Ramul stopped dead in his tracks. Siro ran bodily into him.
"HEY!" He shouted. "What's going on her....."
But Siro froze as well. His mouth hung open as he and his partner looked into the eyes of a ghost.
"S-Sephiroth?" Stammered Ramul.
"But......he's supposed to be dead!"
But sure enough there he stood; his silver hair blowing in a wind no one else could feel. Blood dripped from the terrible sword he held at his side and from the hem of his dark cape. His mako eyes were cruel and remorseless. Siro could do nothing but stare, but Ramul took the time to survey the surroundings.
More Shinra personnel, wearing lab coats, lay dead around the laboratory. But they were freshly killed; some were still gasping for air or twitching with death throws. But the interesting thing was what lay at Sephiroth's booted feet.
It had come, clearly, from what was left of a stasis tank right next to Sephiroththat had been shattered by an obvious force. The thing looked clearly humanoid, with two arms and two legs. But it seemed to be missing its head. It was a pale blue color, like someone who has frozen to death, and it seemed to have markings and appendages that could not be named or identified.
Sephiroth suddenly spoke, wrenching Ramul from his observations.
"Look at you...." His voice was cold and determined. "You are just experiments, violated by technology. I need not shed your tainted blood."
At this he bent down and picked up the strange form from the ground and slung it over his armored shoulder. Then he turned, causing his black cape to billow around him. Ramul and Siro were frozen as he walked swiftly across the room, to the elevator.
Ramul suddenly snapped back to reality. "Siro, what are we waiting for?"
Ramul took off, and, as usual Siro could do nothing to stop him. He chased after him.
"Are you insane?" He shouted. "We should leave while we're still alive!"
"An infiltration team never leaves a job unfinished!"
"You are out of your mind!"
"And you're following me."
They reached the elevator but it was too late, Sephiroth was gone. They pressed the button and waited.
"What do you intend to do when we catch up to him?" Siro asked. "Arrest him?"
"Well, he's died once," Ramul, said. "He can die again."
DING
"If you say so...."
"Just get in the elevator."
They rode up to the next level. The sense of dread seemed to be getting stronger again but neither said anything.
DING
"68th floor," said Siro. "Casual evening wear, long dead SOLDIERS, ladies' intimate apparel"
This coaxed a light chuckle from Ramul, but it had died by the time the doors slid open.
They stepped out and into the large and well-lit expanse of floor 68. They looked around.
"He's gone...."
Sure enough the room was empty and free of oddities but for two things: there was a shattered containment tank to the right and......
"A trail of blood?" Siro pointed to the ground. There was a clear trail of blood where Sephiroth's soaked cape had dragged along the ground behind him.
"Then let's follow it," said Ramul, walking along the right side of the gruesome trail.
"Wait!"
"Not this again......"
"No, I'm getting a signal from HQ."
"Put it on intercom."
Siro clicked the side of his helmet and a tinny mechanized voice filled the room.
"SIU UNIT B......SIU UNIT B.......MISSION SUCCESSFUL. SOURCE OF PROBLEM IDENTIFIED AS A REBEL GAS BOMB IN THE AIR SYSTEM.....RETURN TO YOUR POST IMMEDIATELY....REPEAT MISSION ACCOMP-"
"What?!" cried Ramul. "What gas bomb?"
"You heard them," said Siro, his voice sounding oddly strained. "Let's get out of here."
"You saw him!" Yelled Ramul. "There is no gas bomb! It's a cover-up."
"So?" Siro's voice was almost a whisper. "We don't have a say here, let's go!"
"No, I can't let Sephiroth get away what he's done here!"
At this Ramul sped off across the room following the trail. Siro, though with much more reluctance, took off after him.
"Ramul!" He yelled.
But Ramul kept running, he reached the stairs and ran to floor 69. Siro followed, nearly slipping on the trail of blood that painted the stairs. He caught up and grabbed for his partner's arm, but he turned a corner and Siro fell behind again.
They ran through a door and the hallway widened into a massive room with two staircases on either side leading to the top story. Siro looked up and saw a black caped figure walk just out of sight. Ramul ran to the foot of the stairs but suddenly-
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Three of the windows above the stairs shattered and the sound of many propellers was heard. As Ramul and Siro watched, six air combatants, three of them carrying SOLDIER 3rd classes, flew in through the broken window and dropped directly in Siro and Ramul's path.
The front most SOLDIER stepped forward and said:
"Special Infiltration Unit B, we are under orders to apprehend you for disobeying a direct command from Headquarters."
"What?" Ramul shouted in outrage. "But Sephiroth is here, he is going to the upper story, that is where the president is!"
The SOLDIER dropped his professional manner for a moment and said: "What? Sephiroth? But..." He shook his head. "The president has been killed in the gas bombing, it's very unfortunate. As for Sephiroth, I do not believe he could be here, as he is dead."
"You seem pretty sure of yourself for a 3rd class." Ramul said.
"We are under direct orders to apprehend you for disobeyin-"
"Yeah, I know!" Ramul said. "Siro, don't ask questions, but grab onto my back."
Siro, confused enough to comply, did so. Before any of the military blocking the way could react Ramul pressed a button on his armored forearm and suddenly shot up in the air, propelled by jets on his feet.
Ramul and Siro landed at the top of the stairs and took off after Sephiroth.
"HEY!" Shouted the SOLDIER 3rd class. "Aw, man. HQ isn't going to like this one bit! There goes my promotion..."
Meanwhile, Ramul and Siro arrived in the massive presidential office at the top story of Shinra tower. Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen, but his mark was left behind. The president, once the leader of all of Shinra, lay dead on his desk, impaled on a seven foot long sword: the Masamune.
"Too late...." Siro said, still in somewhat of a shock.
"Maybe not!" Ramul said, before sprinting towards the door leading to the roof of the tower.
Siro gave a quick shrug and took off in the same direction. He was starting to regret having woken up that morning at all.
Siro found Ramul, not surprisingly, alone on the roof.
"How?"
"Look, let's just go back and explain this whole thing to HQ, they'll understand."
Ramul suddenly walked to the edge of the roof and looked down at the road below.
"Oh, they'll understand alright," Ramul said.
Siro walked to join him and looked down. Even with his only slightly advanced vision, it was clear that there was something major going on. There were Shinra police cars surrounding the building entirely and transports began showing up and unloading military of every kind. There was a distinctive vehicle being started up in the back of a trailer.
"That's a Heli gunner!" Said Siro. "But I thought this was supposed to be a search and rescue mission."
"This is no ordinary operation," said Ramul. "It's-"
"A cover-up!" Finished Siro. "And we saw what really happened. That makes us targets!"
"You're starting to get it."
"What do we do?"
"I got a plan."
Within a few minutes the two found themselves wedged in a cabinet in the president's office.
"So you're logic here is...." asked Siro in an aggravated whisper.
"A philosopher once said: 'the closer we are to danger, the further we are from harm.'"
"I did not wake up expecting this."
"Well, what can you do?"
"If we get out of this I want to get plastered-ass drunk at the Sector 3 Fallen Angel."
"I'll buy," said Ramul.
"Promise?"
"Shh, I hear something."
Sure enough there was a sound coming from the room, footsteps.
"Think it's the SOLDIERS?"
"SHH!"
A low male voice suddenly spoke from the room. "He's dead, the leader of Shinra Inc. is dead...."
Another voice, female this time: "Sephiroth?"
Yet another voice, male: "Look's like it, this is his sword."
Then another sound, distinctively mechanical, echoed through the room, covering up the sound of the other people in the room. It was the sound of a helicopter, the president's helicopter.
"Rufus...." Siro said to himself. He tried to straighten up, but Ramul put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hold on, I'll check." Ramul's eyes glowed red as he surveyed the room for heat.
"Okay, it looks good." Ramul opened the door and he and Siro stepped out. Sure enough the inhabitants of the room had left.
"So, should we go help out Rufus?" Asked Siro.
"Are you joking?" Ramul asked. "We need to find a way to escape from here without getting spotted!"
"Actually, I was joking."
"Oh, well you suck."
"So does your mom."
Ramul slapped his forehead and took off towards the door. But before he could reach it something stumbled in, clutching its arm.
It was the SOLDIER from the stairs. Only he looked badly beat up, with a gash down his chest and a broken arm. He tried to straighten up when he saw the two but had to clutch his broken arm again in pain.
"My orders-are to take-you back to..." He gasped in pain and passed out on the floor.
"Hmm...." Said Siro. "Look's like we aren't the only outlaws in this tower. So what do we do with him?"
"Leave him...wait look!"
A figure was running towards the door to the roof. Assuming the worst and taking advantage of any and all hiding places, Ramul grabbed Siro and jetted up into the ceiling vent, smashing the grate in the process.
"OW!" Siro said, rubbing his head.
"SH!"
The two watched as a strange blonde man ran by underneath them.
"Hm," said Ramul. "Guess it wasn't Rufus. Still blonde though."
"Looked familiar...." Siro said.
They listened as the helicopter outside flew away. They were confused but even more annoyed with hiding.
"Let's go down."
They dropped back down to the floor, becoming, by now, sufficiently sick of the entire tower. They turned back to the door and started towards it.
"Ow..." The SOLDIER on the ground twitched.
"Oh come the pie on!" Cried Siro. "Can anything else please go wrong?!"
The young SOLDIER stood up shakily. Siro and Ramul prepared to attack him and put him back into submission when they heard another peculiar noise. It was the sound of feet, but they were synchronized.
"It's the MPs," Ramul said. "Lot's of them."
"Oh I had to open my mouth," Siro said, slapping his helmeted forehead.
The SOLDIER saw them and began stumbling towards them: "I am under orders to-"
"YEAH!" Shouted Siro. "I KNOW!!!"
"Let's go!" Said Ramul. "They are almost here!"
The two ran out onto the roof.
"So, um, what are we achieving by being here, um, on the ROOF!?" Asked Siro.
"Just let me think," said Ramul with a hint of desperation. "Hey, what's that?"
Ramul walked over to the thing he was gesturing to. It was a black furry shape lying motionless against the wall of the building. Siro walked over to examine it.
"That's Dark Nation!" Said Siro. "Rufus' pet."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, don't see many black Blood Tastes, do you?"
"Look's pretty messed up...."
"Is he dead?"
"HEY!" He shouted. "What's going on her....."
But Siro froze as well. His mouth hung open as he and his partner looked into the eyes of a ghost.
"S-Sephiroth?" Stammered Ramul.
"But......he's supposed to be dead!"
But sure enough there he stood; his silver hair blowing in a wind no one else could feel. Blood dripped from the terrible sword he held at his side and from the hem of his dark cape. His mako eyes were cruel and remorseless. Siro could do nothing but stare, but Ramul took the time to survey the surroundings.
More Shinra personnel, wearing lab coats, lay dead around the laboratory. But they were freshly killed; some were still gasping for air or twitching with death throws. But the interesting thing was what lay at Sephiroth's booted feet.
It had come, clearly, from what was left of a stasis tank right next to Sephiroththat had been shattered by an obvious force. The thing looked clearly humanoid, with two arms and two legs. But it seemed to be missing its head. It was a pale blue color, like someone who has frozen to death, and it seemed to have markings and appendages that could not be named or identified.
Sephiroth suddenly spoke, wrenching Ramul from his observations.
"Look at you...." His voice was cold and determined. "You are just experiments, violated by technology. I need not shed your tainted blood."
At this he bent down and picked up the strange form from the ground and slung it over his armored shoulder. Then he turned, causing his black cape to billow around him. Ramul and Siro were frozen as he walked swiftly across the room, to the elevator.
Ramul suddenly snapped back to reality. "Siro, what are we waiting for?"
Ramul took off, and, as usual Siro could do nothing to stop him. He chased after him.
"Are you insane?" He shouted. "We should leave while we're still alive!"
"An infiltration team never leaves a job unfinished!"
"You are out of your mind!"
"And you're following me."
They reached the elevator but it was too late, Sephiroth was gone. They pressed the button and waited.
"What do you intend to do when we catch up to him?" Siro asked. "Arrest him?"
"Well, he's died once," Ramul, said. "He can die again."
DING
"If you say so...."
"Just get in the elevator."
They rode up to the next level. The sense of dread seemed to be getting stronger again but neither said anything.
DING
"68th floor," said Siro. "Casual evening wear, long dead SOLDIERS, ladies' intimate apparel"
This coaxed a light chuckle from Ramul, but it had died by the time the doors slid open.
They stepped out and into the large and well-lit expanse of floor 68. They looked around.
"He's gone...."
Sure enough the room was empty and free of oddities but for two things: there was a shattered containment tank to the right and......
"A trail of blood?" Siro pointed to the ground. There was a clear trail of blood where Sephiroth's soaked cape had dragged along the ground behind him.
"Then let's follow it," said Ramul, walking along the right side of the gruesome trail.
"Wait!"
"Not this again......"
"No, I'm getting a signal from HQ."
"Put it on intercom."
Siro clicked the side of his helmet and a tinny mechanized voice filled the room.
"SIU UNIT B......SIU UNIT B.......MISSION SUCCESSFUL. SOURCE OF PROBLEM IDENTIFIED AS A REBEL GAS BOMB IN THE AIR SYSTEM.....RETURN TO YOUR POST IMMEDIATELY....REPEAT MISSION ACCOMP-"
"What?!" cried Ramul. "What gas bomb?"
"You heard them," said Siro, his voice sounding oddly strained. "Let's get out of here."
"You saw him!" Yelled Ramul. "There is no gas bomb! It's a cover-up."
"So?" Siro's voice was almost a whisper. "We don't have a say here, let's go!"
"No, I can't let Sephiroth get away what he's done here!"
At this Ramul sped off across the room following the trail. Siro, though with much more reluctance, took off after him.
"Ramul!" He yelled.
But Ramul kept running, he reached the stairs and ran to floor 69. Siro followed, nearly slipping on the trail of blood that painted the stairs. He caught up and grabbed for his partner's arm, but he turned a corner and Siro fell behind again.
They ran through a door and the hallway widened into a massive room with two staircases on either side leading to the top story. Siro looked up and saw a black caped figure walk just out of sight. Ramul ran to the foot of the stairs but suddenly-
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Three of the windows above the stairs shattered and the sound of many propellers was heard. As Ramul and Siro watched, six air combatants, three of them carrying SOLDIER 3rd classes, flew in through the broken window and dropped directly in Siro and Ramul's path.
The front most SOLDIER stepped forward and said:
"Special Infiltration Unit B, we are under orders to apprehend you for disobeying a direct command from Headquarters."
"What?" Ramul shouted in outrage. "But Sephiroth is here, he is going to the upper story, that is where the president is!"
The SOLDIER dropped his professional manner for a moment and said: "What? Sephiroth? But..." He shook his head. "The president has been killed in the gas bombing, it's very unfortunate. As for Sephiroth, I do not believe he could be here, as he is dead."
"You seem pretty sure of yourself for a 3rd class." Ramul said.
"We are under direct orders to apprehend you for disobeyin-"
"Yeah, I know!" Ramul said. "Siro, don't ask questions, but grab onto my back."
Siro, confused enough to comply, did so. Before any of the military blocking the way could react Ramul pressed a button on his armored forearm and suddenly shot up in the air, propelled by jets on his feet.
Ramul and Siro landed at the top of the stairs and took off after Sephiroth.
"HEY!" Shouted the SOLDIER 3rd class. "Aw, man. HQ isn't going to like this one bit! There goes my promotion..."
Meanwhile, Ramul and Siro arrived in the massive presidential office at the top story of Shinra tower. Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen, but his mark was left behind. The president, once the leader of all of Shinra, lay dead on his desk, impaled on a seven foot long sword: the Masamune.
"Too late...." Siro said, still in somewhat of a shock.
"Maybe not!" Ramul said, before sprinting towards the door leading to the roof of the tower.
Siro gave a quick shrug and took off in the same direction. He was starting to regret having woken up that morning at all.
Siro found Ramul, not surprisingly, alone on the roof.
"How?"
"Look, let's just go back and explain this whole thing to HQ, they'll understand."
Ramul suddenly walked to the edge of the roof and looked down at the road below.
"Oh, they'll understand alright," Ramul said.
Siro walked to join him and looked down. Even with his only slightly advanced vision, it was clear that there was something major going on. There were Shinra police cars surrounding the building entirely and transports began showing up and unloading military of every kind. There was a distinctive vehicle being started up in the back of a trailer.
"That's a Heli gunner!" Said Siro. "But I thought this was supposed to be a search and rescue mission."
"This is no ordinary operation," said Ramul. "It's-"
"A cover-up!" Finished Siro. "And we saw what really happened. That makes us targets!"
"You're starting to get it."
"What do we do?"
"I got a plan."
Within a few minutes the two found themselves wedged in a cabinet in the president's office.
"So you're logic here is...." asked Siro in an aggravated whisper.
"A philosopher once said: 'the closer we are to danger, the further we are from harm.'"
"I did not wake up expecting this."
"Well, what can you do?"
"If we get out of this I want to get plastered-ass drunk at the Sector 3 Fallen Angel."
"I'll buy," said Ramul.
"Promise?"
"Shh, I hear something."
Sure enough there was a sound coming from the room, footsteps.
"Think it's the SOLDIERS?"
"SHH!"
A low male voice suddenly spoke from the room. "He's dead, the leader of Shinra Inc. is dead...."
Another voice, female this time: "Sephiroth?"
Yet another voice, male: "Look's like it, this is his sword."
Then another sound, distinctively mechanical, echoed through the room, covering up the sound of the other people in the room. It was the sound of a helicopter, the president's helicopter.
"Rufus...." Siro said to himself. He tried to straighten up, but Ramul put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hold on, I'll check." Ramul's eyes glowed red as he surveyed the room for heat.
"Okay, it looks good." Ramul opened the door and he and Siro stepped out. Sure enough the inhabitants of the room had left.
"So, should we go help out Rufus?" Asked Siro.
"Are you joking?" Ramul asked. "We need to find a way to escape from here without getting spotted!"
"Actually, I was joking."
"Oh, well you suck."
"So does your mom."
Ramul slapped his forehead and took off towards the door. But before he could reach it something stumbled in, clutching its arm.
It was the SOLDIER from the stairs. Only he looked badly beat up, with a gash down his chest and a broken arm. He tried to straighten up when he saw the two but had to clutch his broken arm again in pain.
"My orders-are to take-you back to..." He gasped in pain and passed out on the floor.
"Hmm...." Said Siro. "Look's like we aren't the only outlaws in this tower. So what do we do with him?"
"Leave him...wait look!"
A figure was running towards the door to the roof. Assuming the worst and taking advantage of any and all hiding places, Ramul grabbed Siro and jetted up into the ceiling vent, smashing the grate in the process.
"OW!" Siro said, rubbing his head.
"SH!"
The two watched as a strange blonde man ran by underneath them.
"Hm," said Ramul. "Guess it wasn't Rufus. Still blonde though."
"Looked familiar...." Siro said.
They listened as the helicopter outside flew away. They were confused but even more annoyed with hiding.
"Let's go down."
They dropped back down to the floor, becoming, by now, sufficiently sick of the entire tower. They turned back to the door and started towards it.
"Ow..." The SOLDIER on the ground twitched.
"Oh come the pie on!" Cried Siro. "Can anything else please go wrong?!"
The young SOLDIER stood up shakily. Siro and Ramul prepared to attack him and put him back into submission when they heard another peculiar noise. It was the sound of feet, but they were synchronized.
"It's the MPs," Ramul said. "Lot's of them."
"Oh I had to open my mouth," Siro said, slapping his helmeted forehead.
The SOLDIER saw them and began stumbling towards them: "I am under orders to-"
"YEAH!" Shouted Siro. "I KNOW!!!"
"Let's go!" Said Ramul. "They are almost here!"
The two ran out onto the roof.
"So, um, what are we achieving by being here, um, on the ROOF!?" Asked Siro.
"Just let me think," said Ramul with a hint of desperation. "Hey, what's that?"
Ramul walked over to the thing he was gesturing to. It was a black furry shape lying motionless against the wall of the building. Siro walked over to examine it.
"That's Dark Nation!" Said Siro. "Rufus' pet."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, don't see many black Blood Tastes, do you?"
"Look's pretty messed up...."
"Is he dead?"