Oc e Ne-
Yes and No
~*~A Final Fantasy VII AU~*~
Chapter Two-Floris("A Flower")
AN~Well, I'm baaaack! Thanx to my 5th reviewer, PinkStarz! Sheez, you review whore! What, do you review EVERYTHING I write?! LoL, just kidding(I wuv yoo, Kris!). Basically, this chapter is the events that occur at the Sector 5 mission. Nothing of real importance, just a little more about the characters and their relationships with one another(namely, Aeris and Tifa). Once again, some things are different from the game. But I try to keep the basic plot the same, without screwing anything up. ^_^ Anyways, read on! Let's get to 15, eh? ~tigerofthewind~
Flash. Flash. Flash.
The lamplights winked green Mako friendliness at Jessie as the train roared past, doing nothing to improve her mood. She had made some sort of miscalculation with her bomb. Aeris hadn't shown up. Biggs' snoring was constantly permeating through her thoughts. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, she smacked him awake.
Wedge looked up from where he had been staring at the compartment floor."Aeris never came."
Biggs looked up too, from his attempt to try and fall back asleep."Aeris............wonder if she was killed?"
Jessie sighed."Aeris.............."She had really liked the younger girl. They were only apart by two years age-wise, and shared a similar interest in bombs and a general distaste of traditional womens' roles in society.
Biggs was talking again."Do you think.............Aeris'll fight to the end with AVALANCHE?"
Barret pounded the top of a crate with his good hand."The hell would I know?! Do I look like a mind reader?!"
Silence again, broken by Wedge."Hey Barret, what about our pay?"
Another pound on the crate shut him up fast.
Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap---
The compartment door flew open to admit none other than Aeris herself, frontflipping in then dusting herself off."Looks like I'm a little late."
Barret, as was to be expected, covered his relief with fury."You damn right yer late! Come waltzin' in here makin' a big scene!"
Aeris shrugged."Of course. It's my right, isn't it?"
"Havin' everyone worried 'bout you like that; you don't give a damn 'bout anyone but yerself......"
This time a brazen grin crossed the slender brunette's face."You were worried about me!"
Barret glowered."I'm takin' it outta yer money, hot stuff,"he muttered as he disappeared into the front of the train. Now it was Aeris' turn to glower.
Wedge headed after Barret."Hey Aeris, you were great back there!"
"Heh, Aeris............we'll do even better next time."Biggs grinned openly and followed Wedge. Only Jessie and Aeris were left.
Aeris gestured at the door."I guess I'll shut this."After securely latching the compartment door, she turned back to Jessie."Hey..........you didn't happen to see a man walking around near the reactor, did you? You couldn't have missed him; he was dressed really weird."
Jessie thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers together."Oh, yeah! The one in the...............robes?"A nod."I saw him get knocked down by Wedge, poor guy. I would've stopped to help him, but some of those Shinra bastards were giving me a hard time."
"Thanks."
Jessie decided not to question any further."It's good to see you're okay, Aeris."She waved and jumped over the crates to the next car.
Aeris, however, was lost in thought.(Who was that guy? Why did he help me, if he knew that the Shinra were after me? Anyone with common sense would have stayed out of it.)
(Is he a member of another resistance faction, maybe? That would explain why he helped me. If that was even him. Yeah, it was probably someone else.)
Shaking her head clear of any other rogue thoughts, Aeris went up to join the others. Barret was busy terrorizing the remaining passengers, Biggs was taking a snooze near the front of the car, Wedge was engaging in conversation with the bum who lived on the train in his spare time, and Jessie was messing around with the railway monitor. She tried showing it to Aeris, but failed to interest the younger girl.
"Hey, Aeris, c'mere for a sec,"she said, waving her over."Let me show this to you. It's a map of the Midgar railway system."
".............I know what it is."
"Oh, so you know that it's a map of Midgar in a 1/10,000th scale, then? And about the 8 numbered sectors? And the ID checkpoints hooked up to the main headquarters? And---"
"Yeah. I know."
".........Oh, well."Jessie looked a bit put out, but Aeris really didn't feel like listening to a lecture about something she knew perfectly well about. She had also heard similar fractions of a lecture before the mission, when Jessie had given her her fake ID card. And when they were riding the train for the first time, to the No. 1 reactor. And countless times in between. Jessie was helpful, but a bit too zealous when it came to knowledge. At least she was good with explosives.
Aeris went to talk to Barret, out of nothing but sheer boredom. She could honestly say that she didn't really approve of his belligerent tactics in leading AVALANCHE. She thought maybe something involving an actual sense of comraderie might be a little better.
"Ya can't see the sun,"he muttered, staring almost angrily out the window."This city don't have no day or night. If it weren't for that plate...........we could see the sky. And the Mako reactors keep sucking up the energy."He looked as though he wanted to spit."It's because of that @#$%ing 'pizza', that the people underneath are sufferin'!"
Aeris knew better than to suggest that everyone move up onto the plate. If by some miracle they could all fit, then the Shinra would never allow it. People couldn't afford housing up on the plate, it was that simple. She should know, having grown up in a little house in the slums of Midgar until she was 8, when her mother could finally afford to send her to military school in Junon to train to become a member of SOLDIER.
That was another reason why she took this job---it would see her closer to home. She hadn't seen her mother in over 10 years. Over 15 years, actually. She wondered if her mother was still alive, even. Well, she had wrote her often, so chances were that she was still around.
After listening to Barret's ramble, the train screeched to a halt at the Sector 7 station. Aeris stretched languidly, stepping out of the automatic doors into the artificial light that signified existence underneath the plate. The conductor performed his usual routine check of the compartments and yelled at the bum to "find a new home somewhere else!" before the train whisked away in a combination of smoke and steam.
"Awright, foo's!"Barret yelled, running off to the right."We'll split up from here! Meet back at the hideout!"
As the rest of AVALANCHE headed toward the town that was situated at the center of the plate beneath the actual Sector 7 above, Aeris wondered why Barret always found some cause for his team to split up. It seemed to be the thing to do---split up during missions, split up on the train, split up and find your way back to the base, etc. Well, who was she to argue? She decided to get back to the hideout fast, and get paid before the oaf forgot.
There was some sort of arguement going on in the house next door to the 7th Heaven, resident bar and secret location of AVALANCHE's hideout. Feeling somehow interested, Aeris walked a little closer than she would have to the area to listen.
"I'm gonna go off and make a new life fer myself! Ma, pa, ya can't stop me!"A roguish-looking young man spat bitterly on the ground."When I make my fortune, I'll send fer ya, alright?"He grabbed his bags and stormed through the crowd of onlookers that had gathered, leaving most of them puzzled in his wake. Aeris heard snatches of conversation as the two parents headed back into their house, trying to be angry, but only ending up solemn.
".........didn't think he'd do it................"
"...........can't believe he's gone..............."
"............Johnny's all grown up, now..............."
(What is this?)Aeris thought.(What I'm feeling? Is it because I haven't seen Mom in so long?)
(Am I...........guilty?)
Still feeling a little dazed, she walked into the 7th Heaven where Barret was angrily shooting the bar's regulars out into the chilly night. A few of them were muttering angrily about being kicked out of the '@#$% store', but more than a little bit of them were talking about AVALANCHE.
"Did you see what happened to the plate? AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings."
(Ya got that right), Aeris thought dryly to herself, and headed through the door.
A little girl of about five or so jumped down from the side counter and rushed over to her, about to give her a huge hug before realizing that Aeris wasn't who she thought it would be. The bartender walked out from behind the bar and stood next to the girl. She was an inch or so shorter than Aeris, and about two years younger. If you could take your eyes off of her abnormally large pectoral projections, then she actually had quite a pretty face, framed with dark brown hair and centered with eerie-colored garnet eyes. She wore an outfit that was revealing to a degree, but provided plenty of mobility for her fistfighting, a white tank top with a short black skirt being held up by suspenders.
"Sorry, Aeris."She spoke as though she wasn't sorry."I don't know HOW Marlene could be shy around you, seeing as how you're always in here."A slight undercurrent of insolence that Aeris found irritating. She wasn't a drunk. And 7th Heaven's drinks sucked, anyway.
"I'm---"
Aeris gave her a look."I haven't forgotten your name, you know. You were the one who gave me this job, remember Tifa?"
The younger brunette drew herself up to her full height. She wasn't exactly a BITCH, per se, she just always spoke her mind. Usually she opted to keep silent around Aeris, but something seemed to have put her in an agitated mood today."You know, I don't think I like you."
Aeris shrugged."I don't care if you like me or not. I'd rather us be comrades if at least not friends, but have it your way."The truth was, Aeris didn't care for most people, but she'd grown rather attached to these AVALANCHE lackeys. They grew on her like a nasty fungus, she supposed.
Tifa looked confused at that."Friends, eh? I'll work on it."And she went back behind the bar. Aeris followed her, sitting down on her traditional stool. This was where she and the other girl had first met. Aeris had walked into the bar on a rainy night, a few months ago. After thwarting two robbery attempts and breaking up more tavern brawls than anyone could count, Tifa had finally started taking notice of her fighting skills. And that strange green glow in her eyes.
Aeris knew it. She was an ex-SOLDIER, infused with Mako. The injections in themselves hadn't hurt, but the transformations afterward had been pretty brutal. She knew how how the saying "Only the strongest can enter SOLDIER" had come about. The Mako left her magic high, her strength higher, and her eyes shining brightly with that artificial light.
Well, aside from the digressing, Tifa had commented to Barret about how the emerald-eyed ex-SOLDIER would make a good asset to AVALANCHE's dwindling membership, and had finally managed to persuade him to let her in. The bombing of No. 1 had been her first mission, and seeing as how simple it was(and if her paycheck was swell, of course), it may not have been her last.
Tifa was considerably nicer than what she had been a few moments ago, and slid a drink down the end of the bar to Aeris."How was the mission? Did you fight with Barret?"
Aeris frowned."No, not this time. Even though it took a lot of self- control not to bash his face in."
Now it was Tifa's turn to frown."Hmmm.......I think I might've misjudged you. You seemed like the type of person who would get into fights at the drop of a hat."It was the closest thing to an apology she could make.
Aeris understood. Sometimes, apologies and thanks didn't quite come out of her mouth as well as she would have liked them to, either."It's all right."
Barret came bursting in then(for bursting was the only word that could be used to describe that sudden, forcible entry), shooting a few random shots at some stragglers near the doorway. Marlene, finally encountering the person she had wanted to see, jumped down off the counter again and ran into Barret's arms.
"Papa! You're back!"
He gave her a few kisses on the face."Right! Get in here, foo's! We're startin' the meetin'!"Walking over to the pinball machine, he hit a lever near the top and the machine disappeared into the floor. Downing the rest of her drink in one gulp, Aeris quickly followed him.
The rest of AVALANCHE were already down there, finding odd little things to pass the time. Biggs and Wedge were playing cards at the table, Barret was socking away at the punching bag, Marlene was watching him with a look of adoration on her face, and Jessie was somehow managing to simultaneously watch the Midgar Nightly News and type away on the computer at the same time.
Barret stopped his pummeling and turned to Aeris."Hey, Aeris............was there anyone from SOLDIER fightin' us today?"
She shook her head, pink-ribboned braid flying."None. I'm positive."
He gave her a look of suspicion."What makes you so damn sure?"
Aeris shrugged; decided to put it bluntly."If there was anyone from SOLDIER out there today..............you wouldn't be standing here."
Barret was agitated, and it took Biggs to restrain him."Gghhh........don't go thinkin' you so bad jes' cuz you was in SOLDIER."He threw Biggs off of his arms with an impressive amount of force."Sure you's tough. Probably all them guys in SOLDIER are. But don't forget, yer skinny ass's workin' for AVALANCHE, now!"
Aeris had had enough. She walked up to the resistance leader and glared him straight in the eye."I'm goin' upstairs. I want to talk about my money."
The other members of AVALANCHE seemed most put-off at her reaction. Aeris wasn't sure whether they were hoping for a fight or simply disappointed because, unlike them, she actually CARED about having gil in her pocket.
Well, no matter. She hit the switch and ascended the platform up into the bar. Flipping ten gil at Tifa for her drink, she had started to head out the door, when---
"Wait!"Tifa came running out from behind the bar, hair flying."You're really leaving?!"
(Why do you care?)"..........Yeah. I've had it."
"Had it? With what?"Tifa looked to be on the verge of saying something she had wanted to get off her chest for years."Aeris, I'm asking you. Please join us."
THAT took the ex-SOLDIER by surprise. Aeris looked at her suspiciously."Why? So I can put my life on the line for your stupid little cause only to get yelled at and mistrusted in return?"
"Aeris, the Planet is dying. Slowly but surely it's dying. Can't you see that?!"
She shrugged."So let Barret and his buddies do something about it."She had started to leave again---
"So you're just going to walk out of here when you haven't seen me in over five years?!"
Aeris reeled, sat down hard on the nearest chair. She hated it when that happened. Little glitches, flashes of white light in her memory. Sometimes the stuff came back, other times she was left emptier than before. This time, it came back. Came back and bit her in the ass.
".........Tifa..........?"
"You remember, don't you.................Aeris?"
She remembered; if but a little. She and Tifa had met that time five years ago.............when it all began..........
"Tifa, let her go!"(Damn, he's back.)"Looks like she still misses the Shinra!"
(Again! Why can't that man leave well enough alone?!)"Stayin' with the Shinra?! I don't care about Shinra or SOLDIER!"She paused."But don't get me wrong. I don't care about AVALANCHE or the Planet, either! I'm leavin'."
Barret looked ready to implode."Wait a sec, big-time SOLDIER!"The sporadic shaking again."A promise is a promise! Here!"
Barret's stash of gil nearly smacked her in the nose. Not only that, but it was the most pathetic amount of pay she had ever received in her life. SOLDIER paid more than that, for God's sake. But, still.........."This is my pay? Don't make me laugh."
Tifa looked surprised, then as though she was trying to hide the fact that she was happy."So then you'll.........?"
"Got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3000."(I want to know more about that. Why couldn't I remember who Tifa was?)
The shaking intensified, as a whispered battle between leader and bar hostess took place. It seemed that Tifa won out, because Barret headed back towards the hidden entrance to the hideout, although still undeniably angry."2000!"
He headed down. Tifa smiled gratefully."Thanks, Aeris."
"I didn't do it for you. Well, at least not intentionally. I did it because you remember, and I don't."
Tifa shook her head, as if she were in a daze."No, I......... Forget it, Aeris. It was 5 years ago............"
(You can't remember something from 5 years ago? I thought I was the only one with that problem.)"..............."
****************************************************************
"..............Aerith?"
"...............Yeah.......... Wait, how do you know that name?! Only---"
"Ha ha ha..............Aerith."
"Where are you?! No, this's gotta be a dream!"
"I am quite near. It is well that you talk quietly in your sleep."
"No............."
"Oh, yes. Sleep well, flower of my heart. Sleep well."
"'Sleep well'..............or 'Sleepel'...................?"
**************************************************************
"..............until I come back for you.................."
Aeris woke up shaking.(A dream. A stupid, stupid dream, brought on by my shock of seeing Tifa after all these years...........)
A flower that had lain in her hands, which were clapsed across her chest, fell into her lap as soon as she sat up.
And she began to scream.
"Wha---mfft---grunt---smack---the hell?"Barret was stirring, albeit slowly. Aeris did the only thing she could think of at the moment.
She set him on fire.
By the Gods, it wasn't intentional! But she couldn't let slip that a stupid little nightmare had scared her and she saw the bucket of water near her head on the floor that Tifa used to mop up the drunks' vomit, and it was the only thing she could do at that exact moment, and................GOD, SHE DIDN'T MEAN IT!
"Shi-! I'm on fire!"Barret began dancing around, beating with his hand and his gunarm at the flames.
"We TOLD you to stop actin' so big, Barret........"Biggs wheezed sleepily.
"Of COURSE you're on fire, boss........."Wedge added in the same half- concious state.
And then Tifa woke up."FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!"she screamed, yelling at Barret to stop, drop, and ROLL, for Gods' sake! Jessie darted for the fire extinguisher, only to have it erupt into a burst of white foam back at her face, as soon as she triggered the nozzle.
Aeris finally stopped laughing too hard and grabbed the mop bucket, throwing it's contents over the flaming AVALANCHE leader. Barret lay on the ground, a charred, angry mess.
"FOO'S! WHICH ONE OF YA DID THIS?!?!?!"Aeris yawned and cast Cure on him to heal the greater part of his burns. "Rggggghhhhh.............."
She hoped he would either stop shaking or explode, and just get it over with. Jessie was dusting the white foam off of her clothes rather sheepishly."I was messin' around with the fire extinguisher one day, and thought I'd make a few adjustments......."
"Kgggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!"
"Uh, nothin', nevermind."
After a rather silent breakfast(for no one wanted to incur Barret's wrath after the incident that morning), midday found the members of AVALANCHE climbing on the train to the Sector 5 reactor.
"Hey Aeris, come look at this with me."
(Oh, Gods. Not again.)"It's alright."
"Oh, looks like you've seen this before. It's okay. Come a little closer so you can see better."
"Yeah, I've seen it before. Eight dozen times already."
"Well, there's no need to get an attitude about it."
"Seeing as how I grew up here and all, I'd say it's pretty hard for me to forget how the Midgar map model works."
Tifa looked interested now."Really? You didn't grow up in Nibelheim? Then, who..........?"
(What the? Oh.)"He was talking to that other guy. The MD."
"I guess that explains it."Tifa frowned, and Aeris headed back to where the rest of the rebel members were gathered.
(We've still got some catching up to do. About that day 5 years ago............)
(...............and maybe even now.)
(No! I won't believe it! ..........No, it's not possible. I'll confront those facts only when I have to. And, maybe not even then.)
She fingered the flower, where she had shoved it rather unceremoniously into her pocket. Call it folly if you would, but something told her that keeping it around might serve some actual purpose someday. It was a rose, but not red. White. White, fading to a creamy yellow around the outside, and a pale pink on the inside.
Aeris looked up as the emergency lights on the train began flashing red.'Unauthorized passengers in Car A! Preparing for lockdown!'
Jessie came bursting back through the door."There's been a problem!"she shouted over the commotion."I'll explain later! Just hurry and get to the next car!"
As Aeris, Tifa, and Barret entered into the next compartment, several people were trying to hold up the remaining AVALANCHE members near the front. Biggs headbutted one, while Jessie punched the other one in the stomach."This way!"she cried back.
Aeris gritted her teeth as she pitched forward blindly in the darkness, ignoring the several robbery attempts and the even more attempts to sneak in a quick feel as she ran by. However, up the near the front, an old man slipped something in her pocket and whispered a few words to her that sounded suspiciously like 'Good luck'.
In the next compartment, a Shinra soldier, an old man, and a little boy were all sitting alone, and completely naked. Aeris didn't even stop to wonder, just kept on towards the front of the train.
Up in the front, the appearances of Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie in completely different clothing than their usual informed Aeris of the plight of the passengers in the previous car. Tifa flung open the compartment door."Alright, watch closely! I'm gonna jump!"
And she vanished.
(Idiocy!)Aeris had time to think before Barret practically pushed her out the door. Revenge for setting him on fire, she knew.(We'll all be killed like the incompetent retards that we are!)
At least she had enough common sense to tuck in her limbs and just roll. Barret clearly didn't have that much intellegence; the loud 'oofs!' and swears that he omitted could have been heard from miles around and could have offended even the most crude of the slum folk.
"Awright!"he shouted, standing up."The reactor's at the end of this tunnel!"
The three of them stretched out their arms and legs experimentally, before heading off down the tunnel.
*************************************************************
"No. Way."Aeris stared at Barret like he was crazy."There's no way I'm sliding down this. It's crazy, do you hear me?! Cra---"
He pushed her down.
Aeris hit the metal pipe hard and went sliding down on her butt, the thought of pummeling Barret as soon as she was on solid ground the only thing keeping her from screaming. The whole idea was lunacy. As soon as they had entered the reactor through an air vent(once again, seeing Barret trying to squeeze his way into THAT one was another thing that kept her fears at bay), the three of them had entered atop a platform on the reactor. The way they were supposed to go was a tiny door..............at the bottom.
And the only way down was by means of the damnable pipe. The blasted, bloody thing had no sides.
At least, when she hit the bottom, Barret went skidding over her head from a sheer overabundance of pure momentum, and crashed into the wall. Tifa made the most graceful dismount of them all, merely skidding along the rest of the distance on her butt, instead of trying to stop as Aeris and Barret had done. Problem was, it gave the other two resistance members present a clear shot of her black thong. Something Aeris had NOT wanted to see.
"Let's go, foo's!"Barret ordered, leading the way through the door, that now seemed so much larger since the three of them were down on the ground.
But when Aeris went to set the bomb, she had another glitch again.
"Papa?!" There was Tifa, standing over her father, with a long, bloody sword laying next to him."Sephiroth?! Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he?!" She looked ready to cry."Shinra..........SOLDIER.......Mako reactors.........everything!"She screamed the next part to the world.
"I hate them all!!!!!!!"
And she picked up the sword and ran out of sight.
Aeris couldn't quite remember how the incident with Tifa had come about. But she could remember Sephiroth."Tifa........?"
"Yeah?"
"When...........I.......no, forget........... Come on, we've gotta hurry!"
She could figure the rest out later.
At the top, near the exit, something was wrong."Shinra soldiers?!"cried Tifa, as the red-suited mini-army came rushing towards them from the left.
"........A trap........."Aeris knew one when she saw one. And out from the darkness appeared a man, a portly man dressed in a rich red suit, with thinning blond hair and cold blue eyes.
Barret looked stunned."Presi............President Shinra?!"
"Ah, and you must be that.............what was it called?"
"AVALANCHE! And don't you forget it! So you're President Shinra, hunh?"
Aeris had met him only once before, however..........."............Long time no see, President."
His gaze flickered to her."Oh, you. You were the one who quit SOLDIER not long ago, correct? I knew you'd been exposed to Mako, from the look in your eyes.......... Tell me, traitor. What was your name?"
(Hmph. Stuck up SOB.)"Aeris."
"Forgive me for asking, but I can't be expected to remember every person's name. Not unless you become another Sephiroth."Now his face grew pensive."Sephiroth................ He was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant.........."
Aeris reeled again.".........Sephiroth..........?"
Barret was tired of having the spotlight taken away from him."Don't care 'bout none of that! This place's goin' up with a big BANG soon! Serves ya'll right!"
The calculating tyrant was back again."And such a waste, just to get rid of vermin like you."
"VERMIN?! That's all you can say, 'VERMIN'?! Ya'll Shinra are the VERMIN, killin' the Planet! And that makes you King VERMIN! So shu'up, jackass!"
"You are beginning to bore me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner I must attend."
"Dinner?! Don't gimme that! I ain't even started with you yet!"
The President looked amused."Oh, but I've made arrangements for a special playmate for you all."He snapped his fingers, and a whizzing noise could be heard from the left, near Tifa.
"?! What's that noise?!"she cried, as Barret ran towards her. Suddenly, shooting in between the two of them and towards Aeris, came a metallic machine with several guns and spiked wheels.
"Meet 'Airbuster', a techo-soldier."President Shinra smiled."Our Weapons Development Department created him. I'm sure that the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in further experiments. Now, if you'll excuse me."
Aeris tried to run after him."Wait, President!"(No! Does he know more than he's letting on? I've got to---)
"Uh, Aeris!"The thing was forcing Tifa and Barret back towards the wall."L'il help here!"
"THIS is from SOLDIER?"
Well, that just disgusted Aeris."No way! It's just a machine!"
"Who cares?!"Barret brandished his gun-arm."I'm gonna bust him up!"
Aeris closed the gap between herself and her comrades, Vereorvis already coming into her hands. The Airbuster was walled in. 'Rear Gun!' it said(?) in a mechanical voice, firing at Aeris. Well, damn. NO, it couldn't fire at Tifa or Barret, at whom it was facing! It just HAD to shoot bullets out of it's ass!
Well, she was angry enough to use her Limit Break, now."Luminarium!"Vereorvis began to glow, as Aeris held it high in the air. Suffused with the power of her anger, she brought her sword crashing down in a white burst of light, nearly spliting the techno-piece-of-crap-thing into two.
It didn't kill it, though, a small weeny casting of Bolt from the other side(whether it was Tifa or Barret was yet to be seen) finished the job. Airbuster began to spark and fizz and vibrate violently. A ring of metal flew off into the air; Aeris caught it. Oh. A Titan Bangle. She'd seen one on display at the weapons shop back in Sector 7, but it hadn't been for sale. Good thing she hadn't tried to buy it off, she got this one for free. Things were looking up.
And then Airbuster exploded.
The ground underneath of Aeris suddenly disintegrated into nothingness, as Barret and Tifa rushed to her side.
"Damn!"the former roared. Tifa looked distraught.
"Barret, can't you do anything?!"she cried, stretching her hand out to the rather disenfranchised ex-SOLDIER. Barret shrugged helplessly.
"Not a damn thing."
Aeris was getting tired of their defeated attitudes."I'll be fine! This whole place's gonna explode! Get out while you still can! I'll catch up to you guys later!"
Barret still looked uneasy, but gave in."Awright...........later."
A great jet of flame shot out from the exit where they had first come in, and the platform Aeris was holding on to began to shake. She felt her fingers slipping, slipping, slipping..............
The last thing she saw before she fell was the sorrow on Barret and Tifa's faces.
AN~Kweh heh heh. You know it's not the end! We've still got many more discs left to go, people!*takes deep breaths* Anyway, sorry this part is so long. Like, I wanted to go back and make it shorter, but then I realized how bizarre that would be, and.......oh, well! You'll just have to put up with long chapters, I suppose!^_^*evil grin* Ooh, a last minute chapter dedication! I got to thinking, and realized that I haven't dedicated a SINGLE chapter of ANY of my stories to my friend, Dark Reaper!*waves* Sorry! I mean, he's reviewed pretty much EVERY SINGLE ONE of my fanficcies(like PinkStarz, that review whore), and I haven't dedicated a chapter to him ONCE. It makes me feel like poo. So thus, here you are!*hands over chapter dedication* Yay! Me life is complete, lads! Ooh, if you want to see more of this, better start telling everyone you know to review! Because I'm doing the same thing I'm doing with HICB, only updating until I get a certain # of reviews per chappy. Because of FF7's utter lack of readers, though, I lowered the number to eight a chapter. So get movin'!*smile* ~Vereor Veritas~, ~*~tigerofthewind~*~
Chapter Two-Floris("A Flower")
AN~Well, I'm baaaack! Thanx to my 5th reviewer, PinkStarz! Sheez, you review whore! What, do you review EVERYTHING I write?! LoL, just kidding(I wuv yoo, Kris!). Basically, this chapter is the events that occur at the Sector 5 mission. Nothing of real importance, just a little more about the characters and their relationships with one another(namely, Aeris and Tifa). Once again, some things are different from the game. But I try to keep the basic plot the same, without screwing anything up. ^_^ Anyways, read on! Let's get to 15, eh? ~tigerofthewind~
Flash. Flash. Flash.
The lamplights winked green Mako friendliness at Jessie as the train roared past, doing nothing to improve her mood. She had made some sort of miscalculation with her bomb. Aeris hadn't shown up. Biggs' snoring was constantly permeating through her thoughts. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, she smacked him awake.
Wedge looked up from where he had been staring at the compartment floor."Aeris never came."
Biggs looked up too, from his attempt to try and fall back asleep."Aeris............wonder if she was killed?"
Jessie sighed."Aeris.............."She had really liked the younger girl. They were only apart by two years age-wise, and shared a similar interest in bombs and a general distaste of traditional womens' roles in society.
Biggs was talking again."Do you think.............Aeris'll fight to the end with AVALANCHE?"
Barret pounded the top of a crate with his good hand."The hell would I know?! Do I look like a mind reader?!"
Silence again, broken by Wedge."Hey Barret, what about our pay?"
Another pound on the crate shut him up fast.
Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap---
The compartment door flew open to admit none other than Aeris herself, frontflipping in then dusting herself off."Looks like I'm a little late."
Barret, as was to be expected, covered his relief with fury."You damn right yer late! Come waltzin' in here makin' a big scene!"
Aeris shrugged."Of course. It's my right, isn't it?"
"Havin' everyone worried 'bout you like that; you don't give a damn 'bout anyone but yerself......"
This time a brazen grin crossed the slender brunette's face."You were worried about me!"
Barret glowered."I'm takin' it outta yer money, hot stuff,"he muttered as he disappeared into the front of the train. Now it was Aeris' turn to glower.
Wedge headed after Barret."Hey Aeris, you were great back there!"
"Heh, Aeris............we'll do even better next time."Biggs grinned openly and followed Wedge. Only Jessie and Aeris were left.
Aeris gestured at the door."I guess I'll shut this."After securely latching the compartment door, she turned back to Jessie."Hey..........you didn't happen to see a man walking around near the reactor, did you? You couldn't have missed him; he was dressed really weird."
Jessie thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers together."Oh, yeah! The one in the...............robes?"A nod."I saw him get knocked down by Wedge, poor guy. I would've stopped to help him, but some of those Shinra bastards were giving me a hard time."
"Thanks."
Jessie decided not to question any further."It's good to see you're okay, Aeris."She waved and jumped over the crates to the next car.
Aeris, however, was lost in thought.(Who was that guy? Why did he help me, if he knew that the Shinra were after me? Anyone with common sense would have stayed out of it.)
(Is he a member of another resistance faction, maybe? That would explain why he helped me. If that was even him. Yeah, it was probably someone else.)
Shaking her head clear of any other rogue thoughts, Aeris went up to join the others. Barret was busy terrorizing the remaining passengers, Biggs was taking a snooze near the front of the car, Wedge was engaging in conversation with the bum who lived on the train in his spare time, and Jessie was messing around with the railway monitor. She tried showing it to Aeris, but failed to interest the younger girl.
"Hey, Aeris, c'mere for a sec,"she said, waving her over."Let me show this to you. It's a map of the Midgar railway system."
".............I know what it is."
"Oh, so you know that it's a map of Midgar in a 1/10,000th scale, then? And about the 8 numbered sectors? And the ID checkpoints hooked up to the main headquarters? And---"
"Yeah. I know."
".........Oh, well."Jessie looked a bit put out, but Aeris really didn't feel like listening to a lecture about something she knew perfectly well about. She had also heard similar fractions of a lecture before the mission, when Jessie had given her her fake ID card. And when they were riding the train for the first time, to the No. 1 reactor. And countless times in between. Jessie was helpful, but a bit too zealous when it came to knowledge. At least she was good with explosives.
Aeris went to talk to Barret, out of nothing but sheer boredom. She could honestly say that she didn't really approve of his belligerent tactics in leading AVALANCHE. She thought maybe something involving an actual sense of comraderie might be a little better.
"Ya can't see the sun,"he muttered, staring almost angrily out the window."This city don't have no day or night. If it weren't for that plate...........we could see the sky. And the Mako reactors keep sucking up the energy."He looked as though he wanted to spit."It's because of that @#$%ing 'pizza', that the people underneath are sufferin'!"
Aeris knew better than to suggest that everyone move up onto the plate. If by some miracle they could all fit, then the Shinra would never allow it. People couldn't afford housing up on the plate, it was that simple. She should know, having grown up in a little house in the slums of Midgar until she was 8, when her mother could finally afford to send her to military school in Junon to train to become a member of SOLDIER.
That was another reason why she took this job---it would see her closer to home. She hadn't seen her mother in over 10 years. Over 15 years, actually. She wondered if her mother was still alive, even. Well, she had wrote her often, so chances were that she was still around.
After listening to Barret's ramble, the train screeched to a halt at the Sector 7 station. Aeris stretched languidly, stepping out of the automatic doors into the artificial light that signified existence underneath the plate. The conductor performed his usual routine check of the compartments and yelled at the bum to "find a new home somewhere else!" before the train whisked away in a combination of smoke and steam.
"Awright, foo's!"Barret yelled, running off to the right."We'll split up from here! Meet back at the hideout!"
As the rest of AVALANCHE headed toward the town that was situated at the center of the plate beneath the actual Sector 7 above, Aeris wondered why Barret always found some cause for his team to split up. It seemed to be the thing to do---split up during missions, split up on the train, split up and find your way back to the base, etc. Well, who was she to argue? She decided to get back to the hideout fast, and get paid before the oaf forgot.
There was some sort of arguement going on in the house next door to the 7th Heaven, resident bar and secret location of AVALANCHE's hideout. Feeling somehow interested, Aeris walked a little closer than she would have to the area to listen.
"I'm gonna go off and make a new life fer myself! Ma, pa, ya can't stop me!"A roguish-looking young man spat bitterly on the ground."When I make my fortune, I'll send fer ya, alright?"He grabbed his bags and stormed through the crowd of onlookers that had gathered, leaving most of them puzzled in his wake. Aeris heard snatches of conversation as the two parents headed back into their house, trying to be angry, but only ending up solemn.
".........didn't think he'd do it................"
"...........can't believe he's gone..............."
"............Johnny's all grown up, now..............."
(What is this?)Aeris thought.(What I'm feeling? Is it because I haven't seen Mom in so long?)
(Am I...........guilty?)
Still feeling a little dazed, she walked into the 7th Heaven where Barret was angrily shooting the bar's regulars out into the chilly night. A few of them were muttering angrily about being kicked out of the '@#$% store', but more than a little bit of them were talking about AVALANCHE.
"Did you see what happened to the plate? AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings."
(Ya got that right), Aeris thought dryly to herself, and headed through the door.
A little girl of about five or so jumped down from the side counter and rushed over to her, about to give her a huge hug before realizing that Aeris wasn't who she thought it would be. The bartender walked out from behind the bar and stood next to the girl. She was an inch or so shorter than Aeris, and about two years younger. If you could take your eyes off of her abnormally large pectoral projections, then she actually had quite a pretty face, framed with dark brown hair and centered with eerie-colored garnet eyes. She wore an outfit that was revealing to a degree, but provided plenty of mobility for her fistfighting, a white tank top with a short black skirt being held up by suspenders.
"Sorry, Aeris."She spoke as though she wasn't sorry."I don't know HOW Marlene could be shy around you, seeing as how you're always in here."A slight undercurrent of insolence that Aeris found irritating. She wasn't a drunk. And 7th Heaven's drinks sucked, anyway.
"I'm---"
Aeris gave her a look."I haven't forgotten your name, you know. You were the one who gave me this job, remember Tifa?"
The younger brunette drew herself up to her full height. She wasn't exactly a BITCH, per se, she just always spoke her mind. Usually she opted to keep silent around Aeris, but something seemed to have put her in an agitated mood today."You know, I don't think I like you."
Aeris shrugged."I don't care if you like me or not. I'd rather us be comrades if at least not friends, but have it your way."The truth was, Aeris didn't care for most people, but she'd grown rather attached to these AVALANCHE lackeys. They grew on her like a nasty fungus, she supposed.
Tifa looked confused at that."Friends, eh? I'll work on it."And she went back behind the bar. Aeris followed her, sitting down on her traditional stool. This was where she and the other girl had first met. Aeris had walked into the bar on a rainy night, a few months ago. After thwarting two robbery attempts and breaking up more tavern brawls than anyone could count, Tifa had finally started taking notice of her fighting skills. And that strange green glow in her eyes.
Aeris knew it. She was an ex-SOLDIER, infused with Mako. The injections in themselves hadn't hurt, but the transformations afterward had been pretty brutal. She knew how how the saying "Only the strongest can enter SOLDIER" had come about. The Mako left her magic high, her strength higher, and her eyes shining brightly with that artificial light.
Well, aside from the digressing, Tifa had commented to Barret about how the emerald-eyed ex-SOLDIER would make a good asset to AVALANCHE's dwindling membership, and had finally managed to persuade him to let her in. The bombing of No. 1 had been her first mission, and seeing as how simple it was(and if her paycheck was swell, of course), it may not have been her last.
Tifa was considerably nicer than what she had been a few moments ago, and slid a drink down the end of the bar to Aeris."How was the mission? Did you fight with Barret?"
Aeris frowned."No, not this time. Even though it took a lot of self- control not to bash his face in."
Now it was Tifa's turn to frown."Hmmm.......I think I might've misjudged you. You seemed like the type of person who would get into fights at the drop of a hat."It was the closest thing to an apology she could make.
Aeris understood. Sometimes, apologies and thanks didn't quite come out of her mouth as well as she would have liked them to, either."It's all right."
Barret came bursting in then(for bursting was the only word that could be used to describe that sudden, forcible entry), shooting a few random shots at some stragglers near the doorway. Marlene, finally encountering the person she had wanted to see, jumped down off the counter again and ran into Barret's arms.
"Papa! You're back!"
He gave her a few kisses on the face."Right! Get in here, foo's! We're startin' the meetin'!"Walking over to the pinball machine, he hit a lever near the top and the machine disappeared into the floor. Downing the rest of her drink in one gulp, Aeris quickly followed him.
The rest of AVALANCHE were already down there, finding odd little things to pass the time. Biggs and Wedge were playing cards at the table, Barret was socking away at the punching bag, Marlene was watching him with a look of adoration on her face, and Jessie was somehow managing to simultaneously watch the Midgar Nightly News and type away on the computer at the same time.
Barret stopped his pummeling and turned to Aeris."Hey, Aeris............was there anyone from SOLDIER fightin' us today?"
She shook her head, pink-ribboned braid flying."None. I'm positive."
He gave her a look of suspicion."What makes you so damn sure?"
Aeris shrugged; decided to put it bluntly."If there was anyone from SOLDIER out there today..............you wouldn't be standing here."
Barret was agitated, and it took Biggs to restrain him."Gghhh........don't go thinkin' you so bad jes' cuz you was in SOLDIER."He threw Biggs off of his arms with an impressive amount of force."Sure you's tough. Probably all them guys in SOLDIER are. But don't forget, yer skinny ass's workin' for AVALANCHE, now!"
Aeris had had enough. She walked up to the resistance leader and glared him straight in the eye."I'm goin' upstairs. I want to talk about my money."
The other members of AVALANCHE seemed most put-off at her reaction. Aeris wasn't sure whether they were hoping for a fight or simply disappointed because, unlike them, she actually CARED about having gil in her pocket.
Well, no matter. She hit the switch and ascended the platform up into the bar. Flipping ten gil at Tifa for her drink, she had started to head out the door, when---
"Wait!"Tifa came running out from behind the bar, hair flying."You're really leaving?!"
(Why do you care?)"..........Yeah. I've had it."
"Had it? With what?"Tifa looked to be on the verge of saying something she had wanted to get off her chest for years."Aeris, I'm asking you. Please join us."
THAT took the ex-SOLDIER by surprise. Aeris looked at her suspiciously."Why? So I can put my life on the line for your stupid little cause only to get yelled at and mistrusted in return?"
"Aeris, the Planet is dying. Slowly but surely it's dying. Can't you see that?!"
She shrugged."So let Barret and his buddies do something about it."She had started to leave again---
"So you're just going to walk out of here when you haven't seen me in over five years?!"
Aeris reeled, sat down hard on the nearest chair. She hated it when that happened. Little glitches, flashes of white light in her memory. Sometimes the stuff came back, other times she was left emptier than before. This time, it came back. Came back and bit her in the ass.
".........Tifa..........?"
"You remember, don't you.................Aeris?"
She remembered; if but a little. She and Tifa had met that time five years ago.............when it all began..........
"Tifa, let her go!"(Damn, he's back.)"Looks like she still misses the Shinra!"
(Again! Why can't that man leave well enough alone?!)"Stayin' with the Shinra?! I don't care about Shinra or SOLDIER!"She paused."But don't get me wrong. I don't care about AVALANCHE or the Planet, either! I'm leavin'."
Barret looked ready to implode."Wait a sec, big-time SOLDIER!"The sporadic shaking again."A promise is a promise! Here!"
Barret's stash of gil nearly smacked her in the nose. Not only that, but it was the most pathetic amount of pay she had ever received in her life. SOLDIER paid more than that, for God's sake. But, still.........."This is my pay? Don't make me laugh."
Tifa looked surprised, then as though she was trying to hide the fact that she was happy."So then you'll.........?"
"Got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3000."(I want to know more about that. Why couldn't I remember who Tifa was?)
The shaking intensified, as a whispered battle between leader and bar hostess took place. It seemed that Tifa won out, because Barret headed back towards the hidden entrance to the hideout, although still undeniably angry."2000!"
He headed down. Tifa smiled gratefully."Thanks, Aeris."
"I didn't do it for you. Well, at least not intentionally. I did it because you remember, and I don't."
Tifa shook her head, as if she were in a daze."No, I......... Forget it, Aeris. It was 5 years ago............"
(You can't remember something from 5 years ago? I thought I was the only one with that problem.)"..............."
****************************************************************
"..............Aerith?"
"...............Yeah.......... Wait, how do you know that name?! Only---"
"Ha ha ha..............Aerith."
"Where are you?! No, this's gotta be a dream!"
"I am quite near. It is well that you talk quietly in your sleep."
"No............."
"Oh, yes. Sleep well, flower of my heart. Sleep well."
"'Sleep well'..............or 'Sleepel'...................?"
**************************************************************
"..............until I come back for you.................."
Aeris woke up shaking.(A dream. A stupid, stupid dream, brought on by my shock of seeing Tifa after all these years...........)
A flower that had lain in her hands, which were clapsed across her chest, fell into her lap as soon as she sat up.
And she began to scream.
"Wha---mfft---grunt---smack---the hell?"Barret was stirring, albeit slowly. Aeris did the only thing she could think of at the moment.
She set him on fire.
By the Gods, it wasn't intentional! But she couldn't let slip that a stupid little nightmare had scared her and she saw the bucket of water near her head on the floor that Tifa used to mop up the drunks' vomit, and it was the only thing she could do at that exact moment, and................GOD, SHE DIDN'T MEAN IT!
"Shi-! I'm on fire!"Barret began dancing around, beating with his hand and his gunarm at the flames.
"We TOLD you to stop actin' so big, Barret........"Biggs wheezed sleepily.
"Of COURSE you're on fire, boss........."Wedge added in the same half- concious state.
And then Tifa woke up."FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!"she screamed, yelling at Barret to stop, drop, and ROLL, for Gods' sake! Jessie darted for the fire extinguisher, only to have it erupt into a burst of white foam back at her face, as soon as she triggered the nozzle.
Aeris finally stopped laughing too hard and grabbed the mop bucket, throwing it's contents over the flaming AVALANCHE leader. Barret lay on the ground, a charred, angry mess.
"FOO'S! WHICH ONE OF YA DID THIS?!?!?!"Aeris yawned and cast Cure on him to heal the greater part of his burns. "Rggggghhhhh.............."
She hoped he would either stop shaking or explode, and just get it over with. Jessie was dusting the white foam off of her clothes rather sheepishly."I was messin' around with the fire extinguisher one day, and thought I'd make a few adjustments......."
"Kgggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!"
"Uh, nothin', nevermind."
After a rather silent breakfast(for no one wanted to incur Barret's wrath after the incident that morning), midday found the members of AVALANCHE climbing on the train to the Sector 5 reactor.
"Hey Aeris, come look at this with me."
(Oh, Gods. Not again.)"It's alright."
"Oh, looks like you've seen this before. It's okay. Come a little closer so you can see better."
"Yeah, I've seen it before. Eight dozen times already."
"Well, there's no need to get an attitude about it."
"Seeing as how I grew up here and all, I'd say it's pretty hard for me to forget how the Midgar map model works."
Tifa looked interested now."Really? You didn't grow up in Nibelheim? Then, who..........?"
(What the? Oh.)"He was talking to that other guy. The MD."
"I guess that explains it."Tifa frowned, and Aeris headed back to where the rest of the rebel members were gathered.
(We've still got some catching up to do. About that day 5 years ago............)
(...............and maybe even now.)
(No! I won't believe it! ..........No, it's not possible. I'll confront those facts only when I have to. And, maybe not even then.)
She fingered the flower, where she had shoved it rather unceremoniously into her pocket. Call it folly if you would, but something told her that keeping it around might serve some actual purpose someday. It was a rose, but not red. White. White, fading to a creamy yellow around the outside, and a pale pink on the inside.
Aeris looked up as the emergency lights on the train began flashing red.'Unauthorized passengers in Car A! Preparing for lockdown!'
Jessie came bursting back through the door."There's been a problem!"she shouted over the commotion."I'll explain later! Just hurry and get to the next car!"
As Aeris, Tifa, and Barret entered into the next compartment, several people were trying to hold up the remaining AVALANCHE members near the front. Biggs headbutted one, while Jessie punched the other one in the stomach."This way!"she cried back.
Aeris gritted her teeth as she pitched forward blindly in the darkness, ignoring the several robbery attempts and the even more attempts to sneak in a quick feel as she ran by. However, up the near the front, an old man slipped something in her pocket and whispered a few words to her that sounded suspiciously like 'Good luck'.
In the next compartment, a Shinra soldier, an old man, and a little boy were all sitting alone, and completely naked. Aeris didn't even stop to wonder, just kept on towards the front of the train.
Up in the front, the appearances of Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie in completely different clothing than their usual informed Aeris of the plight of the passengers in the previous car. Tifa flung open the compartment door."Alright, watch closely! I'm gonna jump!"
And she vanished.
(Idiocy!)Aeris had time to think before Barret practically pushed her out the door. Revenge for setting him on fire, she knew.(We'll all be killed like the incompetent retards that we are!)
At least she had enough common sense to tuck in her limbs and just roll. Barret clearly didn't have that much intellegence; the loud 'oofs!' and swears that he omitted could have been heard from miles around and could have offended even the most crude of the slum folk.
"Awright!"he shouted, standing up."The reactor's at the end of this tunnel!"
The three of them stretched out their arms and legs experimentally, before heading off down the tunnel.
*************************************************************
"No. Way."Aeris stared at Barret like he was crazy."There's no way I'm sliding down this. It's crazy, do you hear me?! Cra---"
He pushed her down.
Aeris hit the metal pipe hard and went sliding down on her butt, the thought of pummeling Barret as soon as she was on solid ground the only thing keeping her from screaming. The whole idea was lunacy. As soon as they had entered the reactor through an air vent(once again, seeing Barret trying to squeeze his way into THAT one was another thing that kept her fears at bay), the three of them had entered atop a platform on the reactor. The way they were supposed to go was a tiny door..............at the bottom.
And the only way down was by means of the damnable pipe. The blasted, bloody thing had no sides.
At least, when she hit the bottom, Barret went skidding over her head from a sheer overabundance of pure momentum, and crashed into the wall. Tifa made the most graceful dismount of them all, merely skidding along the rest of the distance on her butt, instead of trying to stop as Aeris and Barret had done. Problem was, it gave the other two resistance members present a clear shot of her black thong. Something Aeris had NOT wanted to see.
"Let's go, foo's!"Barret ordered, leading the way through the door, that now seemed so much larger since the three of them were down on the ground.
But when Aeris went to set the bomb, she had another glitch again.
"Papa?!" There was Tifa, standing over her father, with a long, bloody sword laying next to him."Sephiroth?! Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he?!" She looked ready to cry."Shinra..........SOLDIER.......Mako reactors.........everything!"She screamed the next part to the world.
"I hate them all!!!!!!!"
And she picked up the sword and ran out of sight.
Aeris couldn't quite remember how the incident with Tifa had come about. But she could remember Sephiroth."Tifa........?"
"Yeah?"
"When...........I.......no, forget........... Come on, we've gotta hurry!"
She could figure the rest out later.
At the top, near the exit, something was wrong."Shinra soldiers?!"cried Tifa, as the red-suited mini-army came rushing towards them from the left.
"........A trap........."Aeris knew one when she saw one. And out from the darkness appeared a man, a portly man dressed in a rich red suit, with thinning blond hair and cold blue eyes.
Barret looked stunned."Presi............President Shinra?!"
"Ah, and you must be that.............what was it called?"
"AVALANCHE! And don't you forget it! So you're President Shinra, hunh?"
Aeris had met him only once before, however..........."............Long time no see, President."
His gaze flickered to her."Oh, you. You were the one who quit SOLDIER not long ago, correct? I knew you'd been exposed to Mako, from the look in your eyes.......... Tell me, traitor. What was your name?"
(Hmph. Stuck up SOB.)"Aeris."
"Forgive me for asking, but I can't be expected to remember every person's name. Not unless you become another Sephiroth."Now his face grew pensive."Sephiroth................ He was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant.........."
Aeris reeled again.".........Sephiroth..........?"
Barret was tired of having the spotlight taken away from him."Don't care 'bout none of that! This place's goin' up with a big BANG soon! Serves ya'll right!"
The calculating tyrant was back again."And such a waste, just to get rid of vermin like you."
"VERMIN?! That's all you can say, 'VERMIN'?! Ya'll Shinra are the VERMIN, killin' the Planet! And that makes you King VERMIN! So shu'up, jackass!"
"You are beginning to bore me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner I must attend."
"Dinner?! Don't gimme that! I ain't even started with you yet!"
The President looked amused."Oh, but I've made arrangements for a special playmate for you all."He snapped his fingers, and a whizzing noise could be heard from the left, near Tifa.
"?! What's that noise?!"she cried, as Barret ran towards her. Suddenly, shooting in between the two of them and towards Aeris, came a metallic machine with several guns and spiked wheels.
"Meet 'Airbuster', a techo-soldier."President Shinra smiled."Our Weapons Development Department created him. I'm sure that the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in further experiments. Now, if you'll excuse me."
Aeris tried to run after him."Wait, President!"(No! Does he know more than he's letting on? I've got to---)
"Uh, Aeris!"The thing was forcing Tifa and Barret back towards the wall."L'il help here!"
"THIS is from SOLDIER?"
Well, that just disgusted Aeris."No way! It's just a machine!"
"Who cares?!"Barret brandished his gun-arm."I'm gonna bust him up!"
Aeris closed the gap between herself and her comrades, Vereorvis already coming into her hands. The Airbuster was walled in. 'Rear Gun!' it said(?) in a mechanical voice, firing at Aeris. Well, damn. NO, it couldn't fire at Tifa or Barret, at whom it was facing! It just HAD to shoot bullets out of it's ass!
Well, she was angry enough to use her Limit Break, now."Luminarium!"Vereorvis began to glow, as Aeris held it high in the air. Suffused with the power of her anger, she brought her sword crashing down in a white burst of light, nearly spliting the techno-piece-of-crap-thing into two.
It didn't kill it, though, a small weeny casting of Bolt from the other side(whether it was Tifa or Barret was yet to be seen) finished the job. Airbuster began to spark and fizz and vibrate violently. A ring of metal flew off into the air; Aeris caught it. Oh. A Titan Bangle. She'd seen one on display at the weapons shop back in Sector 7, but it hadn't been for sale. Good thing she hadn't tried to buy it off, she got this one for free. Things were looking up.
And then Airbuster exploded.
The ground underneath of Aeris suddenly disintegrated into nothingness, as Barret and Tifa rushed to her side.
"Damn!"the former roared. Tifa looked distraught.
"Barret, can't you do anything?!"she cried, stretching her hand out to the rather disenfranchised ex-SOLDIER. Barret shrugged helplessly.
"Not a damn thing."
Aeris was getting tired of their defeated attitudes."I'll be fine! This whole place's gonna explode! Get out while you still can! I'll catch up to you guys later!"
Barret still looked uneasy, but gave in."Awright...........later."
A great jet of flame shot out from the exit where they had first come in, and the platform Aeris was holding on to began to shake. She felt her fingers slipping, slipping, slipping..............
The last thing she saw before she fell was the sorrow on Barret and Tifa's faces.
AN~Kweh heh heh. You know it's not the end! We've still got many more discs left to go, people!*takes deep breaths* Anyway, sorry this part is so long. Like, I wanted to go back and make it shorter, but then I realized how bizarre that would be, and.......oh, well! You'll just have to put up with long chapters, I suppose!^_^*evil grin* Ooh, a last minute chapter dedication! I got to thinking, and realized that I haven't dedicated a SINGLE chapter of ANY of my stories to my friend, Dark Reaper!*waves* Sorry! I mean, he's reviewed pretty much EVERY SINGLE ONE of my fanficcies(like PinkStarz, that review whore), and I haven't dedicated a chapter to him ONCE. It makes me feel like poo. So thus, here you are!*hands over chapter dedication* Yay! Me life is complete, lads! Ooh, if you want to see more of this, better start telling everyone you know to review! Because I'm doing the same thing I'm doing with HICB, only updating until I get a certain # of reviews per chappy. Because of FF7's utter lack of readers, though, I lowered the number to eight a chapter. So get movin'!*smile* ~Vereor Veritas~, ~*~tigerofthewind~*~
