Barett, Tifa, and Cloud crouched noislessly behind a stack of crates in
Hojo's laboratory. In the center of the room, a large glass tube served as
a holding cage for some large, catlike beast. It had seen them enter, as
well as hide, but remained laying in the far side, apathetically flicking
its tail once in a while. Two employees entered at that moment walking up
the clear glass, Hojo himself trailing wordlessly behind them.
"Is this today's experiment?" One of the younger employees asked.
"Yes," Hojo confirmed, "Raise it to the upper level." As the two escorts left, Hojo placed his two boney hands on the glass. "My precious experiment." For some reason, the beast in captivity, stood and began pacing back and forth at the far side. A dangerous growl could be heard through the glass crystal clear glass. Smirking, the frail man turned and left.
As the door closed, Tifa stood and approached the cage, where the beast had sat back down. "Precious specimen? Is it going to be used in a biological experiment?"
Cloud ignored her, and scanned the room. Nothing of interest caught his gaze until his oceanic eyes wandered over a steel dome in the corner of the room. The label scrawled along the top of the door sent a shiver and a pang of immense fear through Cloud's young body. Tentatively, he stepped closer, his large boots making small tapping sounds with each step. He continued to stare at the word in disbelief as memories raced through his mind's eye, sending an eerie feeling of familiarity up his spine.
His gloved fingers traced over the lettering. "Jenova." He murmured.
Jenova
Traitor
Ancients
Death
Flames
A horrible pain raced through Cloud's brain, but he remained resilient, though he grimaced severly. Stepping closer, he peered into the portal of the dome. A female figure... headless... bloody. Cloud felt as though his mind was on fire, the pain pounded. "Jenova, Sephiroth's... So they've brought it here." Finally, the pain was too great, and he fell backwards, clawing at his temples.
Mother
Ancients
Flames
Tifa saw him fall and was at his side instantly. "Cloud! Be strong!"
His blue eyes fluttered open, the pain subsiding a bit. "Did you see it?"
Barett made a confused expression. "See what?" When Cloud feebly pointed to the portal, Barett took a cautious peek inside. "Fuck!" He swore, "Where's its fucking head?"
Cloud groaned, the pains relenting more. Why was that thing here? The fire, so hot, searing his skin. The hole in his heart. The blood, the mayhem, the holes. He was so confused.
"This doesn't matter now, Cloud." Barett helped the younger man to his feet. "Let's go."
The young man stood, shakily, leaning on the bigger man for support. "Are you alright?" Tifa asked tentatively. Worry seemed evident on her face, but she didn't seem to understand the connection to Jenova Cloud had.
"I-"he wanted to tell her, about the flames and the blood and Jenova, but something inside him prevented him from doing so. "I'm okay, let's go."
She nodded, and followed after him, even though the worry was still evident on her face. The stairwell to the sixty-eighth floor was unlocked and the three of them had no trouble getting in. Hojo was staring at an identical glass tube, but in this one, Aeris sat, pressed against the far side.
Instantly, Cloud's wide blade was in his hand."Aeris!" Cloud shouted, before he had time to think. Tifa and Barett flanked him, each ready to fight.
"Oh," Hojo didn't seem very surprised. "Is that her name? Can I help you with something?"
"We're taking Aeris back!" Cloud shouted, guesturing with his sword. The whole act made him look quite heroic.
"Outsiders," He spat, as if the word itself tasted bad.
"You shoulda noticed before," Barett chided mockingly.
"There are so many frivolous things in this world." Hojo continued, not at all concerned with AVALANCHE standing behind him. "Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should. Who will operate all this machinery? You don't think very logically." Cloud snorted indignatly, he was right. "Now, bring in the specimen."
A portal opened up in the middle of the tube, and the cat-beast from the lower floor was raised in. The feline whipped around and started thrashing its tail as Aeris stood and ran to the front closest to Cloud. Her muffled voice was barely audible. "Help me!"
Cloud ran to the glass, and brought his sword crashing down upon it. The glass didn't break, and only a small white fracture line marred the surface. "What are you doing?" He demanded, whirling on Hojo.
The scientist chuckled slightly. "Lending a hand to an endangered species. Both of them are on the brink of extinction. If I don't help, these animals will disappear."
Tifa's face warped with disgust. "That's terrible, Aeris isn't an animal!"
"Your gonna pay!" Barett shouted, he unleashed a spray of bullets onto the glass, causing Hojo to shriek in protest. A bright light flashed from the tube, as shattering glass shot outwards, tearing at skin and cloth . Cloud reached forward, and grabbed Aeris off the floor. Helping her stand, he stepped in front of her, looking threatening. Hojo was pulling himself off the floor, when the feline flung itself out of the cage and pinned the scientist to the floor with an audible thud. Black claws extended, the snarling cat bit into flesh as Hojo screamed in pain.
The elevator in the tube began whirring, and a loud roar echoed up from the opening. The cat-like beast turned its head at the sound, ears pricked. Growling, the feline turned its attention to the whirring of the elevator. The frail man took this opportunity to escape. "Have fun fighting, you worthless peons. This one was created for combat!"
The fur of the earthen beast bristled as it snarled. "This is not an ordinary speciment."
They looked at him in disbelief. Tifa, after a good long moment, recovered from her initial shock enough to speak herself.. "It- you talked?"
The cat looked to her with one intelligent eye, the other was sewn shut. "I can talk all you want later, Miss. Right now, I'll help you fight this monster, he's rather tough."
As he finished is sentence, a mutated monster crawled out of the opening. Tifa was quick, and shot a blast of ice at the monster's left half, making it easy for Cloud to cleave into it. The lion like beast proved to be very useful in the fight, jumping right into the fray and tearing at the monster with claws and fangs. Aeris, was severly weakened by whatever draining experiences she had experienced in the laboratory, and was doing her best to keep up with the fight. It took all of the young woman's strength to heal her friends and now the red beast when they were hurt. More than once, someone had to jump in front of her to save her from an unfriendly blast of magic. The monster was strong, but against five people it was fighting a losing battle, and soon the threat was eliminated. Cloud took one last heavy swipe at the monster, causing it fall. The oversized cat leapt onto its back, sinking its white teeth into the mutant's neck and holding. The much larger beast wheezed and struggled for a moment before finally falling still.
Cloud turned to the articulate cat. "Thank you. You were a great help."
The feline looked up, releasing the beast and licking his chops. His cat- like features showed an expression of disgust, as if the mutant left a bad taste in his mouth. "No, thank you for freeing me. I have been imprisioned here for nearly month."
Cloud normally would've shaken hands, but he looked at the beast's large clawed paws and realized it would be awkward. Settling for placing a hand on a furred shoulder, Cloud managed a weak smile. Turning to Aeris, he let himself be filled with relief. "Are you okay?"
The pretty girl nodded, her chestnut hair, swayed with her. "Yes, I'm fine." She kneeled in front of the lion-beast, and smiled. "I'm sorry I was so afraid of you."
"Quite alright." The cat nodded. "I'm sorry I frightened you. I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard."
Barett cocked his head. "What are you?"
"An informed question, really, but difficult to answer." He licked one paw. "My kind have no name, I am simply what you see."
Tifa also came closer. "So what's your name?"
"Hojo named me RedXIII, but that name holds no meaning to me."
Aeris put her hand on the back of the cat's neck, in a friendly guesture. "Is Red okay?"
"Yes, that will do." He smiled slightly, his white fangs glinting under the florescent lighting. She scratched his nose lightly, and he remained silent for the sake of formality.
"Now that we have Aeris, we don't need to be in this damn building." Barett noted, obviously pleased with the success of their mission.
"Agreed." Aeris smiled in relief.
As they made their way downstairs, Barett caught up to Aeris. "I wanted to thank you," he said as he followed Cloud and Tifa's lead down two more flights of stairs.
Aeris looked at him, a childish expression of confusion written on her face. "For what? I don't recall ever even meeting you."
"The name's Barett Wallace." He smiled lopsidedly. "You saved my daughter." She followed him around a corner, then suddenly wanted to slap herself for her ignorance. Big, dark-skinned, gunarm! "You're Marlene's father? That's right I saw you at the pillar!"
He nodded. "Thanks." He said solemnly, "I lost almost everyone I ever knew yesterday, but you saved my daughter, I love her more than anything."
Aeris looked at the large man, tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, about your friends."
"No." He shook his head. "They went down fightin', I know that they wouldn't regret it. If anythin' I should apologize to you. Because of me an' Marlene you got caught and involved in all 'dis."
"Don't even!" She managed a small laugh. "I couldn't have done anything else. I'm sure you already know, but my name is Aeris. Aeris Gainsborough."
At that moment, Cloud signaled everyone to follow him into the elevator. The space was limited, but they all managed to cram into it. The doors slid shut, and Cloud eagerly pressed the button that would take him to the first floor. Security probably already knew they were here, Hojo probably told them as he left the laboratory. The sooner they reached the bottom of the tower, the better.
The elevator, slowed, and everyone held their breath as the doors slid open. No one was present, but for some reason, the doors would not close. Barett, being closest to the open doors, took a tentative peek outside. A figure in blue, from out of nowhere, tackled the big man. The two went down in a tumble, Barett swearing in surprise. The bald, blue-clad figure pulled a ragged cloth out of his suit jacket, and held it over Barett's nose and mouth. The bigger man knew it was chloroform, but it was already too late. The chemical had already permeated Barett's senses, as his dark eyes rolled back into his head and he lay still. Cloud and the others barreled out of the elevator, ready for battle.
The bald man pulled a gun from a holster at his hip and fired, in one clean motion. The loud sound made everyone wince, but Red, behind them, howled in pain. They turned to see him, stumble and collapse, as a large bloody wound grew on his shoulder, a tranqulizing dart protruding from the injury. In the instant they were distracted, a second figure attacked. He was also clad in a blue suit, but he had long black hair that fell across his shoulders like a waterfall of oil. It was Tseng, the man who had captured Aeris at the pillar. He didn't waste a split second and raced into battle. Tifa, who was closest to him, engaged him in hand to hand combat, while the bald one fired again at Cloud. The bullet missed, and they both charged each other.
Red, only barely conscious, used his last bit of strength to throw himself at Tseng, who yelped in surprise. Tifa took the opportunity to land several well placed kicks to the stomach and groin. Tseng's gloved hand shot out and grabbed her ankle, knocking her off balance and sending her to the ground as he pushed the now unconscious feline off him. When Tifa looked up, Tseng was staring down at her, with a black handgun trained at her chest. With the agility and speed of a true martial artist, her booted foot shot upwards and made contact with the Turk's hand. He swore, and pulled the trigger, sending a stray bullet into the far wall, but the opening was all Tifa needed. She leapt to her feet and threw all her weight into her punches. Right, left, block, left grab, right. She fought almost on autopilot, feeling an eerie detatchment to her own body as she swung her fists at the man's chest, stomach, and face. He stumbled backwards, and the distance was too great for Tifa's arms, but she remedied the situation using her feet. She kicked with her right, then brought it back in, and hit him across the face again. Suprisingly, Tseng was not only totally conscious, but he suddenly went on the offensive, something Tifa was not prepared for.
He swung with a powerful right, catching the young woman directly in the jaw, sending her back to the ground. Tifa grimaced, blinking back tears of pain. Her jaw felt like it was on fire, but she returned to her feet, only to be punched in the stomach. She felt like retching, but could only manage to gasp and cough, splattering blood on the sterile tile floor. Tseng brutally grabbed a handful of hair on the side of her head and flung her with all of his strength into the wall behind him. Her skull rocked against the hard surface, splitting open the skin on the side of her face. Her head was swimming as she faltered and fell to the ground. She vaguely heard Cloud and Aeris shout her name, but passed out as Tseng's foot impacted with her stomach.
Cloud had been shot three times, and each time Aeris had screamed. They were non-vital places, his shoulder had been hit twice, and the side of his face had been grazed, letting blood drip down the side of his cheek. Another gunshot had made him turn, to see Tifa wailing on Tseng. The other Turk also stopped, debating whether or not his boss needed help. Cloud and the other Turk both watched, absorbed in the other fight to do much to each other. Tifa switched from her hands to her feet and landed two particularly painful looking kicks to Tseng's face. Suddenly, Tseng swung with a right hook that threw Tifa to the ground as she cried out in pain and surprise. Cloud started to rush forward, infuriated that a man would do that to Tifa, but the bald Turk tackled him. Cloud, through instant-long pauses in the fight could see Tifa getting punched in the stomach. The sight of her own blood dripping down her face drove Cloud to a rage, he kicked the bald man off him, and swung his fists in a fury, landing several. He turned just in time to see Tifa thrown into the wall and fall to the ground. "Tifa!" He shouted, worried. Behind him Aeris shouted the same thing.
Aeris' shout of worry morphed into her own cry for help as the bald turk advanced on her. "Cloud!!" He whirled, only to watch as Aeris, very much unarmed, raised her hand to slap the advancing threat. He easily caught her slim wrist and jerked her closer. His knee shot up and met with the petite woman's torso, knocking the wind out of her. She collapsed to the ground, even as Cloud bolted to help her. His sword bit into the bald man's shoulder, but he only grunted in pain. Now, only seeing through a burning red haze, Cloud was continuing to pummel the Turk even as Tseng approached him, and pistol whipped the young man. Cloud fell to his knees after being hit in the temple. He fell to the floor, and passed out.
An unknown amount of time later, Cloud was aware of someone shoving him to his feet. He stumbled and tried to step, but something heavy around his ankles prevented him from doing so. He fell to the ground, and opened his eyes. The bald turk was standing over him, his dark glasses masking his eyes.
"Get up."
Cloud didn't have much of a choice and did so with some of the Turks assistance. He realized with dismay, that his hands and feet were bound in shackles, and his sword and materia were missing. The bald man lead him around a corner where Cloud was relieved to see AVALANCHE. They were all chained together, like felons, but they were very much okay.
"Cloud!" Tifa and Barett shouted at once. Barett looked relatively unharmed, but his gunarm had been removed, leaving only the unamputated portion of his arm and a silver disk that the gun attached to. Red, at his feet, looked unscathed for the most part, except for the deep cut he had suffered from the dart.
Tifa looked bruised and battered, causing a memory of Cloud's own mother to resurface. Before his parents had split, his father had beaten his mother often. She smiled at him, through the traces of a black eye. Her jaw had a huge purple bruise on the right side of her face, and there was a long gash on the other side, caked with dried blood. Her bare midriff also showed a few large bruises.
"Tifa! Are you okay!?" He struggled against the Turk, who simply pushed him to the floor.
Unable to go to him, Tifa only smiled kindly, her eyes shimmered with tears of helplessness. "I'm okay. But Aeris is missing."
Cloud, being dragged to his feet once again, wheeled precariously to face the Turk. "What have you done with Aeris?" he shouted.
He was answered with a rough backhand as Tseng entered the room. "Rude, bring that last one out, we don't have time to attach him to the others."
"Sir." Rude nodded, and roughly dragged Cloud behind him as Tseng led Barett, Tifa, and Red out of the room. After walking a flight of stairs, they came to the top floor of the ShinRa Tower. An extravagant desk took up most of the space in the large room, framed by huge windows, giving a vast view of the desolate city below. The sun, in the western sky was beginning to set. Cloud frowned. He had been unconscious for a long time.
A large man walked out of a door on the right, and seated himself at the single chair behind the desk. Cloud recognized him as President ShinRa. "You greedy bastard!" Cloud spat, winning a grin from Barett. "What have you done with Aeris!?"
"She's safe." He lit a cigar. "She's an Ancient, you know."
"So I've heard." Cloud growled.
"Yes, she's the last surviving one." Cloud raised a blonde eyebrow. "They lived thousands of years ago, and they called themselves the Cetra."
Red looked up with his intelligent eye, disbelief clearly registering on his face. "She's a survivor of the Cetra?"
The overweight man nodded. "Yes. The Cetra will show us to the Promised Land. You can see that I'm expecting a lot out of her."
"That is a simple legend. You are a fool." The cat scoffed.
"Perhaps," the president admitted. "But it's too good to pass up. It has been said that the Promised Land is very fertile, and if the ground is fertile-"
"Then there's gotta be Mako!" Barett shouted, finished the president's thoughts for him.
"Exactly!" ShinRa exclaimed. "In the Promised Land, a money-sucking reactor won't be necessary. The mako will flow out on its own. That's where we're building Neo-Midgar. The ShinRa's new glory-"
"Fucker!" Barett bellowed. "Quit dreamin'!"
"Don't you know?" The president seemed annoyed suddenly. "All it takes for your dreams to be realized is money and science." He waved a dismissive hand. "That's all for our meeting."
Rude and Tseng walked back into the office and began to drag the rebels back to holding cells. "No way!" Barett struggled violently, nearly knocking over Tifa and Red as he yanked on the chains. "I still got a lot I wanna say to you." Rude jerked on the chains, and dragged Barett and the others down the stairs, Barett swearing and cursing enough to make a sailor blush.
"If you want anything else, speak to my secretary."
"Is this today's experiment?" One of the younger employees asked.
"Yes," Hojo confirmed, "Raise it to the upper level." As the two escorts left, Hojo placed his two boney hands on the glass. "My precious experiment." For some reason, the beast in captivity, stood and began pacing back and forth at the far side. A dangerous growl could be heard through the glass crystal clear glass. Smirking, the frail man turned and left.
As the door closed, Tifa stood and approached the cage, where the beast had sat back down. "Precious specimen? Is it going to be used in a biological experiment?"
Cloud ignored her, and scanned the room. Nothing of interest caught his gaze until his oceanic eyes wandered over a steel dome in the corner of the room. The label scrawled along the top of the door sent a shiver and a pang of immense fear through Cloud's young body. Tentatively, he stepped closer, his large boots making small tapping sounds with each step. He continued to stare at the word in disbelief as memories raced through his mind's eye, sending an eerie feeling of familiarity up his spine.
His gloved fingers traced over the lettering. "Jenova." He murmured.
Jenova
Traitor
Ancients
Death
Flames
A horrible pain raced through Cloud's brain, but he remained resilient, though he grimaced severly. Stepping closer, he peered into the portal of the dome. A female figure... headless... bloody. Cloud felt as though his mind was on fire, the pain pounded. "Jenova, Sephiroth's... So they've brought it here." Finally, the pain was too great, and he fell backwards, clawing at his temples.
Mother
Ancients
Flames
Tifa saw him fall and was at his side instantly. "Cloud! Be strong!"
His blue eyes fluttered open, the pain subsiding a bit. "Did you see it?"
Barett made a confused expression. "See what?" When Cloud feebly pointed to the portal, Barett took a cautious peek inside. "Fuck!" He swore, "Where's its fucking head?"
Cloud groaned, the pains relenting more. Why was that thing here? The fire, so hot, searing his skin. The hole in his heart. The blood, the mayhem, the holes. He was so confused.
"This doesn't matter now, Cloud." Barett helped the younger man to his feet. "Let's go."
The young man stood, shakily, leaning on the bigger man for support. "Are you alright?" Tifa asked tentatively. Worry seemed evident on her face, but she didn't seem to understand the connection to Jenova Cloud had.
"I-"he wanted to tell her, about the flames and the blood and Jenova, but something inside him prevented him from doing so. "I'm okay, let's go."
She nodded, and followed after him, even though the worry was still evident on her face. The stairwell to the sixty-eighth floor was unlocked and the three of them had no trouble getting in. Hojo was staring at an identical glass tube, but in this one, Aeris sat, pressed against the far side.
Instantly, Cloud's wide blade was in his hand."Aeris!" Cloud shouted, before he had time to think. Tifa and Barett flanked him, each ready to fight.
"Oh," Hojo didn't seem very surprised. "Is that her name? Can I help you with something?"
"We're taking Aeris back!" Cloud shouted, guesturing with his sword. The whole act made him look quite heroic.
"Outsiders," He spat, as if the word itself tasted bad.
"You shoulda noticed before," Barett chided mockingly.
"There are so many frivolous things in this world." Hojo continued, not at all concerned with AVALANCHE standing behind him. "Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should. Who will operate all this machinery? You don't think very logically." Cloud snorted indignatly, he was right. "Now, bring in the specimen."
A portal opened up in the middle of the tube, and the cat-beast from the lower floor was raised in. The feline whipped around and started thrashing its tail as Aeris stood and ran to the front closest to Cloud. Her muffled voice was barely audible. "Help me!"
Cloud ran to the glass, and brought his sword crashing down upon it. The glass didn't break, and only a small white fracture line marred the surface. "What are you doing?" He demanded, whirling on Hojo.
The scientist chuckled slightly. "Lending a hand to an endangered species. Both of them are on the brink of extinction. If I don't help, these animals will disappear."
Tifa's face warped with disgust. "That's terrible, Aeris isn't an animal!"
"Your gonna pay!" Barett shouted, he unleashed a spray of bullets onto the glass, causing Hojo to shriek in protest. A bright light flashed from the tube, as shattering glass shot outwards, tearing at skin and cloth . Cloud reached forward, and grabbed Aeris off the floor. Helping her stand, he stepped in front of her, looking threatening. Hojo was pulling himself off the floor, when the feline flung itself out of the cage and pinned the scientist to the floor with an audible thud. Black claws extended, the snarling cat bit into flesh as Hojo screamed in pain.
The elevator in the tube began whirring, and a loud roar echoed up from the opening. The cat-like beast turned its head at the sound, ears pricked. Growling, the feline turned its attention to the whirring of the elevator. The frail man took this opportunity to escape. "Have fun fighting, you worthless peons. This one was created for combat!"
The fur of the earthen beast bristled as it snarled. "This is not an ordinary speciment."
They looked at him in disbelief. Tifa, after a good long moment, recovered from her initial shock enough to speak herself.. "It- you talked?"
The cat looked to her with one intelligent eye, the other was sewn shut. "I can talk all you want later, Miss. Right now, I'll help you fight this monster, he's rather tough."
As he finished is sentence, a mutated monster crawled out of the opening. Tifa was quick, and shot a blast of ice at the monster's left half, making it easy for Cloud to cleave into it. The lion like beast proved to be very useful in the fight, jumping right into the fray and tearing at the monster with claws and fangs. Aeris, was severly weakened by whatever draining experiences she had experienced in the laboratory, and was doing her best to keep up with the fight. It took all of the young woman's strength to heal her friends and now the red beast when they were hurt. More than once, someone had to jump in front of her to save her from an unfriendly blast of magic. The monster was strong, but against five people it was fighting a losing battle, and soon the threat was eliminated. Cloud took one last heavy swipe at the monster, causing it fall. The oversized cat leapt onto its back, sinking its white teeth into the mutant's neck and holding. The much larger beast wheezed and struggled for a moment before finally falling still.
Cloud turned to the articulate cat. "Thank you. You were a great help."
The feline looked up, releasing the beast and licking his chops. His cat- like features showed an expression of disgust, as if the mutant left a bad taste in his mouth. "No, thank you for freeing me. I have been imprisioned here for nearly month."
Cloud normally would've shaken hands, but he looked at the beast's large clawed paws and realized it would be awkward. Settling for placing a hand on a furred shoulder, Cloud managed a weak smile. Turning to Aeris, he let himself be filled with relief. "Are you okay?"
The pretty girl nodded, her chestnut hair, swayed with her. "Yes, I'm fine." She kneeled in front of the lion-beast, and smiled. "I'm sorry I was so afraid of you."
"Quite alright." The cat nodded. "I'm sorry I frightened you. I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard."
Barett cocked his head. "What are you?"
"An informed question, really, but difficult to answer." He licked one paw. "My kind have no name, I am simply what you see."
Tifa also came closer. "So what's your name?"
"Hojo named me RedXIII, but that name holds no meaning to me."
Aeris put her hand on the back of the cat's neck, in a friendly guesture. "Is Red okay?"
"Yes, that will do." He smiled slightly, his white fangs glinting under the florescent lighting. She scratched his nose lightly, and he remained silent for the sake of formality.
"Now that we have Aeris, we don't need to be in this damn building." Barett noted, obviously pleased with the success of their mission.
"Agreed." Aeris smiled in relief.
As they made their way downstairs, Barett caught up to Aeris. "I wanted to thank you," he said as he followed Cloud and Tifa's lead down two more flights of stairs.
Aeris looked at him, a childish expression of confusion written on her face. "For what? I don't recall ever even meeting you."
"The name's Barett Wallace." He smiled lopsidedly. "You saved my daughter." She followed him around a corner, then suddenly wanted to slap herself for her ignorance. Big, dark-skinned, gunarm! "You're Marlene's father? That's right I saw you at the pillar!"
He nodded. "Thanks." He said solemnly, "I lost almost everyone I ever knew yesterday, but you saved my daughter, I love her more than anything."
Aeris looked at the large man, tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, about your friends."
"No." He shook his head. "They went down fightin', I know that they wouldn't regret it. If anythin' I should apologize to you. Because of me an' Marlene you got caught and involved in all 'dis."
"Don't even!" She managed a small laugh. "I couldn't have done anything else. I'm sure you already know, but my name is Aeris. Aeris Gainsborough."
At that moment, Cloud signaled everyone to follow him into the elevator. The space was limited, but they all managed to cram into it. The doors slid shut, and Cloud eagerly pressed the button that would take him to the first floor. Security probably already knew they were here, Hojo probably told them as he left the laboratory. The sooner they reached the bottom of the tower, the better.
The elevator, slowed, and everyone held their breath as the doors slid open. No one was present, but for some reason, the doors would not close. Barett, being closest to the open doors, took a tentative peek outside. A figure in blue, from out of nowhere, tackled the big man. The two went down in a tumble, Barett swearing in surprise. The bald, blue-clad figure pulled a ragged cloth out of his suit jacket, and held it over Barett's nose and mouth. The bigger man knew it was chloroform, but it was already too late. The chemical had already permeated Barett's senses, as his dark eyes rolled back into his head and he lay still. Cloud and the others barreled out of the elevator, ready for battle.
The bald man pulled a gun from a holster at his hip and fired, in one clean motion. The loud sound made everyone wince, but Red, behind them, howled in pain. They turned to see him, stumble and collapse, as a large bloody wound grew on his shoulder, a tranqulizing dart protruding from the injury. In the instant they were distracted, a second figure attacked. He was also clad in a blue suit, but he had long black hair that fell across his shoulders like a waterfall of oil. It was Tseng, the man who had captured Aeris at the pillar. He didn't waste a split second and raced into battle. Tifa, who was closest to him, engaged him in hand to hand combat, while the bald one fired again at Cloud. The bullet missed, and they both charged each other.
Red, only barely conscious, used his last bit of strength to throw himself at Tseng, who yelped in surprise. Tifa took the opportunity to land several well placed kicks to the stomach and groin. Tseng's gloved hand shot out and grabbed her ankle, knocking her off balance and sending her to the ground as he pushed the now unconscious feline off him. When Tifa looked up, Tseng was staring down at her, with a black handgun trained at her chest. With the agility and speed of a true martial artist, her booted foot shot upwards and made contact with the Turk's hand. He swore, and pulled the trigger, sending a stray bullet into the far wall, but the opening was all Tifa needed. She leapt to her feet and threw all her weight into her punches. Right, left, block, left grab, right. She fought almost on autopilot, feeling an eerie detatchment to her own body as she swung her fists at the man's chest, stomach, and face. He stumbled backwards, and the distance was too great for Tifa's arms, but she remedied the situation using her feet. She kicked with her right, then brought it back in, and hit him across the face again. Suprisingly, Tseng was not only totally conscious, but he suddenly went on the offensive, something Tifa was not prepared for.
He swung with a powerful right, catching the young woman directly in the jaw, sending her back to the ground. Tifa grimaced, blinking back tears of pain. Her jaw felt like it was on fire, but she returned to her feet, only to be punched in the stomach. She felt like retching, but could only manage to gasp and cough, splattering blood on the sterile tile floor. Tseng brutally grabbed a handful of hair on the side of her head and flung her with all of his strength into the wall behind him. Her skull rocked against the hard surface, splitting open the skin on the side of her face. Her head was swimming as she faltered and fell to the ground. She vaguely heard Cloud and Aeris shout her name, but passed out as Tseng's foot impacted with her stomach.
Cloud had been shot three times, and each time Aeris had screamed. They were non-vital places, his shoulder had been hit twice, and the side of his face had been grazed, letting blood drip down the side of his cheek. Another gunshot had made him turn, to see Tifa wailing on Tseng. The other Turk also stopped, debating whether or not his boss needed help. Cloud and the other Turk both watched, absorbed in the other fight to do much to each other. Tifa switched from her hands to her feet and landed two particularly painful looking kicks to Tseng's face. Suddenly, Tseng swung with a right hook that threw Tifa to the ground as she cried out in pain and surprise. Cloud started to rush forward, infuriated that a man would do that to Tifa, but the bald Turk tackled him. Cloud, through instant-long pauses in the fight could see Tifa getting punched in the stomach. The sight of her own blood dripping down her face drove Cloud to a rage, he kicked the bald man off him, and swung his fists in a fury, landing several. He turned just in time to see Tifa thrown into the wall and fall to the ground. "Tifa!" He shouted, worried. Behind him Aeris shouted the same thing.
Aeris' shout of worry morphed into her own cry for help as the bald turk advanced on her. "Cloud!!" He whirled, only to watch as Aeris, very much unarmed, raised her hand to slap the advancing threat. He easily caught her slim wrist and jerked her closer. His knee shot up and met with the petite woman's torso, knocking the wind out of her. She collapsed to the ground, even as Cloud bolted to help her. His sword bit into the bald man's shoulder, but he only grunted in pain. Now, only seeing through a burning red haze, Cloud was continuing to pummel the Turk even as Tseng approached him, and pistol whipped the young man. Cloud fell to his knees after being hit in the temple. He fell to the floor, and passed out.
An unknown amount of time later, Cloud was aware of someone shoving him to his feet. He stumbled and tried to step, but something heavy around his ankles prevented him from doing so. He fell to the ground, and opened his eyes. The bald turk was standing over him, his dark glasses masking his eyes.
"Get up."
Cloud didn't have much of a choice and did so with some of the Turks assistance. He realized with dismay, that his hands and feet were bound in shackles, and his sword and materia were missing. The bald man lead him around a corner where Cloud was relieved to see AVALANCHE. They were all chained together, like felons, but they were very much okay.
"Cloud!" Tifa and Barett shouted at once. Barett looked relatively unharmed, but his gunarm had been removed, leaving only the unamputated portion of his arm and a silver disk that the gun attached to. Red, at his feet, looked unscathed for the most part, except for the deep cut he had suffered from the dart.
Tifa looked bruised and battered, causing a memory of Cloud's own mother to resurface. Before his parents had split, his father had beaten his mother often. She smiled at him, through the traces of a black eye. Her jaw had a huge purple bruise on the right side of her face, and there was a long gash on the other side, caked with dried blood. Her bare midriff also showed a few large bruises.
"Tifa! Are you okay!?" He struggled against the Turk, who simply pushed him to the floor.
Unable to go to him, Tifa only smiled kindly, her eyes shimmered with tears of helplessness. "I'm okay. But Aeris is missing."
Cloud, being dragged to his feet once again, wheeled precariously to face the Turk. "What have you done with Aeris?" he shouted.
He was answered with a rough backhand as Tseng entered the room. "Rude, bring that last one out, we don't have time to attach him to the others."
"Sir." Rude nodded, and roughly dragged Cloud behind him as Tseng led Barett, Tifa, and Red out of the room. After walking a flight of stairs, they came to the top floor of the ShinRa Tower. An extravagant desk took up most of the space in the large room, framed by huge windows, giving a vast view of the desolate city below. The sun, in the western sky was beginning to set. Cloud frowned. He had been unconscious for a long time.
A large man walked out of a door on the right, and seated himself at the single chair behind the desk. Cloud recognized him as President ShinRa. "You greedy bastard!" Cloud spat, winning a grin from Barett. "What have you done with Aeris!?"
"She's safe." He lit a cigar. "She's an Ancient, you know."
"So I've heard." Cloud growled.
"Yes, she's the last surviving one." Cloud raised a blonde eyebrow. "They lived thousands of years ago, and they called themselves the Cetra."
Red looked up with his intelligent eye, disbelief clearly registering on his face. "She's a survivor of the Cetra?"
The overweight man nodded. "Yes. The Cetra will show us to the Promised Land. You can see that I'm expecting a lot out of her."
"That is a simple legend. You are a fool." The cat scoffed.
"Perhaps," the president admitted. "But it's too good to pass up. It has been said that the Promised Land is very fertile, and if the ground is fertile-"
"Then there's gotta be Mako!" Barett shouted, finished the president's thoughts for him.
"Exactly!" ShinRa exclaimed. "In the Promised Land, a money-sucking reactor won't be necessary. The mako will flow out on its own. That's where we're building Neo-Midgar. The ShinRa's new glory-"
"Fucker!" Barett bellowed. "Quit dreamin'!"
"Don't you know?" The president seemed annoyed suddenly. "All it takes for your dreams to be realized is money and science." He waved a dismissive hand. "That's all for our meeting."
Rude and Tseng walked back into the office and began to drag the rebels back to holding cells. "No way!" Barett struggled violently, nearly knocking over Tifa and Red as he yanked on the chains. "I still got a lot I wanna say to you." Rude jerked on the chains, and dragged Barett and the others down the stairs, Barett swearing and cursing enough to make a sailor blush.
"If you want anything else, speak to my secretary."