Chapter 7: When Everything Isn't Enough
"Help me!" Red yelped in pain as the green mist began to do its work on his body. His bangle did as much as it could to block the first attack but halfway through it fractured into two, falling from his forearm like a broken egg.
"Red! Put up a barrier!" Tifa screamed as she rushed over towards her flailing friend.
"I . . . CAN'T!" he howled.
Her arm was extended in hopes that she could reach him in time, but in all the confusion, she had forgotten to put up any defense of her own and the first Ultima attack reached her.
"Tifa! Get down!" Cloud cried out as he dived over her body to protect her. The rainbow colored Shield around him warped and expanded, covering Tifa's body in its impenetrable glow as well as his. The second and third waves of shear energy flowed over their backs like it was nothing more than water but it had a much worse effect on Nanaki.
Time seemed to stop as the luminescent green magic lifted Seto's son up into the air and against the broken shards of floor. Nanaki's comrades could only watch as he wailed in maddening pain from the searing emerald death known as Ultima. Each passing second pressed the spears of shattered floor farther and farther into his torso. At this point his fur was being scolded away and his sad moans caused Yuffie to turn her head and cry. Each wave successively pounded on his weakened body until his battered frame could take no more.
A large burst from the third Ultima slammed his top half up into the room while the rest of his body wanted to fall downwards. Red tore in two with a sickening crunch. Tifa had been watching not more than five feet away from Red when it happened, "Oh my god . . ." she gasped, her eyes and mouth were locked open in horror. His fresh blood splattered all over the shared Shield and Tifa had to watch as it dripped off. Nanaki's body was flung aside like a rag doll, leaving a trail of red behind as it skidded across the floor.
"And now you know that you were NEVER meant to beat me," Seifer taunted as he pushed his way out of the remaining wall. He brushed the stray pieces of metal off his shoulders like dust and cracked all six of his hands like it had all been nothing more than a warm-up, "Who's next in line?"
In a sudden surge of strength Tifa shoved Cloud off her back, "I'll take you on," streams of tears were flowing down her cheeks as she lost all her senses. Tifa was blinded by her own hate, anguish, and sadness. She had watched when Aeris was struck down by Sephiroth's murderous blade, she had seen her father dying inside the Nibelheim reactor, and now she remained helpless again when Red died right in front of her eyes. Her instructor in the martial arts, Zangan, had taught her never to fight with her emotions because it would cloud her thoughts and disrupt her techniques. Only a clear mind could defeat her opponent. Of course that was the last thing going through her mind.
"No Tifa!" Cloud exclaimed as he grabbed Tifa's arm to keep her there, "Wait till we are all ready and we'll attack him together!"
"Ha ha ha. Yes Tifa . . . wait. You'll get your turn soon enough," Seifer taunted, his chest heaving in laughter.
"Cloud," Tifa began as she backed away, her arm quivering in fear, "I love you." Acting irrational and reckless for the first time since the Nibelheim accident, she pressed her soft lips against Cloud's. He let out a muffled gasp of surprise at first but it didn't take long for him to return the gesture. Tifa felt his body relax and she pulled away, moving her mouth close to his ear. She ran her right hand through his hair and across the back of his neck and whispered, "I'll be waiting till you guys get back," Cloud looked at her in bewilderment and caught a hard knee to his stomach. He collapsed to the ground with the wind knocked out of him, his right arm groping Tifa's side as his other clutched the bruised rib. Tifa kissed him one last time on the forehead before running off.
As she ran towards a fight she knew she wouldn't win, drops of tears fell from her chin. Millions of things seemed to fill her head. Would she die? Will the mission be accomplished? Tifa knew that this had to be done. She was selfless . . . she didn't want anybody else to die. There had already been too much death in her life and it was too much. The only thing the young woman from Nibelheim wanted to do was save her friends who were still raising themselves off the ground.
Luckily, Seifer was caught off guard and she got the jump on him. She darted through the burnt husks of wire left from the wake of Ultima unseen, her chest heaving up and down in anxiety the closer she got. The sorcerer had been distracted by Tifa's other friends. Seifer's eyes gleamed in morbid delight as he watched his enemies struggle just to stand up. They were sitting ducks! Was he planning on attacking them before they could even get up? NO! Tifa wouldn't let it happen. The time for her attack was now!
As Tifa arrived at her destination behind the knight, time and space seemed to move in slow motion around her. Her first blow hit Seifer's lower back, causing him to arch forward in both surprise and pain. Two more fists connected near his shoulder blades in a beat rush and knocked him from his floating perch. Tifa wasn't about to stop there. As the former SeeD in training crashed into shaky ground below, Tifa leapt haphazardly across the floor and put herself right back in front of Seifer's sight. He groggily got to his feet but a foot landed on his knee, forcing him back down into a kneeling position. Another foot snapped upwards and rocked his chin, causing Seifer to fall backwards.
"She might jus pull it off!" Barret exclaimed, keeping his distance from the feverish fight happening mere feet from his position.
Tifa executed a perfect landing after doing a backward somersault and prepared herself for even more action. Her opponent didn't seem to know when to quit and raised himself to his feet yet again. With amazing speed she closed the distance between Seifer and continued her assault with a well placed kick right behind his knee. Tifa's blows received a satisfying crunch as pieces of spiked armor clattered to the metal surface beneath her feet. As he struggled to keep his balance, Seifer left himself open for a devastating uppercut. Tifa's fist slammed into his chin and the knight's body snapped backwards without resistance.
"Tifa you can do it!" Yuffie cheered as she kept her eyes glued to the battle.
She had him between a rock and a hard place, and she knew it. Tifa juggled whether or not to use her dynamic suplex attacks but decided against it, "Your evil stops here Seifer," she said, making a fist with her right hand. Electricity flowed from the sparking wires and converted into energy as soon as it touched her hand. The glow from her fist flashed against the wall as the gathered strength began to overflow. Her awesome finishing move, Final Heaven was ready to be unleashed. Tifa's forearm spasmed as the attack became too much for her to hold in.
Seifer's nose gushed with blood but he stood defiantly to the last. "DO IT!" Cid screamed.
"Yaa!!!" Tifa swung as hard as she could and her final limit break let loose like a cannon. There was so much power behind the attack that it pulled her along the ground as she lunged forward. Air around her fist looked like it had caught fire as her punch gathered even more momentum to finish the evilly-fused Seifer.
Milliseconds before it connected with his chest, Seifer managed to dodge the attack and grab Tifa's wrist. The sudden stop drained all of the charged attack from Tifa and the materialized energy harmlessly ripped along the ground before taking a nice portion of wire and metal out of the wall.
"I told you," Seifer calmly stated, his eyes cold and fixed on the others as he clutched Tifa's arm even tighter, "Nobody can defeat me. I've been chosen by Hyne to rule the world for all eternity!"
Tifa tried jerking her hand away as hard as she could, but his grasp was stronger than steel. Seifer's demonic blade extended from his other arm and come dangerously close to his captive's neck. In desperation Tifa kicked and punched the arm that held her, but the man that owned the arm remained motionless, like a statue, "Here's a warning to all those that oppose me, a message to anybody who approaches the mighty Sorcerer Knight!" Tifa's eyes widened in horror, he was actually going to do it! She tried to pull her arm away one last time but to no avail. Her shoulder was dislocated, and tears poured from her eyes as she came to terms with her situation.
The sword pierced through her back, coming out at an angle from her stomach. She tried to talk, to say anything, but only red liquid was produced from her vocal chords. Moments of her life passed through her eyes. The first day she opened her bar in the slums, meeting Barret and not too soon afterwards learning about his group AVALANCHE, finding Cloud beaten and nearly unconscious at the rail station. The thoughts culminated back to one memory . . . the promise. Cloud had told her that no matter what happened, he'd always be there for her. If trouble ever arose, Cloud would be there to protect her.
Dazed, Tifa got to her feet and felt the life leaving her stomach. She touched her injury in disbelief with a dreamlike look on her face. Tifa saw that Cloud was running, yelling something at the top of his lungs at his love, but she couldn't hear it. She gave him her usual bright and cheery smile, glad that her last sight would be that of Cloud Strife and not alone somewhere in darkness. It was in her most beautiful moment that the other attacks came. Seifer's other limbs struck in a unified attack and each sword sliced easily through Tifa like a pin cushion.
They withdrew from Tifa's body and she instantly fell to the ground. She tried to pick herself up but every attempt sent blinding pain through her entire body. Entirely defeated, Tifa closed her eyes and smiled. She fell face down onto the unforgiving floor and stopped moving.
"Tifa?" Cloud whimpered under his breath. He ran over to Tifa as fast he could, not worrying about his own safety. He was quick to slide onto his knees and pick up her fallen form. His right arm went over her body, bring Tifa closer to his own, and his other arm wrapped behind her, gripping her shoulder and bringing her head near to his level, "Tifa," Cloud cried, shaking her as though she were in some type of deep sleep that he could wake her from. Cloud knew it was futile. She was far beyond any help he could give her. He wiped the blood away from her mouth with his palm and brought Tifa even closer to his body. With his head buried in Tifa's chest, he sobbed, "I'm so sorry . . . I . . . I was too late again," the silence around him was maddening. When she didn't respond, Cloud lost it, "Tifa? TIFA? TIIIIIIIIFAAAAAA!!!!"
A playful tapping of metal on metal greeted Cloud from behind. He was unaware that Seifer had been approaching slowly while he mourned, taking his time to bask in his greatness, "People just seem to be dying left and right, aren't they?" Seifer chuckled to himself, containing his laugh behind a smug smile. Cloud painfully made himself listen. It brought him back to reality and reminded him why he was there in the first place. To his surprise Barret and the others came to the rescue, ready to fight to the death if need be. It was obvious that Tifa's death left them despondent, but they pulled through.
Barret was the first one to skip the mourning phase and go right into anger, "Mother fucker, you gonna-"
"Barret, step back," Cloud urged his friend as he gently lay Tifa's body down against the charred surface of the Lunatic Pandora.
"Fuck you Cloud, I'm gonna take him out myself," Barret shouted back. He raised his gun and locked his aim directly between Seifer's eyes.
"Barret . . . HE'S MINE!" as Cloud voiced his declaration, small wisps or air collected around his feet and began to rotate clockwise. Cloud's pupils could barely be seen as his eyes glowed neon blue.
"Cloud?" Yuffie asked her friend in a worried tone. She got no answer. The visible air swirling around Cloud grew and the room around him darkened as the warrior pulled the Ultima Weapon from its sheath.
"Let him be . . ." Vincent told Yuffie, pulling her away from Cloud, "You guys would be wise to pull back as well," Cid and Barret reluctantly and cautiously walked away from the fight, making sure not to turn their back on Seifer.
"Ha ha ha, what is this, a trick?" Seifer laughed. He confidently put his sword away and crossed his arms, "You guys are pathetic. You may have got the jump on me earlier, but no more! If you want me to hunt you down, so be it!"
The wizard knight took a step forward and Cloud raised his sword, "I don't think so," The turbulent mist around Cloud suddenly spread outward and blew past Seifer. In the moments that followed, the room went completely dark and a pinpoint of light shone from the tip of the Ultima sword. Its high pitch scream echoed against the cavernous ceiling, causing Seifer to cover his ears and turn away from the sound.
"What is this?" He looked up and saw the neon pink blade drawn back behind Cloud in an aggressive posture. Seifer barely managed to extend a blade from his right arm to parry the blow. He pulled out another sword from his other arm and was about to counterattack when a second slice came down on him. Seifer used both weapons to push back the attacker but the next strike came down faster and harder. It clashed against the saber on his right arm with a devastating clink and broke his arm, "Bastard! That's it!" A fourth and fifth attack came one after the other and Seifer released his living armor onto Cloud. The four extra swords at the end of his fake limbs looked like the tips of a scorpion's tail and were just as deadly. He swung them wildly about to deter his assailant but Cloud continued to slash at his opponent. The sixth and seventh swings hit Seifer from both sides like a ton of bricks and forced him catch his balance on the ground with one of his arms.
This break in defense was all the opening Cloud needed. Without proper leverage Seifer's extremities were nothing more than target practice. When the first strike hit, one of the limbs gave way and snapped off of its master. Seifer almost had his head taken off as another swing cleanly lopped off two more branches of armor. His swordsmanship was being tested, and he was failing . . . Cloud snaked his way behind Seifer and cut off the remaining limb before dashing forward. His sword cut through the armor like paper, causing his enemy extreme pain. But he wasn't done yet . . .
The symphony of sound his sword made as it rung against Seifer's battered body continued in even rhythm. Two upward swings took off the Sorcerer's arms in a magnificent crescendo to the action and left Seifer completely defenseless. The look in his eyes screamed mercy, but Cloud would only show him the same mercy that was shown to Tifa.
Cloud effortlessly stuck the Ultimate Weapon into Seifer's thick, serrated armor and immediately pulled it out. Purple blood sprayed from the wound and the once proud knight collapsed, "Please . . . make it stop," Cloud answered him by leaping as high as the ceiling would allow. In a pain induced seizure Seifer gazed up in awe at the true hero far above him. The point of light had returned, and remained on the edge of the sword as it sliced down towards him. A shrill, piercing scream as the blade cut through the air was the last thing Seifer would ever hear. There was an explosion of light as the Ultima Weapon hit and it bathed everything in its pure white color.
Once the light had faded into the walls, Seifer lay beaten. His body had been sliced diagonally, from the shoulder all the way through his torso. Yuffie couldn't bear to see the sight, "Oh no Cloud," she shook, "How could you do something like that?" She turned to Cid and hid her face in his royal blue pilot's jacket, covering her mouth in disgust.
Cloud merely walked it off, dragging his sword along the ground as he walked back to join his friends. It sounded like someone was dragging their nails against a chalkboard but he didn't care.
"Cloud, I'm sorry I . . ." Barret stammered.
"Don't worry about it," Cloud replied emotionlessly. Giving into his grief he let go of his sword and fell to his knees. All he could do was gaze at his bloodstained hands and say to himself, "My god . . . what have I done."
"Help me!" Red yelped in pain as the green mist began to do its work on his body. His bangle did as much as it could to block the first attack but halfway through it fractured into two, falling from his forearm like a broken egg.
"Red! Put up a barrier!" Tifa screamed as she rushed over towards her flailing friend.
"I . . . CAN'T!" he howled.
Her arm was extended in hopes that she could reach him in time, but in all the confusion, she had forgotten to put up any defense of her own and the first Ultima attack reached her.
"Tifa! Get down!" Cloud cried out as he dived over her body to protect her. The rainbow colored Shield around him warped and expanded, covering Tifa's body in its impenetrable glow as well as his. The second and third waves of shear energy flowed over their backs like it was nothing more than water but it had a much worse effect on Nanaki.
Time seemed to stop as the luminescent green magic lifted Seto's son up into the air and against the broken shards of floor. Nanaki's comrades could only watch as he wailed in maddening pain from the searing emerald death known as Ultima. Each passing second pressed the spears of shattered floor farther and farther into his torso. At this point his fur was being scolded away and his sad moans caused Yuffie to turn her head and cry. Each wave successively pounded on his weakened body until his battered frame could take no more.
A large burst from the third Ultima slammed his top half up into the room while the rest of his body wanted to fall downwards. Red tore in two with a sickening crunch. Tifa had been watching not more than five feet away from Red when it happened, "Oh my god . . ." she gasped, her eyes and mouth were locked open in horror. His fresh blood splattered all over the shared Shield and Tifa had to watch as it dripped off. Nanaki's body was flung aside like a rag doll, leaving a trail of red behind as it skidded across the floor.
"And now you know that you were NEVER meant to beat me," Seifer taunted as he pushed his way out of the remaining wall. He brushed the stray pieces of metal off his shoulders like dust and cracked all six of his hands like it had all been nothing more than a warm-up, "Who's next in line?"
In a sudden surge of strength Tifa shoved Cloud off her back, "I'll take you on," streams of tears were flowing down her cheeks as she lost all her senses. Tifa was blinded by her own hate, anguish, and sadness. She had watched when Aeris was struck down by Sephiroth's murderous blade, she had seen her father dying inside the Nibelheim reactor, and now she remained helpless again when Red died right in front of her eyes. Her instructor in the martial arts, Zangan, had taught her never to fight with her emotions because it would cloud her thoughts and disrupt her techniques. Only a clear mind could defeat her opponent. Of course that was the last thing going through her mind.
"No Tifa!" Cloud exclaimed as he grabbed Tifa's arm to keep her there, "Wait till we are all ready and we'll attack him together!"
"Ha ha ha. Yes Tifa . . . wait. You'll get your turn soon enough," Seifer taunted, his chest heaving in laughter.
"Cloud," Tifa began as she backed away, her arm quivering in fear, "I love you." Acting irrational and reckless for the first time since the Nibelheim accident, she pressed her soft lips against Cloud's. He let out a muffled gasp of surprise at first but it didn't take long for him to return the gesture. Tifa felt his body relax and she pulled away, moving her mouth close to his ear. She ran her right hand through his hair and across the back of his neck and whispered, "I'll be waiting till you guys get back," Cloud looked at her in bewilderment and caught a hard knee to his stomach. He collapsed to the ground with the wind knocked out of him, his right arm groping Tifa's side as his other clutched the bruised rib. Tifa kissed him one last time on the forehead before running off.
As she ran towards a fight she knew she wouldn't win, drops of tears fell from her chin. Millions of things seemed to fill her head. Would she die? Will the mission be accomplished? Tifa knew that this had to be done. She was selfless . . . she didn't want anybody else to die. There had already been too much death in her life and it was too much. The only thing the young woman from Nibelheim wanted to do was save her friends who were still raising themselves off the ground.
Luckily, Seifer was caught off guard and she got the jump on him. She darted through the burnt husks of wire left from the wake of Ultima unseen, her chest heaving up and down in anxiety the closer she got. The sorcerer had been distracted by Tifa's other friends. Seifer's eyes gleamed in morbid delight as he watched his enemies struggle just to stand up. They were sitting ducks! Was he planning on attacking them before they could even get up? NO! Tifa wouldn't let it happen. The time for her attack was now!
As Tifa arrived at her destination behind the knight, time and space seemed to move in slow motion around her. Her first blow hit Seifer's lower back, causing him to arch forward in both surprise and pain. Two more fists connected near his shoulder blades in a beat rush and knocked him from his floating perch. Tifa wasn't about to stop there. As the former SeeD in training crashed into shaky ground below, Tifa leapt haphazardly across the floor and put herself right back in front of Seifer's sight. He groggily got to his feet but a foot landed on his knee, forcing him back down into a kneeling position. Another foot snapped upwards and rocked his chin, causing Seifer to fall backwards.
"She might jus pull it off!" Barret exclaimed, keeping his distance from the feverish fight happening mere feet from his position.
Tifa executed a perfect landing after doing a backward somersault and prepared herself for even more action. Her opponent didn't seem to know when to quit and raised himself to his feet yet again. With amazing speed she closed the distance between Seifer and continued her assault with a well placed kick right behind his knee. Tifa's blows received a satisfying crunch as pieces of spiked armor clattered to the metal surface beneath her feet. As he struggled to keep his balance, Seifer left himself open for a devastating uppercut. Tifa's fist slammed into his chin and the knight's body snapped backwards without resistance.
"Tifa you can do it!" Yuffie cheered as she kept her eyes glued to the battle.
She had him between a rock and a hard place, and she knew it. Tifa juggled whether or not to use her dynamic suplex attacks but decided against it, "Your evil stops here Seifer," she said, making a fist with her right hand. Electricity flowed from the sparking wires and converted into energy as soon as it touched her hand. The glow from her fist flashed against the wall as the gathered strength began to overflow. Her awesome finishing move, Final Heaven was ready to be unleashed. Tifa's forearm spasmed as the attack became too much for her to hold in.
Seifer's nose gushed with blood but he stood defiantly to the last. "DO IT!" Cid screamed.
"Yaa!!!" Tifa swung as hard as she could and her final limit break let loose like a cannon. There was so much power behind the attack that it pulled her along the ground as she lunged forward. Air around her fist looked like it had caught fire as her punch gathered even more momentum to finish the evilly-fused Seifer.
Milliseconds before it connected with his chest, Seifer managed to dodge the attack and grab Tifa's wrist. The sudden stop drained all of the charged attack from Tifa and the materialized energy harmlessly ripped along the ground before taking a nice portion of wire and metal out of the wall.
"I told you," Seifer calmly stated, his eyes cold and fixed on the others as he clutched Tifa's arm even tighter, "Nobody can defeat me. I've been chosen by Hyne to rule the world for all eternity!"
Tifa tried jerking her hand away as hard as she could, but his grasp was stronger than steel. Seifer's demonic blade extended from his other arm and come dangerously close to his captive's neck. In desperation Tifa kicked and punched the arm that held her, but the man that owned the arm remained motionless, like a statue, "Here's a warning to all those that oppose me, a message to anybody who approaches the mighty Sorcerer Knight!" Tifa's eyes widened in horror, he was actually going to do it! She tried to pull her arm away one last time but to no avail. Her shoulder was dislocated, and tears poured from her eyes as she came to terms with her situation.
The sword pierced through her back, coming out at an angle from her stomach. She tried to talk, to say anything, but only red liquid was produced from her vocal chords. Moments of her life passed through her eyes. The first day she opened her bar in the slums, meeting Barret and not too soon afterwards learning about his group AVALANCHE, finding Cloud beaten and nearly unconscious at the rail station. The thoughts culminated back to one memory . . . the promise. Cloud had told her that no matter what happened, he'd always be there for her. If trouble ever arose, Cloud would be there to protect her.
Dazed, Tifa got to her feet and felt the life leaving her stomach. She touched her injury in disbelief with a dreamlike look on her face. Tifa saw that Cloud was running, yelling something at the top of his lungs at his love, but she couldn't hear it. She gave him her usual bright and cheery smile, glad that her last sight would be that of Cloud Strife and not alone somewhere in darkness. It was in her most beautiful moment that the other attacks came. Seifer's other limbs struck in a unified attack and each sword sliced easily through Tifa like a pin cushion.
They withdrew from Tifa's body and she instantly fell to the ground. She tried to pick herself up but every attempt sent blinding pain through her entire body. Entirely defeated, Tifa closed her eyes and smiled. She fell face down onto the unforgiving floor and stopped moving.
"Tifa?" Cloud whimpered under his breath. He ran over to Tifa as fast he could, not worrying about his own safety. He was quick to slide onto his knees and pick up her fallen form. His right arm went over her body, bring Tifa closer to his own, and his other arm wrapped behind her, gripping her shoulder and bringing her head near to his level, "Tifa," Cloud cried, shaking her as though she were in some type of deep sleep that he could wake her from. Cloud knew it was futile. She was far beyond any help he could give her. He wiped the blood away from her mouth with his palm and brought Tifa even closer to his body. With his head buried in Tifa's chest, he sobbed, "I'm so sorry . . . I . . . I was too late again," the silence around him was maddening. When she didn't respond, Cloud lost it, "Tifa? TIFA? TIIIIIIIIFAAAAAA!!!!"
A playful tapping of metal on metal greeted Cloud from behind. He was unaware that Seifer had been approaching slowly while he mourned, taking his time to bask in his greatness, "People just seem to be dying left and right, aren't they?" Seifer chuckled to himself, containing his laugh behind a smug smile. Cloud painfully made himself listen. It brought him back to reality and reminded him why he was there in the first place. To his surprise Barret and the others came to the rescue, ready to fight to the death if need be. It was obvious that Tifa's death left them despondent, but they pulled through.
Barret was the first one to skip the mourning phase and go right into anger, "Mother fucker, you gonna-"
"Barret, step back," Cloud urged his friend as he gently lay Tifa's body down against the charred surface of the Lunatic Pandora.
"Fuck you Cloud, I'm gonna take him out myself," Barret shouted back. He raised his gun and locked his aim directly between Seifer's eyes.
"Barret . . . HE'S MINE!" as Cloud voiced his declaration, small wisps or air collected around his feet and began to rotate clockwise. Cloud's pupils could barely be seen as his eyes glowed neon blue.
"Cloud?" Yuffie asked her friend in a worried tone. She got no answer. The visible air swirling around Cloud grew and the room around him darkened as the warrior pulled the Ultima Weapon from its sheath.
"Let him be . . ." Vincent told Yuffie, pulling her away from Cloud, "You guys would be wise to pull back as well," Cid and Barret reluctantly and cautiously walked away from the fight, making sure not to turn their back on Seifer.
"Ha ha ha, what is this, a trick?" Seifer laughed. He confidently put his sword away and crossed his arms, "You guys are pathetic. You may have got the jump on me earlier, but no more! If you want me to hunt you down, so be it!"
The wizard knight took a step forward and Cloud raised his sword, "I don't think so," The turbulent mist around Cloud suddenly spread outward and blew past Seifer. In the moments that followed, the room went completely dark and a pinpoint of light shone from the tip of the Ultima sword. Its high pitch scream echoed against the cavernous ceiling, causing Seifer to cover his ears and turn away from the sound.
"What is this?" He looked up and saw the neon pink blade drawn back behind Cloud in an aggressive posture. Seifer barely managed to extend a blade from his right arm to parry the blow. He pulled out another sword from his other arm and was about to counterattack when a second slice came down on him. Seifer used both weapons to push back the attacker but the next strike came down faster and harder. It clashed against the saber on his right arm with a devastating clink and broke his arm, "Bastard! That's it!" A fourth and fifth attack came one after the other and Seifer released his living armor onto Cloud. The four extra swords at the end of his fake limbs looked like the tips of a scorpion's tail and were just as deadly. He swung them wildly about to deter his assailant but Cloud continued to slash at his opponent. The sixth and seventh swings hit Seifer from both sides like a ton of bricks and forced him catch his balance on the ground with one of his arms.
This break in defense was all the opening Cloud needed. Without proper leverage Seifer's extremities were nothing more than target practice. When the first strike hit, one of the limbs gave way and snapped off of its master. Seifer almost had his head taken off as another swing cleanly lopped off two more branches of armor. His swordsmanship was being tested, and he was failing . . . Cloud snaked his way behind Seifer and cut off the remaining limb before dashing forward. His sword cut through the armor like paper, causing his enemy extreme pain. But he wasn't done yet . . .
The symphony of sound his sword made as it rung against Seifer's battered body continued in even rhythm. Two upward swings took off the Sorcerer's arms in a magnificent crescendo to the action and left Seifer completely defenseless. The look in his eyes screamed mercy, but Cloud would only show him the same mercy that was shown to Tifa.
Cloud effortlessly stuck the Ultimate Weapon into Seifer's thick, serrated armor and immediately pulled it out. Purple blood sprayed from the wound and the once proud knight collapsed, "Please . . . make it stop," Cloud answered him by leaping as high as the ceiling would allow. In a pain induced seizure Seifer gazed up in awe at the true hero far above him. The point of light had returned, and remained on the edge of the sword as it sliced down towards him. A shrill, piercing scream as the blade cut through the air was the last thing Seifer would ever hear. There was an explosion of light as the Ultima Weapon hit and it bathed everything in its pure white color.
Once the light had faded into the walls, Seifer lay beaten. His body had been sliced diagonally, from the shoulder all the way through his torso. Yuffie couldn't bear to see the sight, "Oh no Cloud," she shook, "How could you do something like that?" She turned to Cid and hid her face in his royal blue pilot's jacket, covering her mouth in disgust.
Cloud merely walked it off, dragging his sword along the ground as he walked back to join his friends. It sounded like someone was dragging their nails against a chalkboard but he didn't care.
"Cloud, I'm sorry I . . ." Barret stammered.
"Don't worry about it," Cloud replied emotionlessly. Giving into his grief he let go of his sword and fell to his knees. All he could do was gaze at his bloodstained hands and say to himself, "My god . . . what have I done."
