"Ah…" Vince breathed in the air, and looked around the city from the top of the massive stone building. Just below him, he could see Webster and his hired goons in front of the Chaos Gate. He sent him a message:
Guess where I am! =D
Vince smirked as Webster read the message and looked around, frustrated. He received his quick response.
I don't care where the hell you are. Just get to the Chaos Gate.
"Well!" Vince frowned and rolled his eyes.
"No fun at all, is he?" He said to himself. Vince leapt down in front of Webster, scaring him out his wits.
"WHOA!" Webster jumped back a few feet. "Jesus, man! Can't you use a goddam ladder or something?" Webster shouted at him. Vince merely shrugged.
"That's no fun." Vince told Webster with a grin on his face.
"What!? No… fun?" Webster began to boil with anger. His face grew very red, like a ripe tomato. Vince pointed and laughed at him.
"No need to get all hot under the collar about it, Mr. Admin." He grinned.
Webster immediately calmed himself down a little, but was still red in the face.
"Are you ready?" He grunted to Vince. Vince took a step to the Chaos Gate.
"Whenever you are, Admin-man." He answered happily. Webster groaned.
"Could you possibly stop calling me that?" He muttered. They approached the gate.
The goons stood where they were. Webster glanced back at them.
"Let's go, you idiots!" He shouted to them. The armored PC's dumbly obeyed him.
"Not very bright, are they?" Vince observed. Webster shook his head and pointed at them.
"These aren't real PCs. They're AI players under my command." He explained. Vince smiled and put his hand up to his chin.
"Ah. Almost makes me wish I had one. I could stir up something pretty good." Vince laughed heartily. Webster lowered his eyebrows and glared at him, and then walked towards the Chaos Gate.
"Whatever." The admin mumbled under his breath, guiding the guards to the Gate.
Chapter ElevenDeceit
"Ok, are we ready to go?" Cid checked. Reid and Rain nodded.
"We're been ready, Cid." Rain informed him. Cid frowned at her and checked his inventory.
"We have to make sure. This isn't any stupid monster we're going after. This is Jenova." He retorted. Rain looked confused and sat down in the chair.
"Who was Jenova again?" She asked. Cid slapped his forehead weakly.
"I've explained it to you twice, Rain." He notified her. "And it doesn't matter anyway. Jenova is the name of the virus. That's all you need to know." Rain sighed and picked up her sword.
"We have to be extra careful. I've got tons of healing potions on me, just in case anyone gets hurt. Remember, if you die… you die." Cid told her. Reid nodded.
"I understand." He assured Cid.
Cid nodded. "Alright. Let's go."
* * * *
The Chaos Gate spun around and around, the glassy interior glaring off the light from the sun. They walked up the stone steps and approached it.
"Okay," Cid paused. "Everything's set up. The gate to the field will be valid for about 15 seconds. We'll have to jump in about half a minute. Ready?"
Rain braced herself. "Ready!" She confirmed.
"Reid?" Cid looked over his shoulder. Reid nodded slowly.
"….Ready." Reid answered. Cid nodded and faced the portal. He paused for a second,
took another step towards the Chaos Gate and began to count down.
"Five… four…three… two… one… go!" The three of them leapt into the Gate, where a strange ripple in the air had appeared.
Reid felt as though he had fallen down a large pit backwards. The air whipping his hair upward, he fell into a large, swirling void of darkness.
* * * *
"Ooof!" Rain landed on her hands and knees on a patch of grass.
"Here." Cid offered his hand. He pulled her up and picked up her sword. Rain took it and looked around. They were on a small, grassy island; it consisted of a few hills. She frowned.
"This is it? This is the lost field?" She pouted, disappointed.
"No." Cid corrected her, and pointed into the sky. "That is."
Rain followed Cid's finger, looked up into the sky and let out a surprised gasp.
A giant castle made of stone floated in the clouds. Sharp, tall towers and courtyards covered the sky. A stream of black smoke burnt through a pipe and wafted into the sky. The clouds covered almost the entire fortress with a fluffy mist. The entire citadel was gigantic; too large to believe something like it could exist.
Suddenly, Rain turned around sharply. Reid wasn't there with them.
"Where's Reid?" She blurted out. Cid shook his head slowly.
"I don't know. He didn't come with us." He admitted. "He must have been teleported somewhere else on this map."
"We have to go! What if something happens to him?" Rain cried. Cid nodded seriously.
"There's a small portal that transports us to the castle right there." Cid glanced down at the ground. A small white clearing had been built below them. Rain walked next to Cid and nodded to him. They stepped onto it together and with a blinding flash, instantly stumbled on a hard stone floor. They were on a large balcony that stretched across the side of the main hall of the palace. A cloud wisped by them, the soft mist enveloping them. Rain drew her sword and walked to the open doorway. Cid followed her quickly and pulled her back.
"Let me lead the way, Rain." He ordered her. Rain glared at him. Cid glared back.
"It's too dangerous. We don't know what's in this place." He told her cautiously. Rain pushed away.
"No way! I can take care of myself! We have to find Reid!" She walked further into the hall. Cid gritted his teeth.
"Fine. Whatever." Cid walked closely behind her, keeping his eyes straight ahead. He stopped abruptly as he saw a flash of movement in the distance.
"Stop. There's something there." He warned Rain. She stopped moving and held the sword over her head, ready to strike. The figure grew larger as it came closer. Cid scrutinized it with his eyes and called out to it.
"Hello?"
Out of the shadows came a female Long Arm with long brown hair and large green eyes. She had a puzzled look on her face.
"Umm… hello?" She answered, puzzled. Cid carefully stared at her and Rain lowered her sword, seeing that there was no threat.
"What are you doing here?" He asked the stranger. She shrugged.
"I'm not sure. I was going to a field, and ended up here. This is an some event, right?" She exclaimed.
Cid shook his head.
"I'm afraid it's not. This place is under repairs, you need to log out." He lied. She frowned at him.
"You aren't an administrator. I don't have to do anything you say." She replied smugly. She looked around. "This is a strange place though. I've never seen anything like this place before. Oh, and by the way, my name's Aeris. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand to Rain.
Rain stuck out her hand to shake. Cid froze for a second, and then reacted quickly.
"STOP!" He shouted and pushed the air towards Aeris with his hands.
Aeris flew backwards through the air and smashed into the wall with a sickening crunch. Rain spun around to Cid, bewildered.
"Have you gone insane!?!" She yelled at him. Cid focused on Aeris, who was slumped against the wall.
"No." Cid replied without breaking his gaze. "Look."
"Huh?" Rain turned around to look at Aeris, who had gotten back up. A spiral of green bars surrounded and shifted around her. Aeris stared coldly at Cid with eyes that had suddenly gotten much darker, much more… sinister.
"Is that… programming code? What's happening?" Rain fearfully took a step backwards.
"The virus. It's rewriting its HP value." Cid replied tonelessly. Rain's eyes widened.
"That's- that's the virus?!" Rain stuttered. Aeris took a step forward and smiled menacingly. A dark, unholy aura followed her steps.
"That's very good, Rain." She spoke. "I'm surprised you didn't notice me more quickly, Cid." She glanced at him grimly. Cid nudged Rain behind him.
"Back away, Rain. Let me take care of this." Cid glared at Aeris with an unbridled fury.
Rain watched in amazement as Cid's hands began to glow with light. Slowly, the light grew brighter and larger until its power blinded Rain. BOOM!!! A giant beam of energy shot at Aeris and blew a giant opening in the wall, creating a passage to the room behind.
She stood unaffected and smiled slyly at Cid. He gaped at her in disbelief.
"Impossible!!" He stuttered. "How- could… you-"
"Oh come now, Cid. You think your 'holy materia' debugging thing will work on me?" She laughed cruelly at him while waving her hand in the air.
"It may have worked, if… I hadn't already recoded myself to have all of these depressing 'Self-Destruct' programs inside me removed." She yawned and stretched. Cid still gaped at her.
"Cid, it didn't work!" Rain shrieked at him.
"I KNOW!" He yelled at her.
Then quickly, Cid grabbed Rain while he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Sprite Ocarina, holding it high above his head. Aeris laughed again.
"No, no Cid. You know better." She shook her finger at them. Frustrated, Cid threw the ocarina and smashed it into the ground, shattering it into dust. Then he looked at the ground.
"Damn." He mumbled, defeated.