Author's Notes
--------------------
This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.
This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.
Check back next weekend for chapter XIII.
If you have any questions, ask them in your review or post on my forum. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.
Luminus
Chapter XII
Dancing Mad
In less than an hour the sun would be coming up. By now, those who were awake at this hour had heard about the terrible news that Midgar would be placed under martial law, and that there were demons hiding among them. Throughout the entire city there was an unnerving silence as citizens watched entire battalions of Shinra soldiers marching through the streets. It was like some sort of nightmare; a flashback to the horrible days of war and occupation before Rufus had founded the Holy Shinra Empire.
Fitting to the depression sweeping over the city, it began to rain. As the dark gray storm clouds gathered overhead, a light drizzle turned into a torrential downpour that dampened the city's spirits even further.
Amidst this untimely and saddening weather, three men donned in dark green cloaks darted through the shadows of Sector Seven. Dropping down behind a storefront sign, Barret Wallace waited for a small group of soldiers to march past. Bringing up his right hand, still covered in that long black glove, he signaled to Biggs and Wedge who were across the street and they moved forward again, drawing ever closer to Sector Seven's massive gate.
Though heavily guarded both on the outside and inside of the city, the blockade of Shinra soldiers was far enough away from the gate for the trio to sneak around using back alleys and parked vehicles for cover. The heavy rain also helped hide them from prying eyes as they quickly and efficiently placed several explosive charges that Jessie had left for them months ago on the edges of the gate.
Not bothering to double check the charges when they finished, the three of them hurried a safe distance away and hid in separate spots. They were each carrying a detonation remote to ensure that someone would set off the explosives even if one of them were caught. Now all they had to do was await the signal from Colonel Miyama.
For nearly thirty minutes Barret sat crouched behind a crate to the west of the barricade as he waited for his orders to strike. Thunder and lightning boomed through the night sky so loudly that the ground beneath his feet shook slightly. Then, after just a few short seconds, the ground shook again, but this time there was no lightning in the sky. Noticing the odd behavior, Barret sunk a bit lower as the ground shook again, the sound coming closer as the rumble grew larger. Though on a larger scale than he was used to, there was no mistaking the pattern of those sounds; they were footsteps.
With a flash, a bright light snapped on and centered over his crate. Shocked, Barret whirled around, looking for the source of the light that had just given his location away, and found himself staring up at an enormous machine. The experimental MagiTek armor that Scarlett had created loomed over top of him, standing every bit as tall and as intimidating as when Vincent and Jessie had encountered it. Regrettably, it now seemed to be fully armed, as the enormous materia enhancing domes built into its palms and on its chest showed. Its sheer height had allowed its pilot to spot him hiding behind the crate from up above.
"Well, well, well." An accented voice came booming from the MagiTek armor. "If it isn't Barret Wallace! I had begun to think you had left our little city in peace."
"You think a lot of dumb things, General Heidegger." Barret responded as he stood up. There wasn't much of a point in hiding now that he was swiftly being surrounded by Shinra soldiers, and even one or two Turks that he had spotted from the shadows.
"Disrespectful until the end." Heidegger laughed, his voice slightly echoing from the MagiTek armors speakers. "What an idiotic way for the leader of the infamous Avalanche to be captured, sneaking around a well guarded blockade that would not be nearly so combustible as one of our fine buildings."
"Yeah, well. You know, I'm just a sucker for a party, so I thought I'd come down and hang out with you guys."
"Seth, Virgil." Heidegger called to the two Turks who each had their materia guns carefully trained on Barret's chest. "Search the area. See if his little friends are around."
The Turks had taken less than three steps when a chirp came from Barret's pant pocket. Immediately, their guns were pointed at him again, as were the swords of all the Shinra soldiers standing around him.
"Don't shoot!" Heidegger shouted in a panic as he thought about who he was dealing with. "He is a terrorist; he could have explosives on him!"
"Are you afraid to die, Heidegger?" Barret asked with a grin as he saw Biggs give him the universal signal for 'okay' from his hiding spot across the street and behind the MagiTek armor.
"Don't be absurd." Heidegger snorted. "You should be asking yourself that question, as you are the one who is about to face his demise. I imagine you will be a fine trophy to offer the Emperor."
"I'm afraid you're not gonna get that chance." Barret said as he watched Bigg's trigger the detonation.
With several loud whoomps, the explosives along the outskirts of the gate ignited, sending a wave of heat and force flying through the blockade. Knowing what was coming, Barret managed to duck behind his crate again as the Shinra soldiers panicked, only to be struck moments later by flames and debris. At least one of the two Turks went down along with several soldiers, and even Heidegger's impressive suit of armor stumbled back several steps. When the deafening noise passed, the Sector Seven gate had been blown off of its hinges. The massive iron door collapsed into two halves, the first of which fell over top the Shinra blockade, killing a few more soldiers and flattening a large amount of equipment.
Using the moment of confusion to his advantage, Barret sprinted from his hiding spot to where Biggs was. Wedge joined them moments later and the three of them prepared to make a run for it until one heavy foot of the MagiTek armor slammed down in front of them.
"And just what did you expect that to accomplish besides angering me!" Heidegger roared from inside the armors cockpit.
"More than you'd think, fat ass!" Biggs shouted as he spat on the armored leg.
Wordlessly, Heidegger grunted and pulled back a lever, causing one of the MagiTek armor's hands to rise into the air, aimed towards them. The materia magnifier on its palm began to glow, blue wisps of light escaping as it charged up, preparing to destroy them. The blast never came, as a sudden gust of wind swarmed past them. The area was briefly engulfed in a massive shadow, before being illuminated by a rain of multicolored, magical beams. The armor staggered under the assault, but despite Heidegger's best efforts, it was unable to remain on its feet. The metallic giant fell to the ground with a thundering crash, though that was virtually drowned out by the booming of materia cannons. The first of Wutai's airships had arrived.
Shouts and screams of panic erupted from the remaining Shinra soldiers as the magic being fired down at them tore many of them to bits. The blasts only grew in number as more and more airships appeared overhead. The sudden storm had apparently turned out to be quite a lucky break; the rain and the clouds had stopped any of Midgar's tower defenses from spotting the incoming attack. Dozens of Wutai soldiers started to drop from rope ladders that were coming from the low flying airships and with a series of war cries, they assaulted any remaining Shinra soldiers in the vicinity.
Barret, Biggs, and Wedge joined the Wutai men and women in their endeavor just as a platoon of Shinra troops arrived and began to sprint towards the invaders. The two sides collided with earsplitting clashes of steel, and the gut wrenching sounds of impalement. Within mere minutes there were hundreds of soldiers from the two warring parties hacking and slashing at one another in the once peaceful streets of Sector Seven. Men and women fell to the ground, crying out in pain as thick pools of blood mixed with the rain, staining the ground a watery red. The battle of Midgar had commenced.
With Shinra's soldiers spread out all over the city in preparation to enforce the martial law, and with the element of surprise on their side, the soldiers of Wutai were rapidly gaining ground. Far behind the fleet of airships that had carried the advance troops, Wutai's boats began to land on the coastline, unloading the brunt of the invasion forces. Soon their small foothold would triple in numbers, and the confused Shinra soldiers would have a very difficult time organizing a counter attack strong enough to drive them out.
As the night sky erupted with lightning, the silver streak that was the Highwind broke through the storm clouds and dove towards the city of Midgar where the battle was growing fiercer by the minute. As the great ship came dangerously close to the ground the landing ramp dropped down, smashing a Shinra soldier into a pulp as several men and women stormed down and into the fray. With its load dropped, the Highwind lifted back into the air with only Cid, Sherra, and its temporary Wutai crew staying aboard.
The party instantly found themselves in the middle of chaos; a battle the likes of which had not been seen since the founding of the Holy Shinra Empire. With a swing of his Buster Sword, Cloud crushed in the head of an incoming soldier. Hopping to her left, Tifa struck a brutishly large corporal in the throat, sending him stumbling before she drove her knee into his nose. Nanaki, once again disguised as a human, leapt on top of a female Turk and drove his dagger deep into her heart. Combining their ranged attacks, Vincent and Jessie took out a group of eight incoming Shinra troops with lethal shots and a single grenade. With rapid flicks of her wrist, Yuffie sent several throwing stars into a Turk sniper who was taking aim from a rooftop. Colonel Miyama proved that she was more than just a tactician by catching the dead Turks materia gun and using it to shoot two Shinra grenadiers in the heads before they could hurl explosives.
"Watch out!" screamed one of the Wutai soldiers near them just before he was blasted into oblivion by an enormous beam of magical energy.
Whirling about to see where the attack had come from, the party saw Heidegger's MagiTek armor barreling down on them, swatting an unfortunate Shinra soldier out of its path as it went. They unleashed their fury at the mechanical suit, sending materia blasts, magical spells, and explosives flying at it, but the attacks mostly bounced off its thick hull. The group began to scatter, realizing that they weren't going to stop it before it would reach them, when the hulking form of Barret Wallace leapt in front of them. With a roaring battle cry, the dark-skinned man reached up to the top of his right arm and peeled the heavy black glove from it.
A single glance at his lower arm and hand made it clear that Shinra had indeed used him as a lab rat in their twisted experiments. Metal strips, wiring, and materia orbs were surgically embedded beneath his flesh and the limb pulsated, emitting an eerie red glow. Raising the malformed arm, Barret aimed his palm at the swiftly approaching MagiTek. A blast of magical power was let loose from his hand, shaking the area and actually pushed him back several feet. The powerful ray smashed squarely into the MagiTek armor's torso and sent it crashing through a building wall. While it wasn't enough to destroy the machine, it would at least make Heidegger think twice about coming near them again.
"Barret!" Jessie shouted as she ran towards her old boss. As the man pulled his glove over the freakish appendage once more to regain control over its power, Jessie threw herself at him, hugging his muscled frame as best she could.
"Hey there, girl!" Barret laughed and briefly returned the hug before pulling her off and sending a heavy punch with his gloved fist into an approaching Shinra guard. The impact and the magical shockwave that followed sent the man crashing into a nearby dumpster with a series of terrible snaps.
"Right." Jessie chuckled nervously as she looked at the dead soldier. "Better save the greetings for later, huh?"
"Cloud, take your team and get moving!" Miyama shouted at him as she signaled several of her soldiers to clear a path for them. "Remember; find Reeves on the thirty-fifth floor! He'll be waiting for you there!"
"We'll take care of things here!" Yuffie yelled as she ran up alongside of Barret and another squad of Wutai soldiers that were about to charge into a new wave of Shinra troops. "I hope you find Aerith on your way! Good luck!"
"You too!" Cloud shouted back as he signaled the others and began running towards the center of Midgar, to the Shinra Imperial Government tower where Aerith had undoubtedly headed, and where this conflict would come to an end.
Rufus had just sat down to eat when the noise began. What started as a series of small explosions had grown into a sea of shouts and the clashing of weapons; the sounds of war. Throwing his eating utensils down, he hurried out of his small dining area and into the main section of his office suite. Reno was already there, waving for him to come to the windows.
"You have to see this." The Turk said in an agitated tone.
Stepping up next to him, Rufus was horrified at the scene in the city below. A fleet of airships were consuming the skies and the Sector Seven gates had been decimated, paving way for an invasion of soldiers.
"Wutai?" Rufus asked, though it was rhetorical. There was no one else who opposed the Empire, after all.
"That's not all." Reno grimly said as he pointed out the silver shape of the Highwind among the Wutai airships.
"So this is how it comes to us." Rufus narrowed his eyes as his lips curled with anger. "After all our planning it comes down to this; a fight at our very doorstep."
"What should I do, boss?"
"Go down and join the fight." Rufus said through gritted teeth. "Make them suffer for this."
"What about you?" Reno hesitated. "Are you sure you want to be alone?"
"Zahn has already reorganized the towers defenses. It would take the brunt of these invaders to reach me. Assist our apparently inept soldiers and see to it that they don't even get the chance."
"What if Cloud and his buddies manage to sneak through?"
"Then I will personally take care of them." Rufus' demeanor darkened further. "Whether they die in the streets or by my own hands in this very room, this will end tonight."
The attack on Midgar had begun when she and her escort had been halfway to the floor that Reeves office was on. The news of the battle, which had been broadcast through the tower, had given pause to her trip as panic spread through the civilians within the building. In fact, she had been prepared to simply ask the woman who was walking with her for directions so she could get there on her own when several Shinra soldiers had arrived and told them to exit the tower in an orderly fashion. For a moment she'd been severely worried that she was going to have to fight them, but upon mentioning that Reeves was expecting her, the soldiers had escorted her the rest of the way.
Seating herself on the edge of a couch in Reeve's comfortable little office, Aerith Gainsborough reached up into her dress and pulled a metal cylinder about a foot in length from where she'd attached it to her thigh. Bringing the green gem studded object out in front of her, she pressed a small button in its center, and with a snap it extended out in both directions, stopping twice to click into place as it elongated into a mage's staff. Bugenhagen had given it to her before she'd left Cosmo Canyon. The elder Cetra had said it would help her control her magic, which was still mostly unfocused.
"You are either the bravest woman I've ever met, or the most foolish." Reeves said as he paced back and forth in front of his desk. "I'm having a very hard time deciding which."
"I'm sorry." Aerith smiled up to him. "It seemed to be the simplest way of reaching you. If I had tried to fight my way in, I'd never have made it. Besides, it seems to have worked. I'm not a very suspicious looking person."
"No, but you're also incredibly lucky." Reeves shook his head at the crazy girl. "If Rufus wasn't preparing to declare martial law in a few hours, he'd have noticed your presence. He's always notified of unusual visitors, especially those who don't even have a business appointment."
"My ancestors watch over me from their place in the lifestream." Aerith said as she stood up and banged her rod on the floor to make sure its moving parts had properly locked in place.
"Maybe they do." Reeves grunted. "Had you shown up just a few hours later than you did, you wouldn't have been allowed in the city and Wutai's operation might not be under way."
"I'm just glad that those soldiers of yours found me, or I would have had a lot of trouble getting to you."
"They weren't my soldiers." Reeves said as a button on his desk began blinking. Walking over to it, he pressed it down and was greeted by a calm voice that informed him that more "visitors" were approaching the tower. Without responding to the news, he turned back to Aerith and set his jaws in determination. "Alright, here's what I need you to do."
As they approached the sparkling glass doors of the towers first floor, Cloud was struck by the dreaded feeling that this was happening far too easily. Since breaking away from Sector Seven they'd seen very little resistance, though that much was to be expected; after all, most of Shinra's soldiers were hurrying to fight Wutai, not to search for a five-person team that was hiding in the shadows. However, the entrance to the tower was a different matter. As the rain continued to pour down on their heads, they scanned the area for opposition but found none. There appeared to be no guards outside and there was little visible movement in the lobby.
"Well?" Jessie broke the silence. "What do we do?"
"The lack of guards is unnatural." Vincent stated. "It could very well be a trap."
"We won't know until we try." Cloud set his jaw. "Let's bust on in."
Wordlessly they ran from their cover and to the tower doors, ducking low as they went. With a quiet swish the doors slid open for them and they dashed inside, bringing up their weapons and searching for cover right away, but there was nothing to be seen.
"What the hell is going on?" Tifa asked.
"Perhaps they have evacuated the tower due to the attack." Nanaki offered.
"That's plausible." Cloud admitted. "But only for civilians. Where are all the guards?"
"Right there." Vincent calmly said as he brought his gun up and began firing at a massive flight of stairs where several soldiers had been heading down into the lobby. With timely and probably lucky ducks, the two men and one woman managed to slide behind a large statue of Rufus placed on a break in the steps just in time to avoid their would be deaths.
"Vincent, keep your gun trained." Cloud whispered orders. "Jessie, Nanaki, you two go on the right side of the reception desk. Tifa and I will go to the left. We'll get them in a pincer attack."
With nods all around they all headed to their designated positions. With adrenaline pumping through his veins, Cloud made his way around the desk and slowly up the central stairs of the lobby. The base of the statue, a large square stone with potted plants set up around it, was no more than fifteen feet ahead of him. From the corner of his eyes he could see Jessie and Nanaki across from him as they too approached the hapless soldiers.
"Cloud Strife?" One of the Shinra soldiers asked from his hiding spot behind the statue. "This is Sergeant Vicks of the Shinra Special Operations unit."
The question about his identity, and the subsequent revelation of one of theirs, caused him to halt in his steps. From across the lobby he hadn't been able to recognize the man, but Vicks was one of most skilled members of Special Ops from back when Cloud and Zach had been in it. Taking a risk, Cloud signaled the others to hold back for a moment. He wasn't sure what this was leading to, but he wanted to find out before a fight started.
"I'm going to assume your lack of response to be a yes." Vicks continued. "We didn't come down here to fight you, so would you mind calling off your attack?"
"That wouldn't be a very smart tactic for me, given the situation, sergeant." Cloud said back to him as he looked around the room once more for other soldiers. There had to be something going on here.
"If this were normal circumstances you'd be right, but they're not. We're here to take you to Reeves."
The mention of their contacts name caused Cloud to look over his shoulder to Tifa, but she was just as surprised as he was and offered little help in making a decision. The same went for the others, though a nod from Vincent indicated that he should at least check it out.
"How do I know this isn't a trap?"
"Well, for one thing, if I wasn't on your side then I wouldn't know who your contact was. Plus I know that your friend, Aerith, has already visited him."
His eyes went wide at the mention of Aerith's name, and he breathed a guarded sigh of relief. If Vicks was being truthful with them, that meant she was okay. Cloud looked back to Tifa again and received a nod. It seemed doubtful that this was a lie. If Vicks knew about their contact but was still loyal to Rufus, Reeves would be dead and Wutai's invasion would have been met with a very fierce resistance rather than scattered soldiers.
"Alright." Cloud said after a moment of thought and nods from the rest of the party. "Then lead the way."
Sergeant Vicks and his two soldiers led them up many flights of stairs with no opposition whatsoever. When they arrived at what was apparently Reeves office, Vicks ushered them inside and then left them alone. As the door clicked shut behind them, the party looked to a man who was sitting on the edge of a desk.
"You're Reeves?" Tifa asked.
"That's right." He nodded. "It's good to finally meet you all."
"Where's Aerith?" Jessie asked as she looked around the room. "Those guys told us she was here."
"She was." He nodded again. "I gave her special instructions for the remainder of her time here in the tower. You'll be joining her shortly."
"Sorry to be rude in our first meeting with each other and all." Cloud muttered as he stepped past the others and looked to Reeves. "But just what the hell is going on here?"
"You'll have to be a little more specific than that." Reeves raised an eyebrow.
"You're a politician. I was under the impression that you had no say in military matters, so how is it that you seem to have all the soldiers in this tower in your pocket? There's no way we could have made it all the way up here without a single confrontation without some one pulling the strings."
"Not all the soldiers in the tower are in on it. Just the majority of the ones you'll be passing by." Reeves corrected him. "And they're not reporting to me, per se."
"What do you mean?" Vincent asked with suspicion.
"They report to Lieutenant General Zahn." Reeves looked to Cloud. "A name I believe you're familiar with."
"My old commander from when I was in Special Ops." Cloud nodded. "Where does he play into all of this?"
"Zahn became involved almost two years ago. He's been instrumental in bringing us to where we are now."
"Why? What's in it for him?"
"His plan is to assume control of the Empire when Rufus is gone."
"That's not possible." Jessie scoffed. "He's not in the position to do that. Even if the Empire doesn't outright crumble without Rufus, it'd fall to High Priestess Elena and the church to lead, not the military."
"Theoretically, yes. But Zahn's turned out to be nearly as skilled at manipulation as Rufus is."
"What does he plan to do?" Tifa asked.
"Working with me, he knew that Wutai would lead the charge here today. Zahn plans to publicly blame Rufus' death on them and Avalanche. He'll use the Empire's outcry to mount a holy crusade against Wutai. He thinks that the Empire's citizens will rally behind him as a hero to crush the people who killed their god."
"And in doing so he would gain the favor of the entire Empire." Vincent concluded for him. "Which would put him in the perfect place to assume control, even over the church."
"Exactly."
"And you're helping him!" Cloud became enraged at this new information. "He'll destroy Wutai!"
"Calm down." Reeves said, motioning with his hands for him to be quiet. "I have no intention of letting Zahn take control. He was just a means for us to reach our goal easier."
"Then you believe his plan is flawed?" Nanaki questioned.
"No. Zahn is a brilliant tactician. If he believes it will work, it probably will. But I have something in store that will effectively wreck his plans."
"Does Wutai know about any of this?" Jessie asked.
"No." Reeves shook his head. "It's too dangerous for me to contact them about it. Zahn would find out, and that would be the end of it. Wutai doesn't even know he's involved at all."
"I don't like this." Cloud voiced their feelings. "I don't want to see Rufus fall only to be replaced by a dictator."
"Nor do I. That's why I assure you I will not let it happen."
"I guess there's nothing we could do about it by now anyway, huh?" Tifa fumed.
"I'm afraid not, and if you don't hurry you won't even get the chance to stop Rufus to begin with."
"Right." Cloud said as he ground his teeth together and regained his focus. This could very well be their only chance to strike at the Emperor and they had to use it no matter the cost. "What do we do?"
"I had Miyama send you here so I could direct you to another weapon. Mentioning its location in any messages would be far too dangerous."
"A weapon?" Nanaki asked with sudden interest. "Do you mean the Atma Ray?"
"Yes." Reeves said, sounding surprised. "How did you know about it?"
"This was where the temple that held it once stood." Nanaki spoke as if Reeves were stupid. "And there is no other weapon that would be of any use in this fight. It was only logical to assume."
"He's Cetra." Cloud added to help ease Reeves discomfort.
"Ah. Well, that would make sense then."
"How is the Atma Ray different from my Claws?" Tifa asked.
"It is an energy based projectile weapon." Nanaki told her.
"A gun?" Vincent asked in surprise.
"Yes." Reeves nodded. "Its design was the basis for the materia guns that the Turks use today. A lot of our other technologies were developed from it as well."
"Where is it?" Cloud asked.
"Floor forty-seven. That's the Magic and Technology Research Division's first branch."
"Hojo." Vincent hissed through suddenly clenched teeth.
"Yes." Reeves confirmed. "He'll most likely be there."
"Well, Vincent." Cloud looked to the 'abomination'. "Looks like you get your chance for revenge after all."
"Indeed." He replied in a menacing growl. "Was there ever a doubt?"
"No." Cloud winced at the harsh tone. "I guess not."
Floor forty-five of the tower acted as an enormous checkpoint. All staircases that had led up this far ended here, and only those with very high clearance were allowed to use the single set of stairs that ascended the remainder of the tower. The normal guards here had been replaced by Zahn's soldiers, so they were allowed to pass through with no trouble.
As Reeves had warned them, the entrance to the forty-seventh floor was devoid of Zahn's men. The Magic and Technology Research Division had its own guards constantly on duty here. The door that opened into the floor from the staircase was secured by five soldiers in white uniforms, but that didn't matter; Vincent was very eager. Before they could make any formal plans of attack the inhuman man lost his patience and leapt up the stairs to the soldiers before any one could even think of stopping him.
None of them saw what happened. By the time the rest of them had ran up the stairs the screams had already subsided and all they found were mutilated bodies and an open door. Knowing that they had no real choice but to follow, they all ran through the door and sprinted after Vincent as he stalked the hallways for his prey.
The research centers first branch was littered with offices and large experiment chambers. Odd contraptions and unfinished projects the likes of which they'd never seen before were almost everywhere they looked. Notably missing were the Mako Demons created in other branches, but that wasn't all too surprising. It would be reckless to have any of those dirty little secrets present in a building with such heavy traffic.
Despite his practically frothing demand for vengeance, Vincent tended to stay on the path that Reeves had laid out for them, culminating in the discovery of a large and vaguely oval room with a great deal of materia-powered machinery in it. Barely visible at the center of the room, due to the clutter of unidentifiable objects, was a large tube made of glass and metal that was jutting from a humming mound of wires and moving parts. Inside of the tube, suspended in the air by some unseen force, was the Atma Ray. Composed of the same materials as the Atma Claws, it was obvious that the Turks materia guns were crude copies of this sleek and smooth weapon.
Though they expected to be ambushed at any moment, nothing happened as they approached the large cylinder. Not bothering to search for an opening, Vincent slammed his gauntlet through and pulled the Atma Ray out of its shattered container. Just like the Claws, the Ray was lighter than it seemed it should be, and Vincent was just about to slide it into his belt when a shadow to his left leapt out at him and knocked him onto his back. Vincent flipped back, throwing the enormous form of Kuro Koka off of him. The dark furred feline landed on all fours, growling loudly as Hojo stepped out of the darkness behind it. Everyone began brandishing their weapons until Vincent cut them off by latching onto the former holding place of the Atma Ray and ripping the machinery out of the ground with his bare hands. With a heavy crunch, he reduced it to nothing more than a jagged pile of metal in front of him that erupted into flames as he shot several rounds of fire into it from his materia gun.
"What are you doing!" Cloud shouted over the sudden noise as he squinted his eyes through the fire that now separated them from Hojo and Kuro.
"Go." Vincent said in a sinister tone as he thrust the Atma Ray into Jessie's hands; she was the only one out of their group other than him who had even held a gun of any kind. "This is my fight! Not yours!"
"No!" Jessie said firmly as she looked the tall man in the eyes. "We're not leaving you behind! We're a team!"
"You will!" He growled at her as he returned her determined stare. "I must face my past! This is the only way I can go on!"
"But we can help you!" Tifa pleaded.
"You have no time!" Vincent shouted at them. "You have to face Rufus!"
"Are you going to be alright by yourself?" Cloud asked, knowing full well it was useless to argue. Vincent had made up his mind, and as a man who wanted revenge himself, he understood.
"I do not intend on dying here. Now go! You have little time!"
Cloud nodded and Nanaki bowed his head in respect for his fellow warrior before the two of them turned back the way they'd come. There was a moment of hesitation for the Tifa, but she too knew that there was no way to change his mind.
"You be careful." Tifa said at last as she hugged his shoulders. "We'll see you soon."
She headed off after Cloud and Nanaki, but Jessie had no intention of leaving; it was clear from her expression as she stood there and stared at the tall, pale man. Not wanting to waste time with words, Vincent turned away and prepared to head across the flaming debris to face his maker.
"I can't just leave you here alone!" Jessie shouted at him in desperation.
Stopping in mid stride, Vincent turned and looked to her over his shoulder. Sighing quietly, he stepped back to her and bent down to look her in the eyes as he placed his hands on her arms.
"I have to do this alone, Jessie." He said in a soft voice that seemed totally unnatural for him. "You know me better than any of the others. You have to understand this."
"Why can't I help you?" She asked, her voice dropping noticeably.
"You already have." He replied. "You've brought me back in touch with emotions that I thought were dead, and for that I am truly grateful. But if I do not do this now, it will haunt me forever, and I will never be able to break free of the burden I carry."
"You'll come back?" Jessie asked as a strange look of sorrow crossed her face. "Right?"
"I will." Vincent said, his tone implying that he truly meant it. "I swear."
"Good luck." She wrapped her arms around his thin sides in a fierce hug that seemed to last an eternity. Moments later, when she released him, she turned and ran towards the stairs where the others would be waiting as fast as she could, never once looking back.
The four Turks that were guarding the lobby of the forty-ninth floor didn't have a chance. The normally skillful assassins were taken completely by surprise as Cloud, Tifa, Jessie, and Nanaki stormed out of the main stairwell with weapons at the ready. The first two Turks, who were standing together, went down from a single, wide arcing swing of Cloud's Buster Sword that shattered a multitude of bones upon impact. The third was met by a series of sharp jabs from Tifa's lightning fists that crushed her wind pipe. The last of the four Turks managed to whip out his gun and fire a lone shot right about the time his partners bodies were landing on the ground, but it flew wild as Jessie tackled him to the floor and slit his throat with a quick slash of her combat knife.
The battle, if it could be called that, had taken only fifteen seconds, and the last possible resistance between them and their destination had been eradicated. An impressive set of curving stairs climbed the east and west walls of the large reception room and met together at the top to form a small platform that was lavishly decorated with sculptures and paintings. As the sounds of thunder boomed outside the four of them ran up the stairs and arrived at large, redwood doors on the platform that displayed beautiful carvings lined accented with gold and silver.
The doors were unlocked, not that it would have stopped them regardless. With deep breaths they threw them open and ran headlong into the fight of their lives. The fiftieth floor, which was only half the size of the one below due to the stairs leading up to it, was separated into two parts. The first half was Rufus' office from which he ruled the Holy Shinra Empire. The walls here were made almost entirely of thick glass so that he could see all parts of the city. The ceiling was supported by massive marble pillars which were accompanied by fine sculptures of nude men and women. At the back wall was a large desk seated on an upraised area of the floor. The desk was a half circle, devoid of any trinkets other than the caster sphere and screen that was placed on it. Behind the desk was a chair turned away from them, and behind that was a door that led into the other half of this floor; Rufus' home. Very few knew what the inside of it looked like, but with the Emperor's noticeable love of extravagant luxury, it wasn't hard to imagine.
As soothing orchestrated music played from unseen speakers, the high-backed and well-cushioned chair behind the desk swiveled around. Seated there before them with his hands folded against his chin was Rufus Shinra.
After giving them their final instructions and wishing them luck, Reeves had quietly left his office by means of an air duct in the ceiling. It wouldn't take Zahn's people long to figure out that he was up to something, but the locked door would slow them down just enough for him to get his work done before they'd realize he was actually gone.
As he made his way through the ventilation system towards the forty-second floor, he thought about what he was about to do. Many would call him a traitor for assisting Wutai, but he considered himself a patriot. He was loyal to the people of Shinra, but not to those in power who led through lies. He worked with Wutai to destroy Rufus so that the Empire would be free of his deceit, not so that they would be occupied.
Cloud and his friends were fighting to put an end to Rufus, but they had no means of showing the world that all he had said was a lie. They merely wished to remove him from power so that the corruption would end, but to Reeves, this wasn't nearly enough. While the Empire would almost assuredly be led by better people with Rufus gone, killing him without exposing his dark secrets would only make him a legend and a martyr, and then the people of the Empire would never truly be free of his rule. Reeves had taken it upon himself to bring the truth to the surface.
With a pop he knocked a vent open and dropped down into a dark room lit only by dozens of faintly glowing spheres. Normally this room would be bustling with activity; it was the headquarters for the Caster News Network, after all. However, with the tower evacuated of everyone except for military personnel, the room was completely deserted. Moving quickly, Reeves located the remote controls for the caster he needed and flipped the switch on. Next he located the one that would broadcast his signal across the Empire and activated it as well.
Whether Cloud and his friends succeeded now or not, the truth would be known.
Vincent had waited until he was sure that the others would be heading up to the next level of the tower before he leapt over the flaming wreckage that separated him and his nemesis with a single, effortless bound. Hojo stood right where he had been before with Rufus' pet feline still at his side. Apparently he had been waiting for Vincent to make his move. It was obvious that Hojo had some plan up his sleeves; otherwise it would be suicide to simply stand before him with only a giant cat for protection.
"I wasn't sure I'd ever see the day that you'd return to me." Hojo said, his face beaming with twisted pride. "You still haven't aged a minute."
"I can't say the same for you, old man." Vincent's lips curled as he fought to hold his hatred at bay. "I see you have some problems with your eyesight."
His demeanor instantly darkening, Hojo reflexively touched the scarred flesh over his left eye socket, beneath his thick glasses. This had been the punishment that Reno had given to him many months ago for allowing Cloud to flee Midgar.
"A simple misunderstanding." Hojo said as he collected himself and smiled again.
"Why do you not run? You know what I am capable of, yet you stand there as if you have no fear."
"And why would I fear a mere failed experiment?"
"Allow me to demonstrate the reasons!" Vincent roared as he suddenly leapt across the room for Hojo's jugular. With a heavy thud, he found himself on his back again after another pounce by Kuro Koka. Jumping to his feet, he watched the feline in confusion at its strength. Granted it was the largest Dark Nation Saber that he'd ever seen, but no animal of that size should be able to throw him with such ease.
Unless…
"Rufus allowed me to 'borrow' his pet just in case you were to drop by the lab." Hojo chortled with odd laughter. "Of course, I don't really care about stopping your companions from fighting the Emperor, I only wish to see this experiment come to a close."
"Experiment?" Vincent asked, fearing that his premonition was correct.
"Yes. The one that I began with you." Hojo smiled with sadistic glee as he patted Kuro on the head. "Magnificent beast, isn't he? Of course, he's actually more loyal to me than he is to Rufus, but only I know that."
"You made another?" Vincent asked in shock. "Even after you were unable to control me?"
"Ah, so you figured it out!" Hojo snickered. "Yes, yes that's right."
"You raving madman." Vincent shook his head in disbelief. "How could you be so ignorant?"
"Oh I'm not the ignorant one, Vincent. You see, unlike you, I have nothing to fear from Kuro."
As Hojo took a single step back, the large feline's body began to tremble. As an unnatural ripple ran over its flesh, the furred skin began to distort and change. The feline stood on its hind feet during the transformation as its bestial body melted away and became something different. After mere seconds the feline was gone, replaced by the nude figure of a muscular man with long brown hair, golden eyes, and an eerily expressionless face.
"Truly magnificent." Hojo sounded practically giddy as he pulled a lab coat off of the wall near him and slid it over Kuro's arms, who then finished the work by zipping it up to at least partially clothe himself. "You see, Vincent; I really had no experience in this field when I first created you. I was just throwing ideas around and testing them out on you. Unfortunately, I made a terrible mistake."
"It must be very painful for you to admit you're not infallible." Vincent growled as he stared at Kuro, who remained motionless.
"With you I took a man and turned him into a beast; in retrospect this wasn't a wise decision." Hojo continued unabated by Vincent's sarcasm. "You were given enormous power, but your human origins allowed you to retain a hint of independence that eventually caused you to fully break free of my control."
Hojo's eyes glittered with insane delight as he placed his hands on Kuro's thick arms and squeezed the man as if he were his own son. The display sickened Vincent to his core.
"Kuro is not flawed like you were. I took the basic concept, but I reversed it! I took a beast and made it into a man! A hunter with the intellect of a human being, but the power and mindset of an animal! Perfect in every way, and unquestioningly loyal!"
"You disgust me, Hojo." Vincent spat out, interrupting the scientists rant. "You may even be more demented than I believed."
"Think what you will, Vincent Valentine." Hojo aimed an angry glare at him. "It doesn't matter. The only one of my creations that could possibly defeat Kuro is Sephiroth, and I'm told that he's dead."
"I am not the same monster I was when you last saw me, Hojo." Vincent said calmly. "You will die for underestimating me."
"You are nothing but a failure!" Hojo spat out as he pointed at him. "You are a berserker, and the moment your rage takes hold of you and turns you into a beast, Kuro will end your life! Today my only failure will be erased from existence!"
"So here you are at last." Rufus said from his seat behind his desk. "Now that you've done your best to ruin nearly a century of work, and killed one of my closest friends, you've come to finish me off?"
"That's right." Cloud answered. "Your tyranny ends here."
"Tyranny?" Rufus scoffed as he stood up and walked around to the front of his desk. No one noticed the caster sphere behind him spinning quietly to life. "The people of the Holy Shinra Empire trust and love me. How does that translate to tyranny?"
"They only love you because you've pulled a veil over their eyes!" Tifa snapped at him. "This perfect little world you've created isn't real!"
"I have altered reality to make my world real!" Rufus roared out at them as his eyes narrowed in anger. "I say that I am a god, and because I have power to display I am one! I say that there are demons that the world must unify to defeat, and because I create them there are!"
"But it's all fake!" Jessie yelled. "You're just playing everyone for fools so you can take over the world!"
"You've come so far, but you've learned so little." Rufus' lips curled in disgust at them all. Motioning at Cloud, he singled him out. "Especially you! You were created to help me! You could have stood by my side and brought peace and order to the world, but instead you choose to throw it all away and oppose me!"
"How can you have the gall to speak of peace and order!" Cloud bit back. "You kill everyone who finds out the truth! You've murdered thousands of innocents in your war with Wutai just because they don't believe that you're a god! You've probably killed even more than that in your own Empire!"
"I do what is necessary to unify the world!"
"You sacrifice innocent blood without remorse!" Nanaki chimed in. "The people of this Empire trust in you, but you kill them if they threaten your precious lies!"
"You villainize me for killing the few when I am saving millions!" Rufus snapped as he slammed his fist into his desk, sending cracks through it. "How can any of you judge me! You have all lived in the world I created where war is a distant matter and where most people are safe. You don't know what it was like before the Empire! None of you know what it was like to live during the wars of old where every man, woman, and child went to sleep at night fearing that they may awake to the drums of a warlord who wants to kill and enslave them all! You don't know what it was like for children to watch their fathers killed and their mothers raped before their very eyes! I delivered the world from that terrible era, and you would see me crucified as a devil!"
"You delivered us at what cost!" Cloud argued back. "You control the world; you decide who lives and who dies. No one is truly free in your Empire. They're all prisoners and they don't even know it!"
"So let them be happy in ignorance, rather than dead with the truth!"
"You're a monster!" Tifa shouted above the rest. "You're the real reason that Nibelheim was burned down! You're the real reason that Zach is dead!"
"My parents were killed because of your fucking lies!" Jessie furiously yelled.
"And my race was nearly destroyed just because you feared our power!" Nanaki roared as he let his human disguise drop to reveal his true Cetra form.
"All justified, if it will keep the general populace at peace for another day!" Rufus raised a clenched fist in the air at them. "And I will not see all that I have built destroyed by idealists! This is where your revolution ends!"
Snapping his fist open, Rufus launched a barrage of blue and yellow lightning from his palm that slammed into the floor, narrowly missing Cloud as he jumped out of the way. Raising his other hand, the Divine Emperor let loose a series of thin rays of white light that blew large chunks out of the marble columns of his office as the party darted behind them for cover.
From his office window Lieutenant General Zahn watched the battle occurring down in the city proper. A faint smile came to his lips as he took a drink from the coffee mug he held and watched Heidegger's large suit of MagiTek armor crash through a line of Wutai soldiers. If it weren't for that suit, Heidegger wouldn't be caught within a mile of the actual combat, but the rotund general believed he was invincible inside of it. Little did he know that Zahn had personally ordered a few special installations in the armor just a day earlier. Heidegger would be quite surprised at how faulty the suit was in just about fifteen more minutes.
Also on the battlefield was Reno. Though the Turk was too small to actually see from this distance, it was easy to pinpoint where he was from the explosions and light shows going on in quadrant four. Just as well. He'd be kept busy and away from the real action going on in the tower, and he'd take out quite a few Wutai troops in the meantime. All in all, everything was going very well.
Behind him the door to his office opened and Sergeant Vicks stepped inside.
"Sir, we have a problem."
"That's not what I'd expect to hear from you, Sergeant." Zahn said coolly as he turned to face his subordinate. "What is it?"
"It's Reeves, sir." Vicks winced from the look he was being given. "He went quiet for a while, so we tried to go in his office and it was locked. We got in, but he's gone. We think he went in the ventilation system."
"You should have had some one with him at all times." Zahn grunted. "Where is he now?"
"That's the problem, sir. We're not sure."
"You're not sure?" Zahn raised an eyebrow. "I'm beginning to question whether it was wise to put you in charge, Vicks."
"I'm sorry, sir. I take full responsib—" Vicks cut off as he reached up to his ear to touch a small device nestled there. "We have him, sir. He's on the forty-second floor."
"The Casters!" Zahn slammed his coffee mug down as a horrible feeling swept over him. "Come with me, now!"
Vicks nodded hastily as Zahn rushed by him and together the two ran to the central stairs and headed up. It took them only a few short minutes to reach the floor Reeves was on at the speed they were going. The door to the Caster News Network headquarters was locked shut, but Zahn took care of that with two solid kicks that knocked the door off its hinges and sent splinters flying. Rushing into the room, he immediately spotted Reeves, who continued to furiously tap controls right up until Zahn grabbed him by the arm and threw him into the wall.
"You fool!" Zahn bit out as he hastily shut down the Casters that Reeves had been messing with.
"It's too late." Reeves laughed in his victory. "The broadcast already went out. Every one who was near a Caster screen just heard enough of the truth to discredit Rufus forever."
"How could you be so ignorant!" Zahn shouted, his pale face flushing with anger as he turned and threw a punch into Reeves jaw. "Rufus' death alone would shake the Empire to its core; finding out the truth about him will completely destroy it!"
"Maybe." Reeves continued laughing as he shook his head and wiped at the blood dribbling from the corner of his lips. "But at least they know the truth now."
"What good will the truth do them if it causes a civil war!" Zahn punched him again. "I always knew that you didn't truly support me, but I never dreamed you would be capable of doing something this insane!"
"Let history decide if my actions were right or wrong." Reeves said as he narrowed his eyes at Zahn. "The Empire is better off without the likes of Rufus or you in power."
"History will never know your name, my friend." Zahn mumbled as he quickly drew his sword from its sheath on his belt and with one swift motion sent it deep into Reeves chest.
Reeves gasped sharply as his hands went to his wound, but Zahn raised one booted foot up and kicked him to the ground, pulling his sword out as he did so. Reeves said nothing as his eyes slid shut and he fell into darkness. Zahn wiped the blood from his sword onto the white and blue leg of his pants before returning it to its sheath.
"What now?" Vicks asked with worry in his voice. "This ruins all our plans."
"No." Zahn said the disgust in his voice obvious. "It's a serious setback, but nothing we can't correct with time. We'll just have to rethink things. That's all."
"Yes sir." Vicks replied, but his tone made it clear that he was unsure about this.
"Come on." Zahn said as he spat down on Reeves corpse and then stepped over it to head towards the door. "I need you to continue observing the battle while I work on our backup plan."
"We have a backup plan?" Vicks asked in surprise.
"I always have a backup plan." Zahn said through gritted teeth. "Always."
Elena was in Kalm's city square with several other priests and a squadron of cathedral guards preparing to broadcast her announcement about the martial law status for Midgar. Normally she simply broadcast from the caster in her own office, but something of this magnitude deserved an actual crowd. At least half of the city had gathered here to listen, and she was just about to begin when the city's main caster screen activated behind her. Confused as to this turn of events, Elena and the populace looked to the screen to see what was being reported, but none of them could possibly have expected what they saw. By the time the broadcast ended, or was cut short as it seemed, everyone in the city square was in a state of shock that left then totally silent, or mumbling about the terrible things they'd just heard.
Elena herself was stunned at what she had witnessed. The horrible things that Rufus had said on the broadcast were unfathomable. Surely there had to be some sort of terrible mistake; there was no way it could be real.
The demons! Elena thought to herself as the only logical answer came to her. Obviously, the ones that Rufus had spoken to her about were more skilled at impersonating mankind than she'd thought. Some how they must have imitated the Emperor in order to bring disorder into the Empire so that they could attack. That had to be it; the other possibility was far too nauseating to even consider.
"High Priestess?" One of the cathedral guards asked in a frightened whisper. "What is the meaning of this?"
Elena turned to see her priests and soldiers looking to her with fear and doubt. Raising her eyes past them she saw a similar scene amongst the gathered citizens. The people were frightened at what they had seen. Some were shocked into silence, others were openly weeping for the future, and still others were trembling with hatred. Kalm was the most devout city in all the Empire. If those gathered here were in a state of disarray and anger, there was no telling what was happening else where.
"High Priestess!" Another of the guards snapped her out of her thoughts. "You must say something! What is happening?"
The faith of even those in the service of the church was shaken. Something had to be done; she could only hope that the brief broadcast hadn't been seen by many people.
"It is a lie!" Elena shouted above the rabble of the crowd. "Have faith in the Divine Emperor! This is a ploy by the demons to weaken our Empire!"
From the shouts that went up among the crowd it was clear that it would take a much more convincing statement to lay aside their doubts. This was not something she could do in haste, she had to carefully plan what she would say in order to ease the minds of those who had seen this terrible lie.
"What shall we do, High Priestess?" One of the other priests asked.
"Citizens of the Holy Shinra Empire!" Elena shouted loudly as she motioned for the crowd to be silent. "Be steadfast in your faith! We will return to the cathedral and prepare an official broadcast that will put to rest this false message and the lies it contained! Until that time, please return to your homes in an orderly fashion and remain calm!"
A few people took her words to heart and began to leave the city square, but many remained, their voices growing more angry and feverish with each passing moment. There was a great risk that this could grow into a very dangerous mob. Elena signaled for her priests to return to the cathedral as she leaned in and whispered to the ranking officer amongst her guards.
"Bring every cathedral guard in Kalm out and put your men in a state of alert. Do not allow this city to fall into crisis, no matter the cost. I will bring in Imperial Soldiers to assist you if I must."
"Yes, High Priestess." The soldier whispered back.
As Elena was escorted back to the cathedral, the guards began to do what they could to disperse the crowd, but it was only a matter of time before violence began to spread through the once peaceful city of Kalm.
Nanaki scrambled out of the way as one of the nude female statues was blown into chunks and collapsed overtop of where he had stood only moments before. He hadn't truly known what to expect from this battle, but it surely wasn't going as he'd hoped. Rufus was practically untouchable.
With a flying leap, Tifa reached Rufus and slashed at him with the Atma Claws, hoping to weaken his defenses as she had against Rude. Rufus raised his right hand towards her and the air between the two rippled strangely. As Tifa's attack hit the distortion, the Claws bounced off of the air as if it were a solid wall. Pushing his extended palm towards her just a little more caused the effect to expand and hit her body, throwing her across the room.
"Is that the best you can do!" Rufus snarled as he turned and deflected a bolt of white energy that flew from Jessie's Atma Ray with a fireball that flew from his fingertips.
Running quickly, Cloud swung his Buster Sword at Rufus' chest. The Emperor brought his left arm up and caught the cleaving blade in his hand. Showing no sign of physical damage whatsoever, Rufus twisted the heavy sword from Cloud's grip and hit him in the chest with the flat of the blade. With a grunt, Cloud flew back, tumbling end over end until his back came to rest on one of the marble pillars. Shaking his head to clear his vision, he had just enough time to gasp and duck as the tip of his sword slammed into the column. The blade embedded itself a good ten inches into the marble from the sheer power that Rufus had used to throw it.
With a feline growl, Nanaki raised his hands above his head and chanted swiftly. As a light wind kicked up around him and energy began to glow in his fists, he braced himself and aimed his open palms at Rufus. A large orb of darkness coursing with tracers of gray energy was hurled and struck the Divine Emperor squarely in his chest. Nanaki grinned to himself for a moment, but as the Demi spell dispersed, Rufus stood there unchanged. With a smirk, the Emperor leapt at the Cetra warrior and hit him with his shoulder; the impact sent Nanaki flailing through the air.
"This is all you have?" Rufus taunted them. "Did you really think that just because you managed to kill Rude that you could take me with ease! His power was nothing next to mine!"
Grunting, Cloud rolled to his feet and grasped the hilt of the Buster Sword but was unable to pull it from the column it was stuck in. Raising his right hand he cast a thunder spell and sent a small bolt of lightning into the marble, causing it to tremble violently. With a heavy pull and twist the marble crumbled enough for him to rip the sword free.
Tifa ran towards Rufus and Cloud came up along side of her, intent on hitting him at the same time. A little west of them, Jessie was taking aim to fire at him again, and Nanaki was scrambling to his feet. As they all rushed at him at once, Rufus knelt down and slammed his fists into the floor. After a slight delay, a wave of blue light erupted from the ground and expanded in all directions around him, hitting all four of his attackers at once and sending them to the ground.
"You will never defeat me!" Rufus shouted in anger. "I am a god!"
Zahn and Vicks headed out of the Caster News Network Headquarters and back towards the stair well when they heard a man scream from several floors above them, causing them both to pause. Seconds later another scream followed, and they glanced to one another before running for the stairs as fast as they could. Busting through the door, they looked up just as the door to the forty-fifth floor was smashed outwards by the flying body of a Shinra soldier. As blood splattered across the railing, the soldier flipped over and fell screaming down the long stair well, passing the pair of men as he went. Running to the edge, Zahn looked down in time to see the falling man's head smash into the railing further down. The impact sparked a domino effect that sent the now limp body bouncing back and forth until at last the man smashed into the ground floor with an unsavory splat.
"What the hell is going on up there?" Sergeant Vicks sounded worried as another scream came from above.
"Come on." Zahn said as he set his jaw and ran up the stairs. Pulling his sword out he carefully stepped through the door to the forty-fifth floor and was stopped cold at what he saw.
The check point floor that Cloud and his companions had passed by earlier was in disarray. Although Zahn had stationed many men here in order to let them through, as well as stop anyone loyal to Rufus from interfering, none of the soldiers were alive now. Their bodies were strewn about the checkpoint like rag dolls. Some had been killed by magic, others by precision attacks by some sort of slashing melee weapon, and still others had been brutally mutilated for apparently no reason. This hadn't been a simple attack; this had been a murderer's playground.
The walls and floor were smeared with crimson. There were streaking finger and palm prints from where the soldiers had tried to keep from falling. Blood was also sprayed across the walls and floors in almost artistic patterns from when the actual attacks had landed. One corpse was even surrounded by a sticky puddle of yellow, now mixed with blood seeping from the wounds that had killed the man. It would have taken a truly nightmarish sight to make one of these troops wet himself. The carnage was extreme, perhaps some of the most disturbing images that even a seasoned military leader like Zahn had seen.
A movement to the north caught his eye, breaking his stunned fixation on the murderous scene before him. Darting for cover in case of an attack, he caught a brief glimpse of a shadowy figure before it darted up the stairs towards the next floor. With that simple flash, a horrible feeling swept over him.
"What the hell was that!" Vicks gasped, certainly on edge from seeing such violence laid out in front of him.
"Call your men, sergeant." Zahn said as things began to click in his mind. "We have to evacuate this tower immediately."
Vincent ducked low as Kuro leapt at him. The beast man's fist slammed hard into the wall behind him, sending plaster flying. Blood dripped from his clenched fist, but he didn't seem to notice. Turning to search for his target once again, Kuro let out a guttural growl that was every bit as animalistic as it was when he'd been in his feline form. From his left the much lither form of Vincent darted at him, swinging his gauntlet at the beast's face, but Kuro dodged the attack with ease.
As Kuro crouched low and then pounced onto Vincent, who grabbed the other's arms as he fell to his back and flipped him off, Hojo watched on with demented glee. Rubbing his hands together, the mad scientist relished every movement as he awaited the glorious victory of his precious creation.
Kuro didn't say a word as they battled, and he rarely made a sound other than the occasional grunt or growl. It was like he had no soul at all, and that made him very dangerous. Vincent knew this all to well, which is why he knew he couldn't let the fight get away from him or he'd definitely lose. As Kuro threw another punch, Vincent ducked his head beneath it and swiped at his chest with the sharp metal fingers of his gauntlet, shredding a ragged hole through the lab coat and tearing deep into flesh. Kuro didn't seem to mind as he grasped Vincent's neck with one strong hand and lifted him into the air. Kuro swung his body around twice to gain momentum and then used his speed to slam Vincent's head into the floor. The hard stone cracked and turned to gravel from the force of the impact, and Vincent was left lying there dazed and unfocused.
"Excellent!" Hojo cackled from the side line.
"I am not beaten." Vincent coughed as he began to push himself up off the ground.
In response, Kuro again grasped his neck, this time with both hands, and began to slowly squeeze the life out of him. His air supply nearly cut off, Vincent's hands went to Kuro's wrists as he tried to wrestle him off, but the beast man was too strong even for him. As hatred and anger raged through him, Vincent's eyes began to dimly glow.
"Yes!" Hojo squealed as he saw the telltale sign. "Give in to the anger and let the beast inside of you take control, so that you can die like the animal you are!"
Looking to Hojo from the corner of his eyes, the glow grew brighter as his brows furrowed and his lips curled in fury. Just as Kuro had, his body began to tremble as the genetic alterations in him began to take hold. Rather than simply becoming the Galian beast, though, this time his change was different. His teeth elongated into terrible fangs, but his jaw remained human. His body's muscle mass expanded, but he did not become an animal. As slender talons grew from where his fingernails had been, Vincent dug the razor-sharp claws into Kuro's wrists and used newfound strength to forcibly pull the other creatures hands off of his neck. As Kuro growled in anger at his failings, Vincent slowly forced him far enough back to bring both of his heavy boots up into his chest. With a fierce kick, he sent the beast man flying into the flaming debris he'd caused earlier.
"No!" Hojo said with horror on his face. "That can't be!"
Vincent said nothing as he slowly stood to his feet. With a tearing sound, two thin black and leathery wings sprouted from his shoulder blades and expanded to a nine foot span from side to side. Standing there with his eyes burning red and his body silhouetted by the flames behind him, he looked like the devil himself; a truly horrifying sight to behold.
"I have regained control of the emotions you once tried to steal from me." Vincent said, his voice a frightening sound in the otherwise quiet chamber. "I have conquered the beast you created inside of me and have become something entirely new!"
With a roar, Kuro Koka leapt back into the fight from the darkness. His clothing and body were aflame and seared from where he'd been thrown into the burning wreckage, but it didn't slow him down any. With a terrible cry he leapt at Vincent with the obvious intent to rip him apart.
Turning to face his opponent, this new incarnation of Vincent Valentine reached out and caught Kuro by his face, stopping him in midair in an amazing display of strength. Held off the ground by only a single arm, Kuro flailed like the wild animal he was created from, his hands slamming against Vincent's arm, but he was unable to break free. With a look of sadness on his face for the poor creature that Hojo had created, Vincent squeezed his gauntleted hand tight. Kuro's body went limp as his skull was crushed in, and Vincent dropped him to the floor.
"No!" Hojo screamed out as he rushed to the corpse of his beloved experiment. "No!"
"I have become more than you can ever hope to contain." Vincent said as he reached down with his clawed hand and lifted Hojo off the ground by his collar.
"It's not possible!" Hojo cried as he futilely struggled to escape. "You can't just change what you are! I made you!"
"You made me into a monster that could change its form." Vincent said with quiet hatred. "And I have changed into your executioner."
"You have no right to kill me!" Hojo uselessly argued. "I am your maker!"
"You were my murderer." Vincent hissed through his fangs. "You destroyed my life and brought me back as a devil. You raped the woman I loved, and then made me kill her!"
"Don't make it sound so uncivilized!" Hojo barked at him as he continued to pointlessly bat at the hand around his collar. "It was a scientific experiment! I used sterilized equipment and—"
"Whether you used instruments or forced your own shriveled body on top of her, it makes no difference!" Vincent roared at him as he lifted both hands and grasped at Hojo's neck now. "You defiled an innocent girl against her wishes with your own tainted seed and used it to create yet another monster!"
"Sephiroth was no monster!" Hojo choked out. "He was the greatest living organism on this world! I made him perfect!"
"Then perhaps it's unlucky for you that he's not here!" Vincent hissed as he squeezed harder.
Hojo tried to respond again, but his mouth formed nothing but gurgles and grunts as Vincent's grip tightened more and more. The scientists face began to turn red then purple as air failed to reach his brain. Vincent stared at the dying man as he clenched fangs for a long while before finally squeezing sharply one last time. With a wet crunch, Hojo's head began to bob unnaturally as his remaining eye rolled back into his skull and Vincent dropped the corpse to the floor. For a long time he stood there, panting and staring at the dead man as his body shrank back to its original size and form. The last to go were the freakish wings and the glow in his eyes, and he stood there as his normal self.
"And at last I am human once again." Vincent said in a trembling whisper as he turned away from the two dead bodies and walked away.
Scarlet Grant had been in Research Room Three in the Magic and Technology Research Division's First Branch when the sounds of something terrible happening erupted from elsewhere on the floor. Not knowing what was happening, she returned the artifact she had been studying to its containment chamber behind her and darted out into the hallway. Following the terrible sounds through the floor, she found herself approaching the research area where the Atma Ray was housed. Fearing the worst, she crept around the corner and glanced in through one of the many doors that opened into the large room.
With a gasp, she backed away. Hojo and his precious Kuro Koka were inside, battling against a tall, pale man dressed in red and black in the midst of burning equipment. Even though she'd only looked in briefly, she knew who it was; Vincent Valentine. There was no way in hell she was going in there.
The safest place for her would most likely be the room she'd just come from. Its walls were heavily armored, due to the item she had been inspecting earlier being kept there. If the tower was under assault, she'd be able to hide in there without much trouble. If only she had some of her wonderful little weapons with her she wouldn't be concerned, but most of those were down in the city itself, not up here where they could be more easily discovered by prying eyes.
Running back the way she'd come, Scarlet ran back inside Research Room Three and slammed the door shut behind her. She was just about to lock the door when she noticed that the lights had gone out since she left, the room illuminated now only by the soft glow from the containment chamber on the north wall. Reaching to her left, she went to flip the light switch but found the panel torn open. As her eyes went wide, she heard a sound from behind her and turned to see a figure in the shadows; she was not alone.
"Who's there!" She called out in as authoritative a tone as she could muster under these stressful conditions. "Show yourself!"
With quiet footsteps, the figure stepped close enough to her and the containment chamber for its dull light to spill over his form, revealing his identity. Scarlet stumbled backwards upon seeing who it was, and as her blood chilled she knew that she was about to die.
Cloud, Tifa, Jessie, and Nanaki were all laying or crouching close to one another. They were breathing heavily and covered in cuts, bruises, and singes. They were battered, and they were losing, and there seemed to be nothing they could do about it. Rufus was just too strong; they hadn't been able to damage him at all.
"You see?" Rufus said as he towered over them, content in his victory. "I'm invincible. Your precious Atma Weapons alone aren't enough to break my defenses."
No one responded, but their expressions spoke for them. They hated him, but he was right. They didn't know what to do, and they were rapidly becoming too tired and too beaten to fight regardless.
"And now, my faithless little friends, you die."
As Rufus raised his left hand towards them, a ball of multi-colored energy forming in his palm, the sound of a door being thrown open came from behind him. Rufus whipped around to see Aerith Gainsborough standing behind his desk in front of the door that led to his private living area. Reeves had told her how to find a secret lift that only Rufus and his closest friends had access to, and she had used it to sneak into the fight while he was distracted with the others. Before he could say or do anything, she entwined her fingers together in front of her face in a silent prayer.
"NO!" Rufus shouted as he brought his hands up to fire a spell at her before she could finish her chant, but his body contorted in pain as Jessie fired a blast from the Atma Ray into his spine. With his attention solely on Aerith, he hadn't been able to defend against it.
"Holy!" Aerith's voice rang out through the chamber. "Come forth!"
A bright glow came from the back of her hair where the Holy orb was tied into her ribbon, and instantly the powerful spell took effect. Wisps of green light erupted from the floor and began snaking through the room. The lifestream tendrils wrapped around Rufus' body, jumping into his skin through his pores, mouth, ears, and nostrils. As the wisps darted in, out, and around him, he let out an enraged howl and fell to his knees where his arms trembled as he fought to hold himself up.
Seeing their chance, the others pulled themselves up and rejoined the battle. Tifa leapt onto Rufus back and plunged the Atma Claws into his neck with a sizzle. Rufus groaned as his energy was sapped away, and Tifa kicked off of him and back flipped away as Jessie fired another shot into his left temple. Rufus was sent sprawling and hit his desk hard enough to break it in two. The caster orb on it fell down and shattered across his skull as the lifestream attack that had been focused on him began to fade. In its damaged state, Holy couldn't sustain an assault for long, but it had been enough.
Shaking his head, Rufus began to climb to his feet when Cloud reached him and sent his knee into the Emperor's stomach. Rufus grunted as he stumbled back, only to have Nanaki upper cut him in the jaw with the handle of his dagger. The hit threw him over the broken desk where he landed halfway in his chair, which swiveled away and let him fall to the floor.
Rufus groaned and scrambled up, nearly running into Aerith as she raised the rod that Bugenhagen had given her into the air. Orange and red streaks of flame and magma danced around the skyward pointed tip, forming a molten sphere that pulsed with strength. With a shout, Aerith jerked the instrument down and in Rufus' direction. The enhanced Flare spell was flung from the weapon and hit him on the shoulder, sending him spinning through the air. Rufus was thrown clear through one of the nude statues that adorned the office, but managed to land on his feet nonetheless. Growling in anger and pain, Rufus brought his hands up and launched a barrage of small ice shards flying across the room. Nanaki and Jessie managed to lurch behind the marble pillars for protection whereas Tifa cast a shielding spell around herself and Cloud, and Aerith did the same for herself.
"This changes nothing!" Rufus screamed, though the blood dribbling from his mouth proved otherwise. "I will still kill you all!"
Not bothering to speak, Tifa and Cloud wordlessly formed a plan and carried it out. As Rufus continued to hurl larger and larger frozen spears at them, Tifa ran headlong into the attack with her shield spell up in front of her. Cloud, brandishing the Buster Sword, ran behind her, leaping over her shield at the last moment to bring his weapon down on Rufus' head. The cleaving blade still wasn't enough to actually crush or cut the Emperor, but it certainly must have hurt. He went down on the ground instantly, and rolled away from them as he held his head.
Nanaki darted forward from the column he'd been behind with both of his hands trailing behind him, a dagger in each. As he ran with his upper body bowed low, he whipped his arms forward, slashing at Rufus' chest with the two daggers. They struck, slashing his clothing but leaving him undamaged. The Divine Emperor swung his leg around to send his right ankle into Nanaki's neck. As the Cetra boy tumbled over, Rufus was pushed back several feet as three blasts from the Atma Ray hit him cleanly in the chest and stomach. Jessie continued to fire, but Rufus managed to bring up a light purple shield in front of him that began deflecting her shots.
Running forward, Aerith twirled the mage staff in her hands and muttered words beneath her breath, slamming the end of the rod into Rufus' shield, she channeled her counter spell through the rod, causing the shield to shatter. Cursing, Rufus lashed out at her. His first punch was parried by her staff, but the second hit her in her gut, sending the beautiful girl to her knees; still, she hadn't been thrown across the room, which was a good indication of where Rufus' power now stood.
With a shout, Tifa leapt at him and swung her leg up in a roundhouse kick at his face. Rufus ducked low, causing her to miss, but she followed it up with a punch to his chest that he couldn't avoid. Cloud leapt in to help and swung the Buster Sword down hard, narrowly missing as Rufus side stepped, only to be hit in the chin as Tifa dolphin kicked into the air.
Stumbling back, Rufus shook his head hard, sweat dripping down his enraged and pained face. Cloud ran at him again, and swung diagonally, but Rufus ducked to his right and avoided it, then slammed his shoulder into Cloud's chest, sending the blond falling to his ass. With a flip, Cloud was back on his feet just before Rufus loosed a deadly bolt of lightning into the spot he'd been in.
Though Rufus didn't see what hit him, he fell to his back as Tifa swept her leg into his feet. The moment he hit the ground, he rolled away and came up into a crouch, but was only rewarded by a punch to his nose that sent the Atma Claw's energy-disrupting tips into his face. With a sizzle and a pop, Rufus fell backwards, and when he came up this time his nose was bleeding badly. His defenses were weakened enough for him to take the brunt of physical damage.
With a roar of hate, Rufus flung a glowing sphere of gold from his palm that hit Tifa in the sternum. With a grunt, she was thrown head over heels until she crashed into another statue and fell to the floor. Rufus took in a deep breath and began to turn only to be greeted by Aerith, who had now risen to her feet again.
"Deadly rumbles, strike from the sky!" She shouted. "Heaven Thunder!"
As her spell finished, bolts of lightning enhanced with the power of the Holy orb she held erupted from the air above her and slammed into Rufus. Using Holy as a conductor had been a little theory she'd tested out during her trip to Midgar. The electric charges coursed through his body, and as his eyes widened and he screamed in pain, he was thrown through the air where he came down next to his desk's chair once again. Groaning heavily from the pain, his eyes rolled open and from where his head lay on the ground he could see the underside of his usual seat.
"No!" Rufus screamed with a ragged voice as his eyes went wide at what he saw.
With a quiet beep, the explosive charges that Lieutenant General Zahn had secretly placed on the bottom of the chair activated. With an eruption of flame and smoke the bomb went off and flooded the chamber with booming noise. Realizing what was happening, Cloud and the others ran quickly for the exit. They just managed to leap out of the doors and fall down the stairs as the explosions grew larger and the ceiling began to collapse in on top of the Divine Emperor.