Okay, so there's very little new to be seen, here. In fact, it seems
to be just the old story rehashed and altered a whole bunch. Bingo, buddy.
That's EXACTLY what it is. What we have, here, is a quick recap and lead-
in to the real story.
Let me explain. A friend and I got to talking about FF7 (naturally), and what we liked and didn't like about it. "They shouldn't have done this," and "They should have done that," were the basic run of the conversation. Before long, we had some very good ideas as to how we might actually rewrite the story of FF7. You'll find some rather unusual changes, and some that you can see coming a good mile off. In any case, them's the basics of it.
Now for the disclaimer: Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, Sephiroth (booNAAAAH!), and all other associated characters, places, and cheesy concepts "are belong to Square." Quite frankly, aside from some key points, which any FF7 fan would recognize, the plot itself belongs to that fine fine company who would never sue the likes of me or mine, because they're so very nice, and I have no money. Really. *look around*
Also, I would like to say that anything I was inaccurate about that has to do with the layout of places, or the exact lines, I don't honestly care. I'm not obsessed, or anything. If you are, that's your business. Go and wank off to your Tifa poster, or whatever. No, I'm just kidding. Read this, since my friend and I worked so very hard on it. THEN go wank off. Go on. You have my permission.
You are entering the What If zone. . .
**************************************************************************** ********************
In the Beginning
by Master Telanis and Ree-chan the Great
"Cell-code: Wutai. Begin Log, Open Entry. Year 3250, Day 178."
"So this's where it ends, for me. I don't know just how much time I have left, how long until I just. . . bleed out, here on the floor. Well, let me tell you, I'm more than a little pissed at the current situation. It's not the fact that I'm dying that makes me angry. In truth, I've been prepared for the eventuality my entire life. No, it's the very basic fact that the same man who did this to me is now loose somewhere within the temple. Sephiroth.
"He's loose, and it looks as though he's won, unless someone can stop him. Avalanche, I think, is our last hope. Rufus Shinra talks big, but he's just as big an idiot as I've been. Yeah, it's Avalanche or nothing, I guess. I almost hate to admit it, but they've become such major players in all of this, and I honestly believe that they have a chance, no matter how small.
"Cloud Strife, Aeris Gainsborough, Barret Wallace, Tifa Lockheart, Reeve, and the rest. . . it all started with Barret, though. It started with Avalanche.
"They began as a simple thorn in the President's side, putting up anti-Shinra flyers, warnings against the overuse of Mako energy. Then, they crossed over into the big-leagues with an admittedly unexpected assault on Mako Reactor One in Midgar. For this, Barret hired a young man named Cloud Strife, who, we have come to understand, has some sort of past connection with Sephiroth. Barret and Cloud blew the reactor, which, of course, irked Shinra to no end. Then, they made a mistake. The very next day, they tried to take Reactor Five. They succeeded, but, due to some inordinately devious planning on the President's part, it almost cost them their lives.
"President Shinra had underestimated them, however, and they escaped the trap he'd set. According to Reno, Cloud then hooked up with Aeris, and became her personal bodyguard. Reno, along with a few troops, attempted to apprehend the pair, but Cloud proved to be surprisingly resourceful, and they eluded him.
"Aeris. . . She's just one of the regrets I have. I wish I had ignored her presence, all those years ago, and left her in peace. Instead, as per my employer's wishes, I turned her over to Professor Hojo for study. She escaped, though, and I was glad. Cloud had better take good care of her.
"In any case, after that, Avalanche kind of dropped from Shinra's radar for a day or so. During that time, there were reports of a disturbance in Don Corneo's mansion, but they went unconfirmed, as the Don mysteriously left town the same night. President Shinra didn't read anything into this, but the general consensus among Reno, Rude, and myself was that he'd spilled his guts to someone from Avalanche about Shinra's plans to destroy the Sector Seven slums, and had feared retribution. He'd been right to do so. Reno and I, we were hopping mad.
"I think I should explain something, here. It takes quite a lot to gain the respect of a Turk. I guess it's because of all the SOLDIERs we've helped to create, and all of the extraordinary people we've met, and, yes, corrupted. Also, being a Turk simply gives one a feeling of being "above it all," I think, and that probably contributes to it, as well. In any case, we had both chalked all of Avalanche's successes up to dumb luck, up until that point, which, I imagine, was probably the truth. You don't pull off the kind of stunts they had without Lady Luck on your side. We were full of contempt, and more than a little angry that they'd gotten so far on luck alone.
"So, while I was a little unhappy about the innocent lives which would be lost through the destruction of the pillar, I was all for it. Crush the bastards. Drop the sky on 'em. When they showed up at the pillar itself, I, having recently recaptured Aeris, was livid. Reno, having the luxury of being on the ground, attacked them. Three members of Avalanche fell, and fell hard. I was ecstatic. Barret was well on his way to becoming the fourth when Cloud and Tifa joined the fight. They fought Reno back, and, to this day, he still insists that the "sun got in his eyes." Yeah, sure, man. All that sun under the Sector Seven plate. As he backed off, I had the pilot of the chopper I was currently riding fly in closer. I did my best to unnerve Cloud, Tifa and Barret, but I think I came off as a raving lunatic. I was trying too hard. The reason was simple, really.
"I'd had a sudden taste of what I'd been doing my damnedest to overlook up until that point: these guys were tough, at least in battle. This was something Reno refused to see, and Rude, being Rude, simply saw whatever it was his employers wanted him to see. This doesn't come from any weak-mindedness on his part, but he's got this mindset which dictates that it's simplest for all concerned to just agree with Shinra.
"Well, the remaining members of Avalanche escaped with barely a moment to spare, and the slums were crushed, pointlessly.
"Not long after, the trio mounted an attack on the Shinra building, itself. Their purpose was not to destroy it, though. Instead, they were there to find Aeris. Find her they did, and Aeris, Cloud, Barret, and Tifa almost made it out again, with another specimen from Hojo's lab, a cat of some sort, but Rude and I stopped them at the elevators. I considered letting them go. I still wish I had. We took them up to see the President.
"Shinra, the stupid jerk, pretty much told them everything he'd had planned - I've seen movies where the over-confident villain loses because of this inability to keep his trap shut - and then sent them to the holding cells on the sixty-seventh floor. He told them about how he thought Aeris was the key to some mystical "Promised Land" he kept yammering on about. Then, he sent them to await execution. I had really come to not like this guy, by the way.
"Then, he called Reno, Rude, and myself to his office, and told us we were to go out and train a new Turk. Elena. We were to take her to Sector Six, and teach her about all the stuff we do. You know, all about flunkying. So we did. We got back, and the President was dead. We'd been gone maybe a day. Suddenly, Rufus, the former President's son, was in charge, and he was exactly like his father. It turns out that a man named Sephiroth, who'd been a SOLDIER, not too long ago, and had been presumed dead, had turned up, slaughtered everyone on the upper levels, and made off with the Jenova project, which, by the way, I'd never heard of until that day. In the aftermath of Sephiroth's attack, Cloud and the rest had escaped from Midgar altogether.
"To make a long story a little shorter, there was no sign of Avalanche for several days. Meanwhile, we Turks, including Elena, were sent on Sephiroth's trail. I'll say one thing for Rufus, no matter his motives and methods, he had his priorities straight. Sephy was big and bad, even before he went nuts, or so I've heard. He had to be stopped.
"It was sheer coincidence that we met up with Cloud and his friends in the Mythril mines, which had been marked as a part of Sephiroth's route in a very obvious manner. Between the mines and Midgar, there is a marshy area, which is home to some very large, and very dangerous, snakes. They are called Midgar Zoloms. One of them had been impaled on a tree. We pretty much assumed that Sephiroth wanted us to follow him. Damned if I know why. After a brief conference with Rufus, via cell phone, we took the bait. It was near the other side of the mountains that we met up with Avalanche. Elena had half a mind to fight them, but I knew they were small potatoes, now. They didn't matter. What mattered was finding Sephiroth, and regaining Jenova. I also intended to find out just what he was up to. I'm willing to bet a lot of money that that was Reno's plan, too.
"After Elena let slip about where Sephiroth was headed, Rufus assumed that Avalanche would turn up in Junon, so he planned a visit there, hoping to capture the group himself. How they got past him is beyond me, but the next any of us heard of him, they had fought Jenova, and won - they went up on a notch on the Respectometer for that one, let me tell you - on the very ship that Rufus was riding, and he'd never known until much later.
"In Costa del Sol, they again avoided being seen, and, the next any of us heard of them, they'd popped up in the Gold Saucer. This is the one and only time I've seen Rufus actually do anything that resembled intelligent. He'd had an executive planted there years earlier, masquerading as a clown and fortune-teller named Cait Sith. Cait Sith was, in actuality, a robot controlled by Reeve, head of Urban Development in Midgar. He managed to get Cloud to bring him along on their. . . well, I guess it's amounted to a mission, now, hasn't it? He was a little hesitant to do so, which is when I began to wonder just how trustworthy he was, but, under direct orders from Rufus, he finally agreed. He has been acting as an informant for us since then. It's from him that we found out about the newcomer to Avalanche. Yuffie Kisaragi, although none of us knew just where they'd picked her up. Their numbers had increased by one, if you didn't count "Cait Sith."
"In the Saucer, there was an incident involving a man with a gun-arm. Heidegger, my direct superior, was hopeful that Barret would take out Cloud and the rest for us. Heidegger always has been a fool. Even I could see that Barret, while a little unstable, would never murder anyone in cold- blood. Not on purpose, anyway. Well, the man who DID slaughter all those people, Dyne, by name, died, and Cloud and company went on their merry way.
"Well, not long after, Reno and Rude had a run-in with them in the jungle surrounding the town of Gongaga. Reno and Rude were beaten, and retreated. Naturally. Not a few minutes later, I arrived with Scarlet, indulging her in a rather strange job she'd been given. She was supposed to find some really big, huge materia for some sort of super-weapon. The concept of Shinra having possession of anything they'd call a "super- weapon" was chilling to me. I'm pretty sure I was never meant to know about that, though. Lucky thing, I guess, that Scarlet can no more keep her trap shut than Elena or Rufus's late pop. Heidegger hadn't told me, or, presumably, any of the other Turks about it, and that disturbed me a little. Shinra had begun keeping secrets from us. Why, though? Even now, it's still something I can't figure out.
"While Scarlet and I were flitting around in our little helicopter, Avalanche was apparently trotting the globe, because the next I heard of them, they'd found Sephiroth. . . And then lost him again. In Nibelheim, they'd found him in the basement laboratory of the Shinra mansion, where they'd also picked up an unusual fellow - a man of very few words - who goes by the name Vincent. Odd, very odd. Apparently has the ability to shape-change, and is a dead-shot with a gun. Any kind of gun. Has a very severe case of pink-eye, too. From there, they followed Sephy through the caves of Mt. Nibel. Unfortunately, they were unable to catch up to him, due to a slight altercation that came in the form of one of Nibel's meaner denizens.
"It was during this update, courtesy of Reeve, himself - Heidegger and the rest had taken to keeping us on a strict need-to-know system, which consisted of not telling us a damned thing besides what was already blatantly obvious - that I, and, by way of me, the rest of the Turks, became aware that Rufus knew where Sephiroth was headed, and planned to go after him himself. Now, I may not like the guy, but what he was planning was suicide. Elena was all for going after Sephy ourselves, and, for the first time, I was inclined to agree with her. When I did, she puffed up even more, if that's possible. Poor girl. Reno agreed whole-heartedly, but I think it was because he's wanted a crack at Sephy since the beginning. Rude didn't agree in the least, though. He felt that it wasn't our problem, and that we should just follow orders. Keep on Cloud's trail. This would have been the smart thing to do, but I reminded him that our orders also covered keeping after Sephiroth, and, until we were told otherwise, those orders still stood. I'm well-aware that Heidegger, Rufus, and the rest had probably just forgotten to take us off Sephy-Watch, but they can go take a flying ^#&^ at a rolling doughnut.
"Rude, though, being the rule-monger he was, phoned in to Heidegger, and actually got him to give us the order. He actually told us what we were trying to retrieve from Sephiroth's new destination, and that we were to make sure he didn't get to it. How Baldy accomplished this is just another mystery in a long string of mysteries, to me, but who am I to question? I should have questioned. I didn't, though, simply because I was too anxious to get back in on the action to think through what was happening: we'd just gotten permission from our boss to go into direct conflict with Sephiroth, completely unprepared. It was every bit as stupid as what Rufus meant to do.
"I can't even chalk it up to stupidity, in light of what else Heidegger told us. He told us about the Keystone which would be necessary to enter. He didn't know where it was, however. I checked with Reeve, whom I'd pretty much kept in contact with for several days. What can I say? The guy's honest. I told him the truth, really. . . I wanted to get the Keystone before either Rufus or Cloud did. As a Turk, I was obligated to take care of my employer, no matter how much of a putz he might be. Cloud was a different matter. I'd come to like that group, but I still thought that, if they went up against Sephiroth as things were, they'd die painfully. Cloud would die, and so would the rest. Reeve agreed with me - he'd taken a liking to them, himself - and assured me that I'd be the person he called, if and when they got ahold of the Keystone. Until then, there wasn't much we could do, besides let Reno, Rude, and Elena cool their heels a bit, while I zipped all over the goddamn place with Scarlet, looking for a type of materia, which, as far as I knew, didn't even exist. I strongly suspect that she was just using it as an excuse to be around me. I'd shudder if I wasn't getting so weak.
"A few days later, I got a message from Reeve. Luckily, it was at a time when Scarlet had to make a quick stop at the Shinra building. She was out of the chopper, when it came through on my cell. Cloud and his friends had found the Keystone. They were at the Gold Saucer. I was glad enough to hear the full story. . . after the chopper was back in the air, leaving that &#^&^, Scarlet, back at headquarters.
"Apparently, Dio, the owner of the Saucer, had recently acquired it, and then he gave it to Cloud, who, through some minor miracle, had managed to fight his way through eight powerful monsters in something called Battle Square. Reeve, as Cait Sith, had been off on his own, shortly after, and had, in a maneuver that was amazing in its simplicity, cut the power to the tram which carried people to and from Corel, leaving them stranded in the Saucer for the night. All he had to do was wait for an opportunity to present itself, and he'd have the Keystone, ready to be passed on. I was to meet him outside the Chocobo Races. He'd toss the Keystone up to me, and, within moments, there would be no sign of any of what had just transpired. Amazing. That's the way it should have happened, anyway.
"As I neared the Saucer, my phone rang. I picked up, and Reeve's voice said, "Things have gone a little off." He explained that Cait Sith was currently being chased through the Gold Saucer by Cloud and Aeris, and that there was no way to get the stone to me without their knowledge. I told him it didn't matter in the least, so long as he got the damned thing to me. I was sorry to lose my only connection to that group, but this was far more important. When I arrived, Cait Sith was there, with the stone, and Cloud and Aeris running toward him. I had the pilot swoop in low (I hope I didn't get the poor guy fired over this, or worse. . .) and Cait's cave moogle heaved the stone up to me. I caught it, barely, but it was close. Even as I was struggling to hold onto it, I was yelling at the pilot to get us the hell out of there. He did so quite well. I called up Reno immediately, and told him I was coming to pick him, Rude, and Elena up, and we were going to the temple TONIGHT.
"That was earlier. . . By now, it must be pretty-near dawn outside, although I couldn't say for sure. I've dialed up Reeve a couple times, now, but he hasn't picked up. I can only hope it's because he's either busy, or just left his cell somewhere. If Shinra were to find out about half the stuff he's told me, they would likely have him killed.
"I guess I haven't really explained why I'm bleeding to death at the entrance to the temple, have I? Well, suffice it to say, Sephiroth showed up, not too far behind us, and I was no match for him. Reno, Rude, and Elena were lucky enough not to be around when it happened. I had no idea he'd become that powerful. . . I guess I'm getting my just desserts for all the shitty things I've done for Shinra. I can only hope that Cloud and Aeris are able to stop him, before he does something worse. What could be worse than killing innocents, you ask?
"Well, that thing that Heidegger told us we were to keep Sephiroth from getting. . . it's the Meteor materia. It's jet-black, and it can summon a gigantic meteor to destroy the Planet. It's somewhere deep within the Temple of the Ancients, and, now, so is Sephiroth. C'mon, you guys, hurry. Stop him before it's too late. . .
"Cell-code: Wutai. End Log."
* * *
Aeris stopped at the archway preceding the Temple's steps, and everyone else followed suit. Cid piped up from the back, saying, "Y'mean we gotta go in there? That's *#^@*! stupid! I ain't goin' in!"
Tifa turned to look at him, and, seeing that he looked a little pale, began to make her way toward the back. When she'd made it to the Captain, she asked in a low voice, "Are you claustrophobic?"
"Nah," he mumbled, "I'm just used to the air. Underground just ain't what I'm good for."
She smiled gently. "I thought it was something like that." Without waiting for another response, she turned back to face the others, and called up to Cloud, "Cid thinks it'd be a good idea for him to stay out here. You know, keep an eye out for Shinra's people."
Cloud paused, then nodded, and said, "Barret, Cait Sith, Red, you guys stay out here, too. I'll keep the PHS on. You guys got your receivers?"
"I sure do, Cloud!" Cait replied enthusiastically.
Nanaki nodded, but said nothing.
Barret just grumbled, which everyone else took to be an affirmative. Tifa didn't blame him. He was being left outside with the two Shinra employees. Well, one employee, and one ex-employee. But she did trust the pair, and hoped this would help the veteran Avalanche member to do the same.
Cloud called, "Everyone else ready to go?" Hearing no protest of the idea, he turned and asked Aeris, "Ready?"
"Definitely, Cloud." She looked up at him with those huge eyes of hers, and Tifa thought she could cheerfully have throttled the girl. She also wondered how Aeris could seem to be "looking up" at him, when she was the taller of the two, but she did. When they began to ascend the steps, she considered running up beside the pair, but decided against it. This left her in the back, behind Vincent and Yuffie.
The materia hunter and the ex-Turk contrasted each other so completely it was amazing. Yuffie was full of youthful energy, while Vincent didn't appear to care what they did. The original odd couple.
And Aeris seemed torn between the connection she had with the Temple of the Ancients, and staring at Cloud. And Cloud stared back. And Tifa ground her teeth.
At the top, a figure in a black cloak appeared, and prostrated himself on the top step, next to the door. Cloud tried to talk to it, but it simply disappeared. Sephiroth was near, then.
Aeris was the first through the door at the top, and Tifa heard her gasp. Cloud was through in a flash, followed by Vincent and Yuffie and, finally, Tifa, herself.
The scene which greeted them wasn't terrible, but neither was it promising. Aeris was stooped over a slumped figure beside an altar in the center of the room. In the darkness, it took her a moment to identify the man as Tseng of the Turks, but when she did, she considered going over and socking him one. Then it dawned on her that someone already had. His formerly white shirt was now quite red, and Aeris was shaking him. He seemed to be dead, already.
Suddenly, his head rose, and he said, "You made it." It was unclear just who he was talking to, but Cloud answered.
"Of course."
Aeris asked, "What happened to you?" She sounded quite worried.
Tseng laughed bitterly. "What happened? I'll tell you what happened. Sephiroth happened. We were told by Rufus that Sephiroth was just looking for the Promised Land. He's not. I've been had." He struggled to his feet, leaning hard on the altar, but his legs gave out and he slid back to the floor. He groaned. "What he's looking for is in this temple, somewhere. The black materia. He's looking for the black materia, and, when he finds it, I think we're all in trouble."
"What do you mean?" asked Tifa.
"There's no time. Check it out for yourself." He reached into his pocket, and flipped something to Cloud. "Put that on the altar." It was the Keystone.
Cloud, with only a moment's hesitation, moved to do so, but Aeris said, "Wait," and he froze. The flower-girl took a small, green sphere from her pocket, and closed her eyes. A green light began to flow from the materia, enveloping her, and then Tseng. There was a sound like shattering glass, and the light dissipated, showering what looked like green sparks. Tifa realized that Aeris had used Cure on him. She had saved her own enemy from death.
Tseng reached down to his stomach, through a hole in his shirt, then pulled it back out, and looked up at Aeris. He then asked the question which Tifa had, herself, been thinking. "Why?"
"I've known you since I was a little girl, Tseng. You didn't honestly think I'd just let you die this way, did you?" She smiled.
"Truthfully? I wasn't sure. I've done some pretty bad things in the past. I'm the reason Shinra got hold of you in the first place."
"You're also one of the few who tried to take care of me when I was there. I haven't forgotten that."
He didn't answer. He just shrugged. Tifa thought she saw him blush, but it was too dark in there to really tell.
There were a few moments of silence, which Cloud finally broke. He cleared his throat, and said, "Okay, so, if Rufus screwed you over, what're you gonna do?"
"Report back."
Tifa just stared, openmouthed. Yuffie said, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard! Shinra tried to get you killed!"
"I know that, but there's nothing else I can do."
Cloud said, "You could disappear."
Vincent said, "Tseng may be right, Cloud. Shinra specializes in knowing the unknowable. They'd find him, no matter what he did."
"Just like they'll find Corneo," the Turk added.
"Well, I hope they do find him. He deserves whatever he gets." Tifa's voice was cold.
"Amen to that," Tseng said. Then, he asked, "Hey, weren't there more of you? Where are Wallace and R- uh, Cait Sith? And the cat?"
"Outside, with Cid."
". . .Cid? You don't mean Captain Cid, do you?" Tseng looked like he already knew the answer. He finally got up off the floor.
"The very same."
"Damn. I'm gonna have to report this to Heidegger, you know that, right?"
"I imagine he already knows. Rufus sure does." Tifa smiled a little.
Tseng lightly pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do I even want to know?"
"We almost ran the Son of Shinra over with the Tiny Bronco."
"Ugh. He's going to be pissed."
"Yeah. Another reason why you should probably think about getting out of Shinra," Yuffie said.
"Can't do it. I told you that."
Cloud stared at Tseng, and through him, for a long moment. "Then I guess we're still enemies." He was juggling the Keystone back and forth in his hands.
"Hey, only if the boss says so explicitly. Now, I think I said there was no time. Get your asses moving." Tseng grinned, then headed for the door.
Tifa had to ask. "Why don't you come with us, into the Temple? We could use your help, you know. . ."
He turned to look at her. Then, he looked at the other faces in the room, eyes moving from one to the next. Finally, they came to rest on her, again. "You bunch are the fighters. Sephiroth walked all over me. I'm pulling my guys out of here, and we're going back to headquarters." With that, he turned, and left.
Aeris said, "Do you think we should let the others know he's not here to cause trouble?"
Cloud stared after the Turk for a moment, then shook his head. He patted the PHS which was clipped to his belt, and said, "I think they already know." He turned back to the altar, and everyone crowded around him. He placed the Keystone on the altar, and the Temple's antechamber faded out.
**************************************************************************** ********************
So whatdja think? This isn't really much more than a recap, up to the point where things start to deviate, obviously. . . And what of Tseng? Well, he's cool, that's what. Plus, it seemed just a little dumb that these people wouldn't just heal him, or something. Anyway, enough explainage.
Constructive comments or praise? Send them to deschain5@hotmail.com.
Alternately, you may sign my guestbook at veilsixclaw.signmyguestbook.com.
Flames can go to gofckurself.signmyguestbook.com. Yes, it actually exists. I enjoy flames, too. Don't be shy.
Until you read Temple of the Ancients, which should already be up, and, to quote at least two of my friends, ja!
PS: I would like to apologize for the excessive number of paragraph breaks. It's the only way I could make this thing readable, and I think it can probably be attributed to the extremely low-end computer I own. I have affectionately come to call it the Toaster. Please forgive it.
Let me explain. A friend and I got to talking about FF7 (naturally), and what we liked and didn't like about it. "They shouldn't have done this," and "They should have done that," were the basic run of the conversation. Before long, we had some very good ideas as to how we might actually rewrite the story of FF7. You'll find some rather unusual changes, and some that you can see coming a good mile off. In any case, them's the basics of it.
Now for the disclaimer: Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, Sephiroth (booNAAAAH!), and all other associated characters, places, and cheesy concepts "are belong to Square." Quite frankly, aside from some key points, which any FF7 fan would recognize, the plot itself belongs to that fine fine company who would never sue the likes of me or mine, because they're so very nice, and I have no money. Really. *look around*
Also, I would like to say that anything I was inaccurate about that has to do with the layout of places, or the exact lines, I don't honestly care. I'm not obsessed, or anything. If you are, that's your business. Go and wank off to your Tifa poster, or whatever. No, I'm just kidding. Read this, since my friend and I worked so very hard on it. THEN go wank off. Go on. You have my permission.
You are entering the What If zone. . .
**************************************************************************** ********************
In the Beginning
by Master Telanis and Ree-chan the Great
"Cell-code: Wutai. Begin Log, Open Entry. Year 3250, Day 178."
"So this's where it ends, for me. I don't know just how much time I have left, how long until I just. . . bleed out, here on the floor. Well, let me tell you, I'm more than a little pissed at the current situation. It's not the fact that I'm dying that makes me angry. In truth, I've been prepared for the eventuality my entire life. No, it's the very basic fact that the same man who did this to me is now loose somewhere within the temple. Sephiroth.
"He's loose, and it looks as though he's won, unless someone can stop him. Avalanche, I think, is our last hope. Rufus Shinra talks big, but he's just as big an idiot as I've been. Yeah, it's Avalanche or nothing, I guess. I almost hate to admit it, but they've become such major players in all of this, and I honestly believe that they have a chance, no matter how small.
"Cloud Strife, Aeris Gainsborough, Barret Wallace, Tifa Lockheart, Reeve, and the rest. . . it all started with Barret, though. It started with Avalanche.
"They began as a simple thorn in the President's side, putting up anti-Shinra flyers, warnings against the overuse of Mako energy. Then, they crossed over into the big-leagues with an admittedly unexpected assault on Mako Reactor One in Midgar. For this, Barret hired a young man named Cloud Strife, who, we have come to understand, has some sort of past connection with Sephiroth. Barret and Cloud blew the reactor, which, of course, irked Shinra to no end. Then, they made a mistake. The very next day, they tried to take Reactor Five. They succeeded, but, due to some inordinately devious planning on the President's part, it almost cost them their lives.
"President Shinra had underestimated them, however, and they escaped the trap he'd set. According to Reno, Cloud then hooked up with Aeris, and became her personal bodyguard. Reno, along with a few troops, attempted to apprehend the pair, but Cloud proved to be surprisingly resourceful, and they eluded him.
"Aeris. . . She's just one of the regrets I have. I wish I had ignored her presence, all those years ago, and left her in peace. Instead, as per my employer's wishes, I turned her over to Professor Hojo for study. She escaped, though, and I was glad. Cloud had better take good care of her.
"In any case, after that, Avalanche kind of dropped from Shinra's radar for a day or so. During that time, there were reports of a disturbance in Don Corneo's mansion, but they went unconfirmed, as the Don mysteriously left town the same night. President Shinra didn't read anything into this, but the general consensus among Reno, Rude, and myself was that he'd spilled his guts to someone from Avalanche about Shinra's plans to destroy the Sector Seven slums, and had feared retribution. He'd been right to do so. Reno and I, we were hopping mad.
"I think I should explain something, here. It takes quite a lot to gain the respect of a Turk. I guess it's because of all the SOLDIERs we've helped to create, and all of the extraordinary people we've met, and, yes, corrupted. Also, being a Turk simply gives one a feeling of being "above it all," I think, and that probably contributes to it, as well. In any case, we had both chalked all of Avalanche's successes up to dumb luck, up until that point, which, I imagine, was probably the truth. You don't pull off the kind of stunts they had without Lady Luck on your side. We were full of contempt, and more than a little angry that they'd gotten so far on luck alone.
"So, while I was a little unhappy about the innocent lives which would be lost through the destruction of the pillar, I was all for it. Crush the bastards. Drop the sky on 'em. When they showed up at the pillar itself, I, having recently recaptured Aeris, was livid. Reno, having the luxury of being on the ground, attacked them. Three members of Avalanche fell, and fell hard. I was ecstatic. Barret was well on his way to becoming the fourth when Cloud and Tifa joined the fight. They fought Reno back, and, to this day, he still insists that the "sun got in his eyes." Yeah, sure, man. All that sun under the Sector Seven plate. As he backed off, I had the pilot of the chopper I was currently riding fly in closer. I did my best to unnerve Cloud, Tifa and Barret, but I think I came off as a raving lunatic. I was trying too hard. The reason was simple, really.
"I'd had a sudden taste of what I'd been doing my damnedest to overlook up until that point: these guys were tough, at least in battle. This was something Reno refused to see, and Rude, being Rude, simply saw whatever it was his employers wanted him to see. This doesn't come from any weak-mindedness on his part, but he's got this mindset which dictates that it's simplest for all concerned to just agree with Shinra.
"Well, the remaining members of Avalanche escaped with barely a moment to spare, and the slums were crushed, pointlessly.
"Not long after, the trio mounted an attack on the Shinra building, itself. Their purpose was not to destroy it, though. Instead, they were there to find Aeris. Find her they did, and Aeris, Cloud, Barret, and Tifa almost made it out again, with another specimen from Hojo's lab, a cat of some sort, but Rude and I stopped them at the elevators. I considered letting them go. I still wish I had. We took them up to see the President.
"Shinra, the stupid jerk, pretty much told them everything he'd had planned - I've seen movies where the over-confident villain loses because of this inability to keep his trap shut - and then sent them to the holding cells on the sixty-seventh floor. He told them about how he thought Aeris was the key to some mystical "Promised Land" he kept yammering on about. Then, he sent them to await execution. I had really come to not like this guy, by the way.
"Then, he called Reno, Rude, and myself to his office, and told us we were to go out and train a new Turk. Elena. We were to take her to Sector Six, and teach her about all the stuff we do. You know, all about flunkying. So we did. We got back, and the President was dead. We'd been gone maybe a day. Suddenly, Rufus, the former President's son, was in charge, and he was exactly like his father. It turns out that a man named Sephiroth, who'd been a SOLDIER, not too long ago, and had been presumed dead, had turned up, slaughtered everyone on the upper levels, and made off with the Jenova project, which, by the way, I'd never heard of until that day. In the aftermath of Sephiroth's attack, Cloud and the rest had escaped from Midgar altogether.
"To make a long story a little shorter, there was no sign of Avalanche for several days. Meanwhile, we Turks, including Elena, were sent on Sephiroth's trail. I'll say one thing for Rufus, no matter his motives and methods, he had his priorities straight. Sephy was big and bad, even before he went nuts, or so I've heard. He had to be stopped.
"It was sheer coincidence that we met up with Cloud and his friends in the Mythril mines, which had been marked as a part of Sephiroth's route in a very obvious manner. Between the mines and Midgar, there is a marshy area, which is home to some very large, and very dangerous, snakes. They are called Midgar Zoloms. One of them had been impaled on a tree. We pretty much assumed that Sephiroth wanted us to follow him. Damned if I know why. After a brief conference with Rufus, via cell phone, we took the bait. It was near the other side of the mountains that we met up with Avalanche. Elena had half a mind to fight them, but I knew they were small potatoes, now. They didn't matter. What mattered was finding Sephiroth, and regaining Jenova. I also intended to find out just what he was up to. I'm willing to bet a lot of money that that was Reno's plan, too.
"After Elena let slip about where Sephiroth was headed, Rufus assumed that Avalanche would turn up in Junon, so he planned a visit there, hoping to capture the group himself. How they got past him is beyond me, but the next any of us heard of him, they had fought Jenova, and won - they went up on a notch on the Respectometer for that one, let me tell you - on the very ship that Rufus was riding, and he'd never known until much later.
"In Costa del Sol, they again avoided being seen, and, the next any of us heard of them, they'd popped up in the Gold Saucer. This is the one and only time I've seen Rufus actually do anything that resembled intelligent. He'd had an executive planted there years earlier, masquerading as a clown and fortune-teller named Cait Sith. Cait Sith was, in actuality, a robot controlled by Reeve, head of Urban Development in Midgar. He managed to get Cloud to bring him along on their. . . well, I guess it's amounted to a mission, now, hasn't it? He was a little hesitant to do so, which is when I began to wonder just how trustworthy he was, but, under direct orders from Rufus, he finally agreed. He has been acting as an informant for us since then. It's from him that we found out about the newcomer to Avalanche. Yuffie Kisaragi, although none of us knew just where they'd picked her up. Their numbers had increased by one, if you didn't count "Cait Sith."
"In the Saucer, there was an incident involving a man with a gun-arm. Heidegger, my direct superior, was hopeful that Barret would take out Cloud and the rest for us. Heidegger always has been a fool. Even I could see that Barret, while a little unstable, would never murder anyone in cold- blood. Not on purpose, anyway. Well, the man who DID slaughter all those people, Dyne, by name, died, and Cloud and company went on their merry way.
"Well, not long after, Reno and Rude had a run-in with them in the jungle surrounding the town of Gongaga. Reno and Rude were beaten, and retreated. Naturally. Not a few minutes later, I arrived with Scarlet, indulging her in a rather strange job she'd been given. She was supposed to find some really big, huge materia for some sort of super-weapon. The concept of Shinra having possession of anything they'd call a "super- weapon" was chilling to me. I'm pretty sure I was never meant to know about that, though. Lucky thing, I guess, that Scarlet can no more keep her trap shut than Elena or Rufus's late pop. Heidegger hadn't told me, or, presumably, any of the other Turks about it, and that disturbed me a little. Shinra had begun keeping secrets from us. Why, though? Even now, it's still something I can't figure out.
"While Scarlet and I were flitting around in our little helicopter, Avalanche was apparently trotting the globe, because the next I heard of them, they'd found Sephiroth. . . And then lost him again. In Nibelheim, they'd found him in the basement laboratory of the Shinra mansion, where they'd also picked up an unusual fellow - a man of very few words - who goes by the name Vincent. Odd, very odd. Apparently has the ability to shape-change, and is a dead-shot with a gun. Any kind of gun. Has a very severe case of pink-eye, too. From there, they followed Sephy through the caves of Mt. Nibel. Unfortunately, they were unable to catch up to him, due to a slight altercation that came in the form of one of Nibel's meaner denizens.
"It was during this update, courtesy of Reeve, himself - Heidegger and the rest had taken to keeping us on a strict need-to-know system, which consisted of not telling us a damned thing besides what was already blatantly obvious - that I, and, by way of me, the rest of the Turks, became aware that Rufus knew where Sephiroth was headed, and planned to go after him himself. Now, I may not like the guy, but what he was planning was suicide. Elena was all for going after Sephy ourselves, and, for the first time, I was inclined to agree with her. When I did, she puffed up even more, if that's possible. Poor girl. Reno agreed whole-heartedly, but I think it was because he's wanted a crack at Sephy since the beginning. Rude didn't agree in the least, though. He felt that it wasn't our problem, and that we should just follow orders. Keep on Cloud's trail. This would have been the smart thing to do, but I reminded him that our orders also covered keeping after Sephiroth, and, until we were told otherwise, those orders still stood. I'm well-aware that Heidegger, Rufus, and the rest had probably just forgotten to take us off Sephy-Watch, but they can go take a flying ^#&^ at a rolling doughnut.
"Rude, though, being the rule-monger he was, phoned in to Heidegger, and actually got him to give us the order. He actually told us what we were trying to retrieve from Sephiroth's new destination, and that we were to make sure he didn't get to it. How Baldy accomplished this is just another mystery in a long string of mysteries, to me, but who am I to question? I should have questioned. I didn't, though, simply because I was too anxious to get back in on the action to think through what was happening: we'd just gotten permission from our boss to go into direct conflict with Sephiroth, completely unprepared. It was every bit as stupid as what Rufus meant to do.
"I can't even chalk it up to stupidity, in light of what else Heidegger told us. He told us about the Keystone which would be necessary to enter. He didn't know where it was, however. I checked with Reeve, whom I'd pretty much kept in contact with for several days. What can I say? The guy's honest. I told him the truth, really. . . I wanted to get the Keystone before either Rufus or Cloud did. As a Turk, I was obligated to take care of my employer, no matter how much of a putz he might be. Cloud was a different matter. I'd come to like that group, but I still thought that, if they went up against Sephiroth as things were, they'd die painfully. Cloud would die, and so would the rest. Reeve agreed with me - he'd taken a liking to them, himself - and assured me that I'd be the person he called, if and when they got ahold of the Keystone. Until then, there wasn't much we could do, besides let Reno, Rude, and Elena cool their heels a bit, while I zipped all over the goddamn place with Scarlet, looking for a type of materia, which, as far as I knew, didn't even exist. I strongly suspect that she was just using it as an excuse to be around me. I'd shudder if I wasn't getting so weak.
"A few days later, I got a message from Reeve. Luckily, it was at a time when Scarlet had to make a quick stop at the Shinra building. She was out of the chopper, when it came through on my cell. Cloud and his friends had found the Keystone. They were at the Gold Saucer. I was glad enough to hear the full story. . . after the chopper was back in the air, leaving that &#^&^, Scarlet, back at headquarters.
"Apparently, Dio, the owner of the Saucer, had recently acquired it, and then he gave it to Cloud, who, through some minor miracle, had managed to fight his way through eight powerful monsters in something called Battle Square. Reeve, as Cait Sith, had been off on his own, shortly after, and had, in a maneuver that was amazing in its simplicity, cut the power to the tram which carried people to and from Corel, leaving them stranded in the Saucer for the night. All he had to do was wait for an opportunity to present itself, and he'd have the Keystone, ready to be passed on. I was to meet him outside the Chocobo Races. He'd toss the Keystone up to me, and, within moments, there would be no sign of any of what had just transpired. Amazing. That's the way it should have happened, anyway.
"As I neared the Saucer, my phone rang. I picked up, and Reeve's voice said, "Things have gone a little off." He explained that Cait Sith was currently being chased through the Gold Saucer by Cloud and Aeris, and that there was no way to get the stone to me without their knowledge. I told him it didn't matter in the least, so long as he got the damned thing to me. I was sorry to lose my only connection to that group, but this was far more important. When I arrived, Cait Sith was there, with the stone, and Cloud and Aeris running toward him. I had the pilot swoop in low (I hope I didn't get the poor guy fired over this, or worse. . .) and Cait's cave moogle heaved the stone up to me. I caught it, barely, but it was close. Even as I was struggling to hold onto it, I was yelling at the pilot to get us the hell out of there. He did so quite well. I called up Reno immediately, and told him I was coming to pick him, Rude, and Elena up, and we were going to the temple TONIGHT.
"That was earlier. . . By now, it must be pretty-near dawn outside, although I couldn't say for sure. I've dialed up Reeve a couple times, now, but he hasn't picked up. I can only hope it's because he's either busy, or just left his cell somewhere. If Shinra were to find out about half the stuff he's told me, they would likely have him killed.
"I guess I haven't really explained why I'm bleeding to death at the entrance to the temple, have I? Well, suffice it to say, Sephiroth showed up, not too far behind us, and I was no match for him. Reno, Rude, and Elena were lucky enough not to be around when it happened. I had no idea he'd become that powerful. . . I guess I'm getting my just desserts for all the shitty things I've done for Shinra. I can only hope that Cloud and Aeris are able to stop him, before he does something worse. What could be worse than killing innocents, you ask?
"Well, that thing that Heidegger told us we were to keep Sephiroth from getting. . . it's the Meteor materia. It's jet-black, and it can summon a gigantic meteor to destroy the Planet. It's somewhere deep within the Temple of the Ancients, and, now, so is Sephiroth. C'mon, you guys, hurry. Stop him before it's too late. . .
"Cell-code: Wutai. End Log."
* * *
Aeris stopped at the archway preceding the Temple's steps, and everyone else followed suit. Cid piped up from the back, saying, "Y'mean we gotta go in there? That's *#^@*! stupid! I ain't goin' in!"
Tifa turned to look at him, and, seeing that he looked a little pale, began to make her way toward the back. When she'd made it to the Captain, she asked in a low voice, "Are you claustrophobic?"
"Nah," he mumbled, "I'm just used to the air. Underground just ain't what I'm good for."
She smiled gently. "I thought it was something like that." Without waiting for another response, she turned back to face the others, and called up to Cloud, "Cid thinks it'd be a good idea for him to stay out here. You know, keep an eye out for Shinra's people."
Cloud paused, then nodded, and said, "Barret, Cait Sith, Red, you guys stay out here, too. I'll keep the PHS on. You guys got your receivers?"
"I sure do, Cloud!" Cait replied enthusiastically.
Nanaki nodded, but said nothing.
Barret just grumbled, which everyone else took to be an affirmative. Tifa didn't blame him. He was being left outside with the two Shinra employees. Well, one employee, and one ex-employee. But she did trust the pair, and hoped this would help the veteran Avalanche member to do the same.
Cloud called, "Everyone else ready to go?" Hearing no protest of the idea, he turned and asked Aeris, "Ready?"
"Definitely, Cloud." She looked up at him with those huge eyes of hers, and Tifa thought she could cheerfully have throttled the girl. She also wondered how Aeris could seem to be "looking up" at him, when she was the taller of the two, but she did. When they began to ascend the steps, she considered running up beside the pair, but decided against it. This left her in the back, behind Vincent and Yuffie.
The materia hunter and the ex-Turk contrasted each other so completely it was amazing. Yuffie was full of youthful energy, while Vincent didn't appear to care what they did. The original odd couple.
And Aeris seemed torn between the connection she had with the Temple of the Ancients, and staring at Cloud. And Cloud stared back. And Tifa ground her teeth.
At the top, a figure in a black cloak appeared, and prostrated himself on the top step, next to the door. Cloud tried to talk to it, but it simply disappeared. Sephiroth was near, then.
Aeris was the first through the door at the top, and Tifa heard her gasp. Cloud was through in a flash, followed by Vincent and Yuffie and, finally, Tifa, herself.
The scene which greeted them wasn't terrible, but neither was it promising. Aeris was stooped over a slumped figure beside an altar in the center of the room. In the darkness, it took her a moment to identify the man as Tseng of the Turks, but when she did, she considered going over and socking him one. Then it dawned on her that someone already had. His formerly white shirt was now quite red, and Aeris was shaking him. He seemed to be dead, already.
Suddenly, his head rose, and he said, "You made it." It was unclear just who he was talking to, but Cloud answered.
"Of course."
Aeris asked, "What happened to you?" She sounded quite worried.
Tseng laughed bitterly. "What happened? I'll tell you what happened. Sephiroth happened. We were told by Rufus that Sephiroth was just looking for the Promised Land. He's not. I've been had." He struggled to his feet, leaning hard on the altar, but his legs gave out and he slid back to the floor. He groaned. "What he's looking for is in this temple, somewhere. The black materia. He's looking for the black materia, and, when he finds it, I think we're all in trouble."
"What do you mean?" asked Tifa.
"There's no time. Check it out for yourself." He reached into his pocket, and flipped something to Cloud. "Put that on the altar." It was the Keystone.
Cloud, with only a moment's hesitation, moved to do so, but Aeris said, "Wait," and he froze. The flower-girl took a small, green sphere from her pocket, and closed her eyes. A green light began to flow from the materia, enveloping her, and then Tseng. There was a sound like shattering glass, and the light dissipated, showering what looked like green sparks. Tifa realized that Aeris had used Cure on him. She had saved her own enemy from death.
Tseng reached down to his stomach, through a hole in his shirt, then pulled it back out, and looked up at Aeris. He then asked the question which Tifa had, herself, been thinking. "Why?"
"I've known you since I was a little girl, Tseng. You didn't honestly think I'd just let you die this way, did you?" She smiled.
"Truthfully? I wasn't sure. I've done some pretty bad things in the past. I'm the reason Shinra got hold of you in the first place."
"You're also one of the few who tried to take care of me when I was there. I haven't forgotten that."
He didn't answer. He just shrugged. Tifa thought she saw him blush, but it was too dark in there to really tell.
There were a few moments of silence, which Cloud finally broke. He cleared his throat, and said, "Okay, so, if Rufus screwed you over, what're you gonna do?"
"Report back."
Tifa just stared, openmouthed. Yuffie said, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard! Shinra tried to get you killed!"
"I know that, but there's nothing else I can do."
Cloud said, "You could disappear."
Vincent said, "Tseng may be right, Cloud. Shinra specializes in knowing the unknowable. They'd find him, no matter what he did."
"Just like they'll find Corneo," the Turk added.
"Well, I hope they do find him. He deserves whatever he gets." Tifa's voice was cold.
"Amen to that," Tseng said. Then, he asked, "Hey, weren't there more of you? Where are Wallace and R- uh, Cait Sith? And the cat?"
"Outside, with Cid."
". . .Cid? You don't mean Captain Cid, do you?" Tseng looked like he already knew the answer. He finally got up off the floor.
"The very same."
"Damn. I'm gonna have to report this to Heidegger, you know that, right?"
"I imagine he already knows. Rufus sure does." Tifa smiled a little.
Tseng lightly pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do I even want to know?"
"We almost ran the Son of Shinra over with the Tiny Bronco."
"Ugh. He's going to be pissed."
"Yeah. Another reason why you should probably think about getting out of Shinra," Yuffie said.
"Can't do it. I told you that."
Cloud stared at Tseng, and through him, for a long moment. "Then I guess we're still enemies." He was juggling the Keystone back and forth in his hands.
"Hey, only if the boss says so explicitly. Now, I think I said there was no time. Get your asses moving." Tseng grinned, then headed for the door.
Tifa had to ask. "Why don't you come with us, into the Temple? We could use your help, you know. . ."
He turned to look at her. Then, he looked at the other faces in the room, eyes moving from one to the next. Finally, they came to rest on her, again. "You bunch are the fighters. Sephiroth walked all over me. I'm pulling my guys out of here, and we're going back to headquarters." With that, he turned, and left.
Aeris said, "Do you think we should let the others know he's not here to cause trouble?"
Cloud stared after the Turk for a moment, then shook his head. He patted the PHS which was clipped to his belt, and said, "I think they already know." He turned back to the altar, and everyone crowded around him. He placed the Keystone on the altar, and the Temple's antechamber faded out.
**************************************************************************** ********************
So whatdja think? This isn't really much more than a recap, up to the point where things start to deviate, obviously. . . And what of Tseng? Well, he's cool, that's what. Plus, it seemed just a little dumb that these people wouldn't just heal him, or something. Anyway, enough explainage.
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Until you read Temple of the Ancients, which should already be up, and, to quote at least two of my friends, ja!
PS: I would like to apologize for the excessive number of paragraph breaks. It's the only way I could make this thing readable, and I think it can probably be attributed to the extremely low-end computer I own. I have affectionately come to call it the Toaster. Please forgive it.