11

The Great One

Jasper could sense that The Indigo Children had stopped in the western mountains near Mt Corel, they had set off an hour ago, the highwind was large enough to fit everyone so they had decided it was best to leave the other Shinra plane on the island. Jasper suggested they keep their presence unknown to the Children so they decided on the highwind as the best transport to do that. Cid's co-pilot had stuck around and was happy to pilot them there.

"I'm lucky I'm powerful really, I can block them off so they can't sense me. Jennin's the one nearest to having as much power as me, but her mind feels occupied and weighed down right now. She hasn't noticed me following." He explained to Barret, who it seemed he clung to the most, perhaps it was Barret's fatherly outlook from bringing Marlene up that made Jasper go to Barret with all his problems, information and questions. This suited Reno down to the ground, it meant he didn't have to do anything. He just sat in a sulk on the same chair he had sat on during the journey to Mideel. Elena thought Reno's son was twice as mature as his father.

Yuffie came and sat on the floor near Reno, looking up to him with that mischievous grin that made Reno want to use his Electro-Mag rod on her.

"What do you want brat?" He asked when she didn't go away. She looked over to Jasper who was having a piggyback from Barret, he squealed with joy as he was carried this way and that by the large black man.

"Your son is real cute." Reno gave her a fake-smile,

"Yeah, well, he takes after his father doesn't he." He said bitterly. She couldn't keep down a snigger, which just aggravated the Turk further. "Piss off and leave me alone for once brat." Yuffie stood up, digging deep within her pockets for something. She thrust a wallet and PHS into his hands. He looked down at them and saw they were his, the ones that the Indigo Children had taken.

"Where did you get these?" He asked her in semi-amazement, Yuffie smiled

"I went back to their town earlier to get my materia back. Well…the materia had gone, but your wallet and PHS was still there along with my PHS and purse." He blinked, looking up to the young ninja in surprise for actually bothering to pick his stuff up as well as her own. She wasn't exactly the most selfless of people.

"Thanks…" He checked the wallet to see if he had any Gil left. Nope. Well, at least he had his Shinra ID and credit card still, along with all the membership cards to video stores and his discount vouchers he had got from 'Pisa Pizzas' for being their number one customer.

"Well… I guess you've been having a rough ride lately Turkey, so here you are. I'm only doing this coz I think you need a break though mind!" She handed him a wadge of Gil that had been in his wallet up until Yuffie had recovered it. She had already run off before he could thank her. For once in the last week he had got a nice surprise. He replaced the money into his wallet and put it back into the pocket it belonged in. He had a couple of messages on his phone from Rude, he listened to them and learned they were old ones, from before he and AVALANCHE had come.

"Reno, get out of Mideel!" Was all that was said in one message, the second elaborated a little, explaining about the 'test' and why he should get out of Mideel. He deleted the messages, sighing and pocketing the PHS.

They arrived in another hour and a half on the flat lands as close to the mountains that Jasper could sense the Indigo Children on as they could. It took an hour to walk far enough into the mountain range for them to be close and a further half hour until Jasper signalled that everyone should be quiet. The little boy went over to Barret and whispered that they were in the cave networks, and were preparing to put all their power into that Indigo materia that killed off people without the gene. The group silently stalked through the caves, all uneasy about how the outcome would pan out. Reno personally thought they hadn't a hope in hell, but he was beginning not to care anymore. Soon enough voices were heard, echoing off the walls. Reno unclipped his Electro-Mag rod from his belt and attached to his wristband, gripping the handle tightly. 'Oh man, what am I thinking? I've got a stick that can electrocute people; they have a huge stash of materia and are genetically advanced enough to be cleverer, stronger and more prepared than I am! Plus we're outnumbered a thousand to nine.' He thought to himself. At least he wasn't thinking about Jasper for a moment though. Sweat beaded up on his forehead as the peace was broken with;

"Intruders!" A feminine voice echoed, it was clearly Jennin's voice. All hell suddenly broke loose, kids running about everywhere brandishing weapons and casting spells, Reno suddenly wished he had that Protect Pendant. But somehow they were being protected. He heard Jasper's voice call

"AVALANCHE and the Turks, stay within a ten metre radius of me! I am casting a protect spell on you. You must stay close enough though!" Reno raised his brow; maybe having a kid did have uses after all. He didn't have time to ponder on that though, as a kid with a spear poked towards him, it seemed as if Jasper's protection did not extend to physical attacks. It also only protected those Jasper wanted to protect. Yuffie had cast a fire spell on the kid with the spear, saving Reno from being skewed. He had no time to thank her, as another Child was thrusting a sword towards him, he dodged it and prodded the boy with his Electro-Rod. As he ran into the centre of the caves they had set up camp in, he looked up to a raised level of the cave, where the Indigo materia sat on a pile of rucksacks. Dale was stood up there with Jennin casting spells that bounced off Jasper's protection. Reno made his way through the din, jabbing his rod at kids with the power turned high, he was enjoying this far too much. Tifa was using her fists like only she could while Cloud swung that great sword of his this way and that, trying to not actually harm any kids, more bat them away and use it as a shield to arrows and bullets. Vincent was shooting straight at Dale; Jasper had said that Dale was the one they needed to get rid of, Dale, Jennin, Jak and maybe Nyra as they were the driving force of the Children, without them the Children were leaderless and would be easily controlled.

Barret had disappeared and the Turks were fighting off the Children more ruthlessly than the AVALANCHE members. Reno paused to see Yuffie stooping over something, not really helping, he grunted in annoyance at her inability to be useful and thrust his rod at another kid who wasn't attacking or anything; Reno just thought stunning the kids was a great way to direct his anger.

Jasper went up close to the indigo materia, casting powerful spells of all types, without needing the use of materia. Vincent was beside him, shooting up at Dale, who had cast a shield around him that Jasper was trying to break. His little face was set and concentrated as his arms stayed outstretched, a glow constantly lighting his hands. Jennin hit back at Jasper's shield using the same materia-less magic, but she couldn't quite break it.

In a sudden flash of red cape, Vincent broke up onto the higher level and grabbed Dale around the neck when he hadn't been watching the caped man, Barret had got up behind Jennin and was grabbing her too, making it easy work for Jasper and now Yuffie with her recovered materia to cast spells to block them any use of magic. So that's what Yuffie had been doing, recovering her materia. The others continued fighting the other kids back, sweat dripping down their cheeks.

Reno felt Jasper's Protect spell suddenly lift, but the Children had stopped attacking too, staring up at the higher level. He too looked up there, his blue-green eyes widening. A tall man with silver hair that Reno thought was Sephiroth at first was holding Jasper in a tight grip with a gun pressed against the small boys head. He looked terrified. Something snapped inside of Reno, that was his son up there with a gun to his little head.

"NO! Get away from him!" He broke into a full run, fear for his son's life filling him entirely. Everything had fallen silent; the only thing that moved was Reno, running hard towards the higher level with a pained look of determination and anger on his face. Tifa was shocked; she never knew the Turk had it in him to be so selfless. The tall silver haired man was not Sephiroth, but bore a striking resemblance to him, he wore a leather long coat and tight trousers. There was a long sword attached to his back, he looked young, maybe in his late teens.

"He's a clone!" Cloud whispered to Tifa desperately at a loss at what to do, if they moved they risked Jasper being shot.

The silver haired man looked towards Reno with a snide flash of self-satisfaction "Stop now or the child is dead!" Reno only just heard what he said. He came to a halt just before the small cliff like face that he had been planning to climb; it was only a few metres higher than the lower level.

"Let go of Dale." The clone insisted to Vincent in a hard voice. His green eyes flashing greedily as Vincent did as he had asked. Reno's heart was pumping fast and hard, his mind reeling, Jasper was still being held at gunpoint. Was there anything he could do that wouldn't endanger the boy?

"Dale, the materia. It is time." Dale simpered and leant down to the materia on the backpacks. "Release Jennin." The clone ordered, Barret did so with a bitter look on his face, Jennin broke free and ran over to the orb, next to Dale. "Nyra and Jak, here." The silver man gestured with his head as his arms were occupied with holding the gun at Jasper's head; they complied, climbing up the cliff as Reno longed to do. Jennin looked over to the silver haired man with pleading eyes

"Please Great One. Let the boy go. He is strong. We will need him." The man hesitated before bringing the butt of the gun down onto the boy's head, knocking him out

"Jasper!" Reno shouted, the man had walked away from him now, over to the materia, watching over the four adult Indigo Children as they prepared themselves. Reno had started scrambling up the cliff face now that his son's head was not pressed up against the barrel of a gun. He ran over to him and gathered him into his arms, checking he was ok. He looked so young there, in his arms, his stomach fluttered as he looked down on him. He was a beautiful kid.

A sudden blinding light filled his eyes; he gritted his teeth, hugging Jasper protectively to him as he expected the same soaring pain as before. But it didn't come. He opened his eyes and saw the Silver haired man lying on the floor, blood quickly spilling out around him. Jennin stood over him with a gun, she was breathing heavily, shaking her head with a mad look in her eyes. Dale looked up to her, anger shaking through him

"Bitch! Bitch! You fucking bitch!"

"I couldn't do it Dale, I couldn't kill all those people. It's wrong Dale. I…I couldn't!" She sobbed; Dale clenched his fists, a ball of magic appearing in his hand, Reno gasped as he guessed what Dale was going to do to her. He could see a glow surround Yuffie as Dale's own attack was beginning to leave his body and slam into Jennin. Yuffie was too late; her attack had not properly formed as the strong Ultima spell rocketed towards Jennin. Before it hit her Reno saw her turn the gun on her boyfriend and shoot him, right between the eyes, he fell slumped as the Ultima spell hit Jennin. Reno clamped his eyes closed, he could not help but feel a surge of regret at not being able to protect her, help her. He hoped to Gaia she wasn't dead. As the light subsided he could see she was sprawled out on the hard cold floor. Yuffie's fire spell hit the dead body of Dale causing a horrible smell to fill their noses.

Silence pressed against shocked ears as the echoes of Jennin's last shot faded out. A figure had started to climb the cliff, it was Jez and he had a gun in his hand, his face twisted in anger

"This is all your fault redhead, first you ruin my home by sleeping with my mother, then you destroy my new home. You and your shitty little son, I hate both of you." He pulled a gun out from a holster at his side. Yuffie moved again, cautiously placing a hand on her green orb, waiting to see if this boy was actually going to harm Jasper before casting anything. She could see Vincent tense up near by Jez as well, ready in case the boy wanted to do anything with that gun he was nervously gripping.

"NO! Don't hurt him, kill me, but please, he's your brother, don't hurt him!" Reno begged, wide eyed and desperate. He was just a child, he had a whole life ahead of him, he could do things differently from the way his father had. By the time the kid was twenty-five he could be happy. He was just a kid.

Jez laughed bitterly and cocked the gun, pointing it at Jasper's head, Reno doubled over his son protecting him, his eyes clamped shut. The bang echoed loudly in his ears, but no pain came, another shot was fired, but still no pain, he hoped to Gaia that he was covering enough of Jasper's vital parts that none of those bullets had hit him. He dared to look up a few moments after the third shot was fired. Jez lay on the floor dead with Vincent standing over him, pointing his gun at the lifeless form. Vincent had jumped onto him when he saw that the boy was seriously going to shoot his younger brother, causing Jez's shot to be miss aimed. The second shot had also been diverted by Vincent hitting into him a second time The third bullet had been issued by Vincent when he had been sure that Jez was intent on murdering Reno and his son. Once again a still silence resounded around the cave, almost inviting anyone who wanted to fight back to get it over with now. But everything stayed still for now.

Cloud came up to the higher level and looked down to all the frightened children, some were sobbing, hugging onto one another.

"I'm Cloud. I'm here to help you, we all are. We didn't want you to kill all those people. You are all children and should be in school, playing games, having fun, not killing millions of people. Now, listen up…" Cloud and Tifa explained to them all that they could find them parents to adopt them, and until then they could stay at 7th Heaven with her and AVALANCHE. It turned out that a vast majority had parents that Dale had encouraged them to run away from. The few orphans agreed to stay with Tifa. It was a difficult job trying to organise the hundreds of kids that were down there in an orderly way. Nyra and Jak, the two adults who had chosen to not fight back explained that they had never wanted this; they both pleaded that they would do anything to help the children get back to normal lives. Nyra showed AVALANCHE to the Chocobo's and offered to shepherd the kids wherever their homes were. In the end Tifa, Yuffie, Barret, Rude, Elena, Nyra and Vincent took a chocobo each and took the non-Midgar kids back to their homes. All those bound for Midgar went along with Cloud and Reno to the Highwind. Jennin was alive, she was badly hurt and in need of hospital help. Jak hoisted her up into his arms and carried her, walking beside Cloud as they made their way to the highwind.

Jasper was still unconscious; Reno carried him out of the mountains, gripping him softly. A young child walked beside him all the way, looking up to him.

"Are you Jasper's dad?" he asked. Reno was too tired to deny it

"Yes."

"Wow! I wish I had a dad as cool as you are!" The Turk shook his head solemnly

"No you don't, trust me kid."

To be concluded…

A/N: I didn't realise that I had not enabled anonymous reviews, but now I have. So if there are any anonymous readers out there you can now review. Thanks so much to my reviewers and readers (but more thanks go to my reviewers!) I'm, glad to know there are some Wheel of Time readers out there; I'm on book 6, Lord of Chaos right now. A friend of mine recommended the story to me after I explained my original story idea to him. It turns out my story is a little like the Wheel of Time. I dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing!…

The next chapter of Indigo Children is the last and very short, it's more of an epilogue actually. I'll hopefully post it asap.

Izzia.