Final Fantasy 7

Emerald Princess of Vernea

Chapter Twenty-Four

While Aeris and her group were busy making quick work of the threatening robot that had followed them into the lifts to stop them escaping, Cloud was still up on the topmost floor of the Shinra Headquarters. Rufus was still in front of him, looking back at Cloud with a slightly stern expression on his face. He didn't seem worried that the others had made their escape, or threatened by Cloud in any way. His helicopter was still on the helipad beside them both with its large propellers still turning round and round, sending a fairly strong gust of wind over the two men. Clearly Rufus wasn't planning on stopping for very long.

"Why do you want to fight me?" Rufus asked him.

Cloud raised a hand and pointed straight at Rufus, a stern and angry expression burning in his eyes. "You seek the Promised Land and Sephiroth," he replied plainly.

"Hm, exactly," said Rufus, nodding his head. He walked slowly across the balcony towards Cloud, and stopped in front of him. "Mm? Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?"

Cloud hesitated for a moment before answering. "...A lot has happened," he answered finally, not prepared to give him any more than that. "Anyway, I can't let either you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land!"

"I see," Rufus said, looking down at the ground as though in regret. "I guess that means we won't become friends."

He very suddenly whipped open the side of his white coat and pulled out a shotgun that he had kept hidden from view there, and aimed it straight at Cloud's head. Luckily Cloud was prepared and drew his sword at the exact same time, and managed to whip it up underneath the gun and force it sharply upwards just as Rufus fired. The bullet that was fired skimmed past Cloud's head and hit the wall of the Shinra Building before rebounding. Cloud then pushed forward strongly with his sword, sending Rufus staggering back and falling to the floor.

Rufus looked up from the floor and saw Cloud advancing towards him with his sword high, ready to strike. As Cloud brought down his sword with the intention of striking Rufus while he was down. Seeing the white flash of the blade Rufus raised his gun level in front of his face and caught the blade as it descended, blocking it at only an inch from his face. For a moment there was a stalemate as Cloud pushed down on his sword and Rufus pushing back with his gun, wondering which one of them would give way first and surrender.

Neither of them surrendered and the stalemate continued, until Rufus discovered a way to break it and place the odds back in his favour. While Cloud was standing above him Rufus swiped his right leg round to Cloud's right and swiped. Cloud immediately slackened his hold on the blade as he lost his balance and fell face down onto the floor beside Rufus, the blade clattering to the ground beside him.

Rufus stood up and looked down at Cloud with a conceited smile on his face. He looked at the blade lying beside him, and then kicked it across the floor away from him and Cloud. The young ex-SOLDIER was just beginning to climb to his feet, but Rufus didn't want him to get up just yet. He used the flat end of his gun to hit Cloud in the base of his back and Cloud fell back down onto the floor, grunting in pain. Rufus then placed the firing end of the gun on the back of Cloud's head and knelt down beside him, the smile still on his face.

"I won't let anyone stop me from finding the Promised Land," he said menacingly to Cloud while he was pinned to the floor with the gun. "Not you. Not Sephiroth, either. And now I'm going to end this little problem."

He pulled on the trigger.

Cloud closed his eyes and squeezed them shut.

But nothing happened. The gun didn't fire, and Cloud didn't die. Cloud slowly opened his eyes and glanced up. Rufus pulled the trigger again, but still the gun didn't fire. He tried again and even tried again, but the gun had completely jammed itself and couldn't fire at all. Rufus stared blankly at the gun, completely taken aback.

Realising that the gun was no longer able to fire, Cloud took his chance to escape and hurriedly rolled to the side away from Rufus. Rufus snapped out of his moment of indecision and quickly slammed the gun hard into the concrete ground, but missed Cloud completely as he rolled away.

Cloud stopped rolling as he felt himself roll over something hard and cold – the blade of his sword. He rapidly grabbed hold of the handle of his sword and rushed to his feet, not even pausing as he spun round to face Rufus once again, swinging his sword with him to gain some extra momentum as he brought the sword down.

Rufus had been running towards him at that point, ready to use his gun as a striking weapon rather than a gun-weapon, but as he saw Cloud's sword coming down towards him he quickly stepped back. He was only just quick enough, but as the sword came down it brushed by the palm of his hand. The blade sliced into the skin, cutting a fairly deep gash into the middle of his palm, but no blood fell. Rufus immediately retaliated by quickly charging forward and swiping his gun in front of him. The gun struck Cloud's waist, and Cloud cried out before falling to his knees, holding his waist.

Rufus looked down at the small wound in his palm before looking down to Cloud on the floor. A large, superior smile spread across his face as he looked at him. He was impressed by Cloud's ability to wound him, but he was not fazed by it.

At that moment a loud whirring sound came from the side as the helicopter's blades began to spin faster, preparing to take off. Rufus lowered his gun and turned to the helicopter, which was just beginning to rise from the ground and fly towards him. He then turned back to Cloud, and the smile returned to his face.

"Heh, that's all for today," he said.

The new Shinra President then reached up and grabbed the end of the helicopter rails as it hovered over him. The helicopter then began to fly upwards, carrying Rufus up with it. Cloud looked up, his arm shielding his eyes from the wind that was blowing around him, and looked up at Rufus as he waved goodbye with his gun. The helicopter then flew up and away from Midgar. Cloud cursed quietly to himself before standing up, still holding his waist, and ran back inside the Shinra building to make his own escape.

He ran on down to Level 69, and was not surprised to find Tifa there waiting for him. As he ran on down to her a very relieved smile spread across her face. The smile disappeared as she saw the stern and exasperated look on Cloud's face, so she got the impression that the fight hadn't gone as he had hoped.

"Where's Rufus?" she asked.

Cloud shook his head. "I couldn't finish 'em," he replied simply. He rubbed at his waist, still feeling the ache from where the gun had hit him. "Looks like this's gonna get complicated."

Tifa nodded, understanding what he meant. The two then turned and ran through the open door to head down to the lower levels, finally making their own escape from the Shinra Building.


The first of the two lifts came to a stop on the ground floor of the building, and its doors burst open. All at once a pile of charred and smouldering metal tumbled out onto the floor, completely destroyed. With it came the remains of another defence robot, which had also been easily defeated and destroyed by the intruders.

The second lift then slowly landed on the ground floor and the doors calmly slid open, allowing Aeris and her group to step out, and put their weapons back into place now that their battle was over. Once out of the lift they looked around, just in case any Shinra soldiers were waiting for them. There were no soldiers waiting for them – in fact there was no one around at all. It was really no surprise to them that the rest of the Shinra Building had been evacuated considering what had been going on up on the higher floors, but it was a surprise that there were no guards waiting for them.

"I'll go on ahead!" Barret announced to the others.

Aeris and Red XIII watched as Barret ran towards the large double doors that led out of the building – the same doors he wanted to charge through on their way into the building. He couldn't destroy them, but he would now. As he reached the doors and began to open them, the loud, booming sound of gunfire made him jump and step back into the building. Through the glass of the doors he could see a platoon of Shinra soldiers standing outside, with their guns aimed at the doors waiting for the intruders to come out. In retaliation Barret raised his gun-arm and fired, but the bulletproof doors stopped his bullets. He eventually gave up and ran back to Aeris and Rex XIII, who were waiting for him.

"&%(" Barret swore loudly, waving his arms madly. "...Surrounded, huh? If I was alone this wouldn't be a thang but, I gotta reputation to protect."

Aeris stepped forward, placing her hand on her heart. "You all get out while you can," she said to them both regretfully. "It's not you they're after... it's me."

"Yeah, well that ain't happenin'" Barret said to her sternly, turning to her. "You got caught up in this over Marlene. Now, it's my turn to watch out for you!" He turned back towards the door and raised his gun-arm again. He aimed straight for the glass doors where the soldiers were waiting. "Okay, playtime's over for you jackasses..."

Aeris looked at Barret in surprise. She had really only just met Barret, and already he was laying his life on the line for her own safety. Her eyes widened as they filled with tears and her heart pounded inside her, awed by his fearlessness. She put her hands together on her chest, a smile on her face.

"...Thank you, Mr. Barret!" she exclaimed, truly grateful.

Barret's head snapped round sharply to look at her, his eyes angry once again. "Who you callin' Mr. Barret?" he demanded. "That don't sound right!"

"Well then..." Red XIII interrupted suddenly, speaking for the first time in a while. He shook his head pitifully at the two. "If you are through talking may I suggest that we think of a way to get out of here?"

"Huh?" Barret asked. He scratched his head in bewilderment, before he finally remembered that their only exit was heavily guarded with soldiers and guns. He blushed a little. "Oh, oh yeah..." he said finally. He then looked at Red XIII. "You a cold man. Just like someone else 'round here I know."

Slowly Red XIII looked at Barret and bared his sharp teeth. "Did you say something?" he asked of Barret.

"Notta thing," Barret answered quickly, trying to cover his tracks. He then quickly changed the subject before Red XIII could speak again. "So what're we gonna do?" he asked.

"Barret!"

Barret, Aeris and Red XIII all turned towards one of the twin set of stairs leading up to the first floor. They saw Tifa at the top of those stairs beginning to run down to them, but to their utmost surprise they saw that Cloud was not with her, and she was running down alone.

"Tifa!" Barret exclaimed, staring at Tifa as she ran down to them. "Where's Cloud?"

Tifa didn't answer the question, and as she reached the last few steps she jumped down to the ground floor. She ignored Barret and his group for the moment and looked around the area, seeming to be looking for something. She finally seemed to find it, for she suddenly began to run towards the other set of stairs at the other end of the ground floor, away from Barret's group. The young woman came to a stop beside the stairs and seemed to glance briefly behind it, before turning back to Barret and signalling for them to come over to her.

"Everyone, over here!" she called to them, continuing to wave at them.

Barret turned and shared a confused glance with Aeris and Red XIII, wondering what Tifa was going on about. She had seemed fairly insistent on staying behind to wait for Cloud, so it seemed completely strange that she should come running back to them without him.

"Huh?" Barret asked, scratching his head. "What's up? Where's Cloud?"

Tifa shook her head, exasperated. "I'll tell you later!" she called to them. "Hurry! Hurry!!"

Without wasting any more time, Tifa turned and ran behind the stairs towards the back of the Shinra Building, where the car park was lying hidden. It was very quiet in this area of the Shinra Building, and their footsteps echoed as they walked quickly through to find a car they could use to escape. It was also very dark, with the only strong form of light coming from the tip of Red XIII's tail, which seemed to have its own strange glow.

The ghostly silence was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a revving engine from the floor above them, followed by the sound of a heavy thudding noise as something began to drive down the stairs directly above them towards the ground floor. This of course answered the question that Tifa didn't have the time to answer.

It was Cloud that was coming down the stairs at that moment, driving down on the back of a motorbike that he had stolen from the racks on the first floor. However instead of waiting for the lifts to take him and the bike down, he had decided to take the shortcut and ride straight down the stairs on the bike. He grasped onto the handles and revved the engine, looking down towards the ground floor.

Tifa finally saw what she was looking for and stopped running, looking to the right. In the middle of the car park there was a small truck with an open back, which looked as though it had been left unlocked. She signalled to the others standing behind her, before she ran towards the truck.

At the same time Cloud had just reached the bottom of the stairs and pulled on the handles of the bike, swerving it sharply to the right as he headed towards Tifa and her group as they opened the truck and began to pile in. Aeris climbed into the seat beside the driver's seat, while Barret jumped into the back of the truck. Tifa turned as Cloud drove up and came to a stop for a few moments behind them before he drove off, leaving Tifa to jump into the driver's seat of the truck and revved the engine. The truck began to move, and Red XIII had to quickly jump in before the truck sped off without him.

Cloud took charge in leading the truck out into the main hall of the ground floor, before making a sharp turn and heading back up the stairs towards the first floor. It was far too dangerous to simply drive out of the main doors for they would have been shot within moments of making it outside. That left them with only one option – to take the soldiers by surprise.

Both Tifa and Cloud pushed the engines to the max as they powered their way back up the stairs towards the first floor. As they reached the floor above the two vehicles swerved around and came to a final stop facing the back wall of the Shinra Building, which was entirely made of glass. Through it they could see the outside, and the long road that ran from the Shinra building and down by the edge of the Sector 5 plate. It was one of the only single roads that ran all the way down to the outer edge of Midgar, and this was the route they would need to take to escape safely from Shinra.

Tifa and Aeris both turned and looked over at Cloud, who was slightly ahead of them on the motorbike. Cloud glanced back at them and nodded slightly, before turning back towards the glass window and the world beyond. Then he kicked up the brakes of the motorbike and drove forward towards the window blocking their way out.

Outside Shinra soldiers heavily guarded the Shinra Building on all sides. They were waiting anxiously for the rebels inside to come out and either be shot or surrender peacefully, although the more likely result was that they would be shot the moment they showed their faces.

So with all the heavy guarding they were doing on the outside, it came as a complete surprise as a loud crash came from above them and a shower of glass came tumbling down towards them. As they looked up they could only get a quick glimpse of a bike flying out of the first floor window and over their heads. It was followed closely by a truck riding out of the window, and the soldiers could only make it out of the way in time before the car landed on the ground with a heavy thud and began to drive off once again, following the bike down the road at top speed.

With the soldiers in complete disarray over being outsmarted like that, Cloud and his group took their chance to escape and pushed their escape vehicles as hard as they could. Cloud pressed down on the accelerator of the bike and made it go faster down the road, the tyres screeching as they moved. Behind him Tifa pushed down on the car's controls and followed Cloud, driving expertly down the road while Barret and Red XIII kept an eye on things at the back.

It didn't take the Shinra soldiers too long to sort themselves out, and pretty soon they were heading down the road after them on their own bikes, and were already catching up with them.

Seeing that the Shinra soldiers were catching up to them, Barret stood up in the back of the car and took aim at the soldiers that were approaching. He then let loose a string of bullets onto the advancing soldiers. Since he was firing from a moving vehicle many of his bullets missed their targets and instead skimmed the road at the foot of the motorbikes, creating a line of fire and light around them. The bullets that did hit their target recoiled on the surface of the bikes or hit the soldiers themselves, sending them flying back away from them. Yet there were many more soldiers coming after them, and Barret couldn't stop them all.

"Yo, Cloud!" Barret called, turning to the front of the car. "There's more of them Shinra soldiers comin'!"

Cloud turned his head back and looked behind him. He could see what Barret meant – there were at least a dozen Shinra soldiers heading their way. He expected that, for the Shinra weren't about to let them go so easily. Being careful not to let himself fall he quickly turned around on the bike and began to head back.

"Allow me to help," said Red XIII.

As Cloud passed by on the bike, Red XIII got up and jumped from the back of the car and landed on Cloud's bike, digging his claws firmly into the ridges to keep his balance steady. Cloud then drove forward towards the Shinra soldiers, with Red XIII riding on the back.

The Shinra soldiers stared through their helmets as they saw the opposing bike approaching them. They then jumped violently as they realised what was happening, but by then it was too late.

Red XIII stood up on the back of the bike; his front paws on Cloud's shoulders for support, and bared his teeth as he focused on his target. Suddenly he lifted his head up high and howled loudly, and at the same time a single ball of Materia that was hidden behind the clip on his head began to glow. A ball of fire exploded around the motorbike closest to them, and it swerved to the side. It struck the side of another motorbike that was travelling alongside it, and both of the motorbikes skidded across the road and tumbled over, their drivers falling from their seats.

It was then that Red XIII took his chance and dived from the back of Cloud's bike and onto the road. There he charged forward and jumped up onto the next bike and began to attack the Shinra soldier with his teeth and claws.

While he was busy, Cloud drove on. He reached back with one hand and drew his sword from behind him. Once ready he held it out level at his side, and then pushed as much power as he could into the bike's engine. He zipped forward down the road, and the Shinra soldiers did not have enough time to move aside out of the way. Cloud sped past on his bike, and soldier after soldier were thrown from their bikes as the sword slashed past them, knocking them off to the ground.

All the while Barret maintained his position on the back of the truck, firing upon the soldiers that Cloud and Red XIII couldn't get to. It was difficult to aim with the truck constantly moving away, but he managed to get a fair number of soldiers without harming Red XIII as he jumped from bike to bike, on the constant attack.

Only one Shinra soldier managed to make it past the blockade of fangs and bullets, and drove up alongside the truck until he was level with the driver's seat where Tifa was driving. He then proceeded to slam the bike into the side of the truck, trying to force Tifa off the road. With each slam the truck moved further to the side, towards the deep gauge that ran between the plates. Tifa kept her hands firmly on the steering wheel, trying her hardest to keep the truck on the road.

"Lean back!" Aeris said suddenly beside her.

Tifa did as she was told and leaned back in her seat. Aeris pulled out her staff and thrust it through the open window. The staff broke through the soldier's helmet and prevented the soldier from getting any closer. She then pulled out the staff and hit the soldier around the head. The blow stunned the soldier just enough to make him fall back away from the car, where Barret finished the job and fired his gun at him.

After that the soldiers suddenly began to fall away, giving the group a clear run on. Red XIII jumped back onto Cloud's back as he swerved round and headed back up after the truck.

They soon found out the reason for the soldiers pulling back. Coming down the road after them was another of Shinra's large defence robots – much fiercer and more equipped than any robot they had seen before. This robot was equipped with all kinds of machinery, including a very fearsome flamethrower that they could just about see beneath its body. It was also able to transform and change its shape to reveal this flamethrower, as well as its other weapons.

Tifa glanced over at the wing mirror and spotted the large robot coming rapidly down the road after them, coming close behind Red XIII and Cloud. For a brief moment the robot passed Cloud and Red XIII, but Cloud pushed his vehicle harder and quickly overtook it once again, driving fast to catch up with the truck as it passed the final curve towards the end of the road, which was a dead-end. With nowhere else to turn, Cloud turned the bike sharply and skidded to a stop at the end, right beside the truck. He dismounted along with Red XIII and turned back towards the road.

The robot passed the final curve and reached the final stretch of the road. As it turned it was met by Cloud's group standing in a line at the end of the road in front of their vehicles, their weapons in hand, Materia glowing. The robot raised its body up, the majority of its wheels pulling up behind it, and ignited its flamethrower.

It never had a chance to use its main weapon. As it approached Cloud, Tifa, Aeris and Red XIII all unleashed the power of their Materia, showering the robot in thick clouds of ice, fire and lightning. With each blast the robot jumped and shuddered, rising at least an inch off the ground with each attack. Many of the robot's parts flew off into the air, but still the robot approached, a number of fires spreading on its metal body.

Barret ended the job once again with his gun. Large electric sparks began to crackle and flicker as the bullets pierced the robot's wiring, until it became alive with electricity. With a final choke the robot came to a complete stop just a few metres away. It then exploded, and the sky became alive with fire and smoke, while Cloud and his group lowered their weapons and watched as the robot burned.