Standard disclaimers apply.
*************************************
Chapter eight; Threat eliminated.
***********************
"Yuck!" Yuffie managed to exclaim, kneeing the big, dopey man in the groin as hard as she could. He opened his large mouth, letting loose a howl of pain which the ninja ignored. She head felt wet and sticky and she had a strong suspicion that the foul odor lingering in the air was in part coming from her head.
"I's too strong. You die. This time I chomp right away. Heh. heh," the man grunted. "You die. Yay! You die."
"Sorry, I got other plans," Yuffie said, twisting away from his clumsy grasp. "I won't let you get close enough to chomp me again." She sprang straight up into the air, snapping a sharp kick at the large man's head as he tried to tackle her and stuff her head in his mouth.
"Ow, Kisagari kick head. Now me mad!" he announced. He turned with surprising quickness and almost caught her by the back of her neck.
"Too slow," Yuffie mocked, knowing that it had been a near miss. She flung her Conformer towards her assailant. The deadly shuriken lodged itself firmly in the man's throat with no apparent effect.
"Heh, heh, me immune," the man chuckled stupidly.
"Dumb A$$," Yuffie retorted. "If I can't beat you one way... I'll just kill you another way." She smiled and sprang out of his grasp effortlessly once more. Then she focused on her materia.
A warm glow seemed to spread throughout her mind. She felt heat licking at her consciousness - the forming of a Fire 3 spell in her crafty mind. "Got you," she said with a sly smile. She cast, watching the flames spring up around him and scorch with devastating heat.
"Burning no good."
"That's nice to know," Yuffie answered. "You one of Hojo's pieces?"
"Huh?" the man stopped lumbering around the room trying to catch her. "I no piece. I deadly assassin."
"Sure you are," Yuffie said with a snort. "That's why I'm still standing, right?" His thick, long tongue leapt from his mouth towards her body again. This time she was prepared. Armed once again with her Conformer, she cut through the wet, sticky mass of flesh with a heavy downward motion.
His tongue fell to the floor with a wet plop and didn't move. Yuffie didn't bother probing it with her foot. Instead, she focused on her materia again, calling another Fire 3 spell to life. The flames came alive around the tongue, burning it to ashes. "And everything has a weakness," Yuffie said with a small smile. "I'm going to cut you up and burn you to ashes."
In response, he spun his head around in a circle and reached for her with a vacant expression in his glassy eyes.
"No good," Yuffie told him candidly. "You don't stand a chance. You're too slow."
"The rest of them aren't," a coughing voice rasped from the doorway. "They destroyed the Highwind...*(%^&(&!"
Yuffie didn't take her eyes off of her opponent. "What's going on Cid?" she asked the aging pilot carefully. "Who are these guys?"
Cid flipped his spear into an attack position. "Later," he said. "I'll help."
Yuffie shrugged. "You cut. I'll burn," she suggested. She stepped back, focusing on her materia. "Whenever you're ready."
"I'm ready now," Cid said in a soft dangerous voice. And the big man just kept smiling.
**********************************
They came. The Knights of the Round. One of the single most powerful Summons possible. The twelve knights slashed through the towering muscle man, cutting him into pieces that were quickly devoured by the flames.
Reappearing after they were gone, Tifa spent a moment watching the burning. She was surprised that it had worked at all. She had been afraid that the man would prove to be invincible, but that wasn't the case at all.
"Tifa? Are you okay? TIFA!" Shera shouted, drawing the young woman away from the burning corpse.
She arrived at where the mechanic was. "Are you okay?" she asked, crouching down.
Shera shook her head. "No... my ankle is busted..."
"Let me see," Tifa said softly. She felt along the ankle with an expert touch, feeling the break in the bone gently.
Shera hissed in pain. "That hurts!" she hissed.
"It's broken," Tifa acknowledged. "But, thankfully I have Restore materia. She slotted the appropriate green orb, removing the Steal command ability. She didn't dare take Knights of the Round or Fire off. Focusing on the green orb, she drew out the restorative spell and cast it on the mechanic. "Good as new," she proclaimed.
"We have to get everyone out of town right away!" Shera exclaimed, getting to her feet slowly. "The ShinRa have placed bombs all over the city and timed them to go off right about now."
Tifa stood up. "ShinRa..." she murmured softly. "Why won't the past stay where we put it?" she murmured. "First Sephiroth... now this..." One thing was certain, she was glad that she had decided to visit Yuffie first.
Shera was already making her way through the flames at a dead sprint. When she hit the burning doorframe of the house, she shot through like a bolt of lightning. Tifa felt confident that she could hear the front door slamming as Shera shot through it.
Not wanting to waste anymore time - or travel through anymore burning buildings for a while - Tifa opted to vault the burning fence and land in the heated, cobblestone street.
Shera had already drawn a decent sized crowd around her. "We have to evacuate Rocket Town!" she shouted. "The ShinRa have placed bombs everywhere. We have to get out of here!"
A couple soot covered people started nodding. They began racing towards the road leading out of town. Everything was silent, none of them were speaking. It was a silent escape with their lives. Everything they owned... everything that they ever hoped or dreamed about was burning to the ground, but at least their lives were intact.
"Tifa!" Shera shouted. "We need to find Cid!"
The dark hair woman nodded. "Of course, where was the last place that you seen him?"
"By the Rocket Launch Pad.... the Highwind's berth!" Shera said. She coughed again and swayed slightly as a smoke induced dizzy spell took effect on her.
Tifa put a hand on her back. "Get clear of town. I'll go get Cid."
"Thank-you," Shera murmured. "But all the same, I'm coming with you. I won't abandon Cid. Not now, not ever."
Tifa sniffed slightly. "You're a good woman, Shera," she told the older woman. They hurried towards the Rocket Launch Pad.
***********************************************************************
The stupid looking attacker lay dead on the floor. "Nice work!" Yuffie exclaimed to an angry looking Cid. "We won!"
Cid spit on the burning corpse. "(*&^($*^^, they blew up my (^(^$#%^ ship!" he snapped. "And Shera!" Suddenly his blue eyes went wide. "Where the hell is she!" he exclaimed.
"Maybe she's at your house," Yuffie suggested. "Tifa's there, so she should be all right. Let's just see if -"
"If anything happens to her..." Cid moaned, falling to the floor. "It'll all be my fault."
Yuffie ignored him and his attempt at guilt ridden behavior. "And we're off!" she exclaimed. She grabbed him by his arm and bounced out the door, dragging him with her. "We have to save as many -"
"Get out of town!" Shera shouted at her. "Everything's going to explode in two minutes!"
"Two minutes? That's all we have left?" Tifa demanded in horror. "We'll never make it, we have to leave now!"
"Not until I find -"
"Shera, get your *&$^$(^ ass out of town now!" Cid bellowed. "Tifa," he nodded his head to her and spoke in quieter tones.
They started out of town rapidly. "Where's Rikku?" Yuffie asked, mind flickering to her blond friend.
"No time!" Cid shouted, not knowing what she was talking about. "We gotta clear town now!" He picked her up and hefted her squirming form over his shoulder. "We leave now!"
"Wait! Rikku could still be here! She could be fighting one of those.... things! We can't leave without her! Cid, put me down, or else!"
But the aged pilot didn't respond. He kept going, Shera right at his side.
Tifa whirled and started back into Rocket Town. There wasn't any time, but she couldn't leave a friend behind. Reaching the building that Rikku had decided to search, she noticed that the entrance had collapsed.
"Rikku, are you in there?!" she shouted. She stepped back into a fighting stance and launched herself at the rumble, smashing through a good portion with her foot. All around, the flames burned brighter, unchecked and feeding greedily on the wooden homes of Rocket Town.
And somewhere in her head, Tifa's mental countdown reached zero.
***********************************************************************
Rikku felt sweat trickling down her spine. Her hands, in spite of the heat from the smoldering flames, felt cold and clammy. And damp, they were soaked with sweat and trembling.
She had never worked with bombs before. Mech scouts, defenders.... she could fight them - they didn't go BOOM if you pulled the wrong part out. Bombs did and subsequently, she had avoided dealing with them beyond the most simple cluster bomb and hand held grenade.
The numbers on the timer were ticking down without consideration to her inexperience. Rikku rapidly examined the wires, looking carefully where each one was connected. "Red and gold go to internal charge," she murmured. "Green and silver seem to be going to an outside connection.... probably more bombs. Black is...." her voice trailed off. "Why is black even here!" she snarled, wiping her forehead with the back on her hand.
The timer had hit thirty seconds. Rikku's panic level raised itself another notch. She breathing became tenser and more strained. Her muscles felt tight and uncooperative. Sweat was rolling into her eyes. A roaring void filled her ears, blocking out all other sounds with terror.
Her fingers trembled over one wire and then the next. Black, red, gold, silver, green.... and white - she mentally ticked off the wires, discovering one more in the process. Pulling them all would most likely result in an explosion. Pulling the wrong on would result in an explosion. But she suspected pulling just one wouldn't be enough. At least three of the wires needed to go, but which ones?
Her swirled pupils as wide as possible, she made up her mind as the timer hit 5 seconds. Even if she pulled the wrong ones, she had to try. There were still people in the town - Tifa and Yuffie being the only ones that she knew. If she didn't take action, they would die. However, by making a move, there was a chance, no matter how slim, that everyone would be saved. That chance had to be taken.
"Red, gold, and black," she murmured, carefully hooking a tiny knife under all three wires. "On three...." she mumbled, but stopped seeing that only three seconds remained.
Without any more hesitation, she flicked her wrist towards her body, severing the wires in one smooth motion. Her eyes fell onto the timer and it was still ticking. "Fail," she cursed the word softly and closed her eyes. Then the world exploded around her with the sudden return of sound.
***********************************************************************
Countdown at zero, Tifa smashed through the door, hoping that Rikku was inside. Thick clouds of black smoke poured out of the building, causing her to cough as she forced her way inside. A wave of suffocating heat pressed against her body, almost pushing her out, and sweat sprang up on her body without hesitation.
"Rikku?" she coughed, waving her hand in front of her face to try and clear the smoke. Through the hazy air, she saw a dampened ruby glow. The timer's numbers were all set at zero, and sitting in front of it with an exhausted look on her face was the young Al Bhed girl.
She face was glistening with sweat and covered in soot. Her head upturned towards the ceiling. Her blond hair was plastered to her head and she looked like hell. "Rikku!" Tifa shouted again. She crossed the room quickly, deftly avoiding the clutter and garbage littering the floor.
"I'm so sorry, I failed," Rikku murmured in Al Bhed..
"Failed?" Tifa inquired. She dropped to the balls of her feet beside the usually cheerful young girl. "How?"
Rikku opened her eyes - which were almost pitch black with only the barest hint of emerald green. She tilted her head towards the timer. "I couldn't stop it - WAIT!" she shouted. She turned her face towards the timer, examining it with a quick scan. "It isn't going to go boom!" Her shoulders sagged wearily. "Damn, that was close."
Tifa looked at the timer and then back at the limp Rikku. "Come on, we need to get out of here," she said, helping the other girl to her feet.
"I thought I was dead and everyone else with me," Rikku announced.
"I thought that both you and I were dead," Tifa confessed. "But everyone else evacuated town already so they wouldn't get blown sky high."
"We still have to put out the fires," Rikku noted. "Maybe Water spells would help..."
Tifa pulled her into the street. "We'll have to tell everyone that it's safe to come back -"
"Not yet," Rikku murmured. "We need to find the other bombs and disconnect them. We don't want the heat from the flames to set them off."
Tifa smiled. "You're not as irresponsible as you pretend to be," she informed Rikku.
Rikku made a face, her strength returning now that she wasn't in the thick smoke anymore. "Don't tell anyone. My rep. would be permanently tarnished."
"We'll keep it our little secrete," Tifa agreed.
"Rikku! Tifa!" Yuffie shouted, halting any further conversation. "You're both all right!" The ninja flung her arms around both of them. "Stupid Cid hauling me off like that!"
"It's probably best that he did. That way someone could have warned everyone about Sephy," Tifa said. "But all the same... we're not out of the fire yet. We need to find the other bombs and disconnect them before they go off on their own."
"Let's split up," Rikku suggested.
"That didn't work so well last time," Tifa said softly.
"Sure it did!" Yuffie exclaimed. "But I don't know how to disconnect a bomb -"
"I can handle it..... I think," Rikku gulped. "You have just got to keep it from getting to hot and I'll disconnect it."
"Eh.... you don't sound really confident, you know," Yuffie announced. "But when your choices are limited...." She shrugged. "Besides, I have faith in you."
"Glad someone does," Rikku muttered. She touched Tifa's shoulder lightly. "Thank-you. If you hadn't come, I would have probably died from inhaling to many fumes."
Tifa shook her head. "You're stronger then that. You would have made it out."
"Maybe, but then again, maybe not. I'm grateful," Rikku said. Then she headed off to find the remaining bombs.
**********************************************************************
The fires out and the bombs all removed, the town had a shocked feel to it. People moved amongst the ashes of their former lives, searching for anything to hold onto. Partially blackened faces stared at the remains.
Tifa, Yuffie, and Rikku were by the broken airship. Cid and Shera were both silently starring at the wreck. "So, what are you three doing?" he asked without preamble. His eyes didn't come off his ship for a second.
"Sephiroth's alive," Tifa said. "We were hoping to use the Highwind."
Cid whirled. "Alive? How?"
Yuffie pointed to Rikku with a smirk.
"She brought him back?" Cid snarled. "Of all the *&(%#^%)(*#^ crazy things to do! why the F***ing hell did you-"
"I meant that she gets to explain it - again!" Yuffie exclaimed cheerfully. She turned to Rikku and grinned playfully. "So, what do you think?" she asked. "Ready to explain about Sent and Unsent again?"
Several moments later, Cid was starring at the Highwind again. "I could get her running, but it would take too much %#$@ time." He sat down Indian style and muttered a foul curse.
Silence fell over the group. Clearly they needed a new plan. They couldn't just fly to Luca anymore. That meant that they had to make the trip either on foot or by chocobo. And since they didn't have any chocobos....
A ringing broke the silence. "What was that?" Rikku asked.
"PHS," Tifa and Yuffie said at the same time.
"What the &#$%& hell do you want?" Cid barked into the communication unit. Then he fell silent, listening to the voice at the other end.
"Who was that?" Yuffie asked after the pilot hung up.
"Barret," Cid responded. "Marlene's been kidnapped by ShinRa."
************************************************************************
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
*************************************
Chapter eight; Threat eliminated.
***********************
"Yuck!" Yuffie managed to exclaim, kneeing the big, dopey man in the groin as hard as she could. He opened his large mouth, letting loose a howl of pain which the ninja ignored. She head felt wet and sticky and she had a strong suspicion that the foul odor lingering in the air was in part coming from her head.
"I's too strong. You die. This time I chomp right away. Heh. heh," the man grunted. "You die. Yay! You die."
"Sorry, I got other plans," Yuffie said, twisting away from his clumsy grasp. "I won't let you get close enough to chomp me again." She sprang straight up into the air, snapping a sharp kick at the large man's head as he tried to tackle her and stuff her head in his mouth.
"Ow, Kisagari kick head. Now me mad!" he announced. He turned with surprising quickness and almost caught her by the back of her neck.
"Too slow," Yuffie mocked, knowing that it had been a near miss. She flung her Conformer towards her assailant. The deadly shuriken lodged itself firmly in the man's throat with no apparent effect.
"Heh, heh, me immune," the man chuckled stupidly.
"Dumb A$$," Yuffie retorted. "If I can't beat you one way... I'll just kill you another way." She smiled and sprang out of his grasp effortlessly once more. Then she focused on her materia.
A warm glow seemed to spread throughout her mind. She felt heat licking at her consciousness - the forming of a Fire 3 spell in her crafty mind. "Got you," she said with a sly smile. She cast, watching the flames spring up around him and scorch with devastating heat.
"Burning no good."
"That's nice to know," Yuffie answered. "You one of Hojo's pieces?"
"Huh?" the man stopped lumbering around the room trying to catch her. "I no piece. I deadly assassin."
"Sure you are," Yuffie said with a snort. "That's why I'm still standing, right?" His thick, long tongue leapt from his mouth towards her body again. This time she was prepared. Armed once again with her Conformer, she cut through the wet, sticky mass of flesh with a heavy downward motion.
His tongue fell to the floor with a wet plop and didn't move. Yuffie didn't bother probing it with her foot. Instead, she focused on her materia again, calling another Fire 3 spell to life. The flames came alive around the tongue, burning it to ashes. "And everything has a weakness," Yuffie said with a small smile. "I'm going to cut you up and burn you to ashes."
In response, he spun his head around in a circle and reached for her with a vacant expression in his glassy eyes.
"No good," Yuffie told him candidly. "You don't stand a chance. You're too slow."
"The rest of them aren't," a coughing voice rasped from the doorway. "They destroyed the Highwind...*(%^&(&!"
Yuffie didn't take her eyes off of her opponent. "What's going on Cid?" she asked the aging pilot carefully. "Who are these guys?"
Cid flipped his spear into an attack position. "Later," he said. "I'll help."
Yuffie shrugged. "You cut. I'll burn," she suggested. She stepped back, focusing on her materia. "Whenever you're ready."
"I'm ready now," Cid said in a soft dangerous voice. And the big man just kept smiling.
**********************************
They came. The Knights of the Round. One of the single most powerful Summons possible. The twelve knights slashed through the towering muscle man, cutting him into pieces that were quickly devoured by the flames.
Reappearing after they were gone, Tifa spent a moment watching the burning. She was surprised that it had worked at all. She had been afraid that the man would prove to be invincible, but that wasn't the case at all.
"Tifa? Are you okay? TIFA!" Shera shouted, drawing the young woman away from the burning corpse.
She arrived at where the mechanic was. "Are you okay?" she asked, crouching down.
Shera shook her head. "No... my ankle is busted..."
"Let me see," Tifa said softly. She felt along the ankle with an expert touch, feeling the break in the bone gently.
Shera hissed in pain. "That hurts!" she hissed.
"It's broken," Tifa acknowledged. "But, thankfully I have Restore materia. She slotted the appropriate green orb, removing the Steal command ability. She didn't dare take Knights of the Round or Fire off. Focusing on the green orb, she drew out the restorative spell and cast it on the mechanic. "Good as new," she proclaimed.
"We have to get everyone out of town right away!" Shera exclaimed, getting to her feet slowly. "The ShinRa have placed bombs all over the city and timed them to go off right about now."
Tifa stood up. "ShinRa..." she murmured softly. "Why won't the past stay where we put it?" she murmured. "First Sephiroth... now this..." One thing was certain, she was glad that she had decided to visit Yuffie first.
Shera was already making her way through the flames at a dead sprint. When she hit the burning doorframe of the house, she shot through like a bolt of lightning. Tifa felt confident that she could hear the front door slamming as Shera shot through it.
Not wanting to waste anymore time - or travel through anymore burning buildings for a while - Tifa opted to vault the burning fence and land in the heated, cobblestone street.
Shera had already drawn a decent sized crowd around her. "We have to evacuate Rocket Town!" she shouted. "The ShinRa have placed bombs everywhere. We have to get out of here!"
A couple soot covered people started nodding. They began racing towards the road leading out of town. Everything was silent, none of them were speaking. It was a silent escape with their lives. Everything they owned... everything that they ever hoped or dreamed about was burning to the ground, but at least their lives were intact.
"Tifa!" Shera shouted. "We need to find Cid!"
The dark hair woman nodded. "Of course, where was the last place that you seen him?"
"By the Rocket Launch Pad.... the Highwind's berth!" Shera said. She coughed again and swayed slightly as a smoke induced dizzy spell took effect on her.
Tifa put a hand on her back. "Get clear of town. I'll go get Cid."
"Thank-you," Shera murmured. "But all the same, I'm coming with you. I won't abandon Cid. Not now, not ever."
Tifa sniffed slightly. "You're a good woman, Shera," she told the older woman. They hurried towards the Rocket Launch Pad.
***********************************************************************
The stupid looking attacker lay dead on the floor. "Nice work!" Yuffie exclaimed to an angry looking Cid. "We won!"
Cid spit on the burning corpse. "(*&^($*^^, they blew up my (^(^$#%^ ship!" he snapped. "And Shera!" Suddenly his blue eyes went wide. "Where the hell is she!" he exclaimed.
"Maybe she's at your house," Yuffie suggested. "Tifa's there, so she should be all right. Let's just see if -"
"If anything happens to her..." Cid moaned, falling to the floor. "It'll all be my fault."
Yuffie ignored him and his attempt at guilt ridden behavior. "And we're off!" she exclaimed. She grabbed him by his arm and bounced out the door, dragging him with her. "We have to save as many -"
"Get out of town!" Shera shouted at her. "Everything's going to explode in two minutes!"
"Two minutes? That's all we have left?" Tifa demanded in horror. "We'll never make it, we have to leave now!"
"Not until I find -"
"Shera, get your *&$^$(^ ass out of town now!" Cid bellowed. "Tifa," he nodded his head to her and spoke in quieter tones.
They started out of town rapidly. "Where's Rikku?" Yuffie asked, mind flickering to her blond friend.
"No time!" Cid shouted, not knowing what she was talking about. "We gotta clear town now!" He picked her up and hefted her squirming form over his shoulder. "We leave now!"
"Wait! Rikku could still be here! She could be fighting one of those.... things! We can't leave without her! Cid, put me down, or else!"
But the aged pilot didn't respond. He kept going, Shera right at his side.
Tifa whirled and started back into Rocket Town. There wasn't any time, but she couldn't leave a friend behind. Reaching the building that Rikku had decided to search, she noticed that the entrance had collapsed.
"Rikku, are you in there?!" she shouted. She stepped back into a fighting stance and launched herself at the rumble, smashing through a good portion with her foot. All around, the flames burned brighter, unchecked and feeding greedily on the wooden homes of Rocket Town.
And somewhere in her head, Tifa's mental countdown reached zero.
***********************************************************************
Rikku felt sweat trickling down her spine. Her hands, in spite of the heat from the smoldering flames, felt cold and clammy. And damp, they were soaked with sweat and trembling.
She had never worked with bombs before. Mech scouts, defenders.... she could fight them - they didn't go BOOM if you pulled the wrong part out. Bombs did and subsequently, she had avoided dealing with them beyond the most simple cluster bomb and hand held grenade.
The numbers on the timer were ticking down without consideration to her inexperience. Rikku rapidly examined the wires, looking carefully where each one was connected. "Red and gold go to internal charge," she murmured. "Green and silver seem to be going to an outside connection.... probably more bombs. Black is...." her voice trailed off. "Why is black even here!" she snarled, wiping her forehead with the back on her hand.
The timer had hit thirty seconds. Rikku's panic level raised itself another notch. She breathing became tenser and more strained. Her muscles felt tight and uncooperative. Sweat was rolling into her eyes. A roaring void filled her ears, blocking out all other sounds with terror.
Her fingers trembled over one wire and then the next. Black, red, gold, silver, green.... and white - she mentally ticked off the wires, discovering one more in the process. Pulling them all would most likely result in an explosion. Pulling the wrong on would result in an explosion. But she suspected pulling just one wouldn't be enough. At least three of the wires needed to go, but which ones?
Her swirled pupils as wide as possible, she made up her mind as the timer hit 5 seconds. Even if she pulled the wrong ones, she had to try. There were still people in the town - Tifa and Yuffie being the only ones that she knew. If she didn't take action, they would die. However, by making a move, there was a chance, no matter how slim, that everyone would be saved. That chance had to be taken.
"Red, gold, and black," she murmured, carefully hooking a tiny knife under all three wires. "On three...." she mumbled, but stopped seeing that only three seconds remained.
Without any more hesitation, she flicked her wrist towards her body, severing the wires in one smooth motion. Her eyes fell onto the timer and it was still ticking. "Fail," she cursed the word softly and closed her eyes. Then the world exploded around her with the sudden return of sound.
***********************************************************************
Countdown at zero, Tifa smashed through the door, hoping that Rikku was inside. Thick clouds of black smoke poured out of the building, causing her to cough as she forced her way inside. A wave of suffocating heat pressed against her body, almost pushing her out, and sweat sprang up on her body without hesitation.
"Rikku?" she coughed, waving her hand in front of her face to try and clear the smoke. Through the hazy air, she saw a dampened ruby glow. The timer's numbers were all set at zero, and sitting in front of it with an exhausted look on her face was the young Al Bhed girl.
She face was glistening with sweat and covered in soot. Her head upturned towards the ceiling. Her blond hair was plastered to her head and she looked like hell. "Rikku!" Tifa shouted again. She crossed the room quickly, deftly avoiding the clutter and garbage littering the floor.
"I'm so sorry, I failed," Rikku murmured in Al Bhed..
"Failed?" Tifa inquired. She dropped to the balls of her feet beside the usually cheerful young girl. "How?"
Rikku opened her eyes - which were almost pitch black with only the barest hint of emerald green. She tilted her head towards the timer. "I couldn't stop it - WAIT!" she shouted. She turned her face towards the timer, examining it with a quick scan. "It isn't going to go boom!" Her shoulders sagged wearily. "Damn, that was close."
Tifa looked at the timer and then back at the limp Rikku. "Come on, we need to get out of here," she said, helping the other girl to her feet.
"I thought I was dead and everyone else with me," Rikku announced.
"I thought that both you and I were dead," Tifa confessed. "But everyone else evacuated town already so they wouldn't get blown sky high."
"We still have to put out the fires," Rikku noted. "Maybe Water spells would help..."
Tifa pulled her into the street. "We'll have to tell everyone that it's safe to come back -"
"Not yet," Rikku murmured. "We need to find the other bombs and disconnect them. We don't want the heat from the flames to set them off."
Tifa smiled. "You're not as irresponsible as you pretend to be," she informed Rikku.
Rikku made a face, her strength returning now that she wasn't in the thick smoke anymore. "Don't tell anyone. My rep. would be permanently tarnished."
"We'll keep it our little secrete," Tifa agreed.
"Rikku! Tifa!" Yuffie shouted, halting any further conversation. "You're both all right!" The ninja flung her arms around both of them. "Stupid Cid hauling me off like that!"
"It's probably best that he did. That way someone could have warned everyone about Sephy," Tifa said. "But all the same... we're not out of the fire yet. We need to find the other bombs and disconnect them before they go off on their own."
"Let's split up," Rikku suggested.
"That didn't work so well last time," Tifa said softly.
"Sure it did!" Yuffie exclaimed. "But I don't know how to disconnect a bomb -"
"I can handle it..... I think," Rikku gulped. "You have just got to keep it from getting to hot and I'll disconnect it."
"Eh.... you don't sound really confident, you know," Yuffie announced. "But when your choices are limited...." She shrugged. "Besides, I have faith in you."
"Glad someone does," Rikku muttered. She touched Tifa's shoulder lightly. "Thank-you. If you hadn't come, I would have probably died from inhaling to many fumes."
Tifa shook her head. "You're stronger then that. You would have made it out."
"Maybe, but then again, maybe not. I'm grateful," Rikku said. Then she headed off to find the remaining bombs.
**********************************************************************
The fires out and the bombs all removed, the town had a shocked feel to it. People moved amongst the ashes of their former lives, searching for anything to hold onto. Partially blackened faces stared at the remains.
Tifa, Yuffie, and Rikku were by the broken airship. Cid and Shera were both silently starring at the wreck. "So, what are you three doing?" he asked without preamble. His eyes didn't come off his ship for a second.
"Sephiroth's alive," Tifa said. "We were hoping to use the Highwind."
Cid whirled. "Alive? How?"
Yuffie pointed to Rikku with a smirk.
"She brought him back?" Cid snarled. "Of all the *&(%#^%)(*#^ crazy things to do! why the F***ing hell did you-"
"I meant that she gets to explain it - again!" Yuffie exclaimed cheerfully. She turned to Rikku and grinned playfully. "So, what do you think?" she asked. "Ready to explain about Sent and Unsent again?"
Several moments later, Cid was starring at the Highwind again. "I could get her running, but it would take too much %#$@ time." He sat down Indian style and muttered a foul curse.
Silence fell over the group. Clearly they needed a new plan. They couldn't just fly to Luca anymore. That meant that they had to make the trip either on foot or by chocobo. And since they didn't have any chocobos....
A ringing broke the silence. "What was that?" Rikku asked.
"PHS," Tifa and Yuffie said at the same time.
"What the &#$%& hell do you want?" Cid barked into the communication unit. Then he fell silent, listening to the voice at the other end.
"Who was that?" Yuffie asked after the pilot hung up.
"Barret," Cid responded. "Marlene's been kidnapped by ShinRa."
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Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan