"Did Sephiroth do all this?" asked Cloud, looking around.
Having heard all those gunshots, he seriously doubted it was Sephiroth, but nevertheless he looked closely at one of the dead soldiers to make sure. He looked back at Cait Sith and Aeris, who both still looked shocked and horrified.
"Just as I thought, it's not him. Obviously, they've all been shot. I knew Sephiroth well, and I know that he would never EVER use a gun or any other weapon apart from his Masumane sword. After all, his sword's the most powerful hand-held weapon in the whole Planet. He would never want to settle for anything less than that," said Cloud.
Suddenly, a Golden Saucer worker awoke on the floor. She was injured badly with a shotgun wound and she seemed very badly shaken.
"Hey, what happened!?" asked Cloud, urgently.
"A-A man…with a g-gun on his arm…a-a gun-arm…" said the female worker, and she passed out.
Aeris and Cloud stared at each other in shock. They only knew one man with a gun-arm, and that no one in existence had a gun-arm as far as anyone had heard, except for Barret. And Barret HAD stormed off down to the Battle Square earlier.
"It can't be!!" shouted Aeris, in disbelief.
Suddenly some guards appeared and they walked over to them, aiming their guns at them.
"Hold it right there, all of you! And stay quiet!" ordered one of the guards.
There were three men standing at the entrance. Two of them were guards, while the other man, standing in between them, was a very wealthy and important man named Dio.
Dio was a black haired and black bearded man who was both muscular and wealthy, and he owned and ran the Golden Saucer, and for some odd reason, he didn't wear much more than just yellow shorts.
"Did you guys do this?" asked Dio, darkly.
"No, it wasn't us," said Cloud, shaking his head.
"I must have been wrong. But I overheard what the injured female worker just there said, and I know now that it was undoubtedly that big, black guy with the gun-arm who came here with you all who did all this. I knew that guy was trouble the moment he stepped into the place. I ain't exactly surprised that a spiky-haired young punk with a massive sword such as yourself would be hanging around with such a troublemaker like that," said Dio, and then he glanced at Aeris, and frowned.
"Yet it both concerns and disturbs me that such a lovely looking young lady would associate herself with such trash like those two," said Dio, and then he glanced at Cait Sith.
"And to think that one of my own employees would be in on this as well! I hate to do this to any paying customers or employees, but this monstrous act crosses the line! You are all banned from the Gold Saucer forever, you hear!?" shouted Dio, snapping his fingers loudly, and Cait Sith realised that this was some sort of signal he used.
"Hurry and run! It's going to get really ugly right about now," warned Cait Sith, urgently, seeing that they were all in big trouble now.
Cait Sith, Aeris and Cloud ran to the Battle Arena, but they came to a dead end, so they were trapped. Dio and the two guards walked into the Battle Arena, behind them.
"That's as far as you go. There's nowhere left to run to now, boy," snarled Dio, angrily.
"Wait, listen to…" began Cloud, but he was interrupted.
"Cloud…" said Cait Sith, nervously, with a frightened whimper, suddenly backing away.
Snapping his fingers again, Dio stepped back out of the doorway, and allowed the three large bi-pedal robots to suddenly drop down from the ceiling of the Battle Arena and surround Cloud and the others.
The robot's huge, clawed hands reached out and snapped at Cloud, forcing him back-to-back with Aeris and Cait Sith. A low growl rose in Cloud's throat as he reached for his sword for his Lightning Materia, but he soon realised with horror that for some reason it wasn't there at all, and before Cloud could do anything else, the robots grabbed him, Aeris and Cait Sith in a pincer-like grip before any of them could do anything about it.
"(I am going to KILL Yuffie!!)" thought Cloud, furiously, seeing as how that had distracted him so the robots could get him and the others as well.
Aeris screamed loudly without stopping as the floor opened up before her and the robot leaped down to the clouds far below with her in its powerful grip.
Cait Sith had gone just a moment before, screaming fearfully, after trying to tell Dio their situation, but Dio, as stubborn as ever, would not hear even a word of it.
The bottom half of Cloud's sword was still held tightly in his sweaty hands, even though the robot had a powerful grip around his arms. He couldn't do anything to attack in this position.
"Hey, pay attention! Damn it, we didn't do it! If you'd just listen to us…!" yelled Cloud.
"There's no need to listen so just save your lies for the sand, boy! The dunes might care a bit more than I do. Pay for your crime down below!" shouted Dio.
As Cloud was screaming a flurry of curses and swear words at Dio, Cloud's robot flung itself through the hole in the floor and split through the clouds underneath the Gold Saucer and began to fall rapidly.
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Meanwhile, Tifa, Yuffie and Red XIII had been walking along the Golden Saucer when they heard all the gunshots and screaming, and as fast as they could, they came to the Battle Square, and looked around at the place with shock and horror, seeing many dead people and Shinra soldiers lying on the ground in their own blood.
"What the!? I thought this place was supposed to be fun!" shouted Yuffie, horrified, and looking sick.
"Who could have done such a terrible thing in a place like this?" said Red XIII, wearily shaking his head in disbelief.
Just then, they saw a badly injured and wounded woman worker telling some other workers at the Golden Saucer about what happened.
"I'm telling you!! The man had a gun grafted into the slump of his wrist! He just came in here and started shooting the place up, laughing his head off! He was crazy!! He was completely insane!!" screamed the woman worker, in a sudden fit of fear and terror, and she passed out from it. Yuffie gulped nervously.
"Man with a gun-arm…B-Barret's the only man with a g-gun-arm," said Yuffie, nervously, terrified.
Red XIII was pondering the very same thing, looking thoughtful and grim, rather then scared.
"He WAS very angry when he ran off. Shinra soldiers DID burn his hometown down and killed his family and friends. Maybe he killed all these Shinra soldiers for revenge, and killed everyone else in the process just because they were in the way," said Red XIII. Tifa shook her head angrily.
"No way! Barret wouldn't do this. He wouldn't kill someone unless it was for the good of the Planet and his friends, and especially for Marlene. Why would he suddenly start shooting people at the Golden Saucer for no clear reason?" said Tifa.
"Because he just went nuts," suggested Yuffie, nervously, shrugging shakily.
"He's not crazy! He was just upset, that's all. I've seen him upset like that before, when Biggs, Wedge and Jessie died, and he didn't go on a killing spree at that time either. It's just not Barret, okay?" said Tifa.
Suddenly, Dio and two of his guards came back, and it was clear that he had overheard what they were all saying.
"So…you three know the guy who did this. That must mean you helped him to it along with those other three guys. Seize them and send them down to the prison with those other guys!" ordered Dio, turning to his guards. Yuffie gulped nervously.
"Man, I sure am glad that I swiped Cloud's Lightning Materia right about now," said Yuffie, shakily.
"YOU DID WHAT!?" shouted Tifa, furiously.
Suddenly three robots jumped into the Battle Square, and captured Yuffie, Red XIII and Tifa before they could react. Then, the robots stood over a hole, while Yuffie, Red XIII and Tifa could not escape from their tight grasp.
"No way! You can't do this to us! We haven't even done anything wrong!" screamed Yuffie, terrified.
Suddenly, each of the three robots went straight down the hole with Tifa, Red XIII and Yuffie, falling down through the clouds below, with Yuffie screaming all the way.
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Meanwhile, in the Shinra headquarters on the 66th floor in the meeting room, Rufus, Scarlet, Heidegger and Tseng were just about to start another Shinra meeting.
Things had barely gotten underway when Scarlet began dominating the proceedings with her demands and ideas.
"I am certain that my Shinra Weapons Department can handle Sephiroth. Sephiroth is only one man, and though he is very powerful indeed, he's not indestructible," said Scarlet.
"I agree!!" roared Heidegger, pounding his fist hard onto the table in response.
Ignoring them both, Rufus looked at Tseng, knowing that he had far more sense than the other two put together. He was a lot more reliable and competent too.
"Tseng, what have the Turks learnt about Sephiroth?" asked Rufus, curiously. Tseng shrugged.
"None of them have actually seen him in person yet, sir. But the members of AVALANCHE have. Mr President, it seems our main adversary is on the same mission as we are, concerning the Promised Land. Except for the part about kidnapping the Ancient, of course," explained Tseng.
"I think I have a better mission for the Turks!" exclaimed Scarlet. Rufus frowned suspiciously.
"Scarlet, if AVALANCHE can be lead to the Promised Land by that Ancient, then we must be ready to intercept them right before they get there. That's what I want the Turks to do," said Rufus, coldly.
"What about that guy with the Mako eyes and the massive sword? He's an interesting player in all of this, somehow linked in a big way to the Sephiroth problem. His interest in the affair is very curious…" said Tseng, thoughtfully.
"That's Cloud Strife, a former First-Class SOLDIER. The only concern I think he has about the Promised Land is keeping both Sephiroth and Shinra far away from it," said Rufus.
"Do you want him taken out, sir?" asked Tseng.
"Leave them alone for a while. We need to see where Sephiroth leads them. But you do have my permission to engage them in battle, should they need to be reminded that we mean business," said Rufus.
"Yes, sir, Mr President," replied Tseng, nodding.
"I want to discuss my plans for a super weapon! Why sit back and track Sephiroth for who-knows how long when we can just blow him to bits now!?" protested Scarlet.
Heidegger laughed scornfully at her.
"And what do we do in the mean time, while you actually build the weapon? That would take who-knows how long to build anyway. And do you know which direction to fire it in? No. Do you want to know? Yes. Then we would have to just sit back and keep tracking Sephiroth anyway," said Heidegger, sharply.
To say that Rufus was startled to see Heidegger of all people using common sense was a severe understatement, but he quickly recovered himself before anyone noticed.
"He's absolutely right. Besides, Sephiroth also seems somehow linked to this whole Cetra thing too, and to Jenova as well. Although, we still may need an ultimate weapon such as what Scarlet is envisioning. Cloud Strife is strong, but he is still far too young, weak and inexperienced to measure up to the likes of Sephiroth. Very well then, Scarlet. You have my permission to develop your proposed weapon. Tseng, I want you to assist her as needed, in anyway possible," said Rufus.
Tseng scowled at this, but said nothing. After all, it was his job not to question or go against any orders from his superiors, no matter how much he might have disliked those orders, it was the duty and pride of the Turks to follow this rule.
"Can I slap him, Mr President?" asked Scarlet, eagerly.
Rufus stared at her in complete disgust and revulsion, while Tseng looked at her as if she'd finally cracked. It had been a while since Tseng had the misfortune of dealing with the pompous slut queen. She'd jump at the opportunity to slap down an opponent like it was some sort of ego boost for her.
"Keep your hands to yourself, Scarlet. This concludes our meeting," said Rufus, his voice icy and dangerous.
Scarlet gulped and quickly ran out of the room, and then Tseng and Heidegger walked out the room too, as Rufus stood up and shook his head wearily.
"How on earth did my father put up with these damn executives?" muttered Rufus, to himself, brushing a strand of his blond hair out of his seemingly ice-cold blue eyes.
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