~*~*~*~
Chapter 3
~*~*~*~
"I already told you, there's no-one here by that name!"
"I know she's here, where are you hiding her!?" The tall beefy man pushed his way passed Mrs. Wrinehart roughly causing her to trip and fall over backwards and marched through the doorway that led from the small pub to the Wrinehart household. "Where is she?!"
Thom stood off to one side with his brother and sister watching with wide terrified eyes as the huge man knocked his mother over then without knowing why he charged at him and slammed into the back of his right knee. The man gasped in shock as he dropped to the ground but quickly got up, his eyes found the boy standing a few feet away staring up at him.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!" He screamed then charged for the frightened boy and effortlessly picked him up from the floor and began to shake him like a rag doll.
"Thom!!" Mrs. Wrinehart shrieked then turned her eye to where Sam and Millie stood by the front entrance. "Sam! Run and get Micah, quickly!!"
Without hesitation the small boy darted out the door and into the street, his black hair trailing along behind him as he ran. He wondered where he would find Micah then remembered that Mr Darenstein from the inn had asked if Micah could help him carry up the new beds he had ordered. He altered his coursed and bolted towards the inn screaming the silver haired mans name as soon as the building came into sight.
"Micah! Micah! Micah!"
Sure enough the door flew open as he drew closer and the tall green eyed man stepped out, eyebrows raised and face a mask of concern. "Sam? What's wrong, why are you out here on your own?"
The boy skidded to a halt breathing harshly. "Momma's in trouble...scary man...very angry...hurt Thom and momma..."
Two delicate eyebrows drew close together as eyes narrowed dangerously. "Where are they?"
"At home..."
Without waiting to hear anything else Micah nodded. "Stay here with Mr. Darenstein and behave." Then he rushed down the street at full speed, darting around people and objects with a kind of agility that he would not have thought himself capable of. A minute later he was burst through the door to the 'Cheerful Mog' and skidded to a halt.
The first thing he noticed was the giant ape of a man looming off to one side then his eyes caught sight of a bright patch of blue mot far from where he stood. He carefully edged his way over to it then realized that the blue he saw was Thoms T-shirt. He looked down at the boy and saw that he had a split lip and a swollen cheek, he growled softly then coming to the conclusion that the boy was no longer in any danger he made his way further into the pub. He saw Mrs. Wrinehart leaning against the wall next to the bar clutching her left arm and he could hear her shallow breathing.
As he drew closer he could see that Millie had squeezed in behind her mother to hide and he could hear her whimpering and occasionally sniffle. He took another step closer and he heard the distinct sound of a floor board creaking where he had just stepped.
The tall figure in the corner turned sharply and squinted at him. "You're not her...tell me where she is!" He raged.
Micah's eyes narrowed to slits as he quickly sized up the other man. "I don't know what you're talking about, leave now!"
The huge figure mumbled something incoherent then without warning he charged at the smaller man, his shoulder ramming into Micah's chest knocking the wind out of him. While Micah gasped the other man balled one hand into a fist and pulled it back ready to strike then launched it at the silver haired man.
Time slowed, green eyes opened wide and instinct took control. One pale hand shot forward and grabbed hold of the mans wrist as it moved, seemingly sluggishly through the air and then with lightning speed he stepped around him and brought his arm up behind his back and held it tightly.
When time returned to normal the arm he was holding jerked suddenly then there was a sudden popping sound before the giant man started screaming in pain and fell to the floor.
Micah let go of the wrist he still held in silent shock and watched as it flopped uselessly to the mans side. Somehow he'd just dislocated his shoulder without actually doing it. The previous two minutes flashed through his mind over and over again as he tried to puzzle out what he had done and how he had managed to do it.
Then he remembered Thom, Millie and their mother.
He rushed over to where Thom still lay then picked him up carefully and carried him over to where his mother and sister were. He laid him down on the floor to the left of his mother then carefully moved Mrs. Wrinehart away from the wall and laid her down so she was facing the ceiling.
He paused for a moment then smiled gently at the sniffling girl he had uncovered and slowly extended a hand toward her. "It's alright Millie, everything is alright now." He cooed softly.
Slowly a pair of huge, moist brown eyes turned and focused on him. "Micah...?"
"It's me, everything is alright, he won't hurt you anymore." He repeated softly his eyes gently and his voice deep and soothing as if he were trying to calm a wild animal.
She sniffled again and rubbed at her eyes with the back of one tiny hand. "He hurt momma...and Thom...I was scarred."
He nodded slowly. "I know, but he won't hurt them anymore. I need your help Millie, can you be a good girl and go to the inn and tell Mr. Darenstein that he needs to look after you and to send a healer here."
"A healer?" She replied, finally taking hold of his outstretched hand.
He nodded again and drew her up from the floor gently. "We need a healer to make your mother and Thom better."
"Then they won't be hurt?"
"That's right, do you think you can do that for me?" He asked softly still holding onto her hand.
Millie nodded slowly. "I'll go tell uncle Bill."
"Good girl, now go quickly, because the sooner you tell him the sooner you're mother and Thom will feel better."
"Okay." She said then withdrew her tiny hand from his elegant, warm one and quickly made her way to and out the door leaving him alone with Thom and his mother and the man who had passed out from the pain. Without hesitation he moved next to Thom and started to check him over for any serious injuries that he might of missed when he had first arrived.
He dully noticed a deep aching in his chest as he moved but shrugged it off and seeing nothing seriously wrong with Thom he moved over to the boys mother, already concerned about her shallow breathing. After a few tense moments he found nothing visibly wrong with her but noticed that her breathing failed to even out.
He then looked over to large unconscious form lay in a tangled heap next to the far wall and decided that there wasn't anything he could do or even wanted to do for him and settled down next to Mrs. Wrinehart and listened to her breathing, and waited.
~*~*~*~
~ Zack...I...I want to be stronger...~
~ You already are Cloud you've changed a lot since I first met you ~
~ No I haven't ~
~ Sure you have, when I first met you you could barely hold any weapon now you're keeping up with the rest of the cadets and you've got it in you to go further ~
~ What do you mean? ~
~ Heh, don't worry about it...I don't have a date tonight, why don't we go out? ~
~ You...don't have a date...are you lying to me? ~
~ Hey! I'm hurt, would I do that to you? ~
// Yes// Cloud thought sadly.
//You think of him again//
//You're reading my mind now?//
//I do not need to, he is in your past, you would do best to forget him//
//He was my past, now he's my present and future//
//And what of the other, you will forget him//
//Never...besides I couldn't if I tried//
//Such thoughts are not fitting of one of your strength, my brother would never tolerate such a thing//
//Brother? You have a brother?// The blond asked with a mixture of surprise and confusion.
//Yes, I have one brother and two sisters.//
//What are they called?//
//My sisters are known as Linea and Remara//
//What about your brother?//
//You already know the answer to that question//
//I don't...//
//Think, you know it's master the one with hair of silver//
//Sephiroth....so your brother would be Masamune//
//That is correct...you should awake, your companion grows concerned//
Blue eyes flew open then blinked, Tide stood above him eyebrows furrowed and eyes worried but the look turned to one of relief when he saw that Cloud was awake. "Thank god, I thought you were going to sleep all day."
"I was talking to the Ultima weapon, what time is it?" The blond asked and stood then rubbed at the corner of his eyes to chase away the remnants of sleep.
"Almost noon, we should go see Cid and Reeve." Vincent said quietly from his place on the other side of the room.
They had spent the night at an inn because the inner city where the new ShinRa building was, was locked down at sunset to increase security. Vincent had also told Cloud that security around the thirty story building was as tight if not tighter than it had been back in Midgar. Cloud found it a little unsettling, returning to the corporation that had turned him into what he was regardless of whether the people that worked there now were different or not. The name ShinRa would always remind him of what had been done to him, to the planet and what was almost done.
"I'm going to have a shower first, we'll leave when I'm finished." Cloud said and began to rummage through his travel bags for a change of clothes when a flash of purple caught his eye, Vincent had moved up behind him and was holding out the old ShinRa SOLDIERs uniform he had gotten from Zack.
"I thought you might want to wear this, it will be easier to get through security if you do." The older man said then lowered his voice to a whisper. "The SOLDIER program is still running, they've been spending a lot of time and money trying to find the old SOLDIERs after what happened at north crater and you know more than enough about ShinRa from Zack than we'll need to get in."
Cloud gently took the uniform from Vincent and frowned. "How did you get in the last time you were here?"
The only response he got from Vincent was a blank stare.
"Forget I asked." The blond said with a sigh of resignation and headed into the ensuite bathroom.
He dropped the purple outfit onto the bench and turned on the hot water then the cold and held his hand under the steady stream of water until he was sure it was the right temperature then took a step back and started to peel of his clothes and dropped them piece by piece to the floor. He then took hold of the tie that held his hair back and undid it, sighing through his nose as the long strands of golden hair slid across his bare skin, tickling it as it went.
Cloud smiled and sat the tie on top of the uniform before stepping into the shower and positioning himself under the pounding water.
//You should be aware//
Cloud blinked in surprise as the soft voice of the Ultima weapon sounded in his mind. //What?//
//I can sense Remara in this city//
//Here? Where?//
//I know not//
/Great, this is just what I need, something else to worry about/
He sighed through his nose and wiped the water away from his face then reached for the soap.
~*~*~*~
"Cloud! Long time no fuckin' see boy!"
The blond ex-soldier grimaced slightly as Cid pulled him into a rough embrace then shoved him back to arms distance and looked him over. They had made it up to the thirtieth floor and into the office but not until after a 'minor' disturbance as Vincent phrased it. The guards at the entrance had agreed to let Cloud pass because he was wearing Zacks old SOLDIER uniform but had almost opened fire on Tide and Vincent when they had moved to follow the blond into the building. Tide, unused to such situations acted first.
It was easy to see just how much he took after his mother, it took the guards ten seconds to grab their machine guns and to target the two, it took Tide five seconds to take down two of the four guards before Vincent finally grabbed hold of him and told him to hold still. The remaining two guards wasted no time in letting them into the building and even escorting them all the way up to Cid and Reeve's office.
"You've hardly changed a bit, still a snot nosed brat." The taller man declared with a grin, his ever present cigarette wobbling precariously between his lips.
In the past twenty years very little had changed about Cid but that didn't really surprise Cloud, he had always known that Cid would keep his fiery know-it-all attitude until the very end. Physically he hadn't changed much either, he still looked the same but his hair had gone white and he had wrinkles around his eyes and at the corners of his mouth a sign that said he'd spent most of his time smiling and laughing since Cloud had seen him last. It was easy to see how happy being in charge of the space exploration program was making him and in a way it cheered him up knowing that at least one of his friends had found the happiness they all so richly deserved.
Tide choked then started coughing and desperately tried to hide his shock. Vincent sighed and shook his head. "Cloud is hardly a 'snot nosed brat' Cid, he never was." He chided softly then pushed away from his place against one wall.
"Ah Bullshit. So what are ya doin' here kid, Vincent finally managed to drag you away from that hunk 'a shit you call an island." The pilot asked gruffly then finally noticed Tide. "And who the hell's this?"
Cloud put a hand on Tide's shoulder and squeezed gently. "This is Tide, Tifa's son."
"No kidding huh?" Cid grunted then moved to circle the young brunette then prodded him in the arch of his back causing him to step forward involuntarily. "Goddamn greenhorn."
"We all started out that way at one time." Vincent said sagely. "Give him time, he'll learn as we go."
"Hmph... I S'pose."
"Leave the boy alone Cid." Reeve told him not bothering to conceal the grin that was starting to tug at the corner of his mouth. "So Cloud, what brings you to grace us with your presence?"
Reeve unlike Cid showed all of his years, just by looking at him Cloud could see the effect of the daily stress of trying to get ShinRa up and working again. His hair was now steel gray at each temple and his face was deeply lined around his eyebrows from frowning and his eyes which also had dark smudges beneath them from lack of sleep.
Cloud ignored the slightly mocking comment then took a deep breath. "The Cetra spoke to me, they told me that Zack and Sephiroth are alive."
Silence greeted the statement and for a very long while no one moved.
"You're jokin' aren't ya spike?" Cid asked finally.
"No."
Reeve stood and moved around to the front of his desk and leant his hip against it. "Do you know where they are?"
"No."
//Remara is here//
Cloud tilted his head to one side. //Here? In the building?//
//No, but very close//
"Earth to spike, earth to spike, are you reading me?" Cid asked waving a hand in front of Cloud's face.
Cloud promptly grabbed his hand. "Stop it, I'm fine. I was talking to the Ultima weapon."
"What?"
"The Ultima weapon has a consciousness, it's the same for Sephiroth's Masamune." The ex-soldier explained calmly.
Cid looked over his shoulder at Reeve and grinned. "Maybe you should have one of those scientists take a look at ol' spike here, he's starting to hear voices."
Vincent shook his head. "Cloud isn't insane Cid, he's been able to hear the voice of the Cetra for years now and I know he can talk to the Ultima weapon and vice versa because I can sense it."
"I think we're getting a little far afield." Reeve interjected sternly. "How do you know that the Cetra were telling you the truth?"
Cloud sighed and closed his eyes. /Why do I feel like I'm going in circles/ "I can feel Sephiroth out there and I need to find him and Zack before something happens."
Reeve sat silently for a moment then looked at Cid. "Take Vincent and the boy down and help them restock their supplies."
The older man grunted. "What about spike?"
"I'm going to show him around a bit."
~*~*~*~
A sudden crash of metal on metal jerked him awake. He sat up quickly and turned his gaze toward where the sound had come from and saw his guard standing next to the bars with his nightstick out and resting against one of the bars.
There was a woman standing next to him frowning and she was staring at him, she had dark hair and eyes and he could see from he way she held herself that she was very proud and confident.
"What's your name?" She asked suddenly.
He shrugged.
"Where are you from?"
He shrugged again.
Her frowned deepened as she regarded him then finally she turned her attention to the guard beside her. "I want answers." She said simply then turned and left.
The guard grinned at him and for some reason something in that grin made him want to hide. "I know a fun way to get answers out of you." He said then his hand moved off to one side and he pressed a button on the wall.
Seconds later the door opened and another guard entered. "Yes sir?"
"Put him to sleep then help me get him into the interrogation room, the boss wants answers out of him."
The other man snapped a salute then turned to the cell and cast sleep. The world turned to black for him and when they were sure he was asleep the superior guard unlocked the door and led the way into the cell and roughly grabbed one of his arms. He instructed the younger guard to take hold of the other and together they dragged the bulky form of the tall raven haired man out of his cell and down the long hallway to the 'interrogation' room, a large room filled with various devices and tools designed to induce a prisoner to speak.
When he was safely strapped into a chair the superior of the two guards reached up and proceeded to slap him until he finally stirred and woke. "Well now, since you don't want to talk to us, we're going to use all these shiny little tools here and make you. Got anything to say before we begin?"
The gray eyed man simply glared up at him in defiance.
"Suit yourself."
Minutes later, hundreds of birds which had been perched on the branches of trees in the surrounding area took flight, frightened be the inhuman scream that came from the prison.
~*~*~*~
"I've been working along time to get ShinRa up and running again and luckily a lot of the records were undamaged when the ShinRa building in Midgar was attacked." Reeve said as they walked.
They had gone down to the first floor and had headed out a door to the back of the building which had opened up into a wide, open courtyard that felt oddly familiar to Cloud.
"Most of Professor Ghast and Professor Hojo's work was catalogued and archived in a basement level underneath the ShinRa building that only the professors and president Shinra were allowed access to. We salvaged the files and moved them here, it wasn't long before we found other bright scientists who were capable of taking over the roles they left behind when they died. From there we were able to reestablish the SOLDIER program and start training new recruits. Do you remember anything about the old SOLDIER?" Reeve asked then held open a door for Cloud.
"I remember almost everything I experienced and I can remember some of the things Zack knew about." Cloud answered as he passed through the doorway.
Reeve took the lead again. "Do you remember why there were no women in SOLDIER?"
The blond frowned thoughtfully. "If I remember right it was because most females weren't strong enough to handle the physical, emotional and mental strain. Though I think there were a few that got transferred from the SOLDIER program to the TURK training facility."
"There's that and the fact that they were looked on as a distraction to the younger male cadets." Reeve added with a wry grin. "Actually we managed to fix that particular problem and we come to the conclusion that given the right circumstances female SOLDIERs are just as good as the men."
Cloud nodded vaguely eyeing the building they had just entered, it was thanks to Zack's memories that he recognized it as an exact replica of the old SOLDIERs barracks. It was bigger and the paint was a bit brighter but other than that it looked exactly the same. "It looks the same..."
Reeve stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at Cloud. "Pardon?"
"It looks the same as the old SOLDIERs barracks back in Midgar, except it's bigger." The ex-soldier muttered quietly, blue eyes searching for something that might be different.
Reeve smiled and nodded. "We built it to be an exact replica of the old barracks but as you noticed we built this one bigger so we could separate the men from the women. It's lunch time now so we'll find the person I'm after in the mess hall with everyone else."
They started walking again until they came to a huge room that Cloud recognized as the mess hall. There was row after row of tables and chairs just as Cloud remembered but off to the sides next to the walls were long tables filled with a huge variety of food. When Reeve noticed the direction of his stare he laughed.
"We made a deal with the old SOLDIERs, if they came back to fight for us we had to give them better pay and good food."
Cloud chuckled and shook his head. "I remember the ShinRa food from when I was a cadet, trust me, your SOLDIERs will fight and train that much harder to make sure you don't take away that food."
They laughed then moved to the end of the tables and stood looking over the long tables the ones to the left of the room, Cloud noticed were filled with SOLDIERs only while the right side of the room seated the cadets.
"First Class SOLDIER General Shiina, step forward please." Reeve shouted over the noise in the hall.
Eyes turned to them and silence fell on the hall before several cat calls sounded over the silence. A figure at the far end of the hall stood and made its way down the isle between the table it was sitting at and the one next to it. As the figure drew closer Cloud picked up that the figure belonged to that of a female with long hair that reached down to her thighs that was very light in color. Finally the figure came to a stop a foot away from where he and Reeve stood and saluted.
She had shocking white hair despite the fact that she looked no older than twenty five and emerald green eyes that put him in mind of another general he knew with such eyes. She had a lithe pear shaped figure and stood an inch taller than he. She was wearing a one piece white leather suit with the ShinRa Logo on the left shoulder and the SOLDIER emblem on the right breast that fit her like a second skin. Her face had a distinct Wutaian cast to it that belied the white hair and crimson eyes and Cloud had to admit she was a very attractive woman.
From what Cloud could tell she had two weapons strapped across her back.
//Remara, she wields Remara//
//Are you sure?//
//Yes//
"Does the name Remara mean anything to you?" Cloud asked suddenly.
The white haired woman blinked in surprise then nodded. "My blades, their name is Remara...is that Ultima weapon?" She asked looking over his shoulder.
"Yes, I'm Cloud Strife." He said holding out his hand.
"Shiina Hayashi, a pleasure to meet you Cloud Strife." She smiled as she shook his hand.
"Shiina is the strongest fighter we have here and she holds the title of General in our army." Reeve informed the ex-soldier softly. "She's quite proficient with a variety of bladed weapons and is a master of various martial art styles."
/Like Sephiroth/ Cloud thought idly.
Cloud tilted his hand to one side. "You're Wutaian?"
"That's right, so what can I do for you boss?" She asked turning her attention to Reeve.
"Cloud and a few colleagues are going to be doing a lot of traveling and I believe it's going to get particularly dangerous before they do what they need to so I want you to go with them. I want reports every so often about what's happening." He said then turned to face Cloud. "Cid should be finished helping Vincent restock by now. I'm sorry I can't stay with you longer but I have a lot of work I still need to do, so I'll leave you in Shiina's care."
And with that he was gone. The two warriors stood there for a moment sizing each other up, the cat calls had long since faded and had been replaced with the loud banter that had been going on when Cloud had first entered the room.
"What now?" Shiina's voice piped up, bringing him out of his reverie.
He scratched his head and looked around. "As soon as you pack what you need we'll head back to the others, I want to move out as soon as possible. The faster we get moving the sooner we can find the people we're looking for."
She shrugged and pushed a stray strand of white hair behind her ear. "You're the boss."
~*~*~*~
His ice blue eyes looked blankly at the tele-viewers rezzing up before him within the damp confines of the guard man's post. /Christ sake its freaking boiling in this piece of crap/ the soldier thought for a moment before moving his eyes from the image of the long raven haired man locked within his cell to the portable fan he had within his tiny cramped office.
Adjusting the fan's power output and leveling the device so that the wonderful breeze soaked his sweat covered body the guard leaned back into his original position on his chair.
Eyes turned back to the screen and began scanning over each of the cell's contents as a mug of luke warm coffee reached the soldiers mouth.
Moments later a coffee mug shattered as it struck a harsh gravel floor.
CAPTAAAAAAIIIIINNNNNNN......
The sound of a chair falling and hurried footsteps echoed down the makeshift prisons halls...
The image of a certain cell...was empty...naked as a ghost's spirit.
The guard ran own the hall that led from the cell blocks to his captains office and he threw the door open. "He's gone!"
He marched into his superiors office before he noticed that he was not sitting behind his desk as he always was. Moving closer to the cluttered desk something caught his eye, there was a dark pool steadily growing in size underneath the desk. He moved around the desk then recoiled in shock.
Before him lay the still body of his captain, head torn from shoulders. As he knelt closer to the body he noticed that both of his arms had been shattered and that his ribs had been likewise shattered to the point where there was a deep crevice where there had one been even, smooth skin and muscles. His legs were twisted off to different angles obviously dislocated or shattered like the arms and chest had been.
He heard a creek from behind him and spun around in time to see the door swing firmly closed and a shadowed figure step out from behind it.
His hands flew to his side and grasped his nightstick and drew it quickly.
The shadowed figure raised his head and the low light coming from the lamp on the desk behind the guard was enough for him to make him out as the escaped prisoner. Cold, hard wolf like eyes stared at him from across the room and he stumbled backwards as if to escape the intense gaze.
One foot moved in front of the other moving with purposeful slowness as the raven haired man began to stalk his enemy. A feral grin spread across his face when he saw his guard and tormentor smack against the desk while he was trying to keep as much distance between them as possible. The grin faded when the guard brought up his nightstick as if it alone would keep him safe although his hands were visibly shaking.
Without warning the dark haired man sprang forward and with one upward strike he knocked the nightstick out of the other mans hands. It soared high in the air and hit the wall next to the door. The guards eyes widened as the huge ice eyed man lashed out with one arm and grabbed hold of his neck, lifting him high of the ground.
He wheezed as he struggled to breath one hand reached up to hit and claw at the hand in a vain attempt to get it to loosen while the other moved behind him and took hold of the standard issue tazer, then with his last shred of strength he swung his arm around and switched the tazer on as soon as it hit the other man.
A roar filled the room and the hand around his throat loosened just enough to pry his fingers back and fall to the ground, hitting his head against the desk as he went. It took him a moment for his vision to clear then he bolted around the desk and triggered the silent alarm on the underside of the desk. As soon as he did that he felt a hand grab hold of the neck of his uniform and with a mighty heave he was thrown across the room and into the wall on the other side.
The air rushed from his lungs and he felt the plaster behind him crack from the impact. The prisoner was upon him before he even had a chance to hit the floor. A solid kick met his ribs on the way down and sent him back into the air, he vaguely heard the sound of breaking bones and began to panic. How long would it be before his fellow guards reached the room?
A hand grabbed hold of his head then with a twist of his shoulder the raven haired escapee pulled his guard down from the air and slammed him into the floor before taking hold of his arms.
Sickening snaps filled the air as his enemy began to twists his arms around to various angles then he was launched into the air once again but this time the ice eyed man swung his arm back the launched his fist out, it could him squarely in the chest and with a sudden hitch of his breath he realized that shards of his ribs hand pierced his lungs and heart.
He began coughing and it didn't take long for the blood that was beginning to flood his lungs to erupt from his mouth and spray across the floor.
It took him a minute to realize that his attacker had ceased his brutal assault and had gone quiet.
He opened his eyes and squinted against the pain, his narrowed eyes searching the room for the huge man. Coughs racked his body and more blood gushed from his mouth, his eyes squeezed shut.
Suddenly he became aware of a presence behind him and turn in surprise to face the figure behind him, his mouth opening in a gasp of shock.
His gasp was rudely cute off as his tazer was rammed into his mouth and switched on. The black haired man held onto his twitching body until he was sure that his enemy was dead. He dropped the tazer and turned from the corpse and reached for the door, he stopped just short of opening it when he heard heavy footsteps pounding the floor on the other side of the door.
Backing away from it he searched the room for another way out but the room had no other door and no windows...no avenue of escape was possible.
The guards were pounding on the door, heavy batons in tow and the doorbuster in their clenched fists as two of the four slammed upon the steel enforced door...
"THE CAPTAIN'S IN TROUBLE MOVE IT YOU FUCKIN' RETARDS!"
The sound made them stop, their mind set stunned by such a unique sound...the heat however set them on edge...first a trickling sweat, then their bodies heating up...the door sizzling as the metal within it snapped and bubbled.
When the door exploded outwards and the molten liquid death erupted against them coating them with hellish flames and ashes, the guards died first quickly but without mercy their bodies incinerated within a small space of time, but as the flames licked outwards consuming the prison and everything there within all life ended...devoured by an inferno birthed by the dark of night, fed by the rage within a man's soul.
When the flames cooled, ashes crumbled back down to the superheated floor and the air within fifty meters of the bases perimeter became breathable again...nothing could be seen...no man...no prisoners...no life at all, even the memories of it's existence were gone.
A figure shuddered then stepped forward into the ash covered floor, oblivious to the small flames that continued to lick at the walls and roof. He reached up with one hand and pushed his raven hair away from his eyes the stepped forward into burning mess sidestepping the charred remains of the prison guards as he went. A flash of metal caught his eye and as he turned he noticed that one of the guards was equipped with a Crystal sword its brilliant shine making it stand out amidst the charred remains of the base.
He paused just long enough to pick it up disregarding the intense heat it gave off from its blade, then continued to make his way through the halls, towards open air, into freedom.
"I already told you, there's no-one here by that name!"
"I know she's here, where are you hiding her!?" The tall beefy man pushed his way passed Mrs. Wrinehart roughly causing her to trip and fall over backwards and marched through the doorway that led from the small pub to the Wrinehart household. "Where is she?!"
Thom stood off to one side with his brother and sister watching with wide terrified eyes as the huge man knocked his mother over then without knowing why he charged at him and slammed into the back of his right knee. The man gasped in shock as he dropped to the ground but quickly got up, his eyes found the boy standing a few feet away staring up at him.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!" He screamed then charged for the frightened boy and effortlessly picked him up from the floor and began to shake him like a rag doll.
"Thom!!" Mrs. Wrinehart shrieked then turned her eye to where Sam and Millie stood by the front entrance. "Sam! Run and get Micah, quickly!!"
Without hesitation the small boy darted out the door and into the street, his black hair trailing along behind him as he ran. He wondered where he would find Micah then remembered that Mr Darenstein from the inn had asked if Micah could help him carry up the new beds he had ordered. He altered his coursed and bolted towards the inn screaming the silver haired mans name as soon as the building came into sight.
"Micah! Micah! Micah!"
Sure enough the door flew open as he drew closer and the tall green eyed man stepped out, eyebrows raised and face a mask of concern. "Sam? What's wrong, why are you out here on your own?"
The boy skidded to a halt breathing harshly. "Momma's in trouble...scary man...very angry...hurt Thom and momma..."
Two delicate eyebrows drew close together as eyes narrowed dangerously. "Where are they?"
"At home..."
Without waiting to hear anything else Micah nodded. "Stay here with Mr. Darenstein and behave." Then he rushed down the street at full speed, darting around people and objects with a kind of agility that he would not have thought himself capable of. A minute later he was burst through the door to the 'Cheerful Mog' and skidded to a halt.
The first thing he noticed was the giant ape of a man looming off to one side then his eyes caught sight of a bright patch of blue mot far from where he stood. He carefully edged his way over to it then realized that the blue he saw was Thoms T-shirt. He looked down at the boy and saw that he had a split lip and a swollen cheek, he growled softly then coming to the conclusion that the boy was no longer in any danger he made his way further into the pub. He saw Mrs. Wrinehart leaning against the wall next to the bar clutching her left arm and he could hear her shallow breathing.
As he drew closer he could see that Millie had squeezed in behind her mother to hide and he could hear her whimpering and occasionally sniffle. He took another step closer and he heard the distinct sound of a floor board creaking where he had just stepped.
The tall figure in the corner turned sharply and squinted at him. "You're not her...tell me where she is!" He raged.
Micah's eyes narrowed to slits as he quickly sized up the other man. "I don't know what you're talking about, leave now!"
The huge figure mumbled something incoherent then without warning he charged at the smaller man, his shoulder ramming into Micah's chest knocking the wind out of him. While Micah gasped the other man balled one hand into a fist and pulled it back ready to strike then launched it at the silver haired man.
Time slowed, green eyes opened wide and instinct took control. One pale hand shot forward and grabbed hold of the mans wrist as it moved, seemingly sluggishly through the air and then with lightning speed he stepped around him and brought his arm up behind his back and held it tightly.
When time returned to normal the arm he was holding jerked suddenly then there was a sudden popping sound before the giant man started screaming in pain and fell to the floor.
Micah let go of the wrist he still held in silent shock and watched as it flopped uselessly to the mans side. Somehow he'd just dislocated his shoulder without actually doing it. The previous two minutes flashed through his mind over and over again as he tried to puzzle out what he had done and how he had managed to do it.
Then he remembered Thom, Millie and their mother.
He rushed over to where Thom still lay then picked him up carefully and carried him over to where his mother and sister were. He laid him down on the floor to the left of his mother then carefully moved Mrs. Wrinehart away from the wall and laid her down so she was facing the ceiling.
He paused for a moment then smiled gently at the sniffling girl he had uncovered and slowly extended a hand toward her. "It's alright Millie, everything is alright now." He cooed softly.
Slowly a pair of huge, moist brown eyes turned and focused on him. "Micah...?"
"It's me, everything is alright, he won't hurt you anymore." He repeated softly his eyes gently and his voice deep and soothing as if he were trying to calm a wild animal.
She sniffled again and rubbed at her eyes with the back of one tiny hand. "He hurt momma...and Thom...I was scarred."
He nodded slowly. "I know, but he won't hurt them anymore. I need your help Millie, can you be a good girl and go to the inn and tell Mr. Darenstein that he needs to look after you and to send a healer here."
"A healer?" She replied, finally taking hold of his outstretched hand.
He nodded again and drew her up from the floor gently. "We need a healer to make your mother and Thom better."
"Then they won't be hurt?"
"That's right, do you think you can do that for me?" He asked softly still holding onto her hand.
Millie nodded slowly. "I'll go tell uncle Bill."
"Good girl, now go quickly, because the sooner you tell him the sooner you're mother and Thom will feel better."
"Okay." She said then withdrew her tiny hand from his elegant, warm one and quickly made her way to and out the door leaving him alone with Thom and his mother and the man who had passed out from the pain. Without hesitation he moved next to Thom and started to check him over for any serious injuries that he might of missed when he had first arrived.
He dully noticed a deep aching in his chest as he moved but shrugged it off and seeing nothing seriously wrong with Thom he moved over to the boys mother, already concerned about her shallow breathing. After a few tense moments he found nothing visibly wrong with her but noticed that her breathing failed to even out.
He then looked over to large unconscious form lay in a tangled heap next to the far wall and decided that there wasn't anything he could do or even wanted to do for him and settled down next to Mrs. Wrinehart and listened to her breathing, and waited.
~*~*~*~
~ Zack...I...I want to be stronger...~
~ You already are Cloud you've changed a lot since I first met you ~
~ No I haven't ~
~ Sure you have, when I first met you you could barely hold any weapon now you're keeping up with the rest of the cadets and you've got it in you to go further ~
~ What do you mean? ~
~ Heh, don't worry about it...I don't have a date tonight, why don't we go out? ~
~ You...don't have a date...are you lying to me? ~
~ Hey! I'm hurt, would I do that to you? ~
// Yes// Cloud thought sadly.
//You think of him again//
//You're reading my mind now?//
//I do not need to, he is in your past, you would do best to forget him//
//He was my past, now he's my present and future//
//And what of the other, you will forget him//
//Never...besides I couldn't if I tried//
//Such thoughts are not fitting of one of your strength, my brother would never tolerate such a thing//
//Brother? You have a brother?// The blond asked with a mixture of surprise and confusion.
//Yes, I have one brother and two sisters.//
//What are they called?//
//My sisters are known as Linea and Remara//
//What about your brother?//
//You already know the answer to that question//
//I don't...//
//Think, you know it's master the one with hair of silver//
//Sephiroth....so your brother would be Masamune//
//That is correct...you should awake, your companion grows concerned//
Blue eyes flew open then blinked, Tide stood above him eyebrows furrowed and eyes worried but the look turned to one of relief when he saw that Cloud was awake. "Thank god, I thought you were going to sleep all day."
"I was talking to the Ultima weapon, what time is it?" The blond asked and stood then rubbed at the corner of his eyes to chase away the remnants of sleep.
"Almost noon, we should go see Cid and Reeve." Vincent said quietly from his place on the other side of the room.
They had spent the night at an inn because the inner city where the new ShinRa building was, was locked down at sunset to increase security. Vincent had also told Cloud that security around the thirty story building was as tight if not tighter than it had been back in Midgar. Cloud found it a little unsettling, returning to the corporation that had turned him into what he was regardless of whether the people that worked there now were different or not. The name ShinRa would always remind him of what had been done to him, to the planet and what was almost done.
"I'm going to have a shower first, we'll leave when I'm finished." Cloud said and began to rummage through his travel bags for a change of clothes when a flash of purple caught his eye, Vincent had moved up behind him and was holding out the old ShinRa SOLDIERs uniform he had gotten from Zack.
"I thought you might want to wear this, it will be easier to get through security if you do." The older man said then lowered his voice to a whisper. "The SOLDIER program is still running, they've been spending a lot of time and money trying to find the old SOLDIERs after what happened at north crater and you know more than enough about ShinRa from Zack than we'll need to get in."
Cloud gently took the uniform from Vincent and frowned. "How did you get in the last time you were here?"
The only response he got from Vincent was a blank stare.
"Forget I asked." The blond said with a sigh of resignation and headed into the ensuite bathroom.
He dropped the purple outfit onto the bench and turned on the hot water then the cold and held his hand under the steady stream of water until he was sure it was the right temperature then took a step back and started to peel of his clothes and dropped them piece by piece to the floor. He then took hold of the tie that held his hair back and undid it, sighing through his nose as the long strands of golden hair slid across his bare skin, tickling it as it went.
Cloud smiled and sat the tie on top of the uniform before stepping into the shower and positioning himself under the pounding water.
//You should be aware//
Cloud blinked in surprise as the soft voice of the Ultima weapon sounded in his mind. //What?//
//I can sense Remara in this city//
//Here? Where?//
//I know not//
/Great, this is just what I need, something else to worry about/
He sighed through his nose and wiped the water away from his face then reached for the soap.
~*~*~*~
"Cloud! Long time no fuckin' see boy!"
The blond ex-soldier grimaced slightly as Cid pulled him into a rough embrace then shoved him back to arms distance and looked him over. They had made it up to the thirtieth floor and into the office but not until after a 'minor' disturbance as Vincent phrased it. The guards at the entrance had agreed to let Cloud pass because he was wearing Zacks old SOLDIER uniform but had almost opened fire on Tide and Vincent when they had moved to follow the blond into the building. Tide, unused to such situations acted first.
It was easy to see just how much he took after his mother, it took the guards ten seconds to grab their machine guns and to target the two, it took Tide five seconds to take down two of the four guards before Vincent finally grabbed hold of him and told him to hold still. The remaining two guards wasted no time in letting them into the building and even escorting them all the way up to Cid and Reeve's office.
"You've hardly changed a bit, still a snot nosed brat." The taller man declared with a grin, his ever present cigarette wobbling precariously between his lips.
In the past twenty years very little had changed about Cid but that didn't really surprise Cloud, he had always known that Cid would keep his fiery know-it-all attitude until the very end. Physically he hadn't changed much either, he still looked the same but his hair had gone white and he had wrinkles around his eyes and at the corners of his mouth a sign that said he'd spent most of his time smiling and laughing since Cloud had seen him last. It was easy to see how happy being in charge of the space exploration program was making him and in a way it cheered him up knowing that at least one of his friends had found the happiness they all so richly deserved.
Tide choked then started coughing and desperately tried to hide his shock. Vincent sighed and shook his head. "Cloud is hardly a 'snot nosed brat' Cid, he never was." He chided softly then pushed away from his place against one wall.
"Ah Bullshit. So what are ya doin' here kid, Vincent finally managed to drag you away from that hunk 'a shit you call an island." The pilot asked gruffly then finally noticed Tide. "And who the hell's this?"
Cloud put a hand on Tide's shoulder and squeezed gently. "This is Tide, Tifa's son."
"No kidding huh?" Cid grunted then moved to circle the young brunette then prodded him in the arch of his back causing him to step forward involuntarily. "Goddamn greenhorn."
"We all started out that way at one time." Vincent said sagely. "Give him time, he'll learn as we go."
"Hmph... I S'pose."
"Leave the boy alone Cid." Reeve told him not bothering to conceal the grin that was starting to tug at the corner of his mouth. "So Cloud, what brings you to grace us with your presence?"
Reeve unlike Cid showed all of his years, just by looking at him Cloud could see the effect of the daily stress of trying to get ShinRa up and working again. His hair was now steel gray at each temple and his face was deeply lined around his eyebrows from frowning and his eyes which also had dark smudges beneath them from lack of sleep.
Cloud ignored the slightly mocking comment then took a deep breath. "The Cetra spoke to me, they told me that Zack and Sephiroth are alive."
Silence greeted the statement and for a very long while no one moved.
"You're jokin' aren't ya spike?" Cid asked finally.
"No."
Reeve stood and moved around to the front of his desk and leant his hip against it. "Do you know where they are?"
"No."
//Remara is here//
Cloud tilted his head to one side. //Here? In the building?//
//No, but very close//
"Earth to spike, earth to spike, are you reading me?" Cid asked waving a hand in front of Cloud's face.
Cloud promptly grabbed his hand. "Stop it, I'm fine. I was talking to the Ultima weapon."
"What?"
"The Ultima weapon has a consciousness, it's the same for Sephiroth's Masamune." The ex-soldier explained calmly.
Cid looked over his shoulder at Reeve and grinned. "Maybe you should have one of those scientists take a look at ol' spike here, he's starting to hear voices."
Vincent shook his head. "Cloud isn't insane Cid, he's been able to hear the voice of the Cetra for years now and I know he can talk to the Ultima weapon and vice versa because I can sense it."
"I think we're getting a little far afield." Reeve interjected sternly. "How do you know that the Cetra were telling you the truth?"
Cloud sighed and closed his eyes. /Why do I feel like I'm going in circles/ "I can feel Sephiroth out there and I need to find him and Zack before something happens."
Reeve sat silently for a moment then looked at Cid. "Take Vincent and the boy down and help them restock their supplies."
The older man grunted. "What about spike?"
"I'm going to show him around a bit."
~*~*~*~
A sudden crash of metal on metal jerked him awake. He sat up quickly and turned his gaze toward where the sound had come from and saw his guard standing next to the bars with his nightstick out and resting against one of the bars.
There was a woman standing next to him frowning and she was staring at him, she had dark hair and eyes and he could see from he way she held herself that she was very proud and confident.
"What's your name?" She asked suddenly.
He shrugged.
"Where are you from?"
He shrugged again.
Her frowned deepened as she regarded him then finally she turned her attention to the guard beside her. "I want answers." She said simply then turned and left.
The guard grinned at him and for some reason something in that grin made him want to hide. "I know a fun way to get answers out of you." He said then his hand moved off to one side and he pressed a button on the wall.
Seconds later the door opened and another guard entered. "Yes sir?"
"Put him to sleep then help me get him into the interrogation room, the boss wants answers out of him."
The other man snapped a salute then turned to the cell and cast sleep. The world turned to black for him and when they were sure he was asleep the superior guard unlocked the door and led the way into the cell and roughly grabbed one of his arms. He instructed the younger guard to take hold of the other and together they dragged the bulky form of the tall raven haired man out of his cell and down the long hallway to the 'interrogation' room, a large room filled with various devices and tools designed to induce a prisoner to speak.
When he was safely strapped into a chair the superior of the two guards reached up and proceeded to slap him until he finally stirred and woke. "Well now, since you don't want to talk to us, we're going to use all these shiny little tools here and make you. Got anything to say before we begin?"
The gray eyed man simply glared up at him in defiance.
"Suit yourself."
Minutes later, hundreds of birds which had been perched on the branches of trees in the surrounding area took flight, frightened be the inhuman scream that came from the prison.
~*~*~*~
"I've been working along time to get ShinRa up and running again and luckily a lot of the records were undamaged when the ShinRa building in Midgar was attacked." Reeve said as they walked.
They had gone down to the first floor and had headed out a door to the back of the building which had opened up into a wide, open courtyard that felt oddly familiar to Cloud.
"Most of Professor Ghast and Professor Hojo's work was catalogued and archived in a basement level underneath the ShinRa building that only the professors and president Shinra were allowed access to. We salvaged the files and moved them here, it wasn't long before we found other bright scientists who were capable of taking over the roles they left behind when they died. From there we were able to reestablish the SOLDIER program and start training new recruits. Do you remember anything about the old SOLDIER?" Reeve asked then held open a door for Cloud.
"I remember almost everything I experienced and I can remember some of the things Zack knew about." Cloud answered as he passed through the doorway.
Reeve took the lead again. "Do you remember why there were no women in SOLDIER?"
The blond frowned thoughtfully. "If I remember right it was because most females weren't strong enough to handle the physical, emotional and mental strain. Though I think there were a few that got transferred from the SOLDIER program to the TURK training facility."
"There's that and the fact that they were looked on as a distraction to the younger male cadets." Reeve added with a wry grin. "Actually we managed to fix that particular problem and we come to the conclusion that given the right circumstances female SOLDIERs are just as good as the men."
Cloud nodded vaguely eyeing the building they had just entered, it was thanks to Zack's memories that he recognized it as an exact replica of the old SOLDIERs barracks. It was bigger and the paint was a bit brighter but other than that it looked exactly the same. "It looks the same..."
Reeve stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at Cloud. "Pardon?"
"It looks the same as the old SOLDIERs barracks back in Midgar, except it's bigger." The ex-soldier muttered quietly, blue eyes searching for something that might be different.
Reeve smiled and nodded. "We built it to be an exact replica of the old barracks but as you noticed we built this one bigger so we could separate the men from the women. It's lunch time now so we'll find the person I'm after in the mess hall with everyone else."
They started walking again until they came to a huge room that Cloud recognized as the mess hall. There was row after row of tables and chairs just as Cloud remembered but off to the sides next to the walls were long tables filled with a huge variety of food. When Reeve noticed the direction of his stare he laughed.
"We made a deal with the old SOLDIERs, if they came back to fight for us we had to give them better pay and good food."
Cloud chuckled and shook his head. "I remember the ShinRa food from when I was a cadet, trust me, your SOLDIERs will fight and train that much harder to make sure you don't take away that food."
They laughed then moved to the end of the tables and stood looking over the long tables the ones to the left of the room, Cloud noticed were filled with SOLDIERs only while the right side of the room seated the cadets.
"First Class SOLDIER General Shiina, step forward please." Reeve shouted over the noise in the hall.
Eyes turned to them and silence fell on the hall before several cat calls sounded over the silence. A figure at the far end of the hall stood and made its way down the isle between the table it was sitting at and the one next to it. As the figure drew closer Cloud picked up that the figure belonged to that of a female with long hair that reached down to her thighs that was very light in color. Finally the figure came to a stop a foot away from where he and Reeve stood and saluted.
She had shocking white hair despite the fact that she looked no older than twenty five and emerald green eyes that put him in mind of another general he knew with such eyes. She had a lithe pear shaped figure and stood an inch taller than he. She was wearing a one piece white leather suit with the ShinRa Logo on the left shoulder and the SOLDIER emblem on the right breast that fit her like a second skin. Her face had a distinct Wutaian cast to it that belied the white hair and crimson eyes and Cloud had to admit she was a very attractive woman.
From what Cloud could tell she had two weapons strapped across her back.
//Remara, she wields Remara//
//Are you sure?//
//Yes//
"Does the name Remara mean anything to you?" Cloud asked suddenly.
The white haired woman blinked in surprise then nodded. "My blades, their name is Remara...is that Ultima weapon?" She asked looking over his shoulder.
"Yes, I'm Cloud Strife." He said holding out his hand.
"Shiina Hayashi, a pleasure to meet you Cloud Strife." She smiled as she shook his hand.
"Shiina is the strongest fighter we have here and she holds the title of General in our army." Reeve informed the ex-soldier softly. "She's quite proficient with a variety of bladed weapons and is a master of various martial art styles."
/Like Sephiroth/ Cloud thought idly.
Cloud tilted his hand to one side. "You're Wutaian?"
"That's right, so what can I do for you boss?" She asked turning her attention to Reeve.
"Cloud and a few colleagues are going to be doing a lot of traveling and I believe it's going to get particularly dangerous before they do what they need to so I want you to go with them. I want reports every so often about what's happening." He said then turned to face Cloud. "Cid should be finished helping Vincent restock by now. I'm sorry I can't stay with you longer but I have a lot of work I still need to do, so I'll leave you in Shiina's care."
And with that he was gone. The two warriors stood there for a moment sizing each other up, the cat calls had long since faded and had been replaced with the loud banter that had been going on when Cloud had first entered the room.
"What now?" Shiina's voice piped up, bringing him out of his reverie.
He scratched his head and looked around. "As soon as you pack what you need we'll head back to the others, I want to move out as soon as possible. The faster we get moving the sooner we can find the people we're looking for."
She shrugged and pushed a stray strand of white hair behind her ear. "You're the boss."
~*~*~*~
His ice blue eyes looked blankly at the tele-viewers rezzing up before him within the damp confines of the guard man's post. /Christ sake its freaking boiling in this piece of crap/ the soldier thought for a moment before moving his eyes from the image of the long raven haired man locked within his cell to the portable fan he had within his tiny cramped office.
Adjusting the fan's power output and leveling the device so that the wonderful breeze soaked his sweat covered body the guard leaned back into his original position on his chair.
Eyes turned back to the screen and began scanning over each of the cell's contents as a mug of luke warm coffee reached the soldiers mouth.
Moments later a coffee mug shattered as it struck a harsh gravel floor.
CAPTAAAAAAIIIIINNNNNNN......
The sound of a chair falling and hurried footsteps echoed down the makeshift prisons halls...
The image of a certain cell...was empty...naked as a ghost's spirit.
The guard ran own the hall that led from the cell blocks to his captains office and he threw the door open. "He's gone!"
He marched into his superiors office before he noticed that he was not sitting behind his desk as he always was. Moving closer to the cluttered desk something caught his eye, there was a dark pool steadily growing in size underneath the desk. He moved around the desk then recoiled in shock.
Before him lay the still body of his captain, head torn from shoulders. As he knelt closer to the body he noticed that both of his arms had been shattered and that his ribs had been likewise shattered to the point where there was a deep crevice where there had one been even, smooth skin and muscles. His legs were twisted off to different angles obviously dislocated or shattered like the arms and chest had been.
He heard a creek from behind him and spun around in time to see the door swing firmly closed and a shadowed figure step out from behind it.
His hands flew to his side and grasped his nightstick and drew it quickly.
The shadowed figure raised his head and the low light coming from the lamp on the desk behind the guard was enough for him to make him out as the escaped prisoner. Cold, hard wolf like eyes stared at him from across the room and he stumbled backwards as if to escape the intense gaze.
One foot moved in front of the other moving with purposeful slowness as the raven haired man began to stalk his enemy. A feral grin spread across his face when he saw his guard and tormentor smack against the desk while he was trying to keep as much distance between them as possible. The grin faded when the guard brought up his nightstick as if it alone would keep him safe although his hands were visibly shaking.
Without warning the dark haired man sprang forward and with one upward strike he knocked the nightstick out of the other mans hands. It soared high in the air and hit the wall next to the door. The guards eyes widened as the huge ice eyed man lashed out with one arm and grabbed hold of his neck, lifting him high of the ground.
He wheezed as he struggled to breath one hand reached up to hit and claw at the hand in a vain attempt to get it to loosen while the other moved behind him and took hold of the standard issue tazer, then with his last shred of strength he swung his arm around and switched the tazer on as soon as it hit the other man.
A roar filled the room and the hand around his throat loosened just enough to pry his fingers back and fall to the ground, hitting his head against the desk as he went. It took him a moment for his vision to clear then he bolted around the desk and triggered the silent alarm on the underside of the desk. As soon as he did that he felt a hand grab hold of the neck of his uniform and with a mighty heave he was thrown across the room and into the wall on the other side.
The air rushed from his lungs and he felt the plaster behind him crack from the impact. The prisoner was upon him before he even had a chance to hit the floor. A solid kick met his ribs on the way down and sent him back into the air, he vaguely heard the sound of breaking bones and began to panic. How long would it be before his fellow guards reached the room?
A hand grabbed hold of his head then with a twist of his shoulder the raven haired escapee pulled his guard down from the air and slammed him into the floor before taking hold of his arms.
Sickening snaps filled the air as his enemy began to twists his arms around to various angles then he was launched into the air once again but this time the ice eyed man swung his arm back the launched his fist out, it could him squarely in the chest and with a sudden hitch of his breath he realized that shards of his ribs hand pierced his lungs and heart.
He began coughing and it didn't take long for the blood that was beginning to flood his lungs to erupt from his mouth and spray across the floor.
It took him a minute to realize that his attacker had ceased his brutal assault and had gone quiet.
He opened his eyes and squinted against the pain, his narrowed eyes searching the room for the huge man. Coughs racked his body and more blood gushed from his mouth, his eyes squeezed shut.
Suddenly he became aware of a presence behind him and turn in surprise to face the figure behind him, his mouth opening in a gasp of shock.
His gasp was rudely cute off as his tazer was rammed into his mouth and switched on. The black haired man held onto his twitching body until he was sure that his enemy was dead. He dropped the tazer and turned from the corpse and reached for the door, he stopped just short of opening it when he heard heavy footsteps pounding the floor on the other side of the door.
Backing away from it he searched the room for another way out but the room had no other door and no windows...no avenue of escape was possible.
The guards were pounding on the door, heavy batons in tow and the doorbuster in their clenched fists as two of the four slammed upon the steel enforced door...
"THE CAPTAIN'S IN TROUBLE MOVE IT YOU FUCKIN' RETARDS!"
The sound made them stop, their mind set stunned by such a unique sound...the heat however set them on edge...first a trickling sweat, then their bodies heating up...the door sizzling as the metal within it snapped and bubbled.
When the door exploded outwards and the molten liquid death erupted against them coating them with hellish flames and ashes, the guards died first quickly but without mercy their bodies incinerated within a small space of time, but as the flames licked outwards consuming the prison and everything there within all life ended...devoured by an inferno birthed by the dark of night, fed by the rage within a man's soul.
When the flames cooled, ashes crumbled back down to the superheated floor and the air within fifty meters of the bases perimeter became breathable again...nothing could be seen...no man...no prisoners...no life at all, even the memories of it's existence were gone.
A figure shuddered then stepped forward into the ash covered floor, oblivious to the small flames that continued to lick at the walls and roof. He reached up with one hand and pushed his raven hair away from his eyes the stepped forward into burning mess sidestepping the charred remains of the prison guards as he went. A flash of metal caught his eye and as he turned he noticed that one of the guards was equipped with a Crystal sword its brilliant shine making it stand out amidst the charred remains of the base.
He paused just long enough to pick it up disregarding the intense heat it gave off from its blade, then continued to make his way through the halls, towards open air, into freedom.