She
crept down the corridor, unlocking each of the room doors and pushing
them open.
"Hey!" Yuffie hissed from the last room. Barret
swore loudly from another.
"Tifa?" Cloud poked his head out of
the third room up the hall. She shushed him, pointing to the sleeping
guard. He nodded and slipped back inside the room. She ran to the
elevator, saw the key-card pad mounted on the wall beside the twin
doors, and rushed back to the guard. She searched through his pockets
and he slowly opened his eyes.
"What–" he tried, but Tifa
punched him on the side of the jaw. His head slammed into the
opposite wall and he was out again. She rolled her eyes, pulling out
the master key card from his back pocket. Then she ran back to the
elevator, activated the keypad, and slipped inside. Cloud, Barret,
Yuffie, Vincent, Cid, and Cait Sith finally gathered in the hallway.
"Where's Tifa?" Cloud blinked.
"She's looking for
Red XIII," Vincent told him.
"He's not here?" Yuffie
asked.
"Apparently not," Cait Sith replied.
"We can't
stand around waitin' for her," Barret sighed. "It's best we
find our weapons."
"I know where mine is," Cloud growled,
remembering the white-haired boy with Hojo.
"Well, first
thing's first: where's the materia?" Yuffie glanced around.
"Is
that all you think about?" Cid rolled his eyes.
"She's
right; some of the materia we had was one-of-a-kind," Cait Sith
nodded. Yuffie grinned triumphantly at him. They thought in silence
for a moment, then Vincent spoke up.
"If this is a Shin-Ra
building, the materia is usually stored in a lab in the lower
basements."
"Are you positive?" Cloud asked.
He
nodded.
"Yeah, Vincent!" the ninja girl squealed, latching
onto his arm.
"Then we'll go down," Cloud stated. "Yuffie
and Vincent will come with me."
"Why do I have to go!" she
jumped, looking up from her hold on Vincent.
"So I can keep an
eye on you," he responded. "Cid, Barret, and Cait Sith go in the
second group. We'll split up on the next floor; one group will head
down the stairs, the other will take the elevators."
"Release
me," Vincent stared calmly down at Yuffie. She did, brushing her
hair back into place and turning to the blond mercenary.
"I vote
elevators!" she cried.
"You sure?" Cid raised an
eyebrow.
"Positive," she nodded perpetually. Everyone else shrugged. Then they slunk past the unconscious guard, down the hall, and to the elevators where Cloud, Vincent, and Yuffie slipped through the metal doors. The other three headed for the emergency staircase.
Tifa peered inside the room. It was completely
black except for a slight purplish glow coming from the center. On
closer inspection, the faint light was coming from a glass pillar
containing Red XIII. She darted forward and tapped on the glass. The
creature looked up slowly at her. His one good eye was clouded and
wet, the fur around it dampened to a darker shade of red. Tifa peered
in sadly at him.
"Are you okay?"
He just looked at her
mournfully. She felt around the base of the glass, found the keypad,
and slid the card through. It beeped and she punched in the code
printed on the back of the card. It beeped again, and the glass
suddenly parted down the middle. It slid aside with a hiss, leaving a
low metal platform before her. Tifa climbed up onto it and crawled
over to Red XIII.
"Nanaki, are you all right? Please, answer
me."
He suddenly snarled and leapt upon her. Tifa yelped,
falling back and hitting the tiled floor hard. She saw stars for a
moment, then realized Nanaki was biting her arm and digging his claws
into her shoulders.
"Nanaki, stop! It's Tifa! Don't you
recognize me!"
The creature stopped growling and released her.
He backed away uncertainly.
"Tifa...?"
"Yes, it's me,"
she replied, wincing as she sat up slowly.
He studied her a bit
longer, then leaned forward and licked the blood off of her arm.
"I'm
sorry," he nipped her affectionately.
"You were scared,
weren't you?" she whispered. He looked away again. Tifa stroked
his head tenderly.
"I was all alone again," he murmured.
"Trapped and all alone."
"You're never alone," Tifa
smiled softly. He looked up at her as she stood.
"Thank you,
Tifa."
"No problem. Now, to find the others..."
"Have
you seen them?"
"Yeah. We were in separate rooms on the floor
below. Did you hear anything any of the scientists said?"
"No."
"All
right, it's a long story. Cloud said he'd explain all he knew
when we're all together."
"Everyone's here?"
"Yes."
Red
started to say something, but stopped and turned to look behind them.
Tifa looked back too.
"Do you sense that?" he whispered. She
shook her head.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It's
big...and evil," he turned around fully and let out a threatening
growl. From the darkness at the other end of the room came and
answering growl, and two glowing orange slits appeared.
"I think
I let something else out..." Tifa stepped back. With a roar, a
huge flourescent green dragon stormed into view. They took their
stances, without their weapons, armor, or materia.
"This should
prove to be interesting, don't you think?" Red tried to sound
convincing.
Tifa shook her head, gulping audibly. In a corner of
the room, behind the dragon, a pair of bright green eyes flared in
the darkness as the monster reared to attack.
"You wanted to
use the elevator, right!" Cloud shouted over the alarms. The three
were huddled in the center of the elevator, the digital number
display flashing wildly.
"Stop it!" Yuffie wailed. Vincent
leaned over and slammed his fist down on the panel. The digits
stopped scrolling and blinked the number 15. The doors flew open.
Guards were racing at them from all sides.
"Just run!" Cloud
yelled, and the three of them darted for the stairs. Gunshots rang
out behind them–Yuffie screamed as a bullet caught her in the leg.
Vincent stopped to help her, and a second-class SOLDIER dropped down
behind him.
"Vince!" Yuffie cried. He spun back around to
face the SOLDIER. Cloud kicked at him viciously and the warrior
stumbled. Another round of shots echoed up the hall, but they hit the
SOLDIER. The three looked toward the stairs. Cait Sith bounded
forward, slamming his fists into the opponent's chest; the SOLDIER
fell. Vincent helped Yuffie to her feet, and they all ran to the
stairs. Barret waved at them from one floor below, his gun arm held
out in front of him.
"Looks like he found some ammo," Cloud
said.
"I'm thankful for it," Yuffie heaved a sigh.
"Would
you like to take the stairs?" Vincent raised an eyebrow.
She
groaned as she looked down at her injured leg: "Well, who said to
take elevators in the first place!"
Cloud and Vincent rolled
their eyes at one another.
