CHAPTER 2
BARFIGHT!!!!
Cloud stood stunned. He shook his head, unable to believe what he was seeing. It couldn't be, by
all logic. Yet here it was. Standing in front of him, only a few yards away was Reno of the turks. Reno
fixed him with a heavy gaze. No emotion penetrated those eyes. Who knew what those eyes had seen. As
he stared at Cloud though, that gaze seemed to bore into Clouds soul, almost, with its burning stare. The
bar patrons all fell silent, and watched. As Cloud stood there, he felt himself weakening. NO! He said to
himself. I'm too strong to become unnerved in a moment of danger like this. Cloud found the strength
deep within himself, the strength which he had found only on his recent travels, which even remained a
mystery to him at times. His gaze, no longer startled by this ghost from the past, began to slowly sculpt
itself into a gaze, not unlike this man who seemed so much, to be Reno. The silence continued. Not even
the wind dared interrupt this sudden clash of wills, as the two opponents stared each other down. It was
long moments before, finally the silence was broken. It was not Cloud, nor Reno, ho broke the silence,
but a senile looking old man, who had wasted away in this bar. He whispered quietly to a fellow bar
patron who sat across from him. The other man responded, and soon, voices began to chip in. It was mere
minutes before the first catcall was made.
"Quit standin' there and fight!" came a drunken voice.
Bets were being made around the room. Slowly, from the corners, the red haired apparition began his
crawling walk towards Cloud. It took him almost a minute to bring himself face to face with the silver
haired Cloud. The two stared at each other, mere inches from one another, before the first blow was
flung. A gloved hand had come up, and hit Cloud's thin face The blow was countered with a swift kick
that, despite Cloud's closeness to Reno, hit the red haired man squarely in the jaw. Reno fell backwards
to the floor, but within moments up-righted himself. Cloud was already coming his way with a brutal
punch, but Reno, with inhuman reflexes managed to catch Cloud's arm, and twist it around. He viciously
twisted on Cloud's arm, until he suddenly found himself being lifted off of his feet, as Cloud began to flip
him over his shoulder. Surprised, Reno let go of Cloud's arm, and landed on the bar room floor with a
deafening thud. But even that blow hardly seemed to phase Reno, as he jumped to his feet, and began
throwing punches skilled furiously at Cloud. A few moments later, Cloud was knocked through the wall
of the building. Cloud began to pull himself off of the street, but already there was Reno. The man
reached down, and grabbed Cloud with suited arm. His arm twisted around Clouds neck, and held him in
a headlock that was so skillfully held, that even the strongest would have a hard time breaking the grip.
Reno kicked Cloud's legs out from under him, and, as Cloud dropped to the floor, Reno's arm squeezed
into Cloud's throat. A grim chuckle came from Reno.
"So, you thought you could come back, huh?"
His knee came up into Cloud's back hard.
"Wasn't the first time enough?"
Now Cloud was becoming confused. What first time?
"Where'd you get the nerve to show up here, murderer?"
Murderer? What was he talking about. The world began to spin under Reno's grip.
"Where'd you get the nerve…coming back from the dead?"
Now Cloud was completely lost. Back from the dead? What had that meant. It was so hard to
think, if the world would just stop spinning though….
"What're you doing here….you little Jenova bastard?"
Reno let up on his grip just a bit. He wanted a response. As the world began swimming into
focus, realization began to dawn on Cloud. Jenova? His eyes widened. He thinks I'm…
Summoning on the strength once again, Cloud let a out a roar of rage, and somehow, through the
confusion, and the world spinning, found the strength to jump into the air, and turn, just slightly
backwards.
Reno let out a sharp cry, as Cloud smashed his one free arm on Reno's chest, with all of Cloud's
mass behind the blow. The air flew from his lungs. Cloud drew in precious oxygen, and the world
returned to him. He stood up, and stared down at the incapacitated Reno. He brought his foot around, and
slammed it as hard as he could into Reno's chest. Reno cried out in pain, as the kick snapped two of his
ribs. Cloud cringed on the inside. It wasn't that he wanted to hurt Reno that much, but he had to make
sure that Reno wouldn't be coming after him for a long while. Cloud sighed, and headed back for the bar.
As he did, he realized there was no door. He looked at the wall confused, only to realize that Reno had
knocked him through the back wall. Seeing that the hole in the wall was five feet up, and cloud certainly
didn't feel like climbing that, he walked around to the front.
As he entered the bar, the patrons stared at him. Some with admiration, some with confusion,
some with blank drunken stare, and of course, some with fear. He stepped over the two bodies of Reno's
companions, and, giving the other bar patrons a cold stare, sat down at the barstool he had been at. He sat,
and waited for the adrenaline to stop pulsing through his veins. As conversation returned to the bar room,
he realized that something wasn't right though. He didn't know what though. Then he realized that it was
a noise. He quickly began blocking out noises of the bar room. Then he heard it distinctly. Chanting.
Chanting in the ancient language of the Cetra. As the chanting stopped, words silently left Cloud's lips.
"shit!", and the only words of the incantation that were not of the Cetra language were spoken.
"FIRE 3!"
The entire back wall of the bar erupted into flames. A few bits of fire flew through the whole in
the wall, and showered the bar with lames. Several patrons were killed from the flying flames. They
would be later considered the lucky ones. As the fire quickly spread across the bar, the patrons rushed for
the door. But in their drunken frenzy, they began stumbling over each other, and their efforts proved
futile. Reno had, almost magically, appeared in front of the door, already chanting another Cetra spell.
As cloud rose from his stool, with a firm resolve, he almost dashed to stop Reno. But if he were to
accomplish his goal here, a goal on which many more lives may depend. He must hurry, and so the
patrons' fates were sealed. Every last one of them would die. As the long chanting finished, Reno opened
his eyes, which were now glowing red. An almost wicked smile came over his face. This time he did not
shout out the spell-name, but whispered it, the evil grin never leaving his face.
"flare."
This time, no walls of the bar erupted in flame. This time it was the bar, and nearly every building
in front of Reno. As the orange and red flames swirled around the bar, Cloud knew that he could not help
the patrons now. They would die slowly in the magical fire, as would many more tonight. He almost fell
to the floor in grief, but once again, he pulled from that power source, deep within, and managed to step
forward, crouch to the ground, and began trying to undo the latch on the floor. It came open with relative
ease. Before him lay a path down to the hidden parts of the bar, where all were forbidden to go. All
except for Cloud of course. As he stepped down the stairwell . He came to a dank pathway. Fungus
dripped from it's moist ceiling. Spiders skittered here and there. Knowing he was short on time, Cloud
hurried forward. As he ran through, he was surprised to see how much life was down in that cellar.
Spiders snakes, and other creatures far more dangerous littered the hallway. But as Cloud pressed on in
grim determination, he realized when he had reached his goal. It was where all of the life began to turn
into death.
Instead of snakes and spiders, only skeletons were found down here. Even the fungus had failed to
thrive this far down the path. Even he, who should have been immune to the spell cast over the corridor,
felt something pulling on him, wanting his flesh. He shivered, wanting with all of his heart to turn away,
and walk back, but he knew he had to press on. After several minutes of slow walking, he found the
source of the evil field. It was a long thin box, made of wood, with the finest black leather coating it.
Upon the front, were several runes. Cloud recognized them on sight. They were the runes which cast this
spell of the death field. They were the very runes he had made of silver and lodged in the box himself,
many years ago. They were to guard the valuable treasure that was in the box. As he stepped closer,
though, he realized he may have made the spell too well. It was going to keep him out. As he came
within inches of it, he reached a gloved hand out. As he did, gashes on his arm and hand began opening
themselves. He winced with pain, but continued. As he finally touched the runes, the skin on his arm
began to peel away. He screamed with the pain, knowing that if anyone was still alive above him, they
couldn't hear him down here. Bringing forth the incantation he had memorized, he chanted it out loudly.
As he did, his skin stopped peeling, and the pain and death surrounding him began to fade. He sighed
with relief. He lifted the box from its pedestal, and looked at it reverently. He motioned to open it, but
stopped. He had almost forgotten what was going on in the town. He had seen Reno's eyes, and had
known right there that Reno was crazy. He had seen that look before, only once. It was a look on
Sephiroth's face. It was the look of one who kills without regret. Cloud HAD to return to the town, and
save as much of it and its people as he could. He sighed, tucked the box under his arm, and dashed back
down the corridor. Jumping past snakes, and spiders, boundfats and hedgehog-pies, he made his way back
to the hatch under the bar. As he lifted it, a most horrific sight greeted him. The bar had been burned
down completely. He could now see outside. The entire town was on fire, people were running
screaming everywhere. As he stared, he reaized that the light that flickered came only from the flames.
He gaped in horror, as he came out of the cellar to be sure. Even as the figure to his right saw him, and
began chanting the Cetra language, Cloud was filled with disgust. The sun had set. He had been in the
corridor for hours. Reno had had his way with the town for hours. As he slowly turned to face the town,
the voice to his right shouted out.
"COMET!"
BARFIGHT!!!!
Cloud stood stunned. He shook his head, unable to believe what he was seeing. It couldn't be, by
all logic. Yet here it was. Standing in front of him, only a few yards away was Reno of the turks. Reno
fixed him with a heavy gaze. No emotion penetrated those eyes. Who knew what those eyes had seen. As
he stared at Cloud though, that gaze seemed to bore into Clouds soul, almost, with its burning stare. The
bar patrons all fell silent, and watched. As Cloud stood there, he felt himself weakening. NO! He said to
himself. I'm too strong to become unnerved in a moment of danger like this. Cloud found the strength
deep within himself, the strength which he had found only on his recent travels, which even remained a
mystery to him at times. His gaze, no longer startled by this ghost from the past, began to slowly sculpt
itself into a gaze, not unlike this man who seemed so much, to be Reno. The silence continued. Not even
the wind dared interrupt this sudden clash of wills, as the two opponents stared each other down. It was
long moments before, finally the silence was broken. It was not Cloud, nor Reno, ho broke the silence,
but a senile looking old man, who had wasted away in this bar. He whispered quietly to a fellow bar
patron who sat across from him. The other man responded, and soon, voices began to chip in. It was mere
minutes before the first catcall was made.
"Quit standin' there and fight!" came a drunken voice.
Bets were being made around the room. Slowly, from the corners, the red haired apparition began his
crawling walk towards Cloud. It took him almost a minute to bring himself face to face with the silver
haired Cloud. The two stared at each other, mere inches from one another, before the first blow was
flung. A gloved hand had come up, and hit Cloud's thin face The blow was countered with a swift kick
that, despite Cloud's closeness to Reno, hit the red haired man squarely in the jaw. Reno fell backwards
to the floor, but within moments up-righted himself. Cloud was already coming his way with a brutal
punch, but Reno, with inhuman reflexes managed to catch Cloud's arm, and twist it around. He viciously
twisted on Cloud's arm, until he suddenly found himself being lifted off of his feet, as Cloud began to flip
him over his shoulder. Surprised, Reno let go of Cloud's arm, and landed on the bar room floor with a
deafening thud. But even that blow hardly seemed to phase Reno, as he jumped to his feet, and began
throwing punches skilled furiously at Cloud. A few moments later, Cloud was knocked through the wall
of the building. Cloud began to pull himself off of the street, but already there was Reno. The man
reached down, and grabbed Cloud with suited arm. His arm twisted around Clouds neck, and held him in
a headlock that was so skillfully held, that even the strongest would have a hard time breaking the grip.
Reno kicked Cloud's legs out from under him, and, as Cloud dropped to the floor, Reno's arm squeezed
into Cloud's throat. A grim chuckle came from Reno.
"So, you thought you could come back, huh?"
His knee came up into Cloud's back hard.
"Wasn't the first time enough?"
Now Cloud was becoming confused. What first time?
"Where'd you get the nerve to show up here, murderer?"
Murderer? What was he talking about. The world began to spin under Reno's grip.
"Where'd you get the nerve…coming back from the dead?"
Now Cloud was completely lost. Back from the dead? What had that meant. It was so hard to
think, if the world would just stop spinning though….
"What're you doing here….you little Jenova bastard?"
Reno let up on his grip just a bit. He wanted a response. As the world began swimming into
focus, realization began to dawn on Cloud. Jenova? His eyes widened. He thinks I'm…
Summoning on the strength once again, Cloud let a out a roar of rage, and somehow, through the
confusion, and the world spinning, found the strength to jump into the air, and turn, just slightly
backwards.
Reno let out a sharp cry, as Cloud smashed his one free arm on Reno's chest, with all of Cloud's
mass behind the blow. The air flew from his lungs. Cloud drew in precious oxygen, and the world
returned to him. He stood up, and stared down at the incapacitated Reno. He brought his foot around, and
slammed it as hard as he could into Reno's chest. Reno cried out in pain, as the kick snapped two of his
ribs. Cloud cringed on the inside. It wasn't that he wanted to hurt Reno that much, but he had to make
sure that Reno wouldn't be coming after him for a long while. Cloud sighed, and headed back for the bar.
As he did, he realized there was no door. He looked at the wall confused, only to realize that Reno had
knocked him through the back wall. Seeing that the hole in the wall was five feet up, and cloud certainly
didn't feel like climbing that, he walked around to the front.
As he entered the bar, the patrons stared at him. Some with admiration, some with confusion,
some with blank drunken stare, and of course, some with fear. He stepped over the two bodies of Reno's
companions, and, giving the other bar patrons a cold stare, sat down at the barstool he had been at. He sat,
and waited for the adrenaline to stop pulsing through his veins. As conversation returned to the bar room,
he realized that something wasn't right though. He didn't know what though. Then he realized that it was
a noise. He quickly began blocking out noises of the bar room. Then he heard it distinctly. Chanting.
Chanting in the ancient language of the Cetra. As the chanting stopped, words silently left Cloud's lips.
"shit!", and the only words of the incantation that were not of the Cetra language were spoken.
"FIRE 3!"
The entire back wall of the bar erupted into flames. A few bits of fire flew through the whole in
the wall, and showered the bar with lames. Several patrons were killed from the flying flames. They
would be later considered the lucky ones. As the fire quickly spread across the bar, the patrons rushed for
the door. But in their drunken frenzy, they began stumbling over each other, and their efforts proved
futile. Reno had, almost magically, appeared in front of the door, already chanting another Cetra spell.
As cloud rose from his stool, with a firm resolve, he almost dashed to stop Reno. But if he were to
accomplish his goal here, a goal on which many more lives may depend. He must hurry, and so the
patrons' fates were sealed. Every last one of them would die. As the long chanting finished, Reno opened
his eyes, which were now glowing red. An almost wicked smile came over his face. This time he did not
shout out the spell-name, but whispered it, the evil grin never leaving his face.
"flare."
This time, no walls of the bar erupted in flame. This time it was the bar, and nearly every building
in front of Reno. As the orange and red flames swirled around the bar, Cloud knew that he could not help
the patrons now. They would die slowly in the magical fire, as would many more tonight. He almost fell
to the floor in grief, but once again, he pulled from that power source, deep within, and managed to step
forward, crouch to the ground, and began trying to undo the latch on the floor. It came open with relative
ease. Before him lay a path down to the hidden parts of the bar, where all were forbidden to go. All
except for Cloud of course. As he stepped down the stairwell . He came to a dank pathway. Fungus
dripped from it's moist ceiling. Spiders skittered here and there. Knowing he was short on time, Cloud
hurried forward. As he ran through, he was surprised to see how much life was down in that cellar.
Spiders snakes, and other creatures far more dangerous littered the hallway. But as Cloud pressed on in
grim determination, he realized when he had reached his goal. It was where all of the life began to turn
into death.
Instead of snakes and spiders, only skeletons were found down here. Even the fungus had failed to
thrive this far down the path. Even he, who should have been immune to the spell cast over the corridor,
felt something pulling on him, wanting his flesh. He shivered, wanting with all of his heart to turn away,
and walk back, but he knew he had to press on. After several minutes of slow walking, he found the
source of the evil field. It was a long thin box, made of wood, with the finest black leather coating it.
Upon the front, were several runes. Cloud recognized them on sight. They were the runes which cast this
spell of the death field. They were the very runes he had made of silver and lodged in the box himself,
many years ago. They were to guard the valuable treasure that was in the box. As he stepped closer,
though, he realized he may have made the spell too well. It was going to keep him out. As he came
within inches of it, he reached a gloved hand out. As he did, gashes on his arm and hand began opening
themselves. He winced with pain, but continued. As he finally touched the runes, the skin on his arm
began to peel away. He screamed with the pain, knowing that if anyone was still alive above him, they
couldn't hear him down here. Bringing forth the incantation he had memorized, he chanted it out loudly.
As he did, his skin stopped peeling, and the pain and death surrounding him began to fade. He sighed
with relief. He lifted the box from its pedestal, and looked at it reverently. He motioned to open it, but
stopped. He had almost forgotten what was going on in the town. He had seen Reno's eyes, and had
known right there that Reno was crazy. He had seen that look before, only once. It was a look on
Sephiroth's face. It was the look of one who kills without regret. Cloud HAD to return to the town, and
save as much of it and its people as he could. He sighed, tucked the box under his arm, and dashed back
down the corridor. Jumping past snakes, and spiders, boundfats and hedgehog-pies, he made his way back
to the hatch under the bar. As he lifted it, a most horrific sight greeted him. The bar had been burned
down completely. He could now see outside. The entire town was on fire, people were running
screaming everywhere. As he stared, he reaized that the light that flickered came only from the flames.
He gaped in horror, as he came out of the cellar to be sure. Even as the figure to his right saw him, and
began chanting the Cetra language, Cloud was filled with disgust. The sun had set. He had been in the
corridor for hours. Reno had had his way with the town for hours. As he slowly turned to face the town,
the voice to his right shouted out.
"COMET!"