Standard disclaimers apply.
***********************************
Chapter seven; Rocket Town
************************************
They waited a long time after the boat stopped. In fact, they waited so long that they were kicked off by an irritated sailor.
"Rocket Town isn't too far from here," Tifa announced once they were on shore. "We should be there before nightfall-" her voice died abruptly when she noticed neither Yuffie nor Rikku appeared to be paying attention.
"We're finally on dry land again!" Yuffie exclaimed happily. "Oh seasickness, if I never experience you again, it'll be waaaaaaaaay to soon!"
"Sephy's gone! Sephy's gone! La la la la la laaaaaa!" Rikku sang. She grabbed Yuffie's hands the they turned several circles before realizing that Tifa was watching them.
"What?" Rikku demanded. "Do you know what it feels like to know that a sociopath is within 200 feet of you? One that you also happen to know is looking for you? And who even went so far as to kiss you?
"I hate traveling on boats in the sky and in the water. I deserve to celebrate," Yuffie explained. "For surviving... and willingly climbing on board.
"Right..." Tifa said quickly clearing her throat and shaking her head. "I was just noticing how calm you two appear to be even with Sephiroth pursuing us."
"Ain't nothing to be done about him yet," Rikku explained with a shrug. "We just gotta keep moving, you know."
"Hopefully Cid'll be in Rocket Town so we can get to Spira ASAP," Yuffie added. "Otherwise we'll end up hoofing it. Now, which way do we have to go from here?" She looked around, shading her eyes and looking back towards Wutai. "Not there... we'd need a boat for that.
"Towards the smoke?" Rikku suggested.
"Smoke...?" Tifa murmured. She turned, shading her eyes against the setting sun. A large plume of black smoke was drifting lazily into the air right in the vicinity of Rocket Town. "Yeah, that's where the town is."
"Well then hurry!" Yuffie exclaimed. "There might be trouble!"
"You mean they don't have bonfires often?" Rikku inquired lightly. "I wonder what's going on..." her voice trailed off and she tried to think of what might be happening in Rocket Town.
"Sephiroth!" all three of them exclaimed at the same time, coming to the same conclusion.
"What!" came the almost instantaneous reply.
They turned slowly - almost reluctantly towards the voice. Standing with his back towards them was the familiar silver haired figure of Sephiroth. And judging by his body posture, he wasn't in a good mood.
"Nothing," Yuffie squeaked. She grabbed Rikku by her arm. "Let's get the hell out of here," she said in a hissed whisper.
Rikku nodded silently.
"If it's nothing, then don't go shouting my name. I've got a lot of things on my mind," Sephiroth said with a sigh. He strolled away from them, completely lost in thought. He didn't look back.
He was feeling rather lost. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with him besides being dead. The girl who had his materia knew that he was dead... he knew that much. Maybe... just maybe he should head to Luca and kidnap the High Summoner after all.
Not for Seymour though.... The girl was an Al Bhed and they were all from Spira. That meant that she would have some feelings of loyalty to the High Summoner. He could lure her to him using the summoner. Then he could kill them both and take back his materia...
*******************************
Tifa blinked in surprise, but didn't say anything. If Sephiroth wasn't going to approach them they were probably better off not engaging him. All three of them were firmly placed in the lightweight category. They had quick attacks, but were definitely lacking in power. That meant that they couldn't really win.
"Let's go," she murmured. She started towards the plume of smoke at a brisk pace. Yuffie and Rikku bounced after her. "That wasn't really expected, was it?" Tifa asked when they were a safe distance from the small docks.
"A little bit too close and unexpected!" Rikku exclaimed. "I'm so glad that he didn't turn around. And... I guess I'm a little confused too," she confessed.
"We really should have expected something like that, you know," Yuffie announced. "We didn't wait on the ship long enough for Sephiroth to make it to Rocket Town and send up plumes of smoke. That means that someone else is causing trouble -"
"Confused about what?" Tifa asked, overriding Yuffie's conclusions.
"I suppose you're right," Rikku agreed with Yuffie. "But still, maybe there isn't any trouble at all. It could just be a machina fire. They put off a lot of smoke when you burn them."
"Machina.... those are machines, right?" Yuffie inquired. "I don't think that they would be burning any machina in Rocket Town."
"Maybe it was an accidental fire," Rikku suggested.
"I guess it's possible," Yuffie agreed. "But we won't really know until we get there, right Tifa?" she turned to the taller woman.
Tifa shook her head. "You guys are... unbelievable. Anyway, even if it is an accidental fire, that still could be trouble if it gets out of control." She brushed her hair over her shoulder in a smooth motion. "Rikku, I'd still like to know why you're confused."
"Confused?" Rikku asked, cocking her head to the side. "Oh... Sephy...." She shrugged lightly. "It's just that up until that point, I got really ill when he was around. You know, stomach cramps, odd chills...."
"That's weird," Tifa said. "Have you ever felt like that before?"
"Nope!" Rikku said. "But enough chit-chat. We got fiend... er ... monster problems."
"Right," Tifa agreed. She clenched her fist tighter inside her gloved claw. "I'll take the one on the left -"
"Too late!" Yuffie shouted. "His A$$ is mine!" She flung her conformer in a deadly arc, slashing through the monster standing in their path.
"Let's tag team the other," Rikku murmured to Tifa. "You go high, and I'll go low!"
"Right!" Tifa agreed.
******************************************
Rocket Town was in a state of disarray when the three young women arrived. Buildings were burning freely and there were people running everywhere. Bodies littered the streets indiscriminately.
"What...?" Tifa exclaimed. Images of Nibelhiem's burning flashing through her mind. She knelt down beside one of the bodies. "ShinRa!" she said after a moment.
"Huh?" Yuffie asked. "What do you mean?" She looked closer. "It's their uniform," she agreed. "But what are they doing?"
"We should find Cid," Tifa said, standing abruptly. "I'll check that building," she nodded her head straight towards Cid's house.
Yuffie nodded. "I'll check the pub... Rikku, why don't you look in those shops over there? Help anyone who is in trouble -"
"Goes without saying," Rikku said with a slight nod of her head. Things in Rocket Town were reminding her of the carnage the Guado had inflicted when they attacked Home.
***********************************
Tifa pushed open the door, covering her nose and mouth with a piece of white cloth. "CID!" she shouted. She moved through the house, gingerly kicking open burning door. Everything was encased in flames, but there didn't seem to be any people inside.
"CID, where are you?" she demanded. She pushed through the door leading out back to where the Tiny Bronco had once stood. Burning grass and crates created a searing wall of flame.
Tifa shook her head sadly. It was going to take a long time for Rocket Town to recover from the fire. She turned, ready to go back into the house and back to the main street. Hopefully the other girls had better luck.
"Tifa!" she heard a voice shout. "Is that you?" A hacking cough followed the voice. "Please.... help!"
Tifa spun, hair whipping around and catching fire. She patted it out quickly, cringing inwardly at the burnt ends. "Shera, is that you?" she asked. "Where are you? I'm coming."
"By the cough fence," Shera hacked. "Is Cid ... with you?"
"No," Tifa said, trying to keep her voice steady. The fire in the backyard seemed to be burning fiercer then inside the wooden frame house. And that wasn't making any sense.
"They cough, cough coated the area around me with cough, cough..." Shera gasped. "And Cid -" her voice cut off abruptly with another hacking fit.
Tifa took a couple of steps back. "I'm coming!" she shouted and raced foreword. When she reached the hottest flames - the ones that singed her legs as she tried to move through them - she vaulted her lithe body into the air. Legs and arms pumping, she tried to make it over all of the flames.
Only things didn't happen like she had hoped. About halfway across, she heard the crack of a gun and felt a sudden pain in her chest. Her jump became more of a fall and she hit the ground amidst a sea of flames.
She didn't have much time to think. Her mind was already going into shock with the combined efforts of flame and the bullet wound. She had just enough thoughts to change her materia. Moving the green magic materia, fire from her weapon to her defensive item. Then she passed out.
Moments later, she revived. The flames still danced orange hot around her body. Tifa sighed, not moving for a long moment. There were times that you really appreciated the Planet for everything that it's precious Mako energy released. And then there were times you thanked ShinRa for harnessing that power into materia. This was one of those times.
With her Fire Materia firmly slotted, she was getting a Fire-Eater effect. Meaning that with the constant burning flames, the wound on her chest was almost completely healed. She fingered the bloody hole in the front of her white top tenderly.
"TIFA!" she heard Shera screaming. "Are you all right -"
"She's dead, better worry about yourself, honey," a masculine voice laughed.
"Ahhhhh! Don't touch me!" Shera wailed. "CID HELP!"
Tifa rolled to her feet. "Who's dead?" she asked sweetly, moving foreword with a deadly look in her usually kind brown eyes. "Beat Rush.... followed by a Dolphin's blow...." she murmured to herself as she performed the deadly combo on the worthless ShinRa scrum standing in front of her.
Only he didn't go down. "Ha ha ha!" he laughed. "I've been augmented by the latest ShinRa technology. My body is immune to physical attacks... but it dishes them out pretty well."
He followed his little speech up with a heavy ham sized fist that smashed Tifa back several feet. She shook her head, seeing stars and wishing that she didn't.
If he was immune to physical attacks, then what she needed was magic. She stepped back, focusing on the materia stones in her glove. She would use Ultima on him. The powerful spell should shut him up pretty quick.
CRACK! came the wet and sickly sound from her ribs as his foot smashed into her, sending her reeling back into the healing flames. Tifa grunted. He hadn't given her a chance to cast.
"Foolish little girl!" he taunted, shoving her back down to the ground. "Even if you had gotten your spell off, it would be useless. My body absorbs magic!" He let loose another peel of horrid laughter.
Standing seven feet tall, he looked like a towering mass of muscle from where Tifa was pinned to the ground. Then he pulled a wickedly curved blade. "You seem to be eating the flames. Let's see the same trick when I cut your pretty head from your shoulders." He licked the blade and laughed.
Tifa closed her eyes, focusing her energy into another materia - a summon materia. Knights of the Round to be precise. Hopefully their combined attack would be enough to buy her some time.
*****************************************
Rikku pushed open the door slowly and then stopped, springing backwards and a burning man came rushing from the building. "Drop and roll," she ordered. "It'll smother the flames."
The man, clearly in agony, obeyed instantly, hitting the cobblestone streets with a thud.
Rikku pulled out a Hi-Potion and tossed it over him before entering the building. Inside, it was burning poorly. Heavy smoke seemed to be the biggest problem. Her nose twitched, scenting the familiar stench of burning oil.
"Yuck..." she murmured. "Hey, is there anybody in here?" she called out. She heard the cocking of a gun. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'm -"
BANG! A shot rang out, narrowly missing her head. Rikku watched a couple strands of blond hair drift towards the ground. "HEY!" she protested, throwing herself to the side and down to avoid the next shot. "No fair, I can't even see you!"
She rolled behind a topple shelf.
Flames leapt out of the smoke shrouded darkness. Rikku twisted out of the way, feeling her butt get scorched as she didn't move fast enough.
"She ain't important," a confident voice announced. "We did what we were ordered to."
"Reno?" a woman's voice came. "Are those... tears?"
"I burned down a bar, what the hell do you think, Elena?" Reno snapped.
"We're not to leave anyone alive -" Elena fumed.
Rikku stood up, pulling her goggles up from around her neck. They had a nice infared feature that was helpful in avoiding underwater fiends... not to mention keeping track of your fellow explorers. Right now they showed two hot bodies arguing several feet away from her and a third right in front of her bringing down a fist.
"Ahh!" she shouted in surprise, not moving quick enough to avoid the blow completely. She tasted blood on the corner of her mouth and quickly retaliated with her claw.
It cut through the fabric of her assailants suit and gouged out a good sized chunk of skin.
Now it was Rude's turn to grunt with pain. Reno and Elena turned as one. "Rude?" Reno inquired, tossing a healing potion towards the big man.
Rikku sprang foreword, putting her agility to good work and snagging the potion out of mid-air, using it on herself. "What are you doing in Rocket Town?" she demanded, falling into a fighting stance, taking special care not to let Elena have a clear shot at her.
Reno scratched his head lightly. "Supervising it's destruction," he said with a small shrug. "What did it look like we were doing?"
"I think you should leave now," Rikku said with a small shrug of her own.
"You're the one that's outnumbered. Maybe you should leave," Elena suggested, maneuvering for a shot.
Rikku circled slowly, trying to keep all three in her sights.
"It's just a girl," Reno said. "I don't feel like busting her up. Let's go," he ordered. "We're not getting paid anything special for killing her."
"But -" Elena protested as the two men started out of the building.
"You should come," Reno suggested. "I'd hate to be in town when everything goes Boom!"
Elena glowered at Rikku. "I'd deal with you myself if I had more time," she snapped. "But seeing as I don't... I'll let you die with the rest of this miserable place." She backed out of the door and opened fire.
"What the hell -" Reno's voice came for a second with mild irritation tingeing it. Then there was silence followed by a soft rumble as the entrance caved in.
Rikku froze, resisting the urge to cough. The building was full of deadly fumes and she didn't know how to customize her equipment to eat deadly gasses.
She looked around the room. There had to be another way out, didn't there? She started searching, refusing to give into panic. She picked her way over overturned shelves and shattered glass. A few fires smoldered inside the room, pouring out abnormal amounts of smoke.
"Maybe if I put them out," she murmured to herself. She started towards one fire when a flicker of ruby light caught her attention. She turned slowly, pushing her goggles around her neck and kneeling down. 1:03 the red numbers read. It was a timer and it was connected to the most deadly and carefully pieced together bomb that Rikku had ever seen.
************************************
Yuffie turned around the pub once. Several people stood huddled in a corner and a couple of ShinRa officers were holding them at gun point. "Our orders are to kill each and every one of you. But first, tell us where the captain is."
"Scumbag!" one of the people shouted.
The ShinRa men opened fire. Yuffie whipped her Conformer at them at the same instant, making most of their shots miss. Several people screamed in pain and terror.
"Who the hell are you?" one of the guards snapped.
"What?" Yuffie gasped. "Haven't you heard of the Great Ninja Yuffie? A girl so pretty and talented -"
"Aren't you with Strife's group?" one of the men suggested.
"I've never heard of her," another answered.
"Who are you again?"
"I don't think that she's anyone really important -"
"Enough!" Yuffie snarled. "What are you doing here!" She snapped her Conformer to an offensive position and whipped it towards them with deadly accuracy. One man fell and didn't get up again. "What are you doing here?"
"Get her!" they shouted in response. "Great Ninja Yuckie, you're going down!"
"It's Yuffie!" she raged, easily evading their attacks. She attacked several more times, defeating her opponents in one shot each. "You guys don's stand a chance, give it up!" she declared. There were only two guards left and both of them were cowering in a corner.
"Yes ma'am," they both stammered. They dropped their guns and held up their hands.
Yuffie glowed. She had forced them into submission. "Good, now tell me what you're doing in Rocket Town."
"We don't know much..." the first guy started.
"We're supposed to kill Cid Highwind... reclaim his airship -"
"And destroy the town for defying ShinRa rule," the first guy finished. "That's all we know. Honest!"
"Heh heh, and that's all you get to know. You are Yuffie Kisagari. You are dead!" a beefy voice chuckled from behind her.
Yuffie turned slowly. The biggest, stupidest guy she had ever seen stood with a wide grin on his face. "You die now," he told her. He rotated his head, spinning it in a complete circle. As his face came to face her again, his tongue shot out of his mouth, turning out to be over three feet long. It wrapped around the ninjas throat and jerked her foreword, pulling her head right into his dopey looking mouth.
A mouth that Yuffie was quick to notice was full of extremely foul smells and millions of jagged little teeth.
*********************************
Author's notes; Time to leave Sephy alone for a while and focus on ShinRa's new evil scheme. Revenge.
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
***********************************
Chapter seven; Rocket Town
************************************
They waited a long time after the boat stopped. In fact, they waited so long that they were kicked off by an irritated sailor.
"Rocket Town isn't too far from here," Tifa announced once they were on shore. "We should be there before nightfall-" her voice died abruptly when she noticed neither Yuffie nor Rikku appeared to be paying attention.
"We're finally on dry land again!" Yuffie exclaimed happily. "Oh seasickness, if I never experience you again, it'll be waaaaaaaaay to soon!"
"Sephy's gone! Sephy's gone! La la la la la laaaaaa!" Rikku sang. She grabbed Yuffie's hands the they turned several circles before realizing that Tifa was watching them.
"What?" Rikku demanded. "Do you know what it feels like to know that a sociopath is within 200 feet of you? One that you also happen to know is looking for you? And who even went so far as to kiss you?
"I hate traveling on boats in the sky and in the water. I deserve to celebrate," Yuffie explained. "For surviving... and willingly climbing on board.
"Right..." Tifa said quickly clearing her throat and shaking her head. "I was just noticing how calm you two appear to be even with Sephiroth pursuing us."
"Ain't nothing to be done about him yet," Rikku explained with a shrug. "We just gotta keep moving, you know."
"Hopefully Cid'll be in Rocket Town so we can get to Spira ASAP," Yuffie added. "Otherwise we'll end up hoofing it. Now, which way do we have to go from here?" She looked around, shading her eyes and looking back towards Wutai. "Not there... we'd need a boat for that.
"Towards the smoke?" Rikku suggested.
"Smoke...?" Tifa murmured. She turned, shading her eyes against the setting sun. A large plume of black smoke was drifting lazily into the air right in the vicinity of Rocket Town. "Yeah, that's where the town is."
"Well then hurry!" Yuffie exclaimed. "There might be trouble!"
"You mean they don't have bonfires often?" Rikku inquired lightly. "I wonder what's going on..." her voice trailed off and she tried to think of what might be happening in Rocket Town.
"Sephiroth!" all three of them exclaimed at the same time, coming to the same conclusion.
"What!" came the almost instantaneous reply.
They turned slowly - almost reluctantly towards the voice. Standing with his back towards them was the familiar silver haired figure of Sephiroth. And judging by his body posture, he wasn't in a good mood.
"Nothing," Yuffie squeaked. She grabbed Rikku by her arm. "Let's get the hell out of here," she said in a hissed whisper.
Rikku nodded silently.
"If it's nothing, then don't go shouting my name. I've got a lot of things on my mind," Sephiroth said with a sigh. He strolled away from them, completely lost in thought. He didn't look back.
He was feeling rather lost. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with him besides being dead. The girl who had his materia knew that he was dead... he knew that much. Maybe... just maybe he should head to Luca and kidnap the High Summoner after all.
Not for Seymour though.... The girl was an Al Bhed and they were all from Spira. That meant that she would have some feelings of loyalty to the High Summoner. He could lure her to him using the summoner. Then he could kill them both and take back his materia...
*******************************
Tifa blinked in surprise, but didn't say anything. If Sephiroth wasn't going to approach them they were probably better off not engaging him. All three of them were firmly placed in the lightweight category. They had quick attacks, but were definitely lacking in power. That meant that they couldn't really win.
"Let's go," she murmured. She started towards the plume of smoke at a brisk pace. Yuffie and Rikku bounced after her. "That wasn't really expected, was it?" Tifa asked when they were a safe distance from the small docks.
"A little bit too close and unexpected!" Rikku exclaimed. "I'm so glad that he didn't turn around. And... I guess I'm a little confused too," she confessed.
"We really should have expected something like that, you know," Yuffie announced. "We didn't wait on the ship long enough for Sephiroth to make it to Rocket Town and send up plumes of smoke. That means that someone else is causing trouble -"
"Confused about what?" Tifa asked, overriding Yuffie's conclusions.
"I suppose you're right," Rikku agreed with Yuffie. "But still, maybe there isn't any trouble at all. It could just be a machina fire. They put off a lot of smoke when you burn them."
"Machina.... those are machines, right?" Yuffie inquired. "I don't think that they would be burning any machina in Rocket Town."
"Maybe it was an accidental fire," Rikku suggested.
"I guess it's possible," Yuffie agreed. "But we won't really know until we get there, right Tifa?" she turned to the taller woman.
Tifa shook her head. "You guys are... unbelievable. Anyway, even if it is an accidental fire, that still could be trouble if it gets out of control." She brushed her hair over her shoulder in a smooth motion. "Rikku, I'd still like to know why you're confused."
"Confused?" Rikku asked, cocking her head to the side. "Oh... Sephy...." She shrugged lightly. "It's just that up until that point, I got really ill when he was around. You know, stomach cramps, odd chills...."
"That's weird," Tifa said. "Have you ever felt like that before?"
"Nope!" Rikku said. "But enough chit-chat. We got fiend... er ... monster problems."
"Right," Tifa agreed. She clenched her fist tighter inside her gloved claw. "I'll take the one on the left -"
"Too late!" Yuffie shouted. "His A$$ is mine!" She flung her conformer in a deadly arc, slashing through the monster standing in their path.
"Let's tag team the other," Rikku murmured to Tifa. "You go high, and I'll go low!"
"Right!" Tifa agreed.
******************************************
Rocket Town was in a state of disarray when the three young women arrived. Buildings were burning freely and there were people running everywhere. Bodies littered the streets indiscriminately.
"What...?" Tifa exclaimed. Images of Nibelhiem's burning flashing through her mind. She knelt down beside one of the bodies. "ShinRa!" she said after a moment.
"Huh?" Yuffie asked. "What do you mean?" She looked closer. "It's their uniform," she agreed. "But what are they doing?"
"We should find Cid," Tifa said, standing abruptly. "I'll check that building," she nodded her head straight towards Cid's house.
Yuffie nodded. "I'll check the pub... Rikku, why don't you look in those shops over there? Help anyone who is in trouble -"
"Goes without saying," Rikku said with a slight nod of her head. Things in Rocket Town were reminding her of the carnage the Guado had inflicted when they attacked Home.
***********************************
Tifa pushed open the door, covering her nose and mouth with a piece of white cloth. "CID!" she shouted. She moved through the house, gingerly kicking open burning door. Everything was encased in flames, but there didn't seem to be any people inside.
"CID, where are you?" she demanded. She pushed through the door leading out back to where the Tiny Bronco had once stood. Burning grass and crates created a searing wall of flame.
Tifa shook her head sadly. It was going to take a long time for Rocket Town to recover from the fire. She turned, ready to go back into the house and back to the main street. Hopefully the other girls had better luck.
"Tifa!" she heard a voice shout. "Is that you?" A hacking cough followed the voice. "Please.... help!"
Tifa spun, hair whipping around and catching fire. She patted it out quickly, cringing inwardly at the burnt ends. "Shera, is that you?" she asked. "Where are you? I'm coming."
"By the cough fence," Shera hacked. "Is Cid ... with you?"
"No," Tifa said, trying to keep her voice steady. The fire in the backyard seemed to be burning fiercer then inside the wooden frame house. And that wasn't making any sense.
"They cough, cough coated the area around me with cough, cough..." Shera gasped. "And Cid -" her voice cut off abruptly with another hacking fit.
Tifa took a couple of steps back. "I'm coming!" she shouted and raced foreword. When she reached the hottest flames - the ones that singed her legs as she tried to move through them - she vaulted her lithe body into the air. Legs and arms pumping, she tried to make it over all of the flames.
Only things didn't happen like she had hoped. About halfway across, she heard the crack of a gun and felt a sudden pain in her chest. Her jump became more of a fall and she hit the ground amidst a sea of flames.
She didn't have much time to think. Her mind was already going into shock with the combined efforts of flame and the bullet wound. She had just enough thoughts to change her materia. Moving the green magic materia, fire from her weapon to her defensive item. Then she passed out.
Moments later, she revived. The flames still danced orange hot around her body. Tifa sighed, not moving for a long moment. There were times that you really appreciated the Planet for everything that it's precious Mako energy released. And then there were times you thanked ShinRa for harnessing that power into materia. This was one of those times.
With her Fire Materia firmly slotted, she was getting a Fire-Eater effect. Meaning that with the constant burning flames, the wound on her chest was almost completely healed. She fingered the bloody hole in the front of her white top tenderly.
"TIFA!" she heard Shera screaming. "Are you all right -"
"She's dead, better worry about yourself, honey," a masculine voice laughed.
"Ahhhhh! Don't touch me!" Shera wailed. "CID HELP!"
Tifa rolled to her feet. "Who's dead?" she asked sweetly, moving foreword with a deadly look in her usually kind brown eyes. "Beat Rush.... followed by a Dolphin's blow...." she murmured to herself as she performed the deadly combo on the worthless ShinRa scrum standing in front of her.
Only he didn't go down. "Ha ha ha!" he laughed. "I've been augmented by the latest ShinRa technology. My body is immune to physical attacks... but it dishes them out pretty well."
He followed his little speech up with a heavy ham sized fist that smashed Tifa back several feet. She shook her head, seeing stars and wishing that she didn't.
If he was immune to physical attacks, then what she needed was magic. She stepped back, focusing on the materia stones in her glove. She would use Ultima on him. The powerful spell should shut him up pretty quick.
CRACK! came the wet and sickly sound from her ribs as his foot smashed into her, sending her reeling back into the healing flames. Tifa grunted. He hadn't given her a chance to cast.
"Foolish little girl!" he taunted, shoving her back down to the ground. "Even if you had gotten your spell off, it would be useless. My body absorbs magic!" He let loose another peel of horrid laughter.
Standing seven feet tall, he looked like a towering mass of muscle from where Tifa was pinned to the ground. Then he pulled a wickedly curved blade. "You seem to be eating the flames. Let's see the same trick when I cut your pretty head from your shoulders." He licked the blade and laughed.
Tifa closed her eyes, focusing her energy into another materia - a summon materia. Knights of the Round to be precise. Hopefully their combined attack would be enough to buy her some time.
*****************************************
Rikku pushed open the door slowly and then stopped, springing backwards and a burning man came rushing from the building. "Drop and roll," she ordered. "It'll smother the flames."
The man, clearly in agony, obeyed instantly, hitting the cobblestone streets with a thud.
Rikku pulled out a Hi-Potion and tossed it over him before entering the building. Inside, it was burning poorly. Heavy smoke seemed to be the biggest problem. Her nose twitched, scenting the familiar stench of burning oil.
"Yuck..." she murmured. "Hey, is there anybody in here?" she called out. She heard the cocking of a gun. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'm -"
BANG! A shot rang out, narrowly missing her head. Rikku watched a couple strands of blond hair drift towards the ground. "HEY!" she protested, throwing herself to the side and down to avoid the next shot. "No fair, I can't even see you!"
She rolled behind a topple shelf.
Flames leapt out of the smoke shrouded darkness. Rikku twisted out of the way, feeling her butt get scorched as she didn't move fast enough.
"She ain't important," a confident voice announced. "We did what we were ordered to."
"Reno?" a woman's voice came. "Are those... tears?"
"I burned down a bar, what the hell do you think, Elena?" Reno snapped.
"We're not to leave anyone alive -" Elena fumed.
Rikku stood up, pulling her goggles up from around her neck. They had a nice infared feature that was helpful in avoiding underwater fiends... not to mention keeping track of your fellow explorers. Right now they showed two hot bodies arguing several feet away from her and a third right in front of her bringing down a fist.
"Ahh!" she shouted in surprise, not moving quick enough to avoid the blow completely. She tasted blood on the corner of her mouth and quickly retaliated with her claw.
It cut through the fabric of her assailants suit and gouged out a good sized chunk of skin.
Now it was Rude's turn to grunt with pain. Reno and Elena turned as one. "Rude?" Reno inquired, tossing a healing potion towards the big man.
Rikku sprang foreword, putting her agility to good work and snagging the potion out of mid-air, using it on herself. "What are you doing in Rocket Town?" she demanded, falling into a fighting stance, taking special care not to let Elena have a clear shot at her.
Reno scratched his head lightly. "Supervising it's destruction," he said with a small shrug. "What did it look like we were doing?"
"I think you should leave now," Rikku said with a small shrug of her own.
"You're the one that's outnumbered. Maybe you should leave," Elena suggested, maneuvering for a shot.
Rikku circled slowly, trying to keep all three in her sights.
"It's just a girl," Reno said. "I don't feel like busting her up. Let's go," he ordered. "We're not getting paid anything special for killing her."
"But -" Elena protested as the two men started out of the building.
"You should come," Reno suggested. "I'd hate to be in town when everything goes Boom!"
Elena glowered at Rikku. "I'd deal with you myself if I had more time," she snapped. "But seeing as I don't... I'll let you die with the rest of this miserable place." She backed out of the door and opened fire.
"What the hell -" Reno's voice came for a second with mild irritation tingeing it. Then there was silence followed by a soft rumble as the entrance caved in.
Rikku froze, resisting the urge to cough. The building was full of deadly fumes and she didn't know how to customize her equipment to eat deadly gasses.
She looked around the room. There had to be another way out, didn't there? She started searching, refusing to give into panic. She picked her way over overturned shelves and shattered glass. A few fires smoldered inside the room, pouring out abnormal amounts of smoke.
"Maybe if I put them out," she murmured to herself. She started towards one fire when a flicker of ruby light caught her attention. She turned slowly, pushing her goggles around her neck and kneeling down. 1:03 the red numbers read. It was a timer and it was connected to the most deadly and carefully pieced together bomb that Rikku had ever seen.
************************************
Yuffie turned around the pub once. Several people stood huddled in a corner and a couple of ShinRa officers were holding them at gun point. "Our orders are to kill each and every one of you. But first, tell us where the captain is."
"Scumbag!" one of the people shouted.
The ShinRa men opened fire. Yuffie whipped her Conformer at them at the same instant, making most of their shots miss. Several people screamed in pain and terror.
"Who the hell are you?" one of the guards snapped.
"What?" Yuffie gasped. "Haven't you heard of the Great Ninja Yuffie? A girl so pretty and talented -"
"Aren't you with Strife's group?" one of the men suggested.
"I've never heard of her," another answered.
"Who are you again?"
"I don't think that she's anyone really important -"
"Enough!" Yuffie snarled. "What are you doing here!" She snapped her Conformer to an offensive position and whipped it towards them with deadly accuracy. One man fell and didn't get up again. "What are you doing here?"
"Get her!" they shouted in response. "Great Ninja Yuckie, you're going down!"
"It's Yuffie!" she raged, easily evading their attacks. She attacked several more times, defeating her opponents in one shot each. "You guys don's stand a chance, give it up!" she declared. There were only two guards left and both of them were cowering in a corner.
"Yes ma'am," they both stammered. They dropped their guns and held up their hands.
Yuffie glowed. She had forced them into submission. "Good, now tell me what you're doing in Rocket Town."
"We don't know much..." the first guy started.
"We're supposed to kill Cid Highwind... reclaim his airship -"
"And destroy the town for defying ShinRa rule," the first guy finished. "That's all we know. Honest!"
"Heh heh, and that's all you get to know. You are Yuffie Kisagari. You are dead!" a beefy voice chuckled from behind her.
Yuffie turned slowly. The biggest, stupidest guy she had ever seen stood with a wide grin on his face. "You die now," he told her. He rotated his head, spinning it in a complete circle. As his face came to face her again, his tongue shot out of his mouth, turning out to be over three feet long. It wrapped around the ninjas throat and jerked her foreword, pulling her head right into his dopey looking mouth.
A mouth that Yuffie was quick to notice was full of extremely foul smells and millions of jagged little teeth.
*********************************
Author's notes; Time to leave Sephy alone for a while and focus on ShinRa's new evil scheme. Revenge.
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan