Chapter 8: Second Wind
The sound of a beating drum. No wait, the pounding of a drum. The sound rang throughout the lower levels and seemed to be getting closer to their level. Vincent heard it first and thought he would investigate it. He peered into the dark crevasse that Seifer had created and heard it getting more intense. What was it? Or who was it? Glancing over to the fallen knight Vincent got his answer. What once was Seifer had transformed back into Adel. She crawled over the ground using only her two hands to pull forward. Dark liquid oozed out of her forehead and darkened the roots of her already red hair. Vincent loaded two shells into his rifle and prepared to shoot. By the time he readied his gun to attack, Adel pulled herself to the edge of the hole. She looked up at him one last time and sneered, then threw her upper body into the abyss. The low sound of drums ended and Vincent became confused. What had just happened?
Yuffie and Cid were consoling Cloud as best they could but their leader couldn't be reached. His thoughts were in another place, playing the events over and over in his head. Barret looked past the small group and saw Vincent looking into the pit, "You see somethin Vince?"
Vincent was turning around to address him when the hollow rumble began again. He looked into the hole one last time and was slammed by a wall of wires growing towards the sky. The metal enclosure reached the ceiling and flowed out into the afternoon sky, breaking away what remained of the Lunatic Pandora's roof.
"What's going on?" Yuffie cried out as she clutched onto Cloud to keep him from getting hurt.
Suddenly the wires parted and Adel floated out. The sorceress' lower body had been totally rebuilt with the scrap metal floating around in the monolith and she looked angrier than ever before, "How dare you oppose me! Nobody attacks the great descendant of Hyne and gets away with it!" Still dazed from the surprise attack, Vincent staggered to his feet. Before he could put up a defense Adel struck him with her hand. His body folded under the pressure and was sent flying through the iron wall.
"Vincent!" Yuffie screamed as she darted to save him.
"Yuffie, NO!" Barret called out to the inexperienced ninja. Adel stopped the flow of wires rising out of the Pandora and turned them on Yuffie. Thousands of strands twisted and stretched through the air, quickly binding the young Wutai native without remorse.
"No! Let go of me!" She struggled against her restraints but the wires wrapped around Yuffie's entire body and mouth and sucked her into the stream of metal flowing out of the Lunatic Pandora.
"Yuffie!" Cid cried out. He turned to Cloud and began to yell at him, "Cloud! Are you aware of what is happening! Get off your ass and help save her!" Barret was already blasting away at Adel, but the bullets were deflecting off her metal body and causing no damage.
"I couldn't save her, I couldn't save Tifa," Cloud said, wallowing in self pity, "And Red, he cried out but I couldn't do anything. I'm worthless . . ."
Cid slapped him as hard as he could, leaving a red mark across his cheek, "Snap out of it! You can still help Yuffie! Don't let her die!" Cloud put his head back down and stared at the quaking ground beneath his legs. Cid was tired of his crap and let him be, "I'm not going to wait for you any longer. I'm saving Yuffie even if I have to do it by myself!" He ran off and began to launch countless fire attacks against Adel. Bonfires of flame jumped out of the ground and superheated the metal, but none seemed to hit the sorceress," What the hell?"
The wires had totally spread across the entire whole and were now breaking apart the ceiling to gain more room. Massive chunks of obsidian rock and dark black metal feel from the sky and ripped through the floor, taking away any chance of attacking Adel directly.
"Damn it! No good," Barret shouted as he ran out of ammo for his gun arm. He began to switch to the Microlaser components but Adel retreated into the glowing yellow wave of wires and left his view, "Where she go?"
The entire ceiling creaked and groaned, breaking away into huge partitions and falling against the floor. More and more sky was being exposed with each passing moment. Pretty soon the whole place would be destroyed. Something had to be done now! That something was Vincent . . .
A howl lingered in the air just long enough for Cid and Barret to hear. A dark skinned demon swiped at the hole where Vincent had exited the room and tore a massive piece out of it, giving it the needed room to arrive in intimidating fashion. Galian Beast's tongue hung out its mouth and its three inch claws sliced through the air, ready to attack. Seeing the pillar of wire launching out of the hole in the roof, it jumped into action. The beast stampeded its way into the cavernous hall and dodged the hazardous debris seeking to block its way. When the Galian Beast saw that it could dodge a hill-sized slab of metal, it simply slashed at it with its claws, cleaving it in two.
The transformed Vincent finally reached the foundation of the rising column and opened his mouth. He took a deep breath, collecting his energy. When he released it, hundreds of small flares flew out and attached themselves to the wires. They instantly detonated into powerful Beast Flares and burned holes directly into the living tower. Somewhat hurt by this attack, the wires turned on the Vincent beast and enveloped him whole. He tried to hack and slash his way out, but the wires were quick to restrain his arms.
"Shit! It got Vincent!" Cid yelled over to Barret.
The large black man was ineffectively blasting away at the wires that crept out to attack him and Cid with his handheld laser while at the same time dodging falling tiles of the roof, "Cloud! DO something!!" Barret belted at the top of his lungs.
"I . . . can't," Cloud breathed to himself. Sensing his lack of resistance, a lone group of tendrils shot out of the pillar and grabbed onto Cloud. They snapped back like a whip and in seconds Cloud found himself inside a massive network of wires. They pulled him in all directions, causing him to cry out in pain, but still he did nothing. He had given up, and went limp. Thinking him dead, the wires let him fall.
"CLOUD!!!" Cid called out. Endless streams of wires flew out. The ex-Shinra pilot did all he could to bat them away with his mighty Venus Gospel. No matter how many threads he seemed to severe, many more seemed to take their place. The wires wore him down and began to drag him in, "No! Barret help!"
"I'm trying!" He threw a Molotov cocktail and it shattered, enveloping the wires pulling Cid towards Adel's web of death. It bought him some time, but if Barret couldn't critically damage the entire pillar soon, it would be all over.
Falling, faster and faster . . . Cloud's hand still gripped his ultimate weapon as he descended downwards into a dark vortex in the heart of the Lunatic Pandora. Worthless. He was worthless to them, his friends . . .
'Cloud, why do you despair?' the voice asked from beyond time.
"It's always going to be like this. Whomever I'm around always ends up dying. I'm a curse to them and I'm better off dead." He answered.
'On the contrary Cloud. You are their hope. They fought till the end of the world for you. They stood by you when all was lost. All you have to do is say it and it will be done. Cloud, don't give up . . . not yet. Your time will be up someday, but that day is not today. Aeris would not have wanted you do die like this.'
"What do you know about Aeris! You know nothing about her, or about my loss!" The voice had found something inside of Cloud and awakened it, "Tell me, why should I do it for them?"
'Because Cloud . . .' the sound of the voice in his head changed into a sweet soothing tone. It was Aeris . . . 'I believe in you.'
It was all he needed. Cloud gripped his Ultima Weapon with both hands and jammed it into the wall. It dug deep into the wires and slowed his decent, showering him with sparks as he came to a halt among the writhing metal tentacles. They were now aware of him again and darted up the dark vertical tunnel. He could hear them scratching against each other to strangle him, "Better get a move on," Cloud positioned his feet against the wall and jerked his sword out of the wall. He managed to stab it into the other side a few feet up and repeated the process over and over again. He made good time up the inside of the pillar. His weapon cut through the wires like paper and left the foundation weak.
"Clooouudd!!" Yuffie's cry rang out from far above. She didn't sound too good. Adel's laugh echoed down and taunted the would-be hero.
"Hold on! I'm coming!" He responded to her. Bad move . . . the wires located him and immediately converged on his position. They came from both above and below, seeking to crush him in one swift blow. He watched as a boiling mass of heated wires came from underneath him and laughed, "You won't get rid of me that easily Adel!" Cloud dug deep into the wall with his heels. He channeled all of his extra energy into his sword, causing it to glow hot pink. When he charged all he could, a shockwave of run-over energy spread from his body. It was done . . .
Cloud pushed off the wall with incredible speed, dragging his sword along the interior of the pillar. The wires coming from above could do little to stop him as he plowed through their weak strings and continued upward. A downpour of sparks rained down the dark shaft and a long gap in the wall was developing. Up ahead he could see light and hear gunfire. He knew that Cid and Barret were still fighting, in fact, he was counting on it. As soon as he was close enough he called out to them, "Barret, Cid . . . give this bitch everything you can give!"
Barret watched in awe as a pink blade cut through the tower of wire and shot straight up to towards the ceiling. Cid had to shake him out of it as he was incidentally cut free from the wires, "You heard the man! Do IT!"
Barret used the laser sight on his gun to target a large bulge in the column. When everything was set, he activated his Satellite Beam attack. Powerful lasers tore through what was left of the ceiling of the Lunatic Pandora like it was paper and unleashed a god-like wrath upon the long defiant multitude of wires. Each blue laser was ten feet in diameter and melted away hundreds of feet of wire in just one volley. The tower showed signs of weakening and began to fall sideways, almost directly on top of Barret.
Meanwhile, Cloud was spiraling his way towards the top for a final match with Adel. The light fought its way through the thinly strung wires at the top and Cloud could make out the sorceress at the top, pounding away at Yuffie.
"Now we end this," Cloud declared with his eyes lowered. He came up behind Yuffie and cut her free from the wires that held her. Infuriated, Adel began to chase the spiky-haired troublemaker as he sliced through the remaining yards of wire. Yuffie was barely conscious but was lucky enough to slide down the shaft as it fell on its side. Down below, Vincent had also found his way out of his temporary prison. He was in no shape to fight though. Cid could finally make out his enemy and locked his attack on her. When it was all set, he, Vincent, Yuffie, and Barret all vanished.
Both Cloud and Adel shot out of the end of the tunnel like a cannon. They just floated there, looking at each as their worlds switched to slow motion. Adel managed to crack a smug smile while she stared at her enemy. She knew that she would have the upper hand as they began to fall.
"You put up a good fight, but this is where you fade from existence!" Adel yelled as she curled herself into a ball. Cloud was given a sudden jolt and he began to feel weaker. She was stealing magical power away from him for some final attack! Without any magic power, he wouldn't be able to set up a shield and it would kill him. What would he do?
Cloud would do nothing. This time around, it would be his friends that came through for him. With a deafening roar Bahamut came rocketing through the rest of the roof on the Lunatic Pandora. The dragon warrior flew so fast that it carried metal upwards into the sky with it. For a brief moment it controlled all the energy in the world and siphoned all it could into its open jaw. Once collected, the king of dragons snarled and sent the beam spiraling directly at Adel. It connected dead on with the sorceress and disintegrated more than half her body. Left with only one arm and hand, she launched a storm of lightning in the beast's direction. Before it could hurt Bahamut, it disappeared back into the materia from whence it came.
Adel may have been taken out of commission, but Cloud still had a problem. He was falling again, this time hundreds of feet above what remained of the roof. He dropped along with the broken shards of the roof, both cascading downwards like water from a waterfall. In the distance he saw what looked like Neo Bahamut flying towards him, but who had cast it?
As what was left of her body fell, Adel looked up at the sun. She would die before the she hit the ground and she realized this. With her good eye she gazed at the sky one last time. This was her world for the taking. If not in this body then in another's, but she would conquer it again. But since she couldn't transfer her spirit, the powers she controlled would be forever lost, and time compression would never take place. Adel heard a strange whizzing noise get louder as she fell. It seemed to be coming from way above her descending carcass. A huge beam was rapidly approaching her and would soon overtake her body. Adel gathered her strength. She knew that this was her end, her last stand. With her last gasp for air, the defiant Adel closed her eyes and waited . . .
Cloud was lucky enough to watch as the Ragnarok's hovered above and fired its massive cannon again and again at Adel. Her body twisted in convulsions at first, her screams filling the sky until she could scream no more. Her face compressed and light escaped from every orifice in her body. With one last scream, her body exploded into millions of pieces and fell like dust to the ground below, unable to pass her powers to the next sorceress. Cloud was still falling but it didn't matter. He and his friends had actually done it. They had managed to destroy a future that would have certainly ended the universe. Their victory had been earned, but at what cost? His friends rushed underneath him as fast they could, trying to catch him. Right before impact they all disappeared into thin air like Tifa and Red had earlier. They were moving on, their next task not yet set before them. Whatever it was, they would be ready.
The sound of a beating drum. No wait, the pounding of a drum. The sound rang throughout the lower levels and seemed to be getting closer to their level. Vincent heard it first and thought he would investigate it. He peered into the dark crevasse that Seifer had created and heard it getting more intense. What was it? Or who was it? Glancing over to the fallen knight Vincent got his answer. What once was Seifer had transformed back into Adel. She crawled over the ground using only her two hands to pull forward. Dark liquid oozed out of her forehead and darkened the roots of her already red hair. Vincent loaded two shells into his rifle and prepared to shoot. By the time he readied his gun to attack, Adel pulled herself to the edge of the hole. She looked up at him one last time and sneered, then threw her upper body into the abyss. The low sound of drums ended and Vincent became confused. What had just happened?
Yuffie and Cid were consoling Cloud as best they could but their leader couldn't be reached. His thoughts were in another place, playing the events over and over in his head. Barret looked past the small group and saw Vincent looking into the pit, "You see somethin Vince?"
Vincent was turning around to address him when the hollow rumble began again. He looked into the hole one last time and was slammed by a wall of wires growing towards the sky. The metal enclosure reached the ceiling and flowed out into the afternoon sky, breaking away what remained of the Lunatic Pandora's roof.
"What's going on?" Yuffie cried out as she clutched onto Cloud to keep him from getting hurt.
Suddenly the wires parted and Adel floated out. The sorceress' lower body had been totally rebuilt with the scrap metal floating around in the monolith and she looked angrier than ever before, "How dare you oppose me! Nobody attacks the great descendant of Hyne and gets away with it!" Still dazed from the surprise attack, Vincent staggered to his feet. Before he could put up a defense Adel struck him with her hand. His body folded under the pressure and was sent flying through the iron wall.
"Vincent!" Yuffie screamed as she darted to save him.
"Yuffie, NO!" Barret called out to the inexperienced ninja. Adel stopped the flow of wires rising out of the Pandora and turned them on Yuffie. Thousands of strands twisted and stretched through the air, quickly binding the young Wutai native without remorse.
"No! Let go of me!" She struggled against her restraints but the wires wrapped around Yuffie's entire body and mouth and sucked her into the stream of metal flowing out of the Lunatic Pandora.
"Yuffie!" Cid cried out. He turned to Cloud and began to yell at him, "Cloud! Are you aware of what is happening! Get off your ass and help save her!" Barret was already blasting away at Adel, but the bullets were deflecting off her metal body and causing no damage.
"I couldn't save her, I couldn't save Tifa," Cloud said, wallowing in self pity, "And Red, he cried out but I couldn't do anything. I'm worthless . . ."
Cid slapped him as hard as he could, leaving a red mark across his cheek, "Snap out of it! You can still help Yuffie! Don't let her die!" Cloud put his head back down and stared at the quaking ground beneath his legs. Cid was tired of his crap and let him be, "I'm not going to wait for you any longer. I'm saving Yuffie even if I have to do it by myself!" He ran off and began to launch countless fire attacks against Adel. Bonfires of flame jumped out of the ground and superheated the metal, but none seemed to hit the sorceress," What the hell?"
The wires had totally spread across the entire whole and were now breaking apart the ceiling to gain more room. Massive chunks of obsidian rock and dark black metal feel from the sky and ripped through the floor, taking away any chance of attacking Adel directly.
"Damn it! No good," Barret shouted as he ran out of ammo for his gun arm. He began to switch to the Microlaser components but Adel retreated into the glowing yellow wave of wires and left his view, "Where she go?"
The entire ceiling creaked and groaned, breaking away into huge partitions and falling against the floor. More and more sky was being exposed with each passing moment. Pretty soon the whole place would be destroyed. Something had to be done now! That something was Vincent . . .
A howl lingered in the air just long enough for Cid and Barret to hear. A dark skinned demon swiped at the hole where Vincent had exited the room and tore a massive piece out of it, giving it the needed room to arrive in intimidating fashion. Galian Beast's tongue hung out its mouth and its three inch claws sliced through the air, ready to attack. Seeing the pillar of wire launching out of the hole in the roof, it jumped into action. The beast stampeded its way into the cavernous hall and dodged the hazardous debris seeking to block its way. When the Galian Beast saw that it could dodge a hill-sized slab of metal, it simply slashed at it with its claws, cleaving it in two.
The transformed Vincent finally reached the foundation of the rising column and opened his mouth. He took a deep breath, collecting his energy. When he released it, hundreds of small flares flew out and attached themselves to the wires. They instantly detonated into powerful Beast Flares and burned holes directly into the living tower. Somewhat hurt by this attack, the wires turned on the Vincent beast and enveloped him whole. He tried to hack and slash his way out, but the wires were quick to restrain his arms.
"Shit! It got Vincent!" Cid yelled over to Barret.
The large black man was ineffectively blasting away at the wires that crept out to attack him and Cid with his handheld laser while at the same time dodging falling tiles of the roof, "Cloud! DO something!!" Barret belted at the top of his lungs.
"I . . . can't," Cloud breathed to himself. Sensing his lack of resistance, a lone group of tendrils shot out of the pillar and grabbed onto Cloud. They snapped back like a whip and in seconds Cloud found himself inside a massive network of wires. They pulled him in all directions, causing him to cry out in pain, but still he did nothing. He had given up, and went limp. Thinking him dead, the wires let him fall.
"CLOUD!!!" Cid called out. Endless streams of wires flew out. The ex-Shinra pilot did all he could to bat them away with his mighty Venus Gospel. No matter how many threads he seemed to severe, many more seemed to take their place. The wires wore him down and began to drag him in, "No! Barret help!"
"I'm trying!" He threw a Molotov cocktail and it shattered, enveloping the wires pulling Cid towards Adel's web of death. It bought him some time, but if Barret couldn't critically damage the entire pillar soon, it would be all over.
Falling, faster and faster . . . Cloud's hand still gripped his ultimate weapon as he descended downwards into a dark vortex in the heart of the Lunatic Pandora. Worthless. He was worthless to them, his friends . . .
'Cloud, why do you despair?' the voice asked from beyond time.
"It's always going to be like this. Whomever I'm around always ends up dying. I'm a curse to them and I'm better off dead." He answered.
'On the contrary Cloud. You are their hope. They fought till the end of the world for you. They stood by you when all was lost. All you have to do is say it and it will be done. Cloud, don't give up . . . not yet. Your time will be up someday, but that day is not today. Aeris would not have wanted you do die like this.'
"What do you know about Aeris! You know nothing about her, or about my loss!" The voice had found something inside of Cloud and awakened it, "Tell me, why should I do it for them?"
'Because Cloud . . .' the sound of the voice in his head changed into a sweet soothing tone. It was Aeris . . . 'I believe in you.'
It was all he needed. Cloud gripped his Ultima Weapon with both hands and jammed it into the wall. It dug deep into the wires and slowed his decent, showering him with sparks as he came to a halt among the writhing metal tentacles. They were now aware of him again and darted up the dark vertical tunnel. He could hear them scratching against each other to strangle him, "Better get a move on," Cloud positioned his feet against the wall and jerked his sword out of the wall. He managed to stab it into the other side a few feet up and repeated the process over and over again. He made good time up the inside of the pillar. His weapon cut through the wires like paper and left the foundation weak.
"Clooouudd!!" Yuffie's cry rang out from far above. She didn't sound too good. Adel's laugh echoed down and taunted the would-be hero.
"Hold on! I'm coming!" He responded to her. Bad move . . . the wires located him and immediately converged on his position. They came from both above and below, seeking to crush him in one swift blow. He watched as a boiling mass of heated wires came from underneath him and laughed, "You won't get rid of me that easily Adel!" Cloud dug deep into the wall with his heels. He channeled all of his extra energy into his sword, causing it to glow hot pink. When he charged all he could, a shockwave of run-over energy spread from his body. It was done . . .
Cloud pushed off the wall with incredible speed, dragging his sword along the interior of the pillar. The wires coming from above could do little to stop him as he plowed through their weak strings and continued upward. A downpour of sparks rained down the dark shaft and a long gap in the wall was developing. Up ahead he could see light and hear gunfire. He knew that Cid and Barret were still fighting, in fact, he was counting on it. As soon as he was close enough he called out to them, "Barret, Cid . . . give this bitch everything you can give!"
Barret watched in awe as a pink blade cut through the tower of wire and shot straight up to towards the ceiling. Cid had to shake him out of it as he was incidentally cut free from the wires, "You heard the man! Do IT!"
Barret used the laser sight on his gun to target a large bulge in the column. When everything was set, he activated his Satellite Beam attack. Powerful lasers tore through what was left of the ceiling of the Lunatic Pandora like it was paper and unleashed a god-like wrath upon the long defiant multitude of wires. Each blue laser was ten feet in diameter and melted away hundreds of feet of wire in just one volley. The tower showed signs of weakening and began to fall sideways, almost directly on top of Barret.
Meanwhile, Cloud was spiraling his way towards the top for a final match with Adel. The light fought its way through the thinly strung wires at the top and Cloud could make out the sorceress at the top, pounding away at Yuffie.
"Now we end this," Cloud declared with his eyes lowered. He came up behind Yuffie and cut her free from the wires that held her. Infuriated, Adel began to chase the spiky-haired troublemaker as he sliced through the remaining yards of wire. Yuffie was barely conscious but was lucky enough to slide down the shaft as it fell on its side. Down below, Vincent had also found his way out of his temporary prison. He was in no shape to fight though. Cid could finally make out his enemy and locked his attack on her. When it was all set, he, Vincent, Yuffie, and Barret all vanished.
Both Cloud and Adel shot out of the end of the tunnel like a cannon. They just floated there, looking at each as their worlds switched to slow motion. Adel managed to crack a smug smile while she stared at her enemy. She knew that she would have the upper hand as they began to fall.
"You put up a good fight, but this is where you fade from existence!" Adel yelled as she curled herself into a ball. Cloud was given a sudden jolt and he began to feel weaker. She was stealing magical power away from him for some final attack! Without any magic power, he wouldn't be able to set up a shield and it would kill him. What would he do?
Cloud would do nothing. This time around, it would be his friends that came through for him. With a deafening roar Bahamut came rocketing through the rest of the roof on the Lunatic Pandora. The dragon warrior flew so fast that it carried metal upwards into the sky with it. For a brief moment it controlled all the energy in the world and siphoned all it could into its open jaw. Once collected, the king of dragons snarled and sent the beam spiraling directly at Adel. It connected dead on with the sorceress and disintegrated more than half her body. Left with only one arm and hand, she launched a storm of lightning in the beast's direction. Before it could hurt Bahamut, it disappeared back into the materia from whence it came.
Adel may have been taken out of commission, but Cloud still had a problem. He was falling again, this time hundreds of feet above what remained of the roof. He dropped along with the broken shards of the roof, both cascading downwards like water from a waterfall. In the distance he saw what looked like Neo Bahamut flying towards him, but who had cast it?
As what was left of her body fell, Adel looked up at the sun. She would die before the she hit the ground and she realized this. With her good eye she gazed at the sky one last time. This was her world for the taking. If not in this body then in another's, but she would conquer it again. But since she couldn't transfer her spirit, the powers she controlled would be forever lost, and time compression would never take place. Adel heard a strange whizzing noise get louder as she fell. It seemed to be coming from way above her descending carcass. A huge beam was rapidly approaching her and would soon overtake her body. Adel gathered her strength. She knew that this was her end, her last stand. With her last gasp for air, the defiant Adel closed her eyes and waited . . .
Cloud was lucky enough to watch as the Ragnarok's hovered above and fired its massive cannon again and again at Adel. Her body twisted in convulsions at first, her screams filling the sky until she could scream no more. Her face compressed and light escaped from every orifice in her body. With one last scream, her body exploded into millions of pieces and fell like dust to the ground below, unable to pass her powers to the next sorceress. Cloud was still falling but it didn't matter. He and his friends had actually done it. They had managed to destroy a future that would have certainly ended the universe. Their victory had been earned, but at what cost? His friends rushed underneath him as fast they could, trying to catch him. Right before impact they all disappeared into thin air like Tifa and Red had earlier. They were moving on, their next task not yet set before them. Whatever it was, they would be ready.
