Reeve ordered Cloud's airship to stay where it was. Before he could finish, though, gunshots could be heard and Reeve turned to face something off the screen, horrified. The transmission ended abruptly, leaving the group helpless.
"So what do we do," Tifa asked expectantly.
"I don't know," Cloud replied, shrugging his shoulders like he had done a million times before.
"Let's go down there and destroy it once and for all!" Yuffie cried enthusiastically, belying her airsick tendencies. "Can we do that?" she added, uncertain.
Cloud glanced back towards the Crater, watching the surrounding area being eaten up. "It seems to be destroying the area around it…" He turned to the helmsman and nodded. "We've got to do something otherwise we might not have a Planet to protect." The two women expressed their approval.
They parachuted down to the outskirts of the massive crater; the helmsman was unwilling to try and land the ship. They knew Barret's group was too far away to be reached in time, so they decided to go alone. Cloud had his favorite Fire materia linked to an Elemental, ready to create a flaming Buster Sword at a moment's notice. He also had a Cover materia stuck in his pauldron, along with the White Materia, unbeknownst to anyone. Tifa had the Choco/Mog red materia in her beloved Metal Knuckle, as well as a Steal, just in case. Yuffie had kept her Throw materia in her Shuriken along with a Restore linked to an All, also just in case.
The first thing they saw upon landing was a strange-looking creature, humanoid in shape and about as short as Cait Sith. It wore a strange helmet that enveloped its entire head, leaving a space for its yellow eyes and presumably its mouth. A band of metal encircled its wrists; its fingers tipped with long red talons. A strange crest shaped vaguely like a heart was emblazoned on its chest. It turned to face the warriors, moving jerkily back and forth.
It lunged towards Tifa, but ran headlong into Cloud's sword, held in a parrying position. Cloud slashed upwards before the creature could hit the ground, causing it to dissolve into a black vapor. As it did, a small, crystalline-looking heart shaped object escaped the dying creature and floated into the sky before fading away. Yuffie screamed as the floors and walls of the Crater were filled with tiny yellow eyes. Smaller, squat creatures began to emerge; completely black without any identifying marks save for two glowing yellow eyes. Small antennae adorned its head, and its hands seemed like small, but sharp claws. Its feet were long and pointy, and Cloud noticed how it moved erratically like its larger cousin. More of the armored beings appeared as well, forming a barrier between them and the energy ball.
Yuffie was pelting them with ninja stars when the ground began to rumble, and the three AVALANCHE members were thrown to their feet.
The blocks had been moved out of the laboratory and into the airship hanger. Cid had discovered that hundreds of blocks could be merged together, but once an "engine" block and a "cockpit" block (as he had named them) joined each other, the collection would expand. Without both, it would stay as small as a model. A shipment had come in from Corel of wing-shaped blocks, and Cid knew they must form some sort of ship.
He had the Highwind in mind when he designed it, of course. He hadn't been away from his baby this long since he met Cloud, and it was beginning to wear on him. He had chosen primarily green and blue-colored blocks for the chassis; it had a long tapering front end like a sword, with most of the hardware in the back. He had discovered blocks shaped like radar dishes, and had placed these on top of the L-shaped pieces that made up the top layer. Beneath that were two long gray cylinders running parallel to the front piece, with two blocks between them that looked vaguely like engines, but with no output. On the back he had placed six engines, as many as he could find, and below the chassis he built a rectangular, arrow-shaped block, with quarter-circle shaped blocks on the sides. The center was empty, reserved for the cockpit, which he surrounded with slanted blocks.
Cid stepped back after making sure a block was in place and marveled at his work. This was to be the first test-run, and though there was no reason why anything would go wrong, he had to admit he was a little afraid. Shera was fiddling with a computer screen when Cid walked up to her. She turned to face the pilot, who placed a hand on the back of his neck.
"Well Captain, are you ready?" she began.
"I guess…" He looked like he was struggling with his words. "Shera…"
"Yes Captain?"
"First of all, stop calling me that."
"Alright Cap…" she corrected herself. "Alright Cid.
"Now, we don' know if this is just an airship or a spaceship, so if I can make it into space, you'll be going with me next time."
"Really?" She was elated to finally be returning as well.
"Yeah. But if this doesn't work…" He removed his faded, beloved flight jacket and placed it ceremoniously over her shoulders. "Just somethin' to… remember me by…" he blurted out.
"I… don't know what to say, Captain…" Cid sighed inwardly. "I have full confidence that your mission will be a complete success."
"Well, thanks Shera."
The woman removed the final cockpit block from a covered glass dish and handed it to her captain. He placed it in the hole and ran towards her before he was blown back again. The ship expanded to its full size and Cid clambered up to the cockpit, dragging a bundle of clothes, food, and some materia, and holding his spear over his back.
He placed these on the two "passenger" seats, himself sitting in the one before the controls. None of the buttons or switches had labels, so he had placed marked pieces of tape near each one. He pushed the red button marked "close" and the cockpit dome slid down, sealing him inside.
Grasping the steering stick that reminded him of the Tiny Bronco, he hit the "engine on" button, causing the ship to shudder with energy. It lifted off the ground slowly as he pulled back on the stick, and pushed the throttle forward. Shera had opened the hangar door, overlooking the starry night sky.
From behind the blast door, she whispered:
"Good luck, Captain."
The ship shot out of the hangar, streaking upwards into the sky. Cid was exhilarated by the power of his creation, barely looking back as Shera blew him a kiss.
The energy ball was seeming to get bigger with every passing moment, as Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie tried to fend off the shadowy beings. The ground was steadily rumbling, causing all of the combatants to fall from time to time.
Cloud barely had time to look up after righting himself before a huge black creature emerged from the ground. It was as large as a Weapon, with hair that seemed to wrap around it's head and a huge empty heart-shaped cavity in its chest. It raised its hands into the air, and the energy ball seemed to swirl faster while the ground began to break up.
A powerful wind started to suck up everything around it; countless shadow beings went flying towards it helplessly, though they acted like this was just another day on the job. Tifa entrenched herself behind a huge rock, effectively shielding herself from the wind. Yuffie had done the same, but was struggling because of her lesser weight.
Cloud was still fighting, seemingly oblivious to each development. He suddenly found himself thrown into the sky by the gusts of wind. His sword was wrenched from his grasp and streaked through the air, narrowly missing the giant creature.
He grabbed onto a nearby rock with his metal hand, digging his fingers into the rock. If that thing destroyed my hand, he thought, imagine what it could do to all of me… I just hope Vincent's craftsmanship is good quality… He then noticed that the rock he had anchored himself to had Tifa hiding behind it.
"Tifa!" He yelled, over the din of the gale.
"Cloud!" She responded, standing up and turning to face him, extending her hand to his own.
"Don't!…" He couldn't finish his sentence as Tifa was carried upward, no longer protected. "NO!" he yelled as the black haired woman was hurled upwards into the sky. "It's over…" he thought aloud.
"I'm still here!" Yuffie chirped from behind her rock.
"Yuffie! Where's Tifa?"
"I don't know, I can't see her anywhere!"
"No…" He felt his hand slipping, as it was running out of power. He suddenly remembered something.
He pulled out the gleaming White Materia with his free hand, yelling "Catch!" to the young girl as he threw it towards her. Instinctively she leapt from her rock, grabbed the white orb, and tumbled in front of the rock where Tifa had been.
"I got it!" she said proudly.
"How did you do that?" Cloud exclaimed.
"Well, I am the Great Ninja…" Cloud's hand lost its grip with the stone. "No, Cloud! Wait!"
He flew towards the energy ball, screaming "Tell her I love her!"
"Cloud, wait!" she yelled. "Tell who?" A stone spire flew towards the blonde man, piercing his body as he sailed through the air. The blue light in his eyes went dark, as he became lifeless before vanishing into the nexus.
"NOOOO!!!" Yuffie screamed as she crouched behind the rock. A white light filled her eyes before she went unconscious herself.
