Disclaimer: Don't own any of the healing items/ summons/ jobs, those are Squaresofts. This is non-profit fun.
Warning!: This chapter has a lot of cursing and explosions. It's not meant to offend, but it could. Just a warning.
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God money I'll do anything for you.
God money just tell me what you want me to.
God money nail me up against the wall.
God money don't want everything he wants it all.
No you can't take it
no you can't take it
no you can't take that away from me
no you can't take it
no you can't take it
no you can't take that away from me
head like a hole.
Black as your soul.
I'd rather die than give you control.
Head like a hole.
Black as your soul.
I'd rather die than give you control.
Bow down before the one you serve.
You're going to get what you deserve.
Bow down before the one you serve.
You're going to get what you deserve.
God money's not looking for the cure.
God money's not concerned with the sick amongst the pure.
God money let's go dancing on the backs of the bruised.
God money's not one to choose
~ Head Like A Hole, Nine-Inch Nails
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The skies were black with thick clouds this night, but in the glittering city of Mecka Allo the light of the moon and her stars were never necessary. Gentle white flakes fell from the darken sky, signifying bitter cold winter had finally come. It gathered in clumps on the bushes and in the gutters, everywhere else just became black ice.
It was a metropolis alive with electricity and activity, the main street a buzz of club goers and neon lights. Cars remained bumper to bumper as men popped out of their windows to scream at each other. Loud, pounding music leaked from building to building trying to grab the attention of rich young shoppers or anyone hoping for a good time. However a few blocks from all this chaos it all was quiet and still.
The headquarters of Dynasty nearly pierced the clouds, a sleek black god towering over all. No one was her equal, even the Onyx Palace, where the Ghri senate was held, stood in silent reverie of her glory. At her base, astride the steps to the glass entrance, were large cement planters that held bare bushes where cut into one of the planters was the gold and red logo that read boldly Dynasty' and in a circle her motto: Securing Today for Tomorrow.
A man in a black trench coat stood outside, puffs of white whirled in the air whenever he exhaled. He rubbed his arms vigorously to keep warm as he watched the black skies around him warily. His head jerked behind him instantly when he heard the sound of boots scrapping the ground. Relaxing when he saw another man in a black trench coat emerge from the glass entrance of the building.
He huffed, sounding rather agitated, "Shit man, gimme a fuckin warning next time!"
"Geez, sorry." The other said haughtily. He trudged down the steps and stood beside the other man in black. Pulling a little box out of his pocket, he offered a cigarette to the man next to him. The man took it thankfully, he struggled with the lighter before it finally lit up, then took a long drag in satisfaction.
"Got a new gadget from the guys upstairs." The same man who offered the cigarettes said as he readied his own. He pulled out a black object with blinking lights from the same pocket and held it out for the other man.
The other man eyed it curiously then took it; he gawked at it and all its little numbers. "What the hell is it?"
"M.A.G. unit monitorsso they can tell if we're still active or not," He said, "They developed them right after 1010 went off-line."
"Shit, ya think they coulda started using them after the other nine guys went off-line, fuckin dumbasses."
He sniffed sharply, "That upper management for ya." He started to light his own cigarette.
The other man's eyes scrolled the green lights that weren't blinking; a flash of confusion struck his eyes. "Hey, when did 1050 go off-line?"
"Two days ago, why?"
"This thing must be on the fuckin fritz already, it says he's online. Cheap ass fuckers, can't even give us good equipment."
The man to the right sharpened his senses, silencing his comrade in the process, "Do you hear that?"
They looked in the direction of the high pitch squealing sound, similar to a generator powering up. Their eyes caught sight of a young man with white hair standing on a planter just as a whirlwind of fire consumed them.
Ashen tossed the dark skinned arm to the ground by the two piles of ash and a burning bush. Not looking back he climbed the stairs to the entrance, then disappeared into the building
~***~
Five steps into the center of the lobby on the sixty-seventh floor, Ashen was greeted by a serenade of clicks. The twin eyes of fifty different men fixed on him, all with black shiny automatic rifles. Some acting as snipers from the encircling balcony above the staircase, other remained as ground troops surrounding the young man.
"DO NOT MOVE!" An angry voice vehemently commanded from somewhere in the sea of green.
To this, Ashen halted, his rigid body feeling every feverish gun aimed at him. The edgy guards stood poised with itchy trigger fingers, nervous beads of sweat forming on the foreheads of a few closest to the young man when they noticed his face held no emotion to it despite the situation.
"NOW PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!" The same voice shouted in concise deliberate orders.
Each man's gun shifted slightly, the sound with a sharp echo, when Ashen began to move. Lifting each arm painstakingly slow, his leather jacket creaked in the hollow air as he clasped his hands behind his head. One could almost feel the tension in the room reduce in wake of the simple action.
The faint clap of boots walking across the marble floor let the young man count the five men bravely coming towards him without having to move his head to see it. "We will shoot you if you resist detainment, Ashen Maave!"
Ashen's eyes zeroed in on the owner of the one shouting orders; he was a commander on the second floor with his trained gun hanging off the edge of the balcony. The commander seemed to flinch when he caught sight of the fiery red eyes looking directly at him. Suddenly an ominous smirk crept over Ashen's tanned face.
"SHIT! HE'S SUMMONING!" The same man cried in alarm, firing his gun at young man in the center of the room.
Automatic fire rang out, filling the hollow air with the sound and with screaming curses. But nothing seemed to hit as the encircling green orbs yielding flames consumed Ashen's form and out from this mass, flaming vapors bled. Gentle flames running over the floor eating up what was in its path while from its center a giant bird dressed in fire emerged. Its booming KAHs' drowned out the chaotic gunfire and death shrieks.
Great gusts of fire and wind suppressed the room as its flaming wings flapped wildly. Finally with strained efforts, its body rose into the air above the still firing guards; those who were still alive that is. But right after it reached its aerial state, it suddenly spun in mid-air, creating a vast back-draft that consumed everything underneath it, and in its wake it flew through the large glass window into the black night sky.
Outside, on the main street, those who sat in their cars and those who littered the sidewalks stopped their goings and comings. Halted by the unexpected blast from the sixty-seventh story window of the massive building that loomed over them. Disbelief and alarm washed over the faces of those gazing at the little cloud of burnt orange colored smoke that appeared as an alien on the sleek black visage of Dynasty's HQ.
Some, like zombies, stepped out of their cars and other huddled closer to each other. Soon more people ushered out of their shops to see the unfathomable sight. Yet as the moment of shock dragged on thoughts graced the minds of the onlookers, before long people began to ease into the possibility that maybe it was just a freak accident. A gas valve broke and maybe some idiot lit a cigarette or something.
A chorus of horrified gasps, unholy blasphemies, and slow stated curses irrupted from the streets while what looked like a new bubble of fire slowly morphed before their eyes to a giant flaming bird. It shot out of the smoke like a bullet while smoke clung to its back tail trailing until there was no more. Spreading its wing briefly then changed directions to climb the air to the top floor.
"It'sIt's a monster! A MONSTER!" cried someone panic stricken from the flood of onlookers, just as the fiery bird crashed into the large window of the top floor.
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AN: Wow, really freaked about putting up this Chapter. I'm worried it might be pushing the envelope and piss ppl off, but that's part of writing isn't it? Fearlessness, writing fearlessly. Actually this chapter was inspired by FF7, cause Dynasty is like a 100-story building like Shinra Inc. So a sixty-seventh story lobby was a good middle. Also, I wanted to use Head Like A Hole for while now but didn't have a place for it. This was the best place cause Ghri is all money orientated. NIN rocks hehe. See ya next chappy!
