Final Fantasy 7

Emerald Princess of Vernea

Chapter Eight


The group of three stood frozen to the spot, while the Shinra guards blocked their one and only exit out of the reactor. They didn't dare move, for the rifles were pointing right at them, ready to fire upon them if they dared to resist. There was a deadly silence in the air, and even the sound of footsteps could be heard in the silence.

In fact they could hear the sound of footsteps, steadily approaching them from the way they had come out of the reactor. Cloud, Barret and Tifa turned one by one to the reactor's entrance, and watched as a figure emerged from the shadows. Barret's jaw hung open as he saw who the figure was.

"Presi... President Shinra?"

The Shinra President walked slowly out of the doorway and stopped on the path opposite the captured AVALANCHE members. The way he walked and the way he dressed showed his authority – confident, smart and calculative. When he spoke he spoke to them like they were dirt, and his voice sounded cold and heartless.

"Hmm... So you must all be that... ...what was it?"

"AVALANCHE!" Barret roared, shaking his fists. "And don't ya forget it! And you're President Shinra, huh?"

Cloud stepped forward onto the path and faced the President. "Long time no see, President."

"...Long time no see?" President Shinra asked, sounding confused. He looked at Cloud closely, when he realised who he was. "Oh... you. You're the one who quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE. I knew you'd been exposed to Mako, from the look in your eyes... Tell me, traitor... What was your name?"

"Cloud."

President Shinra nodded. "Forgive me for asking," he asked of Cloud. "But I can't be expected to remember each person's name. Unless you become another Sephiroth. Yes, Sephiroth... He was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant..."

Cloud's body jerked at the mention of the name. He stepped back almost fearfully, and his face went as pale as a ghost.

"Sephiroth......?"

While Cloud was standing awestruck in the middle of the path, Barret ran forward and brushed rudely past Cloud. He ran halfway up and shook his fists at the Shinra President, his arrogance returning.

"Don't give a damn 'bout none of that!" he raged, trying to intimidate the president. "This place's goin' up with a big BANG soon! Serves y'all right!"

"And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you..." President Shinra replied calmly, not at all intimidated by Barret's angry tone.

Of course, Barret wasn't too pleased with the statement.

"VERMIN!?" he shouted furiously, looking ready to explode with his fury. "That's all you can say... VERMIN!" He took another step forward and pointed his gun-arm at the president. "Y'all Shinra're the VERMIN, killing the planet! And that makes you King VERMIN! So shu'up jackass!"

President Shinra arrogantly rolled his eyes, unimpressed. "...You are beginning to bore me," he said, his voice solemn. He then looked up at the group once more. "I'm a very busy man, so if you'll excuse me... I have a dinner I must attend."

Barret could not believe his ears. "Dinner!? Don't give me that! I ain't even started wit' you yet!"

"But," the President added quickly. "I've made arrangements for a playmate for you all."

The President then clicked his fingers, and the sound of the click echoed throughout the corridor. The echo then faded, and was replaced by a faint buzzing sound that was growing in intensity, and was heading towards them. Tifa looked up and glanced around the paths, trying to find the source of the buzzing.

"!? What's that noise?" she asked.

Barret ran back down onto the main path, brushing past Cloud once again, and ran over to Tifa. The door on the other side of the path was open, and the buzzing seemed to have been coming from there. It was still growing louder, and sounded like the whirring of blades. Eventually, something began to emerge from the shadows.

"The hell is this!?" he demanded.

The source of the sound then emerged from the doorway and onto the path. It moved at such a speed that Tifa and Barret had to stand really close to the ends of the path to avoid being knocked off by its bulk. It then stopped in the middle of the path, separating Cloud from his friends.

It was a gigantic robot – another of Shinra's defensive weaponry. Unlike the Roboguard, which had been disadvantaged on the ground, this robot could hover a few feet off the ground. It was armed with a range of weaponry, from cannons to guns in its back and front. Its only disadvantage was that because it was so large and packed full of weaponry, it was hard for it to turn or move very quickly. The whirring sound came from its fast-moving blades that whirred beneath its bulk, keeping it hovering above the ground.

"Meet 'Airbuster'," the President introduced, waving a hand to the creation hovering in front of him. "A techno-soldier. Our Weapon Development Department created him. I'm sure the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in future experiments."

Cloud stared at the robot in awe. "...Techno-soldier?"

The sound of more whirring blades could be heard as a helicopter rose up from the abyss beneath the paths, and hovered beside the President. The door opened, ready for the President to board.

"Now then, if you'll excuse me," the President said politely, giving a little bow to the group. He turned towards the helicopter.

"Wait, President!" Cloud called, running forwards towards the helicopter.

He was too late. The helicopter had already lowered itself and was letting President Shinra on board. Cloud could only stop and watch as the door to the helicopter was slammed shut, and the helicopter began to rise up away from them, flying off towards Shinra Headquarters once more. The Shinra President had fled, and the guard had already scattered, leaving Cloud and his friends alone with Shinra's latest weapon.

"Yo, Cloud!" Barret called to Cloud. "We've gotta do somethin' 'bout him!"

Cloud turned back, just in time to see Airbuster moving forward towards Barret and Tifa. The two AVALANCHE members backed up fearfully as the robot approached. Even though it was hovering above the ground, the path was still vibrating beneath its whirring blades. It moved forward a little more, and the two backed up again.

"Help, Cloud!" Tifa shouted over the whirring of the blades. "THIS is from SOLDIER?"

"No way!" Cloud called back from the other side of the robot. "It's just a machine."

Hearing Cloud's voice, Airbuster slowly began to turn around to face Cloud. It towered over him by a good couple of metres, and its armour was very thick so it would not be easy to penetrate. Cloud reached behind him and drew his large sword, ready to battle. And although he couldn't see them, Barret was preparing his gun and Tifa was flexing her fists. Each of them was preparing for the inevitable battle.

"I don't care what it is!!" Barret said. "I'm gonna bust him up!"

With that Barret raised his gun and fired upon Airbuster. The bullet rippled against its armour, making only dents and no significant damage. Airbuster gently jerked its head to the right to glance at Barret through its flashing red eyes, but it did not turn.

Instead, Airbuster opened up an almost seamless hatch on its back, to reveal a rifle that had been hidden there. Airbuster fired at Barret, and the AVALANCHE leader had to quickly jump back on the path to avoid being shot or knocked off the edge of the path. It was a very long way to the slums below, and no one could afford to take that drop.

While Airbuster's attention was focused on Barret, Cloud took his chance and ran forward, hoping to ram his sword into a vital part of the robot's machinery before it could force anyone off the path. He jumped up and swiped his sword.

It struck Airbuster's side with a terrific flash of light as the metal collided with metal. Air buster turned its head back down to look at Cloud as he pressed his blade against the side of the robot. It then swung one of its large robotic arms and threw Cloud away from him. Cloud was flung back across the path, and landed with a heavy thud on the ground halfway across the path. His sword clattered to the floor and Cloud rolled and rolled across the metal path, before finally coming to a stop.

Just as Cloud finished rolling, a bright flash of orange and red lit up the path, causing Airbuster to jerk violently. A cloud of flames suddenly rose up around it and enveloped it, before the flames dissipated and disappeared. Airbuster's metal frame glowed slightly from the heat of the fire, but eventually began to cool.

Tifa lowered her arms, and the second ball of Materia within her armlet slot ended its fiery glow. She flicked her hair back in satisfaction.

"Tifa! Look out!" came Barret's voice.

Tifa looked up in surprise to see a large heavy object falling towards her. It looked like a cannonball and was falling towards her. Quickly Tifa dodged to the side and out of the way of the ball.

The cannonball slammed down onto the metal path, causing it to shake and quiver violently. It even bounced, for a second or two, before rolling over the end of the path and falling down into the murky cloud of smoke that covered the slums. It was such a long drop that no one could hear the ball land, but they prayed that it didn't land on any of the houses.

Tifa wiped her forehead with her glove, relieved that Barret had warned her in time before the cannonball had hit her. She looked back over towards Barret, who was busy firing upon the robot. Airbuster had turned and was busy advancing on Barret. As Tifa watched Airbuster opened up another hatch on its chest and revealed a double rifle, and fired at Barret once again. Like before Barret was forced to back up on the path to avoid the bullets that hit the floor at his feet, just inches from striking him. It almost looked funny – for he was jumping back from foot to foot. It was just a shame that the situation was so serious.

The young woman raised her arms again, and once more the glowing ball of Materia in her glove slot began to glow. Fiery sparks flickered within it, and a ball of fire began to form between Tifa's hands. Tifa then thrust her hands out in front of her, and the ball of fire fired from her palms and towards Airbuster as it fired upon Barret.

The fireball hit the nose of the rifles, and their nozzles glowed brightly with the intense heat. They glowed brighter and brighter as the flames burned around it, until eventually the nozzles began to droop and sag downward, melting with the heat. Eventually the rifles stopped firing bullets, unable to fire anymore as the nozzles melted so much that the barrels closed up.

Cloud finally climbed to his feet after recovering from his fall, and saw his chance while the robot tried to figure out what to do now that its prime weapon had been disabled. He spun his sword round and quickly placed it back behind his back, freeing his hands for the task at hand.

Like Tifa he held out his hands, and a single ball of green Materia from his own armlet slot began to glow, filled with an electric yellow light. As he opened his eyes a bolt of lightning suddenly fired down from the sky and onto the head of the robot. The electricity quickly spread over its body and flickered between all of the nooks and crannies within its framework. The electricity then stopped flickering, and everyone waited.

All at once the robot stopped moving, standing frozen in the middle of the path. Slowly it jerked its head from side to side, trying to turn its large bulk around on the path so it could continue to attack. However, the lightning that Cloud had cast had somehow short-circuited its turn system, and was motionless.

This was the chance the group needed. All at once they all charged forward, their weapons high and ready, and began to attack Airbuster together.

Barret raised his gun-arm and fire repeatedly, striking all of the robot's weak spots that it couldn't defend by turning away. He particularly aimed at the robot's hover system and engine, hoping to cut its power system before it could hit them. Tifa dodged Barret's bullets and went right up close to the robot; punching and kicking at the weak spots on the framework that Barret had done damage to. Cloud was on the other side, continuously swiping his sword and creating long, deep slashes in the metal.

Eventually they had done the damage they needed, and they all pulled back. Airbuster remained motionless, its head still jerking from side to side. Then, gradually, its body began to shake as the damage began to take its toll. Electric sparks began to crackle from its damaged circuit boards, and the shaking began to get more violent.

All of a sudden the robot exploded, its body unable to take any more damage. Large chunks of metal flew into the air, and the path shook as the explosion shook it apart. Tifa and Barret held onto the sides as the path shook violently beneath their feet, and it was all they could do to stop themselves from falling over the edge.

Cloud on the other hand, was not as lucky as Tifa and Barret. As Airbuster self-destructed and destroyed the bridge, Cloud lost his footing and tumbled over the edge of the broken ledge. Quickly he reached up and grabbed hold of a pipe that was sticking out of the edge of the bridge. His sword fell past him and down into the murkiness below, while Cloud was left dangling on the edge of the bridge, completely helpless.

Tifa ran to the edge of the bridge and leaned down. Cloud was on the other side and was too far down for her to reach, but that didn't stop her from leaning over as far as she could and reaching for Cloud, desperate to save him before he could fall to his death.

"It's gonna blow!" Barret called from behind her. "Let's go, Tifa!"

Tifa shook her head, her dark hair falling around her face. "Barret!" she said pleadingly. "Can't you do something?"

Slowly Barret shook his head.

"Not a damn thing."

Tifa's eyes filled up and she turned back to Cloud. He was still dangling, trying hard not to lose his grip on the pipe. But he was failing fast, and his grip was slowly beginning to slacken.

"Cloud!" Tifa called down to him. "Please don't die! You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you!"

Cloud didn't look up from the pipe. He was more focused on trying to maintain his grip on the pipe. "I know, Tifa..." was his only reply.

Tifa's eyes filled once more.

"Hey, you gonna be awright?" Barret shouted down over the edge.

"......" Cloud muttered silently. He did want to curse at Barret at that moment, but he managed to control himself. "You worry about yourselves. I'm all right, but take care of Tifa!"

"...Alright," said Barret. "Sorry 'bout all this."

"Stop talkin' like this is the end!" Cloud snapped.

Barret nodded. "Alright, then, later."

At that very moment a loud explosion occurred from deep within the reactor, and the whole area rumbled violently. Then, like an earthquake, the reactor exploded. The door leading into the reactor burst open and flames erupted from within it, beginning to fill the corridor. The force of the explosion shook the broken bridge, and Cloud finally lost his battle to keep his hold and began to fall down away from Tifa, who cried out in dismay as she watched Cloud fall away from her.

Barret reached out and grabbed hold of Tifa roughly, beginning to drag the girl away from the bridge before the flames could reach them. Tifa struggled hard and continued to reach for Cloud, but there was nothing she could do as Barret dragged her forcefully away, leaving Cloud to fall into the murky clouds of the slums below, where he disappeared from view completely.