrugged. Barret did the same.
Cloud walked into the alley followed by Tifa and Barret, and they immediately realized what had the children so captivated. The alley actually bordered the wall separating Sector 6 from Sector 7. The same wall in which the huge doors were built extended along the entire Sector 6 slums dividing it from Sector 7, and on the other side a similar wall divided it from Sector 5. Inside the alley, if one looked up, they could see the wreckage and burning remains of what had once been Sector 7. In fact, if standing in the right spot, one could see right up to the upper plate. From where Cloud was standing, he could see the Shinra Headquarters. Perhaps they had found a way after all.
"Do you see what I'm seeing, Tifa?" Cloud asked. She nodded.
"I think this could be our way to the upper plate. But how are we going to get up there?" She asked.
The children, catching onto the fact that these three were trying to go up, ran over to a long cable that hung loosely on the wall. The end was frayed, and exposed the wires that ran inside the cable. The electrical currents running to Sector 7 had been shut off after the disaster, so it was no longer a live cable. As the children ran to it, Cloud let his eyes follow the cable upward. It led all the way to the top of the wall. Above that, there were scattered pieces of debris, and they looked as though they could be climbed to reach the upper plate, and the Shinra Headquarters.
"Can you climb this?" One young boy asked. "You could use it to get up there."
"I don't like the idea of climbing a cable to get there." Barret commented.
"Well, I don't know about you, Barret, but to me that cable looks like a shining ray of hope right now." Cloud replied. "I don't think we have any other choices."
"I think Cloud's right. This is our only hope." Tifa said, nodding. Barret shrugged.
"Alright, I'll let this be your call, Cloud. I just hope you know what the hell you're doing." Barret replied. Cloud nodded and walked toward the cable.
He tugged on it lightly. It felt very sturdy. He wrapped his hands around it, and pulled himself off the ground slightly. It was easy to get a grip on. He felt confident that he could climb it, at least to the top of the wall. Once they got there, he figured they could climb across the debris to get the rest of the way. He hoisted himself up again, and began to climb upward.
Following his lead, Tifa walked to the cable and began to climb it herself. Barret did the same. He found it to be a little harder, mostly due to the fact that his weight was much higher than Cloud's and Tifa's, and not due to lack of strength.
As he climbed higher and higher along the cable, Cloud became more apprehensive about what he was about to do. He really had no plan beyond reaching the Shinra Headquarters. Once he was there, he wasn't sure what he was going to do. He was honestly unsure of what he was trying to accomplish. Running headfirst into the Shinra Headquarters was suicide, and he knew that. He wanted to save Aeris, but he had no clue how to go about doing so.
It wasn't long before he cleared the obscurity of the wall. Barret and Tifa weren't far below him. He decided to climb the cable a little farther before moving himself to the debris. From the cable he had a breathtaking view of the scene beneath him. From up there, he could see just how much damage the Shinra had done. At the very bottom on the ground lay scattered pieces of the upper plate. Small fires still burned in various places on the ground where burning debris had fallen.
Every once in awhile Cloud could detect an area that had not been covered by debris, but these areas were relatively small and were scattered few and far between. The Shinra had done their work well. The slums that over 100 hundred people had once called home had been completely destroyed, and the disaster had taken a good portion of those people down with their beloved place of residence. Cloud usually found himself to be cold and uncaring about things like this, but this particular act made him sick. He couldn't stop thinking about the fact that so many innocent people had died, including three people that in the course of a few days he had become quite close too. He made a silent prayer that Shinra would pay for their heinous crime to humanity.
He waited until he had gotten a good distance above the top of the wall, and then he swung himself onto the hanging debris. He could now see that the mess of wires and concrete was actually a piece of the upper plate that was still hanging from the top. Climbing it would lead directly to the top, and would place him right in front of the Shinra Headquarters. He took a second to glance beneath him. Tifa was right below him, and Barret wasn't far behind her.
"Are you alright?" He called down to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Quite a view, huh?" She answered. He nodded, and then turned back to facing upward. He continued to climb the remains of the upper plate. It was still relatively easy to grip onto, and he only lost his grip once, regaining it quickly.
He was proud of his accomplishment when he finally reached his hand over the top of the upper plate and scrambled over the edge. He rose to his feet and found himself standing in front of the Shinra Headquarters. The entrance was to his left, facing Sector 6. It was night, and the lights of the building illuminated the buildings around it.
It truly was a sight to see. He stared up it in awe, as Tifa brought herself over the edge and walked over to stand next to him. He stared at it as well, and he couldn't help but let her mouth drop slightly. The building extended far into the sky, looking over the city.
At the very top was the President's personal office, but the lights were turned out. The lights were on in the lobby behind the front entrance, but there didn't appear to be anyone there. Cloud suspected that people were still prohibited from coming to this area, for fear that they would fall into the gaping hole that was now Sector 7. For that reason, few people were actually coming to the Headquarters until Sector 7 could be replaced.
Barret finally pulled himself over the edge, panting with exhaustion.
"Damn that was a climb." He said.
"Congratulations, Barret. That was the understatement of the day for sure." Tifa said, smiling. He gave her the finger, smiling sarcastically.
"Cut it out, you two." Cloud reprimanded. "We have to decide how we're gonna get into the building."
"What do you mean how we're gonna get in? Through the entrance is how!" Barret replied.
"We can't just waltz in there. It's gonna be heavily guarded." Cloud responded. Tifa nodded in agreement.
"So, who gives a fuck. Let's go in there and shoot up the place. I guarantee those cowards will give up Aeris in a heartbeat."
"Barret, we can't go in there shooting and you know it. We wouldn't last against that many Shinra guards. We're only three people."
"Well, you were in Soldier. You should know this building. Why don't you tell us what you think we should do." Barret said, with more than a little anger in his voice.
"I may have been in Soldier, but I've never actually been to the Headquarters. Before I joined Avalanche, I had never even been to Midgar. Kind of ironic actually." Cloud answered. "Anyway, I think we should take the back alley. There should be a fire escape entrance back there, and a stairwell that we can take upwards. We'll go as far as we can on the stairs, and then we'll enter the building as stay as low-key as we can."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Tifa said. "What do you think, Barret?"
"Well, I hate all this sneaking around bullshit, but I guess I'll go along with it." He answered reluctantly. Cloud nodded, and led them to the alley running behind the Headquarters. It didn't take him long to reach the fire escape door that he was expecting. He pulled at the doorknob, and as expected found that it was locked. Barret gestured for him to move, and then blew the doorknob off with his gun-arm.
Cloud squeezed his fingers into the hole left by the missing doorknob, and pulled the door outward. The fire alarm went off for a second, but Cloud quickly ran in the doorway, opened up the alarm panel, and ripped out the wires. He hoped he had been quick enough. Without saying a word, he began to climb the stairs followed by his two companions.
As they rounded each turn of the stairwell, they noticed that the number of the corresponding floor of the building was displayed on the wall. Cloud tried looking at these numbers to gauge their progress, and to keep his mind off of the mind-numbing journey upward.
Around floor ten their legs began to hurt, and by the time they had reached twenty they were already exhausted. Cloud stopped for a second to catch his breath, but he wasn't terribly phased by the trip. Soldier had made him stronger than a normal man, and along with that came inhuman stamina and endurance. Tifa was also in excellent shape, if not as much as Cloud. She found herself still able to make the trip upward. Barret, on the other hand, bent over and placed his hands on his knees. He wheezed as he tried to breath in gulps of air.
"Goddamn it, Cloud, when does this stairway end?" He asked. "I'm out of breath."
"We're at floor twenty right now." Cloud replied. "I want to get to floor fifty-nine before we leave the stairwell."
"Are you kidding? Why fifty-nine?" Barret asked, in complete seriousness.
"No, I'm not kidding. And floor fifty-nine because I think floor sixty is the major floor in the building, but I don't want to walk right there just yet." Cloud replied, and continued to walk up the stairs. Tifa followed, and Barret slowly rose back to his feet and began to follow them. Every muscle in his body seemed to ache.
Cloud didn't stop again until they reached floor thirty. He was a little worn, but still not really letting fatigue get to him.
"This is tiring as hell, but a good work out." Tifa said cheerfully, sweat beading down her forehead.
"Barret was on the floor panting.
"I don't think I can take much more of this." He managed to say through labored breathing. "If I never see a stairway again in my life it will be too soon."
"Come on Barret, you can make it." Tifa encouraged. "It's not much farther."
They continued upward, and five floors up Barret spoke again.
"Tifa?" He called to her.
"Yes, Barret." She replied.
"Are we there yet?"
"Nope. Not much longer."
After another six or seven floors had been put behind them, he spoke again.
"Tifa?" He called again.
"Yes, Barret." She replied, this time with agitation in her voice."
"Are we there now?"
"No, Barret. It's really not much longer. I promise."
"That's what you said last time." He said, but let it end at that. He didn't say anything again for another three floors, and then he spoke again.
"Tifa?" He said.
"No, Barret, we aren't there yet! It's just a few more floors!" She yelled back at him, clearly angry now.
"That wasn't what I was gonna ask." Barret replied. "I was gonna ask if you were tired."
"Oh." Tifa said sheepishly. "Well, yes. Quite frankly, I'm exhausted. But Cloud said floor fifty-nine, and we're on floor forty-three, so I think I can tough out the rest."
Cloud was a little tired when he reached the fifty-ninth floor and approached the door. His legs were achy, and sweat had begun to form on his forehead. Tifa reached the floor about a minute after he reached it, and dropped to the floor in triumph.
"That was exhilarating." She said. It took Barret another two minutes to reach them, but when he did he collapsed in exhaustion on the ground.
"Never again." He managed to say, before dropping flat to the ground and closing his eyes to rest. Tifa sat down and leaned back against the wall, and Cloud stood where he was. He gave them a few minutes to rest, and then indicated that it was time to go. He opened the door and walked onto the fiftieth floor of the Shinra Headquarters. In front of him two Shinra guards saw him and apparently recognized him.
One of them yelled something about him being an intruder, and then the both of them ran toward him. He pulled his sword off his back and quickly cut them both down. There didn't appear to be anyone else on the floor. It was quiet and deserted. He searched their two lifeless bodies, and salvaged a few Gil coins and a keycard.
"This card should give us elevator access at least a few floors up." Cloud said.
"Oh thank God." Barret replied. "No more stairs."
There was an elevator not far from where they were, and they used the card to get in.
"Do you know what floor Aeris is on?" Tifa asked.
"I have no clue. We'll try asking around on one of the upper floors. We'll see if anyone can tell us where a newly captured person would be taken." Cloud answered.
The elevator reached floor sixty, and Cloud stepped out followed by Tifa and Barret. There didn't appear to be anyone on the floor, at least until they had walked to the far-left end of the large room. There were a few guards in front a doorway. They were wearing the distinctive red uniforms of the Shinra Elite Guard, and they sparked Cloud's memory of the guards he had killed when they attack the first reactor.
Barret raised his gun-arm to fire at them, but Cloud reached up to put his hand on the much taller man's shoulder.
"Let's try to keep quiet as long as we can, Barret. Let me take care of them." He warned. Barret nodded.
Cloud tried to walk as quietly as possible. Of the many things he had learned in Soldier, stealth was never one of them. In Soldier, no one was ever trained to hide from or sneak up on the enemy. One was trained to approach the enemy without any fear, and the to destroy the enemy without any hesitation. Cloud's instinct told him that stealth would be the better choice in this situation.
There was an enclosed room sticking out from the south wall of the room. Cloud saw that if he moved behind the room, which jutted out into the rest of the much larger room, the guards could not see him until he jumped out and attacked them. Cloud was confident that by the time they saw him, it would be too late.
With his back to the outer wall of the small room, Cloud sidestepped his way to the very edge of the jutting wall. His sword was in his hands, and his shoulders were tense with anticipation. With his well-trained ear, he listened for the sound of the shuffling feet of the guards. Simply from hearing the sound, he could tell where they were, without having to see them. He could tell that behind him, there were two guards to his right, a guard toward the middle of the room, and a guard toward his left (the far end of the room from where he was.) It was going to be difficult to take out the guards to his right without giving the other two guards a chance to shoot at him.
As he reached the very end of the wall, he decided it was time to strike. He moved so quickly that it took the guards a few seconds to even realize that they were no longer alone in the room. He ran to the guards that had been on his right before, but now as he was facing them they were on his left. With swift, clean strokes he slashed them both in half. They had no time to scream, but their companions did.
The one nearest to Cloud raised his gun to shoot, but Cloud dodged out of the way as the bullets whizzed past him. The guard turned to fire again, but Cloud was on top of him already. He fell backward to try and make himself a harder target to hit, but Cloud raised his sword and brought it down to rest in the guard's midsection. He let out a yelp of pain as Cloud pulled his sword out and turned to face the last guard who was running toward him.
The guard fired as he ran, and Cloud could hear the bullets ricocheting off the walls as he dodged in random directions to keep himself from being shot. He was quick, but no one is quicker than a bullet. He winced as a stray shot caught him in the leg, luckily hitting only the muscle of his calf and not hitting any bone.
Limping slightly, he dashed forward toward the guard. Seeing that shooting Cloud would make no difference, he instead held up his gun with both hands to block the blow of Cloud's sword. There was a sharp sound as metal met metal, and the blow sent the guard sprawling backward. He quickly got to his feet as Cloud prepared to take another swing.
He once again raised his gun to block the blow, but Cloud made a quick sweep of his blade and knocked the gun out of the man's hands. The guard closed his eyes and silently admitted defeat, as Cloud expected a Shinra is position would do. Cloud, knowing how to execute the move as quickly and as painlessly as possible in order to spare the man, deftly decapitated him. Tifa and Barret approached from their hiding spot as the guard's head rolled to the floor.
"Eccch." Tifa said in disgust. "Did you have to cut his head off?"
"It was courtesy. To die any other way would be painful." Cloud answered. "Just one of the things the Shinra teach you."
"Enough about the fuckin' Shinra, man." Barret interrupted. "Let's get the hell out of here. You left such a goddamn bloody mess."
"I'd like to see you do any better, Barret." Cloud retorted. "And you would have made a ton of noise with your gun-arm doing it."
Barret just snorted, and walked up to the door that the four dead mean had been guarding. It slid upward to reveal a staircase.
"Goddamn it. Not more stairs." Barret sighed. He walked forward and saw that it was a very short staircase ending in another door. He walked up to it, but it did not slide upward. There was a keycard slot next to the doorway.
"Yo, Cloud." He called back to him. "Search the bodies and see if any of them has got a keycard."
Cloud nodded and began to search the bodies. They turned up a few more Gil and the third body turned up the keycard. He threw it up to Barret, who unlocked the door. Cloud and Tifa ran up the stairs to meet him.
Cloud looked around him as they entered the sixty-first floor of the building. It appeared to be an eating area for the Shinra employees. To the Shinra's credit, the room was very nice indeed. It seemed like they took good care of their employees. The far wall of the room was lined with windows, giving an excellent view of the city. There were tables all along the room, but most were empty. It was late at night and most of the employees had gone home.
The buffet area was still open for the few people that were still there, eating dinner. In the middle of the room there was a janitor sweeping up. Cloud approached him.
"Hi." He greeted the man simply. "I was wondering if you've got access to the floor above this one."
The man scoffed at him.
"Yeah I do, but that ain't none of your business anyway." He answered.
"Okay, thanks." Cloud responded, quickly striking the back of the man's neck, knocking him unconscious. He searched the man's limp body and quickly pulled out a floor 62 keycard. He held it up for the others to see. They nodded their approval.
They walked back to the door through which they had come, and walked back up the staircase. The keycard allowed them access through the next door to get onto the sixty-second floor. Floor sixty-two appeared to be occupied mainly by mostly by a library. There were a few small rooms lining the sides of the larger room that were occupied by secretaries, quietly typing away on their computers. In the middle of the room was a smaller enclosure that had the door closed. It appeared to be a conference room of sorts. To the left of Cloud and the others they noticed an older man sitting at his desk who looked familiar.
"Isn't that the mayor of Midgar?" Barret asked Tifa quietly. Tifa nodded.
"So it's that mother fucker that's got those machines killin' the planet all over this goddamn city. I should go put a hole through his head before I never get the chance again." Barret said, infuriated by the very visage of the old man sitting at that desk. Cloud held up his hand, gesturing for Barret to quiet himself up.
"Come on, Barret. Cool it. We can get a lot more out of that guy than just blowing his head off. He probably knows more about this building than anyone else, except maybe the President." He said, trying to be the voice of reason. Reluctantly, Barret nodded. Cloud approached the man at the desk.
"Are you the mayor of Midgar?" Cloud asked him quietly. The man slowly looked up from the papers he was reading. He had black bags under his eyes, and he appeared to be in great need of sleep.
"Yes, I am." He answered, looking at Cloud inquisitively. "Are you a new employee?"
"No, sir I'm not." Cloud answered simply. He pulled back the outside of his jacket to reveal the very tip of his sword which was hanging on his back. "But I do need to ask you some questions. And if you cooperate, I won't need to use this."
The mayor's eyebrows raised in fear. He tried timidly to talk.
"Oh God. Please don't hurt me. I have a family. Oh God." He looked like he was going to cry. "I have two kids at home. Oh lord, please. I have money! I'll give it all to you, just don't hurt me."
"Calm down, calm down." Cloud said, trying to quiet the mayor. He put his arms around the mayor's shoulders and tried to be as comforting as possible. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."
The mayor nodded slowly, but said nothing.
"Now, down to business." Cloud continued. "I don't want your money. I just want to ask you about this building. You see, myself and my friends are trying to retrieve one of our companions that was kidnapped by the Turks and taken here. Now, I want you to tell me where I can find her."
"Oh, that's all?" The mayor asked, visibly relieved. Cloud nodded. "Wow. Well you should have said so to begin with. I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. I can't stand those Shinra guys, especially the President. I'm like their puppet. They don't give me any power around here."
Cloud nodded again. He really wasn't interested in this man's problems. He just wanted to know where Aeris was.
"About your friend," The mayor continued, "I'm guessing you're talking about the Ancient that they got today. They're all excited about it for some reason, so the President's holding some kind of meeting about it or something." He grasped the end of Cloud's jacket and pulled him closer. Cloud was just close enough to smell the sharp odor of alcohol on the man's breath.
"I'll tell you a secret if you promise you're gonna screw those Shinra guys up good, but you'll leave me alone." He gestured to the back of the room. "If you go in the men's bathroom back there and climb up into the ventilation duct, you can crawl to the duct that's in the ceiling of the conference room. You can hear everything they say from in there. I did it once, but all they were talking about was some new specimen that they picked up from Cosmo Canyon."
"Alright. Thanks for your help. You're doing us quite a favor." Cloud replied, and then walked off to join Barret and Tifa.
"No problem, son." The mayor called to him. "Anything to give those guys a good kick to the groin, if you know what I mean."
Cloud wasn't really listening. He was too excited. The mayor had confirmed that Aeris was in the building, and now was Cloud's chance to go save her. He couldn't help but feel exhilarated knowing that he would soon be able to see her again. He would be the very last to admit it, but there was something about her that he really liked. And her smile…
"We're going to the bathroom." Cloud said to Barret and Tifa as he approached them.
"What the hell?" Barret asked, raising an eyebrow. "All this sneaking inspire you to take a shit or something?"
"No." Cloud answered, trying to resist smiling and failing miserably. "Just trust me."
Barret and Tifa looked at each other, and then shrugged simultaneously. They followed Cloud to the back of the room to the bathrooms. Cloud gestured for the both of them to follow him into the bathroom that was the farthest in the back.
"Cloud, that's the men's bathroom." Tifa said, quite puzzled.
"Just do it, Tifa." Cloud answered. "Trust me."
She shrugged again, and then followed him in. Cloud was relieved to see that no one was in there. He opened one of the stalls and examined the ventilation duct that was hanging above it. He climbed on top of the toilet to get a better view, and then removed the vent and pulled himself into the duct. Suddenly it became apparent to Barret and Tifa what Cloud was trying to do. They quickly followed him into the duct.
The duct was very cramped, and Cloud couldn't help but feel claustrophobic stuck inside it. He did his best to slowly crawl forward. Ahead he could see light shining through the next duct, and he guessed that it was the duct above the conference room. His assumption was proven correct as they neared the opening and heard voices coming from below. When they had reached the duct, they stopped moving and began to silently listen to the conversation.
"Now, as I was saying. We have made an astounding leap in our progress with the capture of the girl. The "Ancient" that we have been searching for for so long." They could hear a voice saying.
"That's the voice of the President!" Tifa whispered into Cloud's ear. He nodded.
"Professor Hojo has made me aware of the fact that his experiments are going to begin shortly." The President continued. "We hope to be able to complete the research within the next five to ten years. I'm sure you all know what that means. It's going to take a large toll on our budget, but we've had a good surplus in the past two years and I think we're ready to start. I'm going to begin funding the Neo-Midgar project."
He waited for what he had just said to sink in, and he reveled in the respectful silence of his audience.
"As most of you already know, the objective of the Neo-Midgar project will be to establish a new city, bigger and better than the one you are all in right now. However, this will not be any ordinary city. It will be built in the fabled Promised Land, a place to which the Ancient will lead us. This place will be unlike no other…some do not believe it exists, but both I and Professor Hojo have faith that the Ancient will lead us there. It is in her ancestry to genetically know the way there. All we have to provide is a little hope, and a suspension of our disbelief just long enough to accept that "Heaven on Earth" might really exist."
He once again paused for silence. He then broke it to add one more thing.
"Someone had a question before that I don't think I got around to answering. Um, who was asking me? It had something to do with Sector 7."
"Yeah, that was me, sir." Another voice replied. "I wanted to know what your plans are for repairing Sector 7. The people are becoming increasingly alarmed about what's been going on lately."
"That's an excellent question, and it brings up an important point that I need to mention to you all. Let me start by saying that I have no intentions of repairing Sector 7. It will remain as it is now, which is basically non-existent." He answered with a smile.
"We're not going to fix it?" The voice asked incredulously.
"No, we're not. The people, for the most part, have been satisfactorily convinced that the destruction of Sector 7 was the work of Avalanche. That is all we need for now. It is more important that we devote the budget to the construction of Neo-Midgar. I can't really worry about fixing up this city, when there are new boundaries that need to be crossed.
"Everyone here needs to accept the frightening fact that our technology is growing in leaps and bounds. Much as this city may be an amazing show of what we can do, it will soon be obsolete. Our efforts need to turn now toward the future, and the Promised Land. I believe that the Promised Land will present us not only with endless supplies of Mako, but also the means of distributing it to all the world. Let me assure you that if Shinra Co. is responsible for finding such a place, it will make us all very rich."
He made another obligatory pause, and then decided to end the meeting.
"If there are no further questions, than I think this meeting is over. I wish you all a good night and a safe trip home."
Cloud, from the safety of his spot in the duct stared blankly at Tifa and Barret.
"Wow" was all he could say.
"They're going to use Aeris in some twisted experiment to find more Mako?" Tifa asked.
"I guess so." Cloud answered. "I think things just got a lot worse. We're gonna have to find her quick before they hurt her."
"Those sons of bitches are gonna hurt that poor girl just to make more money!" Barret said with anger. "I swear they must have sold their souls years ago."
"There's no sense in getting angry over it Barret. Let's get the hell out of this duct and find her before they can do anything." Cloud replied. Barret nodded, and the three of them made their way out of the bathroom and back into the main room. As they passed the mayor's desk, Cloud gave him a quick wink and the man smiled.
They were going to make their way back to the staircase when they saw an older man walk out of the conference room. He had a long black beard and large glasses that took up most of his face. He was hunched over, apparently from age. His brows were furrowed in deep concentration. He walked ahead of them toward the staircase.
"That's Professor Hojo!" Cloud whispered to the others. "I haven't seen that son of a bitch in years. He's probably on his way back to the lab."
"You sound like you've had a history with this guy." Tifa replied.
"I have. It's an interesting story actually, but I'll have to tell you later. I think we should follow him. I have a feeling he'll lead us to Aeris."
Tifa nodded. Barret was busy staring at a young secretary that was sitting at her desk, but with a quick slap on the arm from Tifa he was brought back to attention. The three of them tried to follow Hojo as quietly as possible as he slowly ascended the stairs. When he opened the door at the top, they were quick to sneak into it before it automatically closed behind him.
Cloud knew they were in a laboratory as soon as they entered. It wreaked with the smell of chemicals, and the air seemed unusually processed, as though it wasn't even real. He even felt a little light headed. Perhaps the air they were circulating was a little different from natural air, for the good of their experiments. In all honesty, he didn't really care.
Hojo made his way around a corner and walked toward a large containment area. There was a glass cylinder-shaped cage of sorts on the far end of the room, and on the other side of the room was an enclosed observation room. Technicians and students were inside the room, apparently preparing for some sort of experiment. Hojo walked toward a lift that would bring him up to the second level of the observation room so that he would have a good view of the scene he was about to see.
"Are you guys ready up there?" He called to the technicians. Cloud couldn't hear what their reply was, but he could tell it must have been positive because Hojo boarded the lift and walked into the observatory to join them. Cloud leaned up against the machinery behind him so that he would not be seen.
Barret was fidgeting around, and his attention was suddenly grabbed by a small window on the outside of one of the machines. He turned to Cloud.
"Hey, Cloud. What's inside there?" He asked.
Cloud cautiously backed toward the small window and examined it. There was a sign bolted above the window that read "JENOVA."
"Oh my God." Cloud said as he read the sign. "Is it really her?"
"What?" Barret asked. "What are you talking about?"
Cloud didn't answer. He wiped the condensation off of the window and peared inside. He could clearly see what appeared to be the torso of a woman, with all of the limbs and head removed. It was a truly disgusting sight. There were tubes running in and out of it and it was being kept at a very low temperature.
"My God. They must be keeping her alive. I wonder how they even found her."
"What do you mean "her"?" Barret asked. "What the hell's inside there?"
"Look, Barret. I don't know why they have this here, but somehow I bet it has something to do with this whole thing about finding the Ancient. They seem to think Aeris is one of them, and I don't know why. But this here I can explain, and I will when I have the time. But not right now." He answered. "And don't look inside that window. You'll regret it."
Ignoring Cloud's advice, Barret looked inside anyway. He immediately pulled his face away, with a look of utter disgust.
"Man, what the fuck is that?!" He exclaimed. "Where the hell is her head? Damn, there's some fucked up shit goin' on around here!"
"I warned you." Cloud replied. "Come on, we have more important things to do." He slowly inched to the edge of the machine to regain his view of the experiment being conducted. Barret just continued to shake his head, repulsed by what he had just seen.
"Get ready to bring the Ancient and the specimen from Cosmo Canyon together in the experiment chamber." Cloud could hear Hojo say inside the observatory. "I'm really hoping for these two to be able to mate. The offspring they could potentially create would be very powerful indeed."
Cloud gasped and turned to Tifa.
"That son of a bitch is gonna try to breed Aeris with the monster they got from Cosmo Canyon! We have to stop them now!" He exclaimed. Running out from behind his cover, he dove onto the lift and brought himself up to the observatory. He pulled out his sword and yelled to Hojo.
"Stop your experiment you sick bastard! Give up the girl and I won't hurt anybody!"
Tifa and Barret had also ran out from their cover and were staying on the lower level in front of the experimental chamber. Above them in the observatory, Hojo was laughing.
"If I were you, I wouldn't kill me. I'm the only one that knows how to operate this machinery. If I die, the Cosmo Canyon specimen could very well kill your precious girl." He said, sneering at Cloud.
"I have no intention of killing you, as long as you give Aeris back to us." Cloud replied.
"Is that her name?" Hojo asked. "She wouldn't tell me."
"Whatever. I don't care, just give her up now."
"Please, young man. You really aren't being very pleasant right now. Patience is a virtue, you know." Hojo responded.
"Hey look, just shut the fuck up and give us the girl or I'm gonna kill every one of your pansy ass students up there." Barret called to him from his position on the lower level.
Hojo did not seem to be intimidated by Cloud, but Barret, with his gun-arm held menacingly in the air, was apparently more influential. Hojo simply nodded, and walked past Cloud to get to the lift. Cloud followed closely behind him, with his sword held ready in case Hojo tried to pull anything. Above, the students were waiting nervously for their next order from Hojo.
Hojo walked past Tifa and Barret to approach the experimental chamber. The clear cylinder was empty, but that would change in a minute.
"Bring the girl up." Hojo called to his students. "And make sure she remains unharmed."
Cloud watched as the floor of the chamber opened and a lift beneath the floor began to rise. He could feel the relief in his soul the moment the very top of Aeris's head was visible as the lift brought her above and into the chamber. It was immediately replaced with fear as he saw that the Cosmo Canyon specimen had been brought up as well.
Aeris backed up against the glass wall of the chamber, trying to distance herself from the beast. It looked much like a wild wolf, but its fur was a bright red color. The tip of its long tail burned in a small flame, probably kept alive by some sort of magical properties. It was an intimidating animal to be sure.
"Get her out of there, Hojo!" Cloud yelled, raising his sword to compel Hojo to do as he was told.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine." Hojo answered calmly. He then called up to his students. "Please remove the girl from the chamber!"
The chamber immediately began filling with some sort of gas, concealing Aeris and the beast from view in a whitish fog.
"Where did they go?" Cloud asked.
The words were barely out of his mouth when the entrance on the front of the glass chamber slid open, letting gas leak out. A few seconds passed as the gas came out, making a hissing noise as it did so. Suddenly, the red beast jumped out of the chamber and tackled Hojo, knocking him to the floor. Hojo yelped in pain as it bit into the side of his chest. From inside the chamber, Aeris ran out and practically fell into Cloud's arms.
"Cloud, you came to save me!" She said, hugging him tightly.
"I'm still your bodyguard, remember?" He replied, smiling. She smiled back and hugged him again. Looking to her left she could see the beast mauling Hojo.
"Hey Cloud, we better get the hell out of here." Barret said. "That thing is going nuts!"
The students that had been inside the observatory had all run downward, some jumping off the ledge to escape the predatory animal. With a quick knock to the animal's face, Hojo was able to slide away from it and run away with his students, leaving the other four alone with it. He left a trail of blood behind him as he fled.
The animal did not follow, but simply stayed where it was. The others turned to run away, but it did not appear that it was going to follow them. Out of the corner of his eye, Cloud saw the animal raise its paw to wipe the blood from its mouth. He could swear that it visibly grimaced from having to taste the blood of its opponent. Then it did something that caught everyone completely by surprise.
"Sorry for scaring you all like that, but I felt I was entitled to some revenge on that miserable man." It said.
Tifa gasped in amazement.
"It can talk!" She exclaimed. The animal laughed at her.
"That's generally the reaction I get whenever people hear me say something for the first time. But, if you'll be so courteous, please do no refer to me as "it"." I am a "he", thank you very much." The creature replied. "You may call me Red XIII, since that's what Hojo called me. My real name is not important."
"What are you doing here?" Cloud asked.
"Hojo captured me near Cosmo Canyon. As you can tell, I am not your usual animal. I am one of the very few of my species still left on this planet. My species is not only very intelligent, but also lives for a very long time. My grandfather was alive during the time of the Ancients. Hojo felt that I would be able to provide him with information on them."
"Well, we really need to get out of here." Cloud responded. "We only came to get back Aeris, and we're probably going to be swarmed by security in a few minutes. If you want, you can come with us."
"Yes, I would like that." Red XIII answered. "After all, I have nowhere else to go."
Barret shrugged.
"A'right, then let's get the hell outta here." He said.
"Hold on." Aeris stopped him. "I say we split up and head downward. They'll have a harder time keeping track of us if we're broken into two parties."
"She's right." Cloud acknowledged. "Tifa, why don't you and Aeris take the elevator. Us guys will take the stairs."
"Shit, Cloud, we gotta take the goddamn stairs again?" Barret replied, annoyed.
"And what is it with the guys taking the stairs? You think the girls are too weak to walk down those stairs, so we have to take the elevator?" Tifa asked, only half kidding. Aeris just smiled.
"Okay fine then." Cloud answered, flashing a somewhat evil-looking smile. "The girls will take the stairs, the guys will take the elevator. Case closed."
As soon as he'd said it, they broke apart and headed for their assigned destinations. Aeris and Tifa made a run for the stairwell, and Cloud, Barret, and Red XIII made a beeline to the nearest elevator. Red XIII was remarkably fast, and he found himself slowing to what he considered a snail's pace so his two companions could keep up with him.
Cloud was the first to reach the elevator since Red XIII had allowed them to walk ahead of him. It was easier than slowing constantly to let them catch up. He opened it up and they got inside. He set it for the ground floor, but they had only gone down a few floors before the elevator stopped by itself.
"What the hell?" Barret said.
"Maybe someone is getting on." Red XIII suggested. He was right, but not in the same way that he was thinking of.
The doors opened to reveal Elena and Rude of the Turks. Cloud reached for his sword, but Rude was quick to grab him and hold him down. Red XIII pounced on Elena, but she was quick to dodge out of the way of his sharp claws. Rude took one arm off of Cloud to fire a shot from a tazer he was holding. A sharp electric bolt flew out of the end of the stun weapon and into the crimson beast. He let out a howl and then fell to the ground, unconscious. Rude let go of Cloud and stood a safe distance away from him, holding his tazer in a ready firing position.
"Anybody else wanna fuck with me?" He asked.
Cloud was silent, but his face was red with rage. Barret tried to remain calm, but the veins on his neck were popping out.
"That's what I thought. Party's over you stupid little shits."
He fired another shot from the tazer and before Cloud's eyes could even find the shot's target, Barret's unconscious body was lying on the ground before him. Cloud had no time to think. He tried to run, but Rude was too fast.
"This one's for what you did to Reno!" He yelled, hitting Cloud hard over the head with the but of the tazer.
It was painful, but he got up quickly and tried to run again. Behind him he heard another sizzling beam leap from the gun. He closed his eyes and fell to the ground as the beam caught him in the back.
His weary mind only had a few seconds to wonder if it had been such a good idea to invade the Shinra Headquarters before his nervous system shut down from the electrical pulse. He felt a sharp pain run through his body, and then everything went black.


***

Cloud's eyes flickered a few times as he awoke, startled. He had been having a horrible dream about one of the missions he'd been sent on during his time in Soldier. An extended memory really. His forehead was covered in sweat. He hadn't thought about that mission in years. His memories of it were almost as horrifying as the real thing.
As he eyes adjusted to the light he was able to get his bearings. He was in a small cell, and he was lying on a thick metal table extending out of the wall and covered with a thin blanket. There was a toilet in the corner of the room. It appeared to be a jail cell. There were no windows in it at all, and he couldn't see anything outside of the room. The walls were white and made the cell seem more sanitary than it probably really was.
Sitting on another "bed" which was protruding from the wall opposite him was Tifa. She was lying down, but she wasn't asleep.
"You okay, Cloud?" She asked, a little worry in her voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up from that tazer shot."
"They hit you with those too? Hurts doesn't it?"
He nodded.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"They put us in the cells where Hojo keeps his human experiments sometimes. They look a lot like jail cells to me."
Cloud nodded again.
"Where's everyone else?"
"Barret and Red XIII are in the cell behind me. Aeris is in the cell behind you."
Cloud turned around to examine the wall behind him. There was a ventilator above his head, and he fidgeted with it to see if it could be removed.
"Don't bother, Cloud, I already tried. These rooms are pretty foolproof." Aeris said from the other side of the wall where her cell was located.
"Oh, hi Aeris." Cloud greeted her, talking through the ventilator. "I didn't know you could hear me through there."
"Well now you know." Aeris answered playfully. "So what are you doing over there?"
"I just woke up." Cloud answered. "They shocked me pretty good with that tazer. To be honest, I'm still pretty tired."
"Me too." Aeris replied. "I'm probably gonna go back to sleep in a few minutes."
It was silent for about a minute. Cloud couldn't think of anything to say. Tifa was likewise silent, lying on her side on the bed. Finally, Aeris broke the silence.
"Do you think we'll ever get out of here, Cloud?" She asked.
"I hope so." He answered.
"That didn't sound too confident."
"That's because I'm really not sure."
"Oh." She replied. "Um, Cloud?"
"Yeah."
"If we get out of here, you still want me to go on a date with you right?"
Cloud smiled.
"Sure. A deal is a deal. Besides, I might not be such a bad date anyway." He chuckled after saying it. She let out a small laugh too.
"Oh, I see how it is now." Tifa spoke up from her bed. From the sound of her voice, Cloud could tell she was being playful again. But she had just heard something she didn't know about yet.
"Cloud agreed to be your bodyguard as long as you'd go on a date with him." She inferred.
"Tifa, it isn't really like that." Cloud started to defend himself.
"No, don't worry Cloud. It doesn't matter to me. It's none of my business really." She replied, and then rolled back over to lay on her side again. Suddenly the room fell into an awkward silence. It was quiet for a few minutes.
"I think I'm gonna go back to sleep." Cloud finally said.
"Goodnight." Aeris said from the other room.
" 'Night." Could replied. He got up from the bed to turn off the lights, but found there was no light switch. A cruel aspect to the cell. He guessed it was probably Hojo's idea. He was going to have to sleep in the light.
He rolled onto his back and tried his best to calm his nerves enough to sleep. His mind started wondering back to the nightmare he'd been having before. He tried to change his thoughts to a different subject. Finally he settled on thinking about Aeris, which was a pleasant topic. He finally fell asleep wondering why Aeris had been so anxious to know if he still wanted that date with her. He'd have to ask her sometime.

***

Cloud awoke once again because there was, of all things, a draft in the room. When his eyes had once again adjusted to the light, he could see that the door to the cell was open. Intrigued, he walked out of the cell. Down the hall he could see a Shinra guard lying face down on the ground. His back was cut open, cut cleanly by a blade in a diagonal line running from the nape of his neck to his thigh. The ground beneath him was covered in a pool of blood.
Cloud ran back to the room to get Tifa. He shook her until she was awake.
"Tifa, go look outside." He ordered.
"What?"
"Just do it."
She shrugged and did so. Cloud could hear her gasp as soon as she walked out of the door and saw what was there.
"What the hell happened to him?" She asked.
"I don't know. All I know is that this door was open when I woke up." He answered. "I'm gonna go search the body for a key."
Sure enough, a quick search revealed the key to all five cells in the hallway. Cloud rushed to open up the cells in which his companions were being held. He opened the one containing Barret and Red XIII first, and explained what he knew. Red XIII quickly ran out to investigate the floor to see if anyone else was around.
Red XIII returned from his scouting just as Cloud had finished opening Aeris' cell and explaining what had happened. Barret had already moved the body so Aeris wouldn't have to see it. It was a pretty disgusting thing to see.
"There's no one alive on this floor. I found a bunch of dead guards scattered around, but not a single member of the living. Something terrible must have happened here." He reported.
"Terrible for them, maybe." Barret said. "But perfect for us. This is our chance to get out of here."
Cloud was getting a closer look at the body of the first guard he'd seen.
"This man was killed by a blow from a sword." Cloud observed.
"Yeah, so? A lot of thieves like to use swords." Barret said.
"This wasn't an ordinary sword, though." Cloud replied nervously. "This was done by a Masamune blade. I only know one person that uses, or used a Masamune." He stood up, clearly very bothered by the scene before him.
"I haven't seen a person killed like that since…" His words trailed off. He didn't say anything more, but simply walked forward a little so that he could see out of the hallway and into the room before him.
"What floor are we on?" He asked Red XIII.
"The same floor that they were holding myself and Aeris when we were in the glass cage." He replied.
"That's what I thought." Cloud said. "I need to go check something."
He walked forward and around the corner. To the far side of the room he could see the glass cage. To his right was the observatory. It looked the same as before, but with no people around. Also, there was a long trail of blood on the ground. It was coming from around the corner ahead of him, and it led to the stairwell.
He followed it around the corner, and found that it stopped right at the machine where the torso with no head or appendages had been. The machine had been broken into, and the torso was no longer there. The sign that had read "JENOVA" was lying on the ground next to pieces of the machine that had been broken off.
"My God. Just as I feared." Cloud said. Barret, who had been following him, arrived to find Cloud staring at the machine. Barret immediately recognized it.
"Yo, where the hell did that body go?" He asked.
"You don't want to know." Cloud answered. "All I'll say is that an old friend has been here, and he isn't happy."
Behind him, Tifa arrived as well. She looked right into his face and saw the fear in his eyes.
"Cloud, that blade you were talking about. The Masamune. I remember that sword." She said. "The wound on that guard's back looked a lot like this one."
She pulled her shirt out from her pants and lifted it slightly to let them see the scar on her chest. It was the same shape as the guard's wound. Barret was speechless, but Cloud was not. He knew about the scar. He was almost glad that Tifa realized what was going on here, so he wouldn't have to explain everything himself.
"Cloud, you realize who did this right?" She asked.
He nodded.
"Sephiroth has been here. He gave you that scar, and he definitely killed that guard."
"But I thought he was dead." She replied.
"So did I."
Barret was thoroughly confused by all this.
"A'right now. Either one of you want to explain what the fuck's goin' on here?"
"We don't have time." Cloud answered. "We'll have to explain later. Right now I'm gonna follow that trail of blood upstairs. If Sephiroth is still here, I want to talk to him. I would appreciate if everyone else came with me too."
Tifa nodded, and Barret just shrugged and followed along. They grabbed Red XIII and Aeris and headed up the stairs, following the trail of blood. It led two floors up, to the President's Penthouse at the very top of the Shinra Headquarters. Along the way they passed a few more dead bodies, which made everyone quite nervous.
"Where did all this blood come from?" Barret asked, looking at the trail of blood which they were following. "It leads pretty far."
"Remember that detached torso that we saw in the machine labeled "Jenova"?" Cloud asked him. He nodded. "Sephiroth ripped the torso out of there and took it with him. He must have dragged it behind him and left this trail of its blood along the way."
"That's disgusting. What the hell did the sicko do that for?" Barret asked.
"Like I said before, I'll explain everything later." Cloud replied. Barret once again had to settle for just shrugging and letting it go for now.
They had reached a very large staircase that led upward to the penthouse. The trail of blood led up the stairs so they followed it as they had been. Cloud was first to reach the top, and the first to see just how badly the Shinra had been hit by Sephiroth.
The President's desk occupied the far end of the Penthouse. The back wall was composed of large windows that gave an excellent view of the cityscape below. But Cloud wasn't looking at the cityscape. He was looking at the President.
President Shinra, a man who had been the corporate ruler of the entire world for years before Cloud was ever born, was lying face down on his desk. His beard was mussed up, and his clothes were wrinkled as though he had been in a fight with someone. Cloud looked upon him as though it were an old friend that had lost track and gone bad. In a way, that was the truth. Barret looked at him as a lifelong enemy who now lay humbled before the righteous.
The scene before him was more than Cloud could take. There was no doubt in his mind what had happened here. A man that he had once looked at as a father had returned from years of hiding. Cloud had never really believed the stories of his death, and now he was vindicated.
No one could deny that Sephiroth was responsible for the massacre to which Cloud was now bearing witness. The sword in the old man's back had been held by Sephiroth. The vengeance that had been laid out here was the work of Sephiroth's unbelievable strength. The blood that had pooled beneath the lifeless body of the President had been spilled by Sephiroth. Sephiroth had assassinated the President of Shinra.
"My God." Was all he could say. He was at a complete loss for words.
Out of the corner of his ear he could hear someone breathing underneath the desk. He pulled out the chair, letting the limp and lifeless body of the President fall to the floor. One of his associates was hiding under the desk. Cloud grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out from under the desk.
"What the hell were you doin' under there? Hidin' like a pussy?" Barret asked.
The man was silent.
"Hey, answer me you Shinra piece of shit. Who the hell are you anyway?"
"My…my name is Palmer. I work…I worked for President Shinra." The man answered. "Sephiroth killed him…I saw him."
Cloud immediately took over the interrogation from there.
"You saw him. You actually saw Sephiroth murder the President."
"Yes." Palmer whimpered. "I swear it was him. The stories were wrong. Sephiroth is alive."
"You better not be lying to me." Cloud said, and then turned to Barret. "Get him out of here."
Palmer didn't need to be prompted. As soon as Cloud let go of him, he ran like hell down the stairs and out of sight. Cloud turned toward the door that lead outside to the balcony. It was open.
"Come on." He said, gesturing to everyone else. He headed for the door, feeling a cool breeze from the night air outside as he approached it. For some reason, he felt compelled to go outside. Something was nagging at him that told him it was important to go out. Once he stepped outside the door, he realized why.
Standing on the balcony petting a large black Doberman pinscher dog was a man that looked a bit like the former President, but his youth was quite evident. He wore a long, white trench-coat, with a white suit beneath it. He looked very official, but also a little too proud. To Cloud, he seemed too young to have such a condescending air about him.
"Who are you?" The man asked, becoming defensive as soon as he saw Cloud and company walk through the door.
"None of your fuckin' business." Barret answered. "But as long as we're here, we might as well ask you why the President's lying dead in there and you don't have a scratch on you."
The man sneered at him for a second, and then started laughing hysterically. Cloud nervously removed his sword from his back, just in case.
"Do you have any idea who I am?" The man asked them, still laughing. "I am Rufus Shinra, The new President of Shinra Inc. You are standing on my balcony, and if I wasn't in such a hurry to get the hell out of here I would have you all killed."
"Tough luck motherfucker." Barret replied. "You gonna run like a pussy just like your man Palmer back there?"
"If you knew what we're up against you'd be running too." Rufus retorted. "I'm simply tolerating your presence right now, at least until my helicopter gets here. Who are you people anyway? You aren't from Avalanche are you? I thought my father killed them."
"I'm working as a mercenary right now." Cloud replied.
"I'm trying to lead a revolutionary group to destroy the power of the Shinra and bring the planet back to safety." Barret said.
"I used to own a bar in the Sector 7 slums before it was destroyed." Tifa said.
"I'm an Ancient that's being pursued by the Shinra for their own gain." Aeris said.
"I'm a laboratory experiment." Red XIII said.
Rufus shook his head, smiling.
"What a motley crew. How the hell did you people escape Sephiroth anyway?" He asked. He didn't give them time to answer. "I'm bored of you anyway. I think I'll make sure you're all dead before I leave because I'd really hate to have you trying to wreck my administration the way you did to my father."
Cloud pointed to the door and acknowledged the rest of his party. The wind blew through his hair as he spoke, and to everyone else he looked far more intimidating than the young Rufus.
"You guys get out of here. Head downstairs and I'll meet up with you." He said. Reluctantly they did as they were told.
Now Cloud was alone with Rufus. They stared right into each other's eyes for a few moments, neither one of them letting up. Finally Rufus spoke.
"My father was a naïve man. If he really knew what he was doing you and your friends would all be dead, including that girl…the Ancient. The Promised Land that he was searching for doesn't even exist. It was just a figment of his imagination. My administration will focus on making the Shinra bigger and stronger, instead of pursuing some hopeless goal like my father." He said. He paused for a second, but Cloud said nothing. From the ambient noise of the city below he could hear the helicopter approaching from the distance.
"I have no means to kill you right now so I'm going to let you go." He continued. "I'm lucky to be alive, considering that Sephiroth was here. Yes, I'm going to let you go. You're friends will probably be attacked by the Shinra guard when they get outside, but that's their own problem. I hope you can realize how futile your crusade is and won't bother me once I take office. Because unlike my father, I won't let you live to see another day. And on that note, I must be going."
The helicopter had gotten close now, and it was descending slowly as it hovered over the balcony.
"Don't you even care that your father is dead?" Cloud asked as Rufus approached the helicopter.
"My father was an ignorant bastard of big business. The world's a better place without him." Rufus replied. The helicopter was within his reach now. He helped lift the dog onto the helicopter, and then he lifted himself up as well.
"You haven't seen the last of Avalanche, Rufus." Cloud called to him. "Their flame won't die until the Shinra do."
"It's a shame that you're so foolish." Rufus called back. "I'm sure you were a good Soldier back in the day. Your eyes give it all away."
And then he was gone. Cloud let out a sigh and sheathed his sword as the helicopter lifted itself away from the balcony and flew off into the night sky.

***

Several floors down Tifa was waiting patiently for Cloud to arrive. Barret and the others had taken the elevator down to the bottom floor and had left her to meet up with Cloud before heading after them. She hoped he was okay. He had been gone for at least ten minutes.
Finally she saw him running down the stairs. She was relieved to see that he appeared unharmed.
"What happened?" She asked as he approached her. "Where's Rufus?"
"He got away. Where's everyone else?"
"Downstairs."
"Alright, let's go. Things are gonna get complicated." He said, and then ran with her to the elevator.
Down on the bottom floor of the Shinra Headquarters, Barret, Aeris, and Red XIII were contemplating how they were going to escape.
"The front of the building's swarming with those goddamn Shinra guards!" Barret said as he ran back from the front doors from which he was observing the situation outside. "If I was alone I'd run out there and start shootin' the place up, but I don't want to put you two in danger."
"Thank you, Mr. Barret, but I don't think we have much of an alternative." Red XIII replied. "Rushing them may be our only choice."
"Yo, don't call me Mr. Barret. Barret is fine. Mr. Barret just sounds so…just don't call me that." Barret replied.
"Sorry."
They were standing in the huge lobby, but it was unoccupied save for the three of them. In the back of the lobby were three glass elevators through which an excellent view of the Headquarters' interior could be seen. All three lead to regular elevators on the upper floors. Barret could see one of them descending, and when it reached his view he could see that Tifa was inside it. When it stopped on the bottom floor she ran out to greet her companions.
"Where's Cloud?" Aeris asked.
"He said he's got something planned. Come on!" She replied. They followed behind her as she ran toward the opposite end of the room. She lead them into a small garage area where Cloud was waiting for them.
"Hurry up guys, I have an idea." He said as they approached.
He lead them to a strange looking prototype car that was being developed by the Shinra. He had removed it from its display area and had checked to make sure it could run. It looked much like a pickup truck, but it was more compact. What made it so unique was that it only had three wheels: two in the front and one in the back.
"You guys can ride in here." He said. "I'm taking the motorcycle."
The others entered the odd car, Barret and Tifa in the front and Red XIII and Aeris sitting in the open trunk area in the back. Cloud ran over to the motorcycle that had also been on display and revved it up.
"Let's get the hell out of here." He said, and then gunned it, heading for the stairs at the end of the garage display area. Barret fired up the truck and followed close behind. Cloud fell back slightly to let Barret in front, and Barret rammed the trucks front end into the display window in the front of the display area. It was made of thick glass and it read "Shinra Inc." It broke into large chunks as Barret ran through it with Cloud following close behind.
Their was another set of wide, carpet covered stairs ahead of them and Barret revved the engine in the truck so that he could make it up the incline. He stopped when he reached the top. In front of them was a huge pane of glass, and beyond it was the outside of the Headquarters. If there was a best way out, this was it.
Cloud pulled up next to Barret in his motorcycle and then stopped. They both looked at each other without saying a word. They knew what they had to do. Cloud smiled, and then crossed his fingers for good luck. He revved up the engine once more and then prepared for the worst.
Cloud gunned the engine with Barret close behind. His motorcycle smashed through the window and went flying high over the streets of Midgar. He could see hundreds of Shinra guards and flashing lights beneath him while he was airborne. It seemed like forever before his motorcycle slammed onto the highway road. He made sure to keep his foot on the pedal, and the bike hit the road with the wheels spinning. As soon as he had touched down he was riding.
Not far behind him Barret's truck smashed down onto the road. It skidded and the tires screeched as Barret struggled to regain control of it. As soon as he had he sped up to come to a short distance away from Cloud. They were headed down one of the main highways in Midgar that lead from the middle of the city to the outer wall. If they kept heading forward, they would eventually be able to make it out of the city. Cloud's plan had worked.
Behind him, Cloud could hear that Barret had made it safely. He could also hear other approaching vehicles. He immediately knew what it was. The mounted Shinra guards had gotten on their motorcycles and were pursuing them. He was going to be in for a hell of a fight.
He steered the motorcycle with one hand while he reached behind his back to grab his sword. Behind him, the first of the Shinra guards were approaching. He slammed on the brakes to shoot behind Barret's truck and then he brought it back up to speed again. Just as the first Shinra guard picked up speed to pass him on the left, he stuck his sword way out to his side and clothes-lined him. The guard fell off his bike and hit the road hard. The bike slammed into the highway divider and exploded, lighting up the night.
The other guards on motorcycles saw their companion and stayed a cautious distance away from Cloud. He was doing his best to keep them away from the truck, which had no defense against them. Each time he saw the opportunity, he closed in on a guard and used his sword to knock them off of their motorcycle. After a few of the guards had fallen, the others pulled away. They were cowards at heart, just like the one's he'd known when he was one of them.
He pulled up closer to the truck as the sounds of enemy motorcycles faded into the night. It didn't take long before they approached the end of the highway, and their gateway to freedom. Cloud pulled over on the side of the road, and so did Barret. Cloud got out to get a good look at what was around him.
The highway was elevated high above the rest of the city. He walked to the edge and looked down on the city beneath him. He really wasn't sad at all to be leaving it. Talking to Rufus somehow made him hate the Shinra and their city even more than he had before.
"What are we gonna do now, Cloud?" Barret asked as he stepped away from the truck.
Cloud turned around to face him. The night sky was filled with beautiful stars, and their light illuminated Barret's face, as did the road lights that lined the edges of the elevated highway.
"We're going to have to leave Midgar." Cloud replied. "This is more complicated than I thought it would be. Now that I know Sephiroth is alive, I'm going to have to find him. If you want, you can come with me. If you join me, I'll still give you my help in defeating the Shinra if that's still your goal."
"It is." Barret replied. "And I think we should stay together, so I'm willing to go after this Sephiroth guy with you, but I'm gonna need some answers."
Cloud nodded.
"I'll explain everything soon. Don't worry." He replied. He turned to look at the others. "Are the rest of you coming with me?"
"I will." Tifa replied. "I have a lot of reasons to see Sephiroth again myself. And I don't want to desert Barret after so long."
"I shall come with you all as well." Red XIII said. "I did not realize before that you were from Avalanche. I had been meaning to come in contact with you before I was captured by the Shinra. There is much help that I can give to you."
Aeris sighed and stared up at the sky.
"I'm involved now. It's my destiny to help the planet. I know that better than any of you could imagine. You'll need my help, and I'll want your company."
"Well I guess it's settled then." Cloud said. "Everyone follow me."
He walked over to the maintenance cable that hung down from the edge of the highway. The very edge extended beyond the extent of the city's perimeter, and Cloud used the cable to drop down to the outside. When he and the others had touched their feet to the ground, they were standing outside of Midgar.
"It fells kind of sad to leave." Barret said. "I've lived here for a long time."
"We have no choice, Barret." Cloud said. Things have gotten out of our control, and now it's time for us to figure out the answers to some things. There's a lot that I need to tell all of you about Sephiroth and why I'm so anxious to find him now that I know he's alive. Tifa and I will give you some history, so that we can clear things up a little."
"Where are we gonna go from here?" Aeris asked.
"I know a little town called Kalm that isn't far from here." Cloud replied. "I stayed there on night before I came to Midgar. It's pretty isolated and the Shinra have no presence there. We can rent a hotel and stay for the night, and Tifa and I will be able to fill everyone in on what's going on."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Barret replied. "I say we head for Kalm."
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Alright then. It seems as though we're all a pretty solid travelling party, so I think we should elect a "leader" before we head out." Cloud said.
"Well, " Barret began, with a slightly conceited smile on his face, "That should obviously be me."
"Actually, I think Cloud should be our leader." Tifa said. "No offense to Barret or anything."
"Yeah, I agree with Tifa." Aeris said.
Barret looked a little angry, but it quickly faded.
"Alright fine." He said, defeated. "Cloud's our leader then."
Cloud smiled and nodded.
"Thank you everyone." He said. "Now let's move out."
They got everything together, and prepared themselves for the long journey ahead. They were leaving the comfort of a contained city and were heading out into a dangerous world. They really had no idea where they were really going, other than in the short term, and they had no idea how much responsibility they were taking into their hands.
Behind them lay the safety of home. Before them lay the uncertainty of the future. Together, five people delved into a world of which they knew little, and in which they had much to discover. Armed only with their curiosity and their ambition, they traveled in the night toward their destinies.
Around them, the world slept in the peaceful dead of night. The air was saturated with a tangible feeling of dread, as though a remarkable turn of events had taken place in just one night. Everything in nature could feel the unusual tension. A new chapter had been opened, and the course of the world had made an unexpected turn.
Somewhere in the distance a wolf howled at the moon. Even the constant change of the moon, in all its shining glory, offered more solace than the feeling that was in the air that night. Cloud could hear the wolf's unearthly howl as the two stared at the same moon. His heart was filled with dread, and a part of him wondered if the animal felt the same way. The thought stayed in his mind as he walked forward into the face of his own destiny. Above him, far beyond the insignificant planet on which he stood, the stars shined brightly with the fire of all eternity.