Tifa: Faded Dreams
"The Ancients were quite thorough about hiding objects," Vincent said, scanning the radar. "According to Bugenhagen, the key should be somewhere in this vicinity."
Tifa nodded, checking her screens. "Nothing here, Cloud." First they turned the Black Materia into a Temple, now they hid a key in the ocean. How did they do that? Why didn't they just put the black materia in the ocean? It was small enough no one would ever have found it.
The sub's radio buzzed, startling her out of her musings. They had changed to a non-Shinra channel after they kicked the Shinra troops off outside Costa del Sol; the Highwind's radio was much more powerful, and better suited to monitoring known Shinra channels. Unfortunately, the Turks didn't use any of the known channels, and they still hadn't found the channels they did use.
"Turks got sent down to salvage the Gelnika," Yuffie said, voice crackling and breaking up over the radio. "Just took off from the sub dock."
"Got any idea where they are?"
There was a pause. "Cid says the Gelnika coulda been drug anywhere from Bone Village to Rocket Town. Reno was bitching about wild goose chases. That guy's pretty clueless."
"Thanks, Yuffie, we'll look out for 'em."
Tifa sighed in annoyance. "Guess they did find some more motion-sickness pills for her." Tifa had felt rather ill that morning herself, but the feeling had passed; once Yuffie got sick, she stayed sick without medicine. Sometimes Tifa felt sorry for her, and other times she felt it was exactly what the brat deserved. Yuffie's primary talent besides stealing seemed to be getting under people's skin, and she was very good at it; Cloud and Vincent were the only ones who escaped, mostly because Vincent scared her (not that Yuffie would ever admit it), and Cloud was the only person who could get her to listen to him.
Cloud shrugged, scanning the camera feed. "Told Cid to stop in Bone Village and see if they had any. Guess they did."
"She can't fight when she's sick," Vincent agreed. "Tifa, are there any signs of other subs?"
Tifa had to admit that Yuffie was a ferocious fighter when she wasn't sick. She scanned the surrounding area, glad that the teenager's motion-sickness kept her off the sub. "No, none." She tugged at her waistband, which was curiously tight; it must have shrunk the last time they'd risked hitting a laundromat in Junon.
"All right. Let's find that key."
After another two hours, Tifa was ready to scream. Her nerves were rasped thin by the constant rumble of the engine and the hiss of the ventilation system; the constant whisper of fabric from Vincent's cape as he shifted in his seat made her want to rip it off him, twist it into a rope, and strangle him with it. Instead, she gripped the edge of the radar screen with one hand, tapped the controls with the other, and glowered at the screen. find the key and get out find the key and get out find the key and get out find the key and get out -
"Cloud. There's something to port," Vincent said, the suddenness of it making her jump. "There's a break in the wall large enough for the sub."
The sub just squeezed through the break, which opened onto a long, winding tunnel. At points it was so narrow that the sub almost scraped the walls, and the ceiling low enough that Tifa was entertaining slightly panicked thoughts of being trapped, tons of water and stone surrounding them, and the air giving out, because of course it wasn't meant to last for more than a few hours. She hoped her sigh of relief when they broke into a large, high-ceilinged chamber was not audible. It wasn't as dark in here, either; somewhere above there must be a break light could shine down. She scanned the area, and her instrument panel began to chime.
Cloud! We've got something! Vincent began scanning, and they swept the area, narrowing the search until they found an object in the corner of the cavern.
...estimated to be several thousand years old.
The Key of the Ancients ... Cloud murmured, manipulating the sub's claw carefully to free the Key from centuries of debris and sand. He worked it free and brought it aboard. Vincent retrieved it from the cargo hold while Cloud turned the sub to maneuver back out of the cavern. The Key was huge, almost four feet long, of dull grey stone with strange projections all the way around it and, by the way Vincent set it down, extremely heavy.
"OK, let's head back to the City, Cloud said, as they traveled the corridor again. Highwind, come in."
"&^%^#%#! Don't touch that! Cloud! You got it?"
"We got it," Cloud said. Tifa suppressed an annoyed sigh when she heard Yuffie complaining in the background. The last thing she wanted to do was mediate between them again. "We're heading back, meet us there. Anything new on the Turks?"
"Still can't find the #$#@% frequency. Don't talk enough to catch them."
"Right. Sub out."
They had made it almost halfway to the nearest port when the proximity alarms went off. Vincent's screen showed something large briefly, then something small darting across the screen. There was something else with an unusual resonance pattern appearing to port on Tifa's screen.
"There's another sub," Vincent reported. "I believe that's the Gelnika to port."
Tifa nodded. "That's it. Cloud, torpedoes fired from the other sub!"
"Damn! Hold on!" The sub groaned, metal stressed from the tight maneuvers Cloud put it through trying to avoid the torpedoes. "Returning fire!"
The other sub dove and rolled through evasive maneuvers, and the torpedoes skimmed past it to slam into the sea wall. It fired again, and the sub shuddered and groaned as Cloud forced it into another round of evasive maneuvers. The emergency lights on the control panel began going off, and Cloud swore softly.
We blew a bulkhead, he said, as the torpedoes exploded well behind them. Let's get out of here.
"What did they hit?" Tifa asked, frowning, checking her radar. "That's all clear water there."
"There's something out there," Vincent contradicted. "It's huge, whatever it is."
The water roiled and rocked both subs and there was a deafening howl of static from the radio.
"It's moving!" Vincent said. "It's coming straight for us at ..."
"It's a Weapon!" Cloud shouted, as the outline of the thing appeared on the cameras. "We're going down! We might be able to hide on the seabed!"
Weapon swept past them, sending the sub tumbling end over end in its wake; Tifa grabbed onto her chair and felt her legs connect painfully with something as she fell. Vincent swore under his breath and shoved her legs away; Cloud grunted and pulled himself back onto his chair to get at the controls.
"Cloud, can't we outrun it?" Tifa asked, scrambling back into her chair as the sub righted itself.
"It's too fast! This time they had enough warning to grab onto their chairs; Weapon swept past them again with a terrible screech of metal on metal as it just barely scraped the hull, and the sub flipped over, tumbling in the wake of Weapon's passing. "Highwind! We got problems!"
"What's going on?" Yuffie demanded, hearing the groaning of the sub.
"Weapon! Shit! Vincent - "
"I see it!"
"Tell Cid he's gonna have to steal another sub at this rate! We can't get a fix on it long enough to fire a torpedo!"
"We can't track you- " the radio cut out as Weapon roared again, sending a blast of deafening static.
Highwind! Yuffie, do you read? Cloud slammed a fist down on the radio. Shit. It's dead.
"Cloud! It's ignoring the Gelnika. If we can get in it - if it's airtight still - "
"I hear you! Vincent, get the key!"
Cloud dove for the seaplane in the brief interval when Weapon was distracted by the other sub, extending the sub's portal. Shinra had originally intended it to be used to exchange crews undersea, without needing to dock or surface; but it served quite well to get them down on the Gelnika. Tifa jumped down as the portal began to shake with the approach of Weapon, and slammed the hatch shut just as the portal ripped free.
"Whew, we made it," she said, splashing through the small puddle at the bottom of the ladder.
Cloud nodded. "Let's see if we can find a working radio," he said. "Tell Cid what happened."
Vincent shook his head dubiously, looking around. "The cockpit was flooded. These cargo areas were better sealed."
"Maybe the cockpit took the brunt of the Weapon attack," Tifa said. "We might as well look, we're stuck here for now." There was another sound beneath the steady drip of water; a chittering sound, and a sound of scales sliding across metal, and a low hissing sound that made the hair on the back of her neck rise. She realized the others heard it too, as Cloud drew his sword and Vincent his pistol.
The thing that dropped suddenly from the ceiling was a hideous mockery of Leviathan with dull reflective scales that had hidden it against the metal walls. It hissed, drawing scaly flesh back to reveal a mouth full of fangs, and spit a stream of stinking, burning liquid at Vincent.
Tifa dodged its lashing tail and punched it; the only obvious result was a sore fist. "What is this thing?"
"I suspect Hojo had something to do with it," Vincent said, aiming. He fired and hit the creature high on the neck; it made a hideous sound somewhere between a serpentine hiss and a cat's yowl, and some green-tinged gray blood spurted from the wound. The blood smoked where it hit the floor.
Tifa nodded and dodged the tail again as she reached with her mind for the fire materia in her armlet. The power spun just out of her mental reach, sliding away as she tried to catch it; it had been harder and harder lately to touch it. Like trying to grab water, she thought, and the power flowed into her just as the thing spit at her, soaking her through. Her skin burned instantly, screaming angry blisters rising everywhere, some of the vile liquid slipping into her mouth and down her throat.
The power burst out with her scream, raw and uncontrolled, worse than the very first time she'd touched materia. The creature shrieked as the fire surrounded it, and Tifa realized dimly that she couldn't stop the power now, that it was not going to answer to her again. It was the nature of fire to burn, and freed, it would burn until there was nothing left.
The rush of water was a relief, even with breathing it in and choking on it; the fire weakened with the first hit, and the second, and on the third, she managed to break its hold and stop it. She collapsed to her knees and coughed up water, as the creature thrashed wildly, shrieking loudly enough to deafen them all. With the additional noise of Vincent's revolver, it shouldn't have been surprising that they didn't hear anything else.
Tifa almost choked again when the blue-clad legs stepped in front of her, and another pair went past her. The small space echoed with gunfire again, much too much for it to be only Vincent shooting, and, coughing the last of the water from her lungs, she looked up to realize that Rude was standing front of her and Reno had taken her place in the fight.
The creature let out another hideous howl and collapsed. Cloud slashed its head again to be sure it was dead, then turned to look at Reno.
"We just keep running into each other, don't we?" Reno said dryly.
"Guess you had the same idea we did," Cloud said, sword still held at the ready. Vincent's pistol was trained on Reno.
Rude hauled her to her feet. "Tifa. Are you all right?"
She nodded, then stepped quickly away from him, pulling a potion from her pocket; she drank it quickly, and the blisters in her mouth and throat went away in a wash of blessed smooth cool liquid. She felt Cloud catch her wrist and draw her back behind him, and for once she didn't protest. Rude and Reno shifted position to stand together, Reno tapping his nightstick on his shoulder and Rude's fists up.
Reno shrugged. Beats getting smashed into the sea floor. Even if it means we are stuck with you.
You're short one, Cloud said, ignoring the rest of Reno's commentary.
Mind your own business, Strife, Rude snapped, eyes narrowing just slightly in what Tifa, at least, could clearly read as anger.
Vincent frowned. he said. There are undoubtedly more of those creatures here. I suggest we pool our resources in order to survive.
Cloud nodded slowly. Yeah. Hojo make
Who else would come up with something that disgusting? Reno replied. He considered and finally said, I suppose we can work together for now. But it doesn't mean I like you.
Since we don't like you, that's just fine, Cloud replied, sheathing his sword.
Tifa suppressed a sigh; it would almost have been a better idea to let them beat each other to a pulp. But Vincent was right; those creatures were too tough to take on alone. Listening to Cloud and Reno snipe at each other, though, was just going to rip her remaining nerves to shreds.
Reno slung his nightstick back over his shoulder. Well, good, we understand each other.
Rude sighed, dropping his fists to his side. Reno. Strife. The reactor room there, he said, pointing at a door that was only partly off its hinges, should be defensible.
Right. Let's clear it out.
That took them a few hours, after which Cloud and Rude hauled the bodies out and dumped them in a hallway. Vincent and Reno fixed the door, Tifa checking the rest of the room to be sure they'd gotten everything. We're clear.
Cloud said, considering. I'll take first watch.
Reno sprawled impossibly across the floor, looking unnaturally comfortable, and promptly fell asleep. Tifa sat down and leaned back against the wall, ignoring the steady ache in her back. Vincent settled against the wall next to her, sitting with his hand resting on the butt of his gun. She closed her eyes and dozed off as Cloud took up a sentry position facing Rude.
She'd known Rude had been lying to her about what he was doing. Ordinary jobs didn't mean coming home beat-up and wanting her enough they rarely made it to the bedroom. Ordinary jobs didn't get called up at random hours. And they definitely did not involve someone banging on the door at two in the morning. Rude had muttered something obscene, grabbed his robe, and stomped out to answer it; she had been drifting back into sleep until she'd heard him talking.
"Dammit, Reno, I told you not to come here."
"Whatsamatter, Rude? Fraid your girl's gonna dump you when she gets a look at me?" The voice was drawling and cheerful, slightly drunk. It was also familiar.
"Reno."
"Not my fault you were too busy to answer the phone," Reno leered. At least, Tifa was reasonably sure that was what he was doing from the tone of his voice. "Tseng says something's up, gotta come in to work."
"Fine. Give me a minute."
Rude stalked back into the bedroom, closing the door firmly behind him. "Gotta go. Be back in a few hours," he said, kissing her lightly. He pulled on his clothes and left, saying something irate at Reno.
Reno. The redhead who'd been trying to get one of her fellow barmaids to go home with him after her shift that night. Reno, the newest of the Turks.
Tifa hadn't been there whenever Rude had come home; she'd taken her things and her stash of gil, and left.
She hadn't left a note.
Tifa wasn't sure whether it was Vincent or the angry female voice that woke her. Huh? Yuffie? She scrambled gracelessly to her feet and rushed out into the main corridor, just behind Vincent; Rude had already disappeared.
They got out just in time to see Cloud step in front of an upset Yuffie and punch Reno in the nose. Reno's nightstick was about three feet away from him and there was fresh blood on his arm; Yuffie must have hit him herself. Rude was standing to one side with his arms crossed, face set and expressionless.
Reno clapped a hand to his bloody nose and glared at Cloud. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully and he smirked. "Gee, Strife, never figured you for a -"
Cloud raised his fist again, eyes glowing with anger more than Mako. Yuffie had her shuriken ready, but didn't seem inclined to get out from behind Cloud and confront Reno again.
"Shut up, Reno," Rude said. "This is business. Don't make it personal."
Reno glared at Rude and opened his mouth. Rude glared back, and Reno shut up, retrieved his nightstick, and settled for glaring at Cloud.
"Yuffie. Go on up," Cloud said. "We'll be right behind you."
Yuffie clambered quickly up the ladder without a word. Cloud glowered at Reno until the Turk looked away. Tifa sighed, and guessed that Reno had probably grabbed Yuffie's rear or done something else she didn't appreciate. Cloud, being the macho jerk he sometimes was, had decided to take care of it himself, instead of making Yuffie deal with it.
"Let's go. Tifa."
Tifa, carefully not looking at Rude, climbed the ladder. She heard Rude say something to Cloud, but couldn't make out what it was. Vincent followed her up the ladder into the sub, and then Cloud clambered up.
Tifa gritted her teeth as Cloud dropped his hand reassuringly on Yuffie's shoulder. The brat gulped and stood up a little straighter.
Let's get back to the City, Cloud said. We've got work to do.