Death Penalty
A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction
By BG-57
Chapter 1The moon shone uneasily on the gargantuan city, as if it was ashamed of what it saw. Midgar was laid out like a massive wheel, radial spokes dividing it into eight wedge shaped plates. Each plate carried an entire neighborhood, with the exception of the Sector 7 plate, which rested in ruins on top of the slums beneath. Each radial spoke was crowned with an infernal smokestack the size of a skyscraper. The main hub of the wheel was formed by a tall oblong spire resting on an oval base. Smaller cylindrical spires flanked the main edifice. The Shinra company headquarters had been built as a monument for the ages. Now it lay in ruins, the top stories simply blasted away. What was left looked like the stump of a rotten tooth. A man stood on a hill overlooking the vast wasted plains that Midgar dominated and moodily contemplated the scene below. A light breeze lightly ruffled the long yellow spikes that protruded from his scalp. His cobalt blue eyes seemed to almost glow in the moonlight. He was dressed in a black jacket over a dark blue shirt, and matching baggy pants. A long flat bundle nearly as long as he was tall and wrapped in cloth was slung from his right shoulder.
"Wishing you were somewhere else Cloud?" asked the woman standing beside him. Cloud Strife offered her a half hearted smile as a way of an apology.
"Anywhere but here Tifa," he said with a deep sigh.
Tifa Lockheart shared his sentiment. She brushed a lock of long brown hair behind her ear as her crimson eyes restlessly scanned the shimmering lights below. She wore a black leather jacket over a form fitting white shirt and black miniskirt. Red gloves decorated her hands.
"The city looks a lot darker than I remember it," she mused eventually. He nodded thoughtfully.
"Without the mako reactors they can only manage one eighth of the output," he said. She smirked and tugged at his elbow.
"C'mon, let's go," she prompted. They walked over the crest of the hill where an enormously overbuilt motorcycle sat quietly parked. The dark blue metallic body of the bike was hunched over a gun metal frame. Large intake vents were hung along the yellow eye of a headlight and the handlebars looked like extensions of the struts on the front wheel. Cloud climbed over the seat and revved the engine. Tifa climbed onto the back and wrapped her arms around his waist. He slammed the heel of his boot into the kickstand and roared off down the hill, trailing a huge billowing trail of dust. Tifa glanced at the withered remains of plants that dotted the bleak landscape on the plains. She leaned her chin on Cloud's shoulder and saw the outer edges of the city looming closer. Soon they were in the shadow of the outer ring. A huge set of double doors loomed straight ahead. Cloud leaned forward and plowed through the doors. Inside was what resembled an indoor junkyard. Mounds of scrap piled haphazardly along a dirt road. They nearly spun out as they veered to avoid some people picking over the rusting hulk of a car.
"Watch where you're going you maniac!" yelled one of the scavengers at the departing red tail light.
Abruptly they careened to a halt in front of a large stone edifice. The Sector 5 cathedral looked completely unchanged. In the moonlight it looked even more dark and mysterious to Cloud. It was built in the gothic style, with high walls made of dark gray bricks, two tiers of stained glass windows, and a sharply peaked roof that was still in need of repair. Cloud killed the engine and stared up the stairs at the large oaken doors, his face a mask of sorrow. Tifa sensed his unhappiness.
"I'm here," she said squeezing his shoulder. Cloud smiled bravely to her. They got off the bike and walked together through the doors. The interior of the cathedral was shrouded in darkness. The only light came through the holes in the rafters that illuminated a carefully tended garden of white flowers. Or maybe they were yellow. It was hard to tell in the darkness. Cloud walked down the main aisle and stared at the flower bed incredulously.
"Who's been taking care of it?" he wondered aloud.
"Elmyra," said a weary voice out of the darkness to their left. Cloud and Tifa whirled to see the flare of a match briefly illuminate the cigarette dangling from the lips of a man lounging in one of the middle pews. His hair was red and spiky, his eyes green and poisonous. His nearly skeletal frame was adorned by a dark blue suit with an undone collar, a pair of dark sunglasses decorating his forehead.
"Reno," said Cloud gripping the hilt of his sword reflexively. Tifa clenched her hands into fists.
"Nice to see ya too," intoned Reno as he took a deep drag, "Don't worry, I'll make this worth your while."
"Why should we believe anything you have to say?" asked Tifa as she put her hands on her hips.
"You can't afford not too," replied Reno leisurely as he threw the burnt out match across the room. It landed near the altar. He smirked as he blew smoke at them. Cloud took a threatening step closer.
"So tell us already," demanded Cloud irritably. He hated being jerked around, especially by this Turk. Reno stood and ambled over to the flowerbed. He patted the soil down a bit with the tip of his shoe.
"Things have really gone downhill without President Rufus," he admitted bitterly, "And our new President is too damn weak."
"What does that have to do with us?" inquired Tifa. Reno flicked ash off the cigarette angrily.
"Shinra's up to its old tricks again," he said, "And the President is either too blind or too scared to stop it."
"What do you mean?" said Cloud as he felt his palms begin to sweat.
"They've rebuilt Hojo's old lab," said Reno, "Hired a bunch of new researchers."
"Why?" asked Tifa in growing concern. Reno shrugged.
"How the hell should I know?" he said with a dry chuckle, "I'm just security."
"How long has this been going on?" asked Cloud.
"Ten…eleven months maybe," replied Reno, "I doubt it's for the good of humanity though."
"Wait, why are you telling us this?" asked Tifa, her brow furrowed in puzzlement.
"How much do you want?" asked Cloud with a sigh.
Reno walked up to Cloud so they were nearly nose to nose. Reno flipped a single Gil piece that landed near Cloud's foot. He chuckled as he dropped his cigarette on the wooden floor and ground it out under his heel. Then he began to walk toward the door. Cloud grasped him by the shoulder roughly and spun him around.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped. Reno began to laugh. It was an ugly raspy laugh.
"I don't want your money Strife," said Reno with a sneer, "But seeing you take out your friends…that I'd pay to see." Tifa placed a hand on Cloud's arm.
"He's not worth it," she said distastefully. He slowly released Reno, who smoothed out the wrinkles in his jacket and strolled out through the doors into the night.
The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon by the time they pulled up to the main entrance in front of Shinra headquarters. Cloud felt strange just casually parking and walking up the main steps. They stopped when they felt a shadow pass over them. They looked up to see a large airship flying overhead. It had a long gray body with rocket engines along the back. A scantily clad woman was painted along the side, near the nose. Tifa shielded her eyes with a hand.
"It looks like the Highwind," said Cloud appraisingly.
"It'll be nice to see Cid again," said Tifa cheerfully.
The ship docked with a newly built flight deck that projected out of the side of the building, about halfway up. They walked through the large glass doors.
A man stood in a brightly lit bathroom with white tiles decorating the walls. A row of bathroom stalls lined one wall. He turned on the tap carefully and looked up as he washed his hands with cold water. The man in the mirror gazed back at him with a haunted expression. He wore a starched white shirt along with dark pants. A silver revolver was slung from a leather holster on his belt. He long raven hair was tied back except for a few unruly locks that spilled over his forehead. His rust colored eyes glowed faintly and a bronze claw protruded from the cuff of his left shirtsleeve.
All in all a good preview of what hell would be like, thought Vincent Valentine. As he put in his tie, he wondered how many years had passed since he had worn this suit. Lucrecria had always fussed with his tie; he could never quite tie it to her standards. But she was the same way about everything. He grasped the lip of the sink with his hands. Could he really go through with this? He knew that he had to save her no matter the cost. He also knew it could destroy him. There was a polite rapping on the door.
"Boss?" called a woman's voice.
"Yes Elena?" he asked more calmly than he felt.
"The President wants you to report to the main lobby immediately," said Elena.
"Tell him I'll be right there," he replied.
Vincent waited until her footsteps faded away, then put on a dark jacket and buttoned it up. As he left the bathroom, chips of porcelain began to fall out of the cracks in the rim of the sink. He walked through a set of double doors into an elevator built in a large glass tube. He pressed the button marked 'L' and the elevator descended into the main lobby. He saw Cloud leaning across the front desk speaking to a receptionist. Tifa stood next to him.
"We'd like to see the President," said Cloud quietly.
"Certainly Sir," said the receptionist chirpily, "Do you have an appointment?"
"I'll handle these guests Nadine," said Vincent in a whisper.
"Sure thing Mister Valentine," said Nadine returning her attention to the now ringing phone.
Vincent permitted himself the faintest of smiles as Cloud and Tifa openly gawked at his attire.
"I thought I'd never live to see this day," said Tifa.
"Why?" inquired Vincent.
"Working for the Turks again," explained Cloud.
"I have nowhere else to go," replied Vincent with resignation, "I'll see you to the 65th floor."
"We want to see the President," said Cloud. Vincent gestured to the elevators and they followed him. He pushed the button and the doors opened. Once they were all inside, he removed a key card and inserted in a slot under the control panel. Suddenly all the buttons lit up. He pressed the one marked '65'.
"The President's office has been moved to the 65th floor," explained Vincent his face expressionless, "The floors above are too badly damaged." They ascended the rest of the way in silence. Vincent looked at their faces surreptitiously as the guilt began gnawing away on his insides. He knew this was inevitable, but he had been hoping it could have been avoided somehow. Cloud heard a strange clacking sound and looked down to see the claws on Vincent's left hand tapping a staccato rhythm against the metal wall. He exchanged a worried glance with Tifa. The doors opened with a pleasant chime and they stepped out into a vast red carpeted hallway with wooden paneling on the walls. At one end of the hallway was a pair of double doors with a man standing outside. He was tall and muscular, his head completely hairless except for some wispy hair on his chin. Dark glasses covered his eyes and he was dressed in a similar suit to Vincent.
"Hi Boss," he said casually, "Long time no see you two."
"Hey there Rude," said Tifa hopefully, "How are you?"
"Not bad," said the big man, "But the job's never done."
"We're here to see the President," explained Vincent. Rude nodded and pulled out a small radio and spoke softly into it. A moment later the doors automatically swung inward.
"Don't start any trouble," advised Rude as they walked through the doors into the room beyond. Cloud had frankly expected the office to be vast and spacious, but it was cramped and narrow, every horizontal surface covered with stacks of papers, books and documents. They saw a large swivel chair facing toward the window behind a vast mahogany desk. Sunlight streamed in illuminating everything in shades of flame.
"Make yourselves at home," said a soft tentative voice. Cloud walked to the window and saw a man in a blue suit slumped in the chair looking at the tall buildings lining the long avenues far below. His dark hair was slicked back and a neatly trimmed goatee decorated his face. His brown eyes looked restlessly at the world outside.
"You haven't changed a bit Cloud," he said, not bothering to glance up. Cloud folded his arms across his chest.
"Who died and made you President, Reeve?" he asked with a hint of amusement.
Reeve stifled a smile and finally met Cloud's piercing gaze. "There wasn't much choice really," he admitted, "For me or for the company."
"What was the alternative?" asked Tifa curiously.
"Death, for Shinra and Midgar," he replied, "This city is going to die eventually, but we can stave it off for a while."
"Why bother?" inquired Cloud. Reeve shook his head sadly.
"We may have survived the meteor, but that does not guarantee humanity a future," he clarified, "I want to bring us hope."
"Hope is all some of us have," added Vincent solemnly. Cloud looked back and forth between them.
"What is your research division up to?" he asked finally. Reeve arched an eyebrow.
"Why don't I have Mister Valentine show you?" he said nodding to Vincent, who escorted them back to the hallway outside. They walked past Rude to the elevator. This time Vincent inserted his keycard and pressed the button marked '64'. In a second the doors opened to reveal a large mostly empty space. Strange equipment was neatly piled up against one wall and there were some empty glass tubes large enough to hold several people at one time. Several researchers in lab coats were scurrying back and forth. A few of them stopped, but Vincent waved a claw and they returned to their jobs. A young woman with blond hair and hazel eyes walked over to them. Her hair was cut short and she wore the same suit that Vincent and Rude sported.
"Is there a problem Boss?" asked Elena nervously.
"The President wants them to have a tour," explained Vincent. She looked at Cloud and Tifa dubiously then nodded.
"As you can see we're in the process of dismantling this research facility," she explained gesturing around her, "Naturally we're here to guard against industrial espionage."
"What are you researching here?" asked Cloud glancing around the room.
"Mostly alternatives to mako power," she said getting more worried, but a glance from Vincent's stony visage seemed to reassure her.
"And what else?" asked Tifa.
"That's all I know about it," said Elena, "Only the President has full access…."
"Then we'll ask him," said Cloud turning to go to the elevator. He looked expectantly to Vincent who stood there immobile as a statue.
"Vincent," prompted Cloud. Vincent slowly turned to face him.
"How can I explain?" asked Vincent glumly, "How can I make you understand?" Cloud narrowed his eyes.
"What are you getting at?" he demanded.
"This doesn't make sense," said Tifa, "What's going on?"
"He's trying to stall us," said Cloud. Horror suddenly dawned on his face. Tifa caught the look.
"The Highwind!" she exclaimed.
Cloud ran through the emergency exit, with Tifa close behind. Vincent calmly removed a radio from his pocket and held it close to his lips.
"Report to the flight deck," he intoned.
"Roger!" said Rude's voice.
"On my way Boss!" said Reno's voice.
"Elena, it's time," said Vincent. They entered the elevator together, the doors closing shut on them.
Within a minute Cloud and Tifa burst out onto the flight deck, precariously dangling off the remains of the 66th floor. Wind whistled through the open spaces in the walls and sunlight filtered through the broken girders above. The airship Highwind was still anchored to the flight deck, facing away from them. The cargo bay doors on the gondola were open and some workmen in blue jumpsuits and orange vests were struggling with moving large heavy boxes up the ramp. A man with dirty blond hair cut short and sky blue eyes stood to one side. He was wearing a dark blue jacket over olive green trousers. He wore a white aviator's scarf around his throat and leather gauntlets on his hands. A lit cigarette dangled from his lips as he watched the loading intently.
"Don't overdo it boys!" he admonished the workmen, "You're not getting paid to drop the damn cargo!"
"Yes Sir!" said the workers in a chorus. He sensed something behind him and turned to see Cloud and Tifa. His face lit up in a fierce grin.
"Well, I'll be goddamned!" he yelled, "When the hell did you get here?"
"Cid," began Cloud anxiously, "We don't have much time."
"What?" asked Cid Highwind. His expression became more confused as he looked past them. Cloud and Tifa glanced behind them to see Vincent standing there, followed closely by Rude, Elena and Reno. The Turks spread out so they surrounded Cloud and Tifa in a semicircle.
"Is the cargo loaded?" inquired Vincent.
"What the hell?" cursed Cid.
Cloud sighed and retrieved the sword from his back. He undid the cloth, exposing the glowing white edge of a purple blade with small crimson vents mounted on the black handle. He leveled the blade at Vincent.
"You said you wanted to explain," he said, "Let's hear it." Vincent stared at him imploringly but couldn't bring himself to tell Cloud. He placed his claws over his chest and bowed to them.
"Forgive me," he pleaded, "I never wanted to make you suffer." He walked past them up the landing ramp of the Highwind.
"Will someone tell me what's going on?" shouted Cid angrily.
"Just go fly the ship you geezer!" barked Reno as he extracted a long metal rod. It telescoped into about three feet in length and electricity danced off the end.
"You know the drill gentlemen," said Elena. Reno and Rude nodded to her. Tifa ran forward and clobbered Reno with a backhand punch, sending him reeling.
"Ow, you bitch!" spat Reno.
Rude punched a fist into the ground and drove a large yellow spark of energy that careened into Cloud and knocked him over. Cloud counterattacked with a slash of the Ultima Weapon across Rude's chest. The big man staggered backwards. Elena pulled out a firebomb and lit it. She flung it at Tifa's feet where it exploded, the flames searing her.
"Take this!" said Reno twirling his hand in the air. A golden pyramid descended on top of Cloud, trapping him in an enclosed space. Tifa gasped.
"Cloud!" she called out. She jumped and drove her heel into the pyramid, shattering it. Golden shards rained down on them.
"Damn it!" snarled Cid as he ran up the ramp. He stabbed a button on the wall and the loading ramp retracted. As the loading bay doors closed the last thing he saw was Cloud reaching out to him. Once the ramp sealed shut Cid touched it with his hand. Muttering angrily to himself, he sprinted towards the cockpit.
Reno ran towards Cloud and jabbed his midsection with a blast of blue electricity. Cloud winced in pain and slashed Reno with his sword. Reno's goggles landed on the ground, stained with fresh blood. Reno touched his forehead and looked at his bloody hand in shock.
"You cut me!" he snarled. Elena started to say something but it was drowned out in the whine of turbines powering up. The Highwind rocketed off toward the ocean, the sunlight gleaming on its upper surface. Cloud ran towards the edge of the landing platform there and stood there for a long time. After applying a bandage to Reno's cut, Elena turned to Cloud.
"Go now," she said quickly.
"You're letting us go?" demanded Tifa.
"Our job was just to stop you," she elaborated.
"Wait, I'm not finished here!" yelled Reno. Rude stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"You're forgetting the first rule of the Turks," he reminded. Reno sighed deeply.
"Never get personal about business," he recited.
"Good," said Elena, "Let's go."
The three of them walked back into the elevator and the doors closed behind them. Tifa walked over to Cloud, still watching the horizon. All they could make out of the Highwind was a dark speck.
"What now?" she asked.
"We follow them," he said, something suddenly dawning on him, "I mean I have to follow them."
"I'll follow wherever you go," she said firmly. He smiled sadly and squeezed her hand.
"You're going to regret that," he said. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close.
"I already do," she said mischievously.