Chapter 21
Miracle
Reno sat calmly on the table. When the guards tried to strap him down, he raised a hand and shook his head. Alim watched curiously.
"I won't fight it. You have my word as an ex-Turk," Reno said quietly. The guards looked questioningly at Alim.
"Leave us," he ordered. He turned to Reno as they obeyed. "Why are you so willing to let your life end while your friends fight viciously?"
"The way I see it, there's no point in fighting in a hopeless situation. I have no weapons, but you do. There are only six of us, one of us being in the hospital, and at least one hundred, although I suspect many more, guards in this place. It doesn't look like we can get out unless we die, does it?" Reno whispered. Alim stared into his eyes and saw his anger and sadness.
"What's eating you? No normal man has that look in his eyes."
"None of it matters anymore. I'm going to die shortly, so why should I explain?" Reno muttered, looking at the floor. The scientist sighed and walked away. When he came back, he had a small knife in his hands.
"You're sure you would rather die than live as an experiment?"
"Huh? Weren't you going to kill us anyway?"
"Those were my orders, but I was willing to give you all a choice. Now I know what you have chosen. Unfortunately, I must kill you slowly and cause as much pain as I can. It's too late to request otherwise."
Alim came closer to Reno. When the knife was a few inches from Reno's arm, he instinctively pulled back his fist and punched Alim in the face. The doctor fell backwards, unconscious and nose bleeding heavily, as Reno locked the door and looked around. He looked to the floor to see that the knife had fallen down a small trash disposal upon Alim's fall. Reno searched for something sharp. If a doctor couldn't end his life, he would do it himself. His gaze fell on a syringe lying on the counter. There was still a green liquid filling half of it.
"What does it matter what gets in my blood? I'm going to die before it affects me anyway," he sighed as he picked up the syringe. He tossed his jacket to the side and rolled up his shirtsleeve. He took a deep breath and began digging at the skin on his wrist with the tip of the needle, not knowing how wrong his last statement was.
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Kali sat up slowly to find her head in Kadaj's lap. He was asleep. Next to her stomach, Pradipa was snuggled up with his head against her breasts. He awoke and squeaked at her when she moved.
"Wiw we eh fwee?" he said. Kali smiled.
"We'll get free somehow. I promise," she whispered. "I need to teach you to talk properly. Repeat after me. K-A-l-i," she said her name slowly while pointing at herself.
"Kawi!" Pradipa squealed happily. Kali laughed.
"Close enough," she said. Kali was about to teach him more when she grabbed her head. A sharp pain coursed through it, causing her to see stars. When the feeling passed, she was running for the toilet in the corner of the cell. Kadaj opened his eyes to the sound of her retching.
"Kali?" he gasped. He knelt next to her and rubbed her back while she threw up violently. "Are you okay?"
"No," she managed to choke out between heaves. She finally stopped and leaned against him, her entire body drained. She cried as Rude and Yuffie yelled to them.
"Are you okay, Kali?" Rude called.
"They injected her with Mako. She's getting sick!" Kadaj yelled back. Kali moaned.
"Please don't yell. My head hurts."
"Sorry," Kadaj whispered. "Go back to sleep," he insisted. He sang quietly to her again, but she still cried and leaned against him. They both closed their eyes.
Half an hour later, not even remembering falling asleep, Kadaj and Kali stood shakily and stared at the door. The bars had been torn from the wall. Kali gasped at the person that had freed them.
"Come on, Kal! We need to get out of here now!"
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Reno leaned against the counter and watched his blood drip down his hand onto the floor. He had only cut one wrist and it wasn't very large or deep, but he could still feel his strength slowly ebbing away. The syringe was empty; it had slipped as he dug and injected the entire fluid into his body. Before he could react, Alim was standing and grabbing Reno from behind. He didn't fight back. When he let Alim grab him, the two men fell to the floor, the scientist having been taken by surprise because of the lack of resistance. As he dropped, Alim swung his arm out to stop falling and ended up toppling a jar filled with Mako. It smashed as it hit the floor next to Reno's head. The Mako splashed into his mouth and dripped down his throat. More of it flowed into his sliced wrist and Mako-covered glass dug into the rest of his body.
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Rude and Yuffie were standing behind him. Kadaj hesitated, but Kali ran to his side. Instead of hugging him like he expected, Kali swiftly drew her hand back and slapped him across the face.
"What was that for?" he gasped after a moment's shock.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Devin?" she yelled. "You left me to die and now you're acting like you want to help?"
"What are you talking about?" Devin snapped. "I would never do anything to hurt you. It must have been a bad dream."
"Yeah right."
"Kal," Devin whispered. He grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Would I ever do anything to hurt you? Look me in the eye and tell me."
Kali stared at him. He looked almost the exact same as back home. He still had his long, brown hair in a ponytail, he still had a short beard and moustache, and he still wore a white shirt and baggy black slacks. The only difference was the leather strap wrapped around his waist and over his chest and back. There were a dozen daggers strapped to it.
"Where did you get those?" Kali asked shakily. The dream still hurt.
"I got attacked my first day here. A very nice woman found me almost dead and gave me money for a weapon. Now, would I ever do anything to hurt you?" he asked again. Kali stared into his eyes.
"But you did leave me."
"Kali, it must have been a dream. I've been having very vivid ones of you lately. Are you sure you're not doing the same?"
"Well…" she began slowly. "I have been having a lot of weird and vivid dreams…"
"Well?"
"Devin," she whispered as she looked into his eyes. Her mouth trembled as she threw herself against him and hugged him. "I'm so sorry I doubted you," she sobbed. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you, too, Kal. Come on," he said softly as he released her. "We need to go."
"Hold on! Stay away from my sister!" Kadaj yelled. He ran to Devin and wrapped his hands around his neck.
"Let him go, Kadaj!" Kali yelled. Kadaj only shoved Devin into the wall. "Kadaj, let go!" she screamed again. Kali pulled him off and wrapped her arms around Devin.
"I'm fine. I didn't know you had a brother," he gasped.
"Half-brother, yeah. I didn't know until I got here," she whispered. Kadaj glared at them.
"Kali, get away from him!"
"What the hell is your problem?" Kali snapped. Kadaj unzipped his coat and pulled it open.
"Do you see that scar on my side?" he snarled. He pointed at Devin. "You gave it to me on the ship," he said angrily. Devin glanced from the scar to his face.
"I've never seen an injury like that, nor have I ever seen you," he said quietly. Kadaj glared.
"You lying bastard."
"Kadaj, he's my best friend. Please, don't hurt him. You must be mistaking him for someone else," she said. "He's right, we need to go. The guards must have seen him come in. They'll suspect something."
"They started chasing me, yeah," Devin agreed. The small group followed him out of the block.
"We need to find Cid and Reno," Yuffie whispered. Kali looked to Devin.
"I know where the labs are, but do you know where the hospital is?"
"They should be in the same vicinity," Rude said. "At least, they were when I was a Turk."
"Let's go," Kali whispered. She led her friends down the hall towards the stairs. Devin grabbed her and pulled her into a small, empty room while the others followed them. Five guards ran past. When they were out of sight, the group sprinted towards the stairs. "We need to go down three floors to the labs."
"I think we should take the elevator. Less chance of them setting up a block," Kadaj pointed. Nodding in agreement, they ducked into the box as more guards came down the hall. Kadaj directed it to the correct floor.
"We need our weapons, too," Yuffie reminded them.
"I saw some guards carry them to a set of stairs. They were heading for the top floor. We'll go after we get your friends. Until we get there, all of you take a dagger or two," Devin said. He pulled them out and tossed them to Rude, Yuffie, and Kali. When he handed one to Kadaj, he shook his head.
"I won't need it," he said coldly. As the elevator stopped, Kali picked up Pradipa, closed her coat, and put him in it.
"I don't want him falling behind," Kali shrugged as her friends stared.
They made it halfway across the floor before a guard spotted them. Devin took him down in two slashes. They barged into the lab to find Reno moaning as he picked up his jacket and put it on.
"Reno," Yuffie gasped. He turned around and she gasped even louder. His face was covered with cuts and tiny bits of glass were in his hair. He wiped something green from his mouth as she ran up. When he put his arms around her, Yuffie felt something wet on her shoulder. She pulled Reno's arm off and saw that his cuff was darker than the rest of the jacket. She shook when she saw the cut on his wrist. "Reno, why did you…?"
"Hopeless situation. Let's go," he whispered. As he walked, his legs gave out and he dropped to his knees. Rude knelt next to him and supported him as he stood again.
"We need to leave and fix him up," he said quietly. As he spoke, Alim came in. He had left to bandage his broken nose, and was now picking up a radio to call the guards. Before he went further, Kadaj grabbed his wrist and knocked the radio to the floor. It shattered as Kadaj pulled Alim's sleeves back and tied them behind him, thus locking him in a straightjacket of sorts.
"What do you want?" he hissed as Kadaj pulled him with them.
"You're going to get us Cid, our weapons, and out of here," Kadaj growled. Alim was pushed down the hall ahead of them. As they walked, they heard a voice over the intercom.
"Attention all personnel! The prisoners have just been released! We have reason to believe that they are on the Forty-fifth floor! Capture them at all costs! Use of excessive force has been authorized! Repeat: shoot at will! Do not let them escape!"
"Shit," Kali snapped. They ran faster down the hall and ducked into what they thought was an empty room. They locked the door and turned at a yell. Cid was throwing a punch and kick at a guard. He fell to the floor while Cid winced at the slight pain in his chest.
"I'm fine," he called at the worried expressions that were thrown at him. "Just a little too much too soon."
The others saw why as they looked behind him. Strewn across the floor were nearly a dozen guards. They were all unconscious and had what appeared to be broken noses or jaws. As they stared, Cid picked up his shirt and pulled it over his head. He yanked his boots over his pant legs while Kali winced at the sight of a tourniquet around his bleeding arm.
"What happened?" she asked, pointing at the wound.
"IV drip. Son of a bitch didn't want to come out. Had to force it," he said simply. Kali stared at his eyes as he smiled at her.
"Cid… what's with your eyes?" she asked shakily. He gave her a questioning look. "They're glowing."
"They are?" he said, looking into a small mirror next to his bed. "Hmm. So they are. It's the Mako they injected me with. Funny you asked that. I was about to ask the same of you."
"My eyes are glowing?" she whispered. Indeed, when she looked into the mirror, there was an odd glow inside them. She held her hand to her mouth. "What has happened? Is this what made me sick?"
"Mako makes the receiver sick. It also makes you go crazy, bloodthirsty, and incredibly strong. The only way to undo the effects is to have it in your system for so long that it wears off," Kadaj explained. Kali buried her face in her hands and wept quietly. Devin hugged her.
"Kali, it's okay. We need to get out of here. Then you can cry all you want," he whispered. Kali nodded and looked around. There were guards banging at the door. At the far end of the room was another small door. They ran to it.
"A service elevator," Kadaj whispered. There was just enough room for them all to fit in the box. Rude punched in the floor and they began to move in silence. When they were between the forty-eighth and forty-ninth floors, the elevator stopped moving.
"Why did we stop?" Kali asked. Her answer came from the intercom.
"Attention all personnel! The fugitives are in the service elevator! They have Doctor Alim as a hostage! Do not harm the doctor! We are lowering them to the Forty-eighth floor! All guards report to the service elevator on the Forty-eighth floor!"
"Fuck it," Cid snapped. He reached up and opened the hatch at the top. As they began moving down slowly, he pulled himself up and helped the others out. They climbed up the cable and came out on the next floor as the guards looked up the hatch to see where they had gone. By the time they got up, the prisoners were reaching the top floor.
"Where are the weapons?" Yuffie asked. No sooner was the question out of her mouth than nearly two-dozen guards were running at them. They managed to duck into a room as bullets flew through the air. A voice made them turn as they barred the door.
"How convenient," Valda smiled as she stood by her desk. They glared at her and held the daggers ready. Bao and Zan took out their own knives and took their places in front of Valda. "Please, make yourselves comfortable," she mocked as she turned from the window.
"Where's Sachiko?" Kadaj yelled, suddenly remembering the one person they had forgotten. "Tell me or I'll throw you out that window!"
"I think not. Zan, come with me. Bao, take them out," she commanded. Valda and Zan walked out through the door across the room.
"Bao, don't do it," Rude whispered. Kali glanced up at him.
"What?"
"Take Reno," he muttered as Bao stood ready. Rude let Reno go and Kali took over the support. Rude pulled the daggers out of the belt loops on his pants. "The rest of you get out. Use the door Valda did. I'll take care of Bao."
"Rude? What are you doing?" Yuffie hissed. Rude shook his head.
"I'll explain later. Go!" he yelled. Like Kali thought back when they were at the docks, the rest of them decided it was best not to argue with Rude when he raised his usually quiet voice. They ran to the door while he remained by the entrance. To their surprise, Bao let them pass. When the door locked, Bao turned back to Rude and smiled.
"Bao, what are you doing here?" he whispered. "I thought you had died in Midgar!"
Bao only shook his head.
"Why are you helping her? She's just like Rufus. She'll kill us all."
Bao shook his head again.
"Why aren't you talking? You're not still angry with me, are you?"
"I ha o ung," Bao replied. He opened his mouth and Rude saw the stump in his mouth. "Ahn I ah ill angy."
Rude sighed and slid his glasses into his pocket. He spun the blades as he walked towards Bao. He held them stiffly as he came closer.
"I'm sorry, little brother."
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"Well, we have our weapons at least," Kadaj whispered as he slung his scabbard over his shoulder. The others picked through the stash to find theirs. Devin watched Kali hide Masamune with jealous eyes.
"Beautiful blade," he whispered. Kali smiled
"And only I can carry it," she said smugly. Kadaj rolled his eyes and glanced around. He saw a door on the other side of the room.
"That way," he pointed. The group followed him to the door. Weapons ready, they opened the door quickly. When they saw what was behind it, Kadaj smiled widely.
"Sachiko!" he cried. She turned and smiled at his voice. He ran up to her, but slammed into a glass wall. Sachiko walked up slowly and laid her hand on the glass while Kadaj rubbed his nose.
"I'm sorry I didn't warn you," she whispered.
"How do we get you out?" he asked as he ran his hands over the glass.
"I've tried breaking it, but it's impenetrable. Only Valda knows the codes to get it open," she replied. Kadaj looked to the side and saw a small keypad. He walked up to it and raised his sword.
"So let's smash this mother fucker and get you out."
"No! Wait!" Alim yelled. "She has it wired so that if anyone tries to break the code or pad, The Hitomi gets electrocuted!"
"Shit," Kadaj snapped. He turned around as he heard Rude open the door slightly. Without turning, he called to them.
"Get out now! They're coming! Go! Urgh!" he yelled. Bao was still coming at him. Rude snapped the door shut.
"Rude!" Kali yelled through the door.
"I'll be fine! Get out!" he called back. They listened to the struggle that was taking place behind the door. Kadaj ran up to Sachiko's cell and laid his hand against the glass.
"Can we break it?" he called. Sachiko shook her head.
"Same effect. I'll be shocked with electricity. Just go Kadaj. I've survived them for a while now. I can survive a bit longer. Please, if you don't go now, none of us will escape with our lives," she whispered. She laid her hand against the glass. Kadaj laid his over it.
"Kadaj, I found the door! Let's go!" Yuffie yelled. Kadaj kept looking back at his lover.
"I can't leave you," he shook his head.
"She's right. If we don't go now, we'll never leave. If we go now, we can rescue her later," Cid pointed out. He was holding the door open and waiting for him.
"Sachiko," Kadaj whispered.
"I love you, Kadaj," she said quietly. He stared at her silently.
"I love you, Sachiko," he replied. He glanced at the floor and closed his eyes tightly. His mouth trembled. He finally looked up at her and yelled, tears dripping down his face. "Sachiko, I'll come back and get you out of here! I promise!"
"I know. Good luck!" she cried back. Kadaj took one last look at her before he ran for the door. The last sight he managed to see was Sachiko beginning to cry in her glass prison. Then the door was shut and she disappeared.
"How do we get out from here?" Kadaj asked Alim as they walked down the corridor. Alim shook his head.
"I haven't been in this section of the building. The farthest I've been on this floor is the president's office. I never even knew that they keep The Hitomi there," he explained. As they turned the corner, roughly one quarter of the Hitomi guard was waiting for them. Kadaj immediately pushed Alim in front of them.
"Don't shoot the doctor!" the front guard yelled. Valda, standing next to him, shook her head.
"They won't let him go. They're using him as a shield. Fire at will."
"President!" Alim yelled out of fear as the guards readied their guns. More came behind the group. She stared at him silently.
"I still have Skylar and I can always find another scientist. Wait for Zan and I to leave. Then shoot at will," Valda said as she turned. The guards aimed as she disappeared through a small door.
".em m'raht on nacs lat romf osno pae wehT" Kali whispered. Her hands curled around the hilt of Masamune.
"Kali?" Devin muttered. When she looked up, her eyes were shining silver.
".ilaK toN .oN" she whispered. Kadaj held his breath while the others stared nervously. ".ihsanaN"
"Nanashi, let Kali go!" Kadaj snapped immediately. "Do you want me to strike you again?"
"I'm only trying to help. Trust me this time," she whispered. The others, having heard this backwards, only stared as Kadaj backed away.
"What's she doing?" Reno muttered as he leaned against Yuffie. Nanashi walked up to the guards. As she walked closer, they aimed and fired without mercy.
"KALI!" Yuffie screamed.
When the bullets stopped firing, they were amazed to see that the bullets had encased Nanashi in an orb. The guards walked backwards quickly as the orb flew up. The ball suddenly exploded and the bullets flew towards the ones that had fired them. When the orb disappeared, every guard lay dead on the floor and Nanashi hovered above them.
"You've helped enough," Kadaj called. "Now release her!"
"As you wish," she smiled. Nanashi closed her eyes and when they opened again, Kali looked down and gasped. As she made the noise, she began falling. Cid caught her before she hit the ground.
"Kali, what the fuck were you doing?" Cid yelled as Kali's feet hit the ground.
"That was Nanashi," she said to Yuffie and Reno, "and she's the monster I mentioned earlier."
"The Safer Sephiroth," Reno nodded. He winced and his legs gave out again. Cid picked him up.
"We don't have much longer. We need to get out immediately," Cid whispered.
"What about Rude? He's my best friend. I can't leave him here," Reno muttered.
"We'll wait outside as long as we can. I say we give up on him if he's not out ten minutes after we are," Kadaj said. Reno opened his mouth to argue.
"Reno, I'm sorry," Kali whispered, "but Kadaj is right. I love Rude as much as anyone else here, but if he gets caught, he's good as dead. We need to worry about ourselves now. He told us to go. If that's his last wish, so be it. We'll honor it."
"I think we should start heading down. The guards will be after us any minute," Yuffie pointed out. They began to run to the stairwell. To their surprise, no more guards followed. They made it to the first floor before the guards came out. Upon reaching the ground level, nearly every other guard in the building was blocking the entrance.
"Okay, here's the plan. First we-" Kadaj started, but Kali cut him off.
"Just leave them to me. Stay as close behind me as you possibly can. Let's go!" she yelled. She ran through the crowd of guards and slashed mercilessly at those standing in her way. They all underestimated the sword, so they tried to get closer, but to no avail. Kadaj took off after her. Cid soon followed with Reno, then came Devin and Yuffie. They were at the door when they stopped to look back. Half of the guards were strewn across the floor, either bleeding or dead. Without any sign of remorse, Kali turned on her heel and walked out of the building, her shocked friends close behind.
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"Iv uh?" Bao moaned. He and Rude stood several feet apart, both of them panting heavily.
"Bao… stop, please…" Rude panted. "I don't… want to fight you…"
"Ooh ay," he groaned back. As Bao came closer to Rude again, Rude turned on his heel and ran down the corridor. He slid to a stop when he found himself back in Valda's office. He screamed when Bao stuck his knife through his shoulder.
"Why are you doing this?" Rude gasped as he held the table for support. "How long ago was it? Thirty years now?"
"Eh. Aw ong eough," Bao whispered. As he readied his other knife to stab Rude through the heart, Rude turned and swiftly stuck his daggers into Bao's sides. The bodyguard yelled and dropped to the floor.
"I'm so sorry," Rude muttered. He walked calmly out of the room, wincing now and then at the pain in his shoulder. After a few moments, he reached back and pulled the weapon out. He bit his sleeve to avoid screaming and drawing attention to himself. Ignoring the blood dripping down his back, Rude made his way slowly down through the elevator, trying to get his injuries to stop bleeding. He was amazed that he escaped unscathed, but he was no longer shocked when he saw a good number of the Hitomi army lying dead and wounded in the lobby. Memories from the Meteor Crisis flooded back. "This looks like Sephiroth's work…" he muttered. Shaking his head at the thought of sweet Kali doing this, he walked outside to see his friends running for the woods. He sighed. They listened to him, at least. He looked up to see a woman standing on the cliff facing the ocean. Walking closer, he recognized Tifa. As he came up behind her, she turned and yelled in surprise. She began falling backwards off of the cliff. Rude immediately shot out his hand and grabbed her wrist as she dangled off the edge.
"Rude, pull me up! Or are you too attached to His children?" she yelled. Rude glared for a moment before he yanked her up and helped her to solid ground. She stared at his eyes through the glasses as he held her. "I thought you would drop me. Why did you…?"
"Never mind. Don't expect it again," he said quietly, letting her go and starting to leave. He turned when Tifa laid a hand on his bleeding shoulder.
"I should kill you, you know. But you saved my life. Next time we meet, I'll have to kill all of you."
"I know."
"And I can't let you go without an injury from me," she said. Before Rude reacted, Tifa slashed his chest open with her own dagger. The bleeding was nothing compared to his shoulder, but Rude still fell to his knees in pain. "Good bye Rude."
He waited until she walked away. When she was out of sight, he stood shakily and walked weakly towards the woods where the group had disappeared.
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NM: Okies, chapter 21 up and running. Can't think of much to say… so on we go to reviews:
Sayahiei: Yeah, thanks for the shotgun idea! I thought about having them find bullets, load it, and send Pradipa ahead to scare the guards, but I forgot and couldn't fix it when I remembered so… yeah. And Nanashi is back! Happy now?
Maria: Glad you liked it! Hope to see you get an account and write some fiction!
Mediciner: There are links to more pics on the two sites listed at the bottom of my profile. And he is so a hot bishie! Actually, Soul Vagabond and I thought he was Sephiroth at first (before they released his name) and we were going to write a complaint to Square about cutting his hair! And I always keep my promises, rest assured.
Arcander: Wow, haven't heard from you in a while! Glad to hear you're still reading. And yeah, I'm trying to rack up a little sympathy for each character. Dunno why, but I am. The Tonberry was a spur of the moment idea. I love them, they're so cute! Except when I'm battling one in the battle arena of FF7 with only Cloud and half his HP… ((winces at memory))
Soul Vagabond: You suck. You didn't even read! But… I KICKED YOUR ASS IN SOUL CALIBUR II AND I"VE NEVER EVEN PLAYED BEFORE! I'm getting my ass kicked at school on Monday for that, I just know it… but maybe next time you'll actually READ the chapters!
Kizna1200: Ha! I'm not killing off Reno, either! I am killing off one of the members of the hero group, but you'll have to read on to find out who. And Reno will come down with something very reminiscent of FF7... (this chapter should have given part of it away) And Yuffie didn't go homicidal. Maybe later. And if you need anything else about FF7AC, lemme know! The only reason I replied to that email so soon was cuz we had a snow day and I was home.
NM: Hey, I'm thinking of starting a poetry fic. We've been doing poetry in English class and I've written a couple of poems for characters in this fic (Nanashi and the party all together particularly), and I'm thinking of posting them on here. They're actually pretty good even though I usually suck at poetry. Whaddya think?
REVIEW!
NINJA MAGE
