Chapter 34: New heights.
He could hear her slow, steady breaths. He knew she was asleep. Vincent glanced at the slip of a girl that had proven herself a very powerful fighter. The corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly at the sight of her. Arms and legs sprawled over the cots edges; drool leaking out the corner of her mouth. "Sleep well Shin obi."
Vincent shifted his gaze to his claw; he could still faintly feel her warmth on it. She had held it in her hand, without flinching or fear, and then had leaned her head on his shoulder. "Why?" He asked the tarnished gold appendage. "Why would she?" Vincent continued to ponder the question until morning began to fight away the night.
Yuffie felt herself being shaken, "Wake up." Someone called to her. Yuffie pushed away the hands and rolled over.
"5 more minutes." She mumbled.
"RISE AND SHINE YUFFIE!" Cait Sith yelled through his megaphone.
Yuffie jumped a foot in the air, but sadly didn't land back on the cot. THUD Yuffie landed hard on the floor. "What'd ya do that for!" Yuffie growled at the dancing toy.
"Its time to go save our friends!" Cait Sith held out a pair of brown pants and matching vest, with oversized glasses balanced on top.
Yuffie looked at the offerings, "What are these for?"
"Disguises of course." Cait Sith sighed as he explained.
"Do I have to wear this thing Vinnie?" Yuffie looked past the large toy, she jumped back into her fighting stance when she saw a Shinra Soldier standing behind it. "Look out! Shinra found us!" Cait Sith gave her a confused look.
"Calm yourself Yuffie." The Shinra soldier spoke.
"Vinnie?" Yuffie stared at him, the heavy gloves hid his claw and the mask kept his red eyes hidden. "Is that you!"
Vincent nodded, "Put on the clothes Yuffie, we have to hurry." Yuffie stared at him for a moment more before taking the clothes and disappearing into the bathroom.
After a few minutes the new Yuffie appeared, the glasses distorted her grey eyes and the baggy clothes hid her lithe frame. "What exactly am I supposed to be?" She glared at the chuckling cat.
"A reporter, like me." Cait sith pulled on an oversized shirt that left the cat's head above the collar. It was Yuffie's turn to laugh. "I never said it was perfect." The cat glowered at her. "Lets just go, we don't want to be late."
As they made their way through the back alleys Cait Sith explained his plan. "They want to use the gas chamber to kill them. But they also want to make it public so they are going to have a press conference before they do. That's our chance." Cait Sith checked around a corner before continuing. "Yuffie and I will be the distractions. I'll get Scarlet's attention; Yuffie will steal the chamber key from Scarlet then get the key to Vincent. Vincent will get the key to Tifa or Barret, whichever is put into the chamber first. The key should unlock their shackles and deactivate the gas device." Cait Sith stopped and looked back at them, "With me so far?"
Yuffie nodded while Vincent looked away. "What's wrong Vinnie?"
"I was given this uniform to replace one of the guards..." Vincent left his sentence hanging.
Cait Sith turned to Vincent, a very serious look written across the cat's face, "Do what you must to the guard Vincent, we can't have him reappearing. I'm sorry," Cait Sith sighed deeply, "You'll have to do what you were trained to do as a Turk." Yuffie shuttered at that thought.
"Fine." Vincent answered. "The guard I replace will not reappear."
The three continued in silence until they reached the streets outside the Shinra barracks. "The soldiers assigned to escort Tifa and Barret to the chamber are #354, #682, and #923." Cait Sith motioned towards the door, "They should be in there."
"Doesn't Shinra even use their names?" Yuffie asked shocked.
Cait Sith shook his head, "No, if they use their names they become someone. As long as they are only known as numbers it's easy to send them to their deaths. At least that's how it's supposed to work." The cat gave a heavy sigh that felt, to Yuffie, to come from the person controlling the toy. "Ok Vincent, after you deliver the key to them, go to the airport." Vincent tilted his head slightly in question, "Just trust me." Cait Sith begged. Vincent looked over the pleading animal for a moment before nodding his head in agreement.
Vincent quickly entered the barracks as the other two walked quickly towards the conference room. 'I can't believe Vincent is trusting Cait so much, he's a Shinra spy!' Yuffie glanced back towards the door Vincent disappeared into. 'But if he's willing to trust him..."
Vincent walked down the halls of the barracks; the Shinra soldier's paid him no mind. He quickly made his way past the series of doors; each listed what locker numbers lay within. Vincent glanced inside the one that listed #350-#400, but there were too many soldiers already within. Vincent moved onto #650-#700, but was forced to move on again because of the soldiers. '#900-#950, there is no other.' Vincent pushed open the door and entered.
"I hate being #923!" A lone soldier shouted to what he thought was an empty room, "Why did I have survive when everyone else died! #$ that Zolom!" The soldier pounded his fist into his locker, "#$ it to #$((!" Vincent looked around the room; all the other lockers hung open, empty. Vincent walked slowly to the window at the end of the empty room; only the cliffs of Junon lay out the window. "Hey?" The soldier finally noticed Vincent, "What are you doing here? They assign you into this 50?"
Vincent opened the window then turned to regard his target. "No." He said coldly, "I have come for you."
"Wha?" The soldier was stunned, but before he could react further Vincent had lifted him up against the lockers. The soldier shook with fear in Vincent's grasp.
"Who are you?" Vincent asked.
"I'm... (gulp) #923." The soldier's voice wavered.
"No," Vincent shook his head and pulled the pin off the soldiers chest that read #923, "Who are you, not this," Vincent held the pin up, "Who are you?"
"My name is Aleks." The soldiers voice leveled, as if saying his own name gave him some sort of courage.
"Aleks..." Vincent repeated the name, "Know this Aleks. I will remember your name until the day I share your fate."
"What fate?" Aleks asked, his voice started to shake again.
"Death." Vincent answered before he snapped Aleks's neck and threw the limp body out the window. Vincent watched the body disappear into the sea below, "Aleks..." Vincent attached the #923 pin to his uniform and turned away from the window. Under the mask his face was contorted with strain, the demons had begun to fight against his mental barriers with renewed vigor. 'Begone demons!' He ordered them but that only made them fight harder.
"#923!" a soldier burst into the room, "Hurry up! Follow me! They want us to bring up the prisoners now!" Vincent nodded and followed the soldier out of the now completely empty locker room.
Yuffie shuddered suddenly. 'What was that?' She quickly pushed the feeling away and concentrated on her job. Cait Sith had already started to bombard Scarlet with dozens of questions. Yuffie carefully got closer to her until she was able to 'borrow' Scarlet's keys. 'Now to wait for Vinnie.'
"Here are the prisoners now!" Scarlet pushed the reporters away and moved towards the podium at the front of the room. Barret and Tifa were escorted roughly to a large steel door near the podium while Scarlet smirked. "This is AVALANCHE! The terrorist group responsible for several bombings in Midgar!"
"We were jus' tryin' ta save-OOOF!" A guard slugging him in the gut silenced Barret. "#$ Shinra!" Barret wheezed.
"What was that you were saying?" Yuffie pushed toward Barret, "Could you repeat that last statement please?" Barret only continued try to catch his breath. "How about you ma'am?" Yuffie turned to Tifa, "Anything to say?"
"Well.. I.. uh.." Tifa could only stutter as the spotlight was forced on her.
'Which one is Vincent?' Yuffie tried to tell which one of the guards was their friend and which was the foe. She suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, when she turned her head she found a Shinra guard staring at her intently. "What about you sir? What's a Shinra Soldier's opinion on this subject?" Yuffie gripped the keys tightly, 'This has to be Vinnie.'
"Take your seat!" Scarlet screamed, "Questions after I finish! Guard! Escort that reporter to her seat!" The guard that had been staring at Yuffie grabbed her hands and pulled her back towards her seat. As Yuffie sat down she pushed the keys into the guards hand, when she felt the key hit metal she was sure it was Vincent. Vincent took the keys and began walking back towards Tifa and Barret. "Now, go check the chamber to make sure its ready." Scarlet ordered him. Vincent quickly disappeared into the chamber.
'Which key?' Vincent quickly locked one of the manacles closed and tried the first key, nothing happened. He tried the second and was rewarded with a small click. Vincent left the chamber and returned to Scarlet's side as she was finishing her speech on how AVALANCHE was the cause of all the world's current problems.
"And so we will now punish the ones who caused this catastrophe!" Scarlet turned towards the bound Tifa and Barret. "Tifa Lockheart and Barret Wallace!" A small murmur went through the crowd as to how these two had summoned Meteor but was silence by Scarlet's icy glare. "Guard!" Scarlet pointed a Vincent, "Follow me and bring the woman!" Her words were heavily tainted with enjoyment.
Vincent gave Tifa a small push and she began walking without complaint, although Barret began protesting the butt of another soldiers gun silenced him. Tifa followed Scarlet in the death chamber and sat in the chair without resistance. Vincent could hardly believe what was happening, Tifa had given up.
"Now you'll pay and Shinra will gain even more power." Scarlet jeered at Tifa but her taunts fell on deaf ears. SMACK Tifa's head bounced to the side after Scarlet's outburst. "Arrogant B#$!" Scarlet screamed before stepping away from the chair, "Lock the shackles!" she ordered Vincent.
As Vincent was following her order he leaned in close to Tifa, "Do not abandon hope." He whispered. Tifa's eyes widened in surprise but she didn't raise her head.
"Let's go!" Scarlet snapped, "Hurry up! I want to hear her scream." Vincent didn't dare risk slipping Tifa the key with Scarlet's sick stare locked on them. He stood and carefully let the key slip out of his hand, making sure it hit his boot before the floor preventing almost any sound. "And just so you know, the switch to save your own life is just on the wall there. I'm sure you can reach it if you try! Kya ha ha!" Scarlet was too busy gloating to notice the small clink the key made and they exited the room, securely locking it behind them. "Now turn on the gas." Scarlet ordered, hatred dripping from her words.
Everyone outside the room held their breath as they watched Tifa struggle to get something off the floor. "What is she doing?" Scarlet shouted, she searched her pockets quickly, and then turned to Vincent in fury. "YOU! You stole my key!" Scarlet went as red as her name. As Scarlet charged Vincent, Cait Sith jumped in front of her spraying her with a green mist. Scarlet sneezed once before collapsing to the floor.
"Nap time." Cait Sith laughed, before rushing over and untying Barret, handing him a fresh clip for his gun arm.
Barret immediately charged to the gas chamber door. "Tifa!" he shouted as he struggled with the door.
"Barret, I'm ok." Tifa's voice came from the other side, "The gas is off."
Barret leaned against the door in relief before beginning to pull at it again. "Take cover!" He shouted before jumping back and sending a hail of bullets into the door, to his disbelief they all ricocheted off without doing any real damage.
Barret was about to launch another round when Vincent stepped in front of him. Barret was about to yell at the other gunman when he noticed Vincent's eyes were looking past him. When Barret followed Vincent's gaze his eyes widened. Yuffie knelt on the ground holding her right shoulder tightly, blood oozed between her fingers.
"#$!" Barret shouted as he lowered his gun, before he could say anything more klaxons began blaring. Barret looked around, "Wha's goen on!" he shouted.
Attention all of Junon! Weapon sited! Citizens return to you homes! Soldiers to your posts! Move! Move! Move!- a very loud announcement answered Barret's question.
"We'll have to move now!" Cait Sith shouted over the alarms.
"But Tifa!" Barret began but was interrupted by Cait Sith.
"We'll get her, we just have to go another way." Cait Sith began bouncing out of the room.
"#$!" Barret shouted, "Hold on Tifa! We'll git ya!" before he followed the stuffed cat out of the room.
Vincent walked over to Yuffie but she didn't look up. In a quick movement he scooped the small ninja up and quickly followed the others. Yuffie looked up at him with surprise but it was quickly replaced by gratitude as she let herself be carried. As Vincent left the pressroom he was greeted by odd looks from Barret and Cait Sith but ignored them. SLAM! They all turned in surprise as the door behind them shut tightly.
"Now you'll never be able to save her!" a still drowsy sounding Scarlet laughed.
Barret was about to go into a rage when Cait Sith pulled him forward, "Hurry up Barret follow me! We'll get to Tifa another way!" Cait Sith bounced quickly down the corridor. Barret glanced at the door before following, with Vincent close behind. Suddenly the entire fortress shook as a massive explosion was heard. "Hurry! The Weapon must be close that was the main cannon!"
When they reached the outer paths of Junon, Barret looked around in shock. The once bustling city had become a fortress of destruction. All the buildings had become covered in thick plates of steel, while the streets had moved to reveal large turrets. Barret shook off the shock and continued to follow the others as the battle between Weapon and Junon continued. The Weapon slowly emerged from beneath the ocean, sheets of water glistened off its armored exterior. It held a resemblance to a human form but looked more as the knights of old in their plates of armor. It roared in fury and began breathing streams of energy into the city, leaving great gashes in the fortress walls.
Junon's soldiers countered by blasting at the creature with rocket launchers and turret blasts, but the weapon just continued its onslaught unfazed by the barrage. "-Main cannon will be ready to fire in 5 minutes! Continue fighting!-" the same voice rang out over the intercom.
"Hurry we're almost there!" Cait Sith urged as he pushed through a door. Barret and Vincent followed close behind and found themselves at the airport, a dead-end.
"Why ta $ did ya bring us 'ere for!" Barret shouted at the stuffed animal, "We're trapped 'ere! We can't make it ta the outside from 'ere!"
Cait Sith turned and gave Barret a big grin, "Who said we were going outside?"
"What do I do?" Tifa asked the cold steel door.
"Die!" Scarlet cackled. Suddenly the entire room shook as one of the Weapons blasts struck the room, tearing a gaping hole in the wall. Tifa didn't hesitate and she quickly headed for the hole. Before she could exit it the entire fortress shook a second time as the main cannon roared to life. The Weapon was mere feet from the end of the mammoth barrel and took the full blast directly to its head. There was nothing remaining of the Weapon's head or shoulders after the smoke cleared. Somehow the creature let out a moan before it disappeared beneath the ocean's waves, defeated.
Tifa didn't know what had happened but she wasn't in a state to care much, she was climbing down the outside of Junon fortress, with Scarlet in hot pursuit. Tifa jumped to a ledge below her and began to run, only to soon realize she was at the very tip of the Junon cannon, trapped.
"Kya ha ha ha!" Scarlet laughed as she walked up to the cornered fighter. "I thought the gas chamber would be fun but I guess hearing you scream as you fall will be just as good." Scarlet continued her laughing, not noticing Tifa's body tensing up. SMACK! Scarlet did a complete spin in the air before landing hard on the giant cannon.
"That's for earlier!" Tifa shouted at the stunned Shinra executive. The roar of engines caught both their attentions. Tifa turned around to see the Highwind rising from below the cannons edge and to her even greater surprise Barret throwing a rope to her from its deck.
"Tifa! JUMP!" Barret shouted to her. Tifa did as she was told and jumped for the rope stretching out to reach it for all her worth, she felt her fingers touch it before it swung out of reach. Gravity took effect and pulled her down towards the ocean, just before she was beyond help the rope caught the wind and was pulled within her reach. Tifa grabbed it for dear life and felt her shoulders screech in complaint from the sudden stop. Barret quickly pulled her up to the deck as the Highwind pulled away from Junon.
"Thank you." Tifa gave Barret a hug so hard the big man had to remind her he needed to breath. "Where are the others?" Barret could only grin as he led her to the bridge. When Tifa entered she was overjoyed to see Cid, Nanaki, and Cait Sith looking out the Highwind's front window. "I'm so happy to see you all!" she shouted as she ran towards them giving them each their own hug. "But where are Vincent and Yuffie?"
"In the infirmary." Barret answered, "Vincent is treating Yuffie. When I was blastin at the door a bullet bounced off and hit her." Barret said with sadness in his voice.
"I better go check on her." Tifa said before running out of the bridge.
"Wait Tifa," Nanaki called, "I'll show you the way." He said before bounding after her.
"Ya think she'll be ok?" Barret asked.
Cid looked up from the wheel, "Who? The brat? Tifa? Yeah they'll be fine."
Barret looked to Cid in surprise, "Ya sure?"
"I #$() don't know!" Cid shouted back but his exterior softened quickly, "But I have to hope they will." The gruff pilot admitted.
"OW!" Yuffie cried out.
Vincent looked up from her shoulder, "Please hold still, the bullet needs to be removed." He said coldly before returning his attention to retrieving the bullet.
"Ow ow ow!" Yuffie continued to shout but held still. "This really hurts!"
CLINCK. Vincent deposited the bullet into the trash before concentrating on the cure materia in his hand. With a small breath a sparkling mist descended on Yuffie and the wound in her arm sealed itself, leaving only blood and a thin white scar. "Lay down, you'll need sleep to recover." Vincent said before turning to leave. He suddenly felt a hand on his claw.
"Um.. Vinnie?" Yuffie stuttered, "Thanks... for everything."
"You are welcome Yuffie." Vincent answered quietly. He couldn't see because he hadn't turned back but Yuffie was blushing deeply.
"Well I'll be." Tifa said as she carefully tiptoed away from the door.
"It is quite intriguing isn't it?" Nanaki also carefully padded away from the door. "Vincent only seems to be somewhat normal when Yuffie is near."
Tifa grinned broadly but it soon faded, "Its too bad he doesn't even notice what she's feeling."
"Indeed you humans become so complicated when it comes to love." Nanaki grinned before disappearing down the hallway.
Tifa came to a dead stop at that, "What's that supposed to mean?" she called before chasing after the fire-beast. The Highwind soared over the ocean, leading its occupants to new heights.