Author's Note:

Still don't own FF, despite how much merchandise I've bought. Note to self: Find site selling plushie Tonberry. Final Trinity is coming. Be sure to check the site out. We'll be putting up a message board/guest book dealie soon so you can leave comments.

Chapter Fifty Five

Missing Score

Rocks tumbled all about the cavern, and Barret was forced to discard his hammer and pick up Marlene, racing out of the tunnel as he did. Soon it would all collapse on top of him, and if he wasn't fast enough, he and his baby girl would be joining Dio's fate. So he ran. If not for his sake, then for his daughter's. His legs pumped until finally, the cave collapsed behind him, and the rumbling stopped. Bringing himself to a halt, Barret set his girl down and quickly removed the gag and binds on her.

"Daddy!" she wailed.

"It's okay, hun," he said, holding her close and trying to soothe her. Dio might have had something of a change of heart before he died, but he still had taken his girl and put her in danger. For that, Barret would never forgive him.

Outside, Red XIII howled again, and Barret trembled. Cosmo Canyon was being overrun. He had to get out there and help, but if he did, he'd be bringing his girl out into danger with him.

"Daddy needs your help," Barret said. "Outside, there are those bad white men. Now, I can leave you here, or take you with me and try to get you to safety. If you stay here, they might not find you. But there's a good chance. So what do you want to do, Marlene?"

The girl's eyes widened as she realized that for the first time, her dad didn't know what to do. This stalwart defender was racked with indecision. And Barret felt awful for it.

"I want to be with you, Daddy."

The big man nodded and gathered the girl in his arms and hugged her close. "I love you, Marlene."

"I love you, too, Daddy."

Barret let her go and then said, "Okay, girl. You gotta get on my back. There's gonna be some fightin' outside, so I want you to close your eyes. You got that?"

"Yes, Daddy."

The little girl walked around him and hopped onto her adoptive father's back, and Barret smiled as he drew the two pick-axes at his sides. What a sight he would be. Charging into battle with a four-year-old girl on his back, swinging around two mattocks that were never meant for warfare.

He tried not to think about it. Just kept his breath level, and focused himself. He'd been in so many battles, sometimes, he just wondered when it would all end. If it wasn't the damn Shinra, it was Sephiroth. If it wasn't Sephiroth, it was Jenova. If it wasn't Jenova, it was the Weapons. And if it wasn't the damn Weapons, it was the godamn Tali Hishna.

His hands began to hurt with how tightly he gripped his weapons. Now. Now was the time he'd run out. With a roar, he charged out of the cave and into the dusk, expecting to join forces with a decimated army.

And instead he saw only one large bulk of white and grey forms, all milling about, picking over dead bodies. He didn't even weight the consequences of his actions, or think about what to do. He simply leapt down the stairs and into the fight, mattocks swinging. He landed into a crowd of Tali Hishna, and their shock was so complete that five were just piles of dust before they even realized what was happening. Barret moved like a whirlwind, hacking away at his opponents, driving them back. He made sure to keep his back to a wall at all times, so the enemy would never get a chance to strike at Marlene. He didn't know what to do, but just kept fighting on, knowing it was his only chance at survival.

And then Vincent was beside him, swinging the overly long blade of Masamune into the enemy, hacking away at the Tali Hishna.

"Give me Marlene!" Vincent yelled.

Barret moved from the wall, and the ex-Turk was instantly there, scooping the girl into his arms.

"I'll take her to the library! That's where the survivors are! I'll come back for you once I get her there!"

Barret glanced at Vincent, and saw the truth of the matter in the Turk's eyes, the same truth he knew was in his own heart. There were too many Tali Hishna, and Barret was too heavy to be picked up and flown to the library. He was on his own. He just nodded, though, and yelled, "Go! Jes' take care of my girl and go!"

Vincent gave the closest thing to a sympathetic look that he could and flew off, Marlene in one hand, Masamune in the other. Blood splattered against Barret's face as he fought, and even as it hit him, it turned to ash. That's all the Tali Hishna were, and all they would ever contribute. Ash. Nothing but ash.

No longer having to worry about Marlene, Barret moved from the wall and into the enemy, hacking at them with abandon.

"If I'm goin' down, damn you, I'm talking as many of you as I can with me!"

The Tali Hishna possessed raw zeal and sheer numbers, but Barret had a concentrated battle fury that he'd learned to control fighting Shinra, natural talent, and a fit body from years working in coal mines and drilling himself to become a better fighter. He would not die easily.

"Barret!" came a call, and the man spared a glance in its direction, and received a nasty cut on one arm as he gaped. Coming from the east was a burning light in the sky, a massive bird that bespoke flames and fury, and on its back was Cloud. Phoenix flew in low, spread its wings, and unleashed an unearthly fire. Tali Hishna screamed in pain as the summoned creature burned them away. Barret was forced to close his eyes and swing blindly as the fire hit.

When it died down, he opened them again, and all about was an open space where Tali Hishna once were. Phoenix was gone, disappeared into whatever place summoned monsters lived, and now on the ground, running towards him was Cloud.

"Catch!" Cloud said, throwing a large, burlap sack to him. Barret caught it immediately, dropping his mattocks and a smile spreading over his face. Even as he pulled Missing Score, his gun-arm, from the bag, Cloud was already keeping the enemy at bay with large sword strokes. The polished black weapon looked beautiful to Barret, more beautiful than anything he'd seen in years, save Marlene of course, and he hurriedly shuffled the load around, detached his artificial hand, tossed it aside along with the bag which still had something in it, and snapped the gun-arm into place.

"Okay, you jackasses!" Barret shouted. "Let's play!"

Not even bothering to take careful aim, Barret fired indiscriminately into the army of enemies, blasting away portions of its with a weapon that these primitive fighters could never hope to comprehend.

And then once more Vincent was there, Masamune surgically removing any of the enemy that got away from Barret's gun-arm. Between the three of them, nothing could hope to survive that dreadful confrontation.

And nothing did.

Even as the Tali Hishna began to flee, once more Red XIII erupted from the library, a small force behind him. They harried the enemy and chased them from Cosmo Canyon once more, but even as the White Scourge left, there was a feeling of hopelessness. No one raised the victory cry. No one cheered at the enemy's demise.

All that had been left behind was the taste of ashes.