Meanwhile, Cloud was getting ready to fight Rufus.
"Why do you want to fight me?" asked Rufus, curiously, not worried in the least. Neither was Cloud.
"Because you seek the Promised Land and Sephiroth," replied Cloud, firmly.
"Yes, exactly. Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?" asked Rufus, coolly.
Cloud blinked in surprise. Sephiroth, an Ancient? Was that why he was so concerned with the Promised Land? Cloud shook his head wearily.
"A lot has happened, but I can't let either you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land," said Cloud, coldly.
"Do you honestly believe that AVALANCHE can stand up against Shinra? AVALANCHE will crumble to Shinra. You can slow down the inevitable, but you can never stop it," said Rufus, laughing coldly.
Cloud simply glared at him.
"I don't want to fight you Rufus, but I see that I have no other choice," said Cloud, coldly.
Rufus pulled out his shotgun from his white suit, and he pointed it straight at Cloud.
Rufus used this shotgun as his weapon.
"I see…I guess that means that we won't ever become friends or allies," said Rufus, coolly.
Rufus attacked Cloud and the duel between them began.
"Your move," said Cloud, coldly.
"But of course," replied Rufus, coolly.
Rufus quickly reached for a Materia equipped to his shotgun and quickly grasped it as it glowed brightly, and green light burst from the ground beneath his feet.
A transparent white wall suddenly appeared right in front of him, and it was clearly protecting him from any kind of physical injury and attack.
Rufus raised his shotgun and fired his bullets at Cloud, but Cloud quickly held his big, wide sword in front of him to shield himself, so the bullets hit the sword instead and just bounced off it, so Cloud wasn't harmed or affected.
Cloud ran up to Rufus, raised his sword, and swung it at him, but the transparent barrier in front of him protected Rufus, so the sword hit the barrier instead, and the barrier wasn't affected at all, therefore Rufus was completely unharmed.
But the attempt had left Cloud open and exposed for attack. Seeing his chance, Rufus quickly fired his shotgun again at Cloud, and this time his bullets hit Cloud on the shoulder and on his arm.
Cloud yelled in pain and stumbled to the ground, clutching his bloody arm and shoulder, and his blood was already starting to stain his clothes.
Cloud slowly got up, still clutching his wounded arm, green light bursting from the ground beneath his feet as a bolt of lightning appeared from the sky and directly struck the barrier protecting Rufus, and smashed it to pieces instantly, leaving him now open to attack.
Rufus simply just shrugged and reached for a Materia on his shotgun again, as it glowed brightly and green light burst from the ground beneath his feet. A transparent barrier suddenly appeared in front of him, but this time it protected him from Materia attacks this time. Rufus sniggered.
Green light burst from the ground beneath Cloud's feet as a bolt of lightning appeared out of the sky and struck the magic barrier, but didn't even scratch it or affect it at all, so Rufus was still completely unharmed.
Cloud's eyes widened as green light suddenly burst from the ground at Rufus's feet as he himself grasped another Materia equipped on his shotgun.
A bolt of lightning appeared from the sky and struck Cloud hard in the back, shocking and stunning him for a bit, and leaving an aching scorch mark on his back.
Rufus sniggered even more than ever. Seeing Cloud in agony was obviously amusing him, especially since he didn't even have a scratch on himself yet.
Getting angry now, red light suddenly burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as he ran up to Rufus, raised his sword, and slashed the magical barrier in front of Rufus three times with powerful blows with his sword, reducing the magical barrier to pieces and leaving Rufus open to attack once again. But suddenly, Cloud collapsed to the ground from the pain in his wounded arm. Rufus smirked.
Green light burst from the ground at Rufus's feet as a bolt of lightning appeared from the sky and struck Cloud, leaving another scorch mark on him and injuring him even more. Cloud gasped, stunned from the pain, and was barely able to even get up, but just about managed it.
Green light bursting from the ground beneath Cloud's feet as he quickly grasped a Materia attached to his sword. Some magical energy appeared out of nowhere and fully healed Cloud's wounds and injuries, and also fully restored his health.
Green light quickly burst from the ground at Rufus's feet as a bolt of lightning appeared from the sky and struck Cloud, dazing and shocking him slightly and injuring him a bit, but not as much this time.
Rufus frowned a bit, and raised his shotgun, firing it at Cloud. Cloud quickly managed to block the bullets with his sword this time, raising his sword in front of him to shield himself from the bullets.
It worked and Cloud wasn't affected or harmed at all.
Green light burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as he reached for a Materia on his sword and grasped it tightly. A bolt of lightning appeared from the sky, and struck Rufus, stunning and shocking him, and leaving a scorch mark on his back, and therefore injuring him.
Knowing that two could play at this game, Rufus quickly grasped a Materia attached to his shotgun as well. Green light burst from the ground at Rufus's feet, as a bolt of lightning appeared from the sky and struck Cloud, stunning and shocking him for a bit, and leaving a scorch mark on his back as well, and therefore also injuring him, but not as much as before.
Red light suddenly burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as he glared hard at Rufus. Rufus's eyes widened in surprise, but he had little time otherwise to react, as Cloud very quickly charged towards Rufus and swung his sword at him three times.
The first blow caught him on the shoulder, the second blow caught him on the other arm, and the third and last blow caught him on the back, leaving deep bloody slash marks where each blow had struck.
Rufus yelled in pain, and fell to the ground, each of his wounds bleeding, and he was injured badly. Rufus slowly managed to get up and was barely able to even stand up, clearly beaten and defeated.
Rufus wasn't a coward, but he was no fool either, and he could see that it was time for him to retreat.
"That's all for today. I would love to stay, but unfortunately, as the new leader of Shinra Incorporated, I have much to do and to sort out. A very nice evening to you all," said Rufus, coolly, and he slowly got up, jumped in the helicopter and it flew off.
Rufus's sword wounds were, no doubt, being treated in the helicopter. Cloud quickly ran to the 69th floor where Tifa was waiting for him.
"Tifa, what are you doing here? I told you and the others to get out of here," said Cloud.
"They went on ahead. I stayed back here, since Aeris was concerned about you. So was I, for that matter," said Tifa.
"Thanks, Tifa. Now let's all get out of this place once and for all," said Cloud. Tifa nodded.
"Where's Rufus?" asked Tifa, curiously.
"I couldn't finish him. Looks like this whole thing's going to get complicated," said Cloud, and then he and Tifa quickly ran to the 1st floor.