Crisis From the Sky
By: Jenosavel
The odd group stood uneasily around a stout wooden table on the first floor of Trunks' house. The controversial new party member had vanished in the night, and whehter or not to trust the note she left behind was anything but an easy question.
"You will find Jenova in the northern crater," Cloud reread aloud. "However, my brother is no fool. He knows you will come. If you wish to destroy Jenova, I suggest you hurry."
"What do we do about it?" Trunks asked. He didn't understand the others' mistrust of the girl; all he knew of her was that she'd stopped that giant space rock from blowing the world away.
"We have no choice but to trust her," Cloud conceeded. "Even if it's a trap, it's the only clue we have to go on."
"You can't be serious!" Cid exclaimed. "It has to be a trap!"
Cloud got up, leaving the small piece of paper where it lie on the tabletop. "I didn't say you had to come along."
The comment stopped arguments in their tracks, but it did nothing for the muddled expressions everyone wore.
"I'm still going," Gohan offered. He really didn't want to fight anymore, but if Jenova was threatening his world, he couldn't very well ignore her. That included any qualms he might have had about Jenosavel. If the girl saved their lives, he wouldn't let her connections to Jenova keep him from stopping the monster. "I don't think she'd try to trick us."
A black kitten appeared from under the table and rubbed against Gohan's leg, mewling happily.
"And we don't have time to argue about it," Cloud added. "Jenova won't stay in one place too long, especially if Sephiroth thinks we're coming. We need to move quickly, so only people who can fly will come, and then only if they want to. Everyone else stay here. If we're not back by nightfall, assume it was a trap." He started for the door, not caring who followed. He would defeat Jenova and Sephiroth, with or without any help.
By the time he'd reached the front door, he could hear people following him. Pushing it open, he was well into the yard before he stopped to see who was coming. Piccolo, Trunks, and Gohan were right behind him, while Vegeta and Goku followed with varying degrees of disapproval on their faces.
"We head for the crater," Cloud stated, looking up at the clearn morning sky. The sun wasn't completely over the horizon yet, but it was already light enough to see easily. Before he could leap into the air, however, he felt claws embed themselves in his toes. Looking down, he saw the little kitten clinging to his boot.
When he bent down to pry off the little kitten, though, it latched onto his shirt, claws digging into his chest. He bit down a curse as he gently stroked the kitten's furt attempting to calm it.
"A battle is no place for a little kitten," He muttered. He liked cats far too much to let this little one get itself killed by following him into danger. Finally able to peel the furball off of himself, Cloud set it on the ground and burst into the air. An unnatural weight in his cape made him look back.
The stubborn feline was desperately clinging to the fabric.
"You're a troublesome thing," Cloud muttered, twisting about in an effort to pluck the kitten from his cloak before it lost its already wavering grip. Once the tiny animal was safely in his hands, he sighed. It looked like the thing was going to come along one way or another.
A flash of silver on the horizon urged Cloud to fly faster. Sephiroth was too near to be allowed to escape. As he drew nearer, though, Cloud grimaced. They were only in time to see Sephiroth open a portal and disappear through it with Jenova. Though it closed as soon as the two were through, Cloud had seen enough to copy it.
"You won't escape that easily," he breathed, concentrating on the materia in the sword on his back. By the time they reached Sephiroth's position, a new portal was waiting for them. No one hesitated to fly in, but they were still too late.
As they came out of Cloud's time vortex, they were greeted with the tail end of a closing portal. There was no way Cloud could copy this one. He just hadn't seen enough of it to know how powerful it had been.
"What do we do now?" Piccolo asked bluntly.
"Uh... guys?" Gohan asked. The building anxiety in his voice made everyone follow his eyes upward.
A great mass was growing in the sky, directly above them. It was falling, with enough speed to make even Vegeta a bit frantic. They had seconds at best.
Sudden recognition made Cloud glance around even as he began concentrating on a haste spell. There wasn't a crater here, just a deep crevasse in the mountainside. That on its own was bad enough, but it wasn't just some rock falling towards them. It was unmistakably Jenova Synthesis. And she was a lot larger than the one Cloud was accustomed to.
His portal opened.
By: Jenosavel
The odd group stood uneasily around a stout wooden table on the first floor of Trunks' house. The controversial new party member had vanished in the night, and whehter or not to trust the note she left behind was anything but an easy question.
"You will find Jenova in the northern crater," Cloud reread aloud. "However, my brother is no fool. He knows you will come. If you wish to destroy Jenova, I suggest you hurry."
"What do we do about it?" Trunks asked. He didn't understand the others' mistrust of the girl; all he knew of her was that she'd stopped that giant space rock from blowing the world away.
"We have no choice but to trust her," Cloud conceeded. "Even if it's a trap, it's the only clue we have to go on."
"You can't be serious!" Cid exclaimed. "It has to be a trap!"
Cloud got up, leaving the small piece of paper where it lie on the tabletop. "I didn't say you had to come along."
The comment stopped arguments in their tracks, but it did nothing for the muddled expressions everyone wore.
"I'm still going," Gohan offered. He really didn't want to fight anymore, but if Jenova was threatening his world, he couldn't very well ignore her. That included any qualms he might have had about Jenosavel. If the girl saved their lives, he wouldn't let her connections to Jenova keep him from stopping the monster. "I don't think she'd try to trick us."
A black kitten appeared from under the table and rubbed against Gohan's leg, mewling happily.
"And we don't have time to argue about it," Cloud added. "Jenova won't stay in one place too long, especially if Sephiroth thinks we're coming. We need to move quickly, so only people who can fly will come, and then only if they want to. Everyone else stay here. If we're not back by nightfall, assume it was a trap." He started for the door, not caring who followed. He would defeat Jenova and Sephiroth, with or without any help.
By the time he'd reached the front door, he could hear people following him. Pushing it open, he was well into the yard before he stopped to see who was coming. Piccolo, Trunks, and Gohan were right behind him, while Vegeta and Goku followed with varying degrees of disapproval on their faces.
"We head for the crater," Cloud stated, looking up at the clearn morning sky. The sun wasn't completely over the horizon yet, but it was already light enough to see easily. Before he could leap into the air, however, he felt claws embed themselves in his toes. Looking down, he saw the little kitten clinging to his boot.
When he bent down to pry off the little kitten, though, it latched onto his shirt, claws digging into his chest. He bit down a curse as he gently stroked the kitten's furt attempting to calm it.
"A battle is no place for a little kitten," He muttered. He liked cats far too much to let this little one get itself killed by following him into danger. Finally able to peel the furball off of himself, Cloud set it on the ground and burst into the air. An unnatural weight in his cape made him look back.
The stubborn feline was desperately clinging to the fabric.
"You're a troublesome thing," Cloud muttered, twisting about in an effort to pluck the kitten from his cloak before it lost its already wavering grip. Once the tiny animal was safely in his hands, he sighed. It looked like the thing was going to come along one way or another.
A flash of silver on the horizon urged Cloud to fly faster. Sephiroth was too near to be allowed to escape. As he drew nearer, though, Cloud grimaced. They were only in time to see Sephiroth open a portal and disappear through it with Jenova. Though it closed as soon as the two were through, Cloud had seen enough to copy it.
"You won't escape that easily," he breathed, concentrating on the materia in the sword on his back. By the time they reached Sephiroth's position, a new portal was waiting for them. No one hesitated to fly in, but they were still too late.
As they came out of Cloud's time vortex, they were greeted with the tail end of a closing portal. There was no way Cloud could copy this one. He just hadn't seen enough of it to know how powerful it had been.
"What do we do now?" Piccolo asked bluntly.
"Uh... guys?" Gohan asked. The building anxiety in his voice made everyone follow his eyes upward.
A great mass was growing in the sky, directly above them. It was falling, with enough speed to make even Vegeta a bit frantic. They had seconds at best.
Sudden recognition made Cloud glance around even as he began concentrating on a haste spell. There wasn't a crater here, just a deep crevasse in the mountainside. That on its own was bad enough, but it wasn't just some rock falling towards them. It was unmistakably Jenova Synthesis. And she was a lot larger than the one Cloud was accustomed to.
His portal opened.