Chapter 8: The Nightmare Awakens
"There it is!" came a frantic call from ahead as the Shinra fire team rushed down the hall.
"Fire! Fire, Hynedammit!" An officer barked orders, and in response a stream of gunfire answered as the men under his command opened up. For several long seconds a quartet of rifles pumped rivers of steel down the hallway ahead, their muzzle flashes lighting the darkened corridor. Then, abruptly, the shouts and commands turned to screams as the gunfire slackened.
From around the bend, two Shinra soldiers, one in blue and the other in the green of a field officer, scrambled around the corner. Or at least, the soldier was able to, as the officer glanced back over his shoulder, and then simply broke apart as a flash of silver tore into his body. Blood erupted from his bisected corpse, and a strangled scream came from the officer as he died.
The surviving soldier saw his comrades approaching, with more men behind them, and waved his hands desperately. He wasn't asking for aid, however.
He was telling his fellow soldiers to fall back.
"We can't stop it!" he shouted, and then, a shadow rounded the corner, two green orbs shining where the head would be on a human. Then, the soldier simply died, a quick, brutal death accompanied by anther flash of silver and a whoosh of displaced air that broke the hapless trooper into three pieces.
The approaching soldiers skidded to a halt and leveled their weapons as one, spreading out across the corridor before opening fire.
Their muzzles flashed, the rifles kicked and spent casings clattered to the floor, but it seemed as if the men weren't even firing their weapons, as the shadow advanced inexorably, ignoring the bullets. The flashes from the rifles reflected off an impossibly long, curved, and wickedly sharp nodachi that the figure held in its hands as it took one, then two, then three deliberate steps forward.
And then, before the soldiers could even twitch, it was there, right on them, and two of Shinra soldiers' heads went flying. Another fell back, his chest ruptured and weapon bisected by the huge blade, and he screamed as his blood ran down his uniform. The last man had somehow avoided the blade, and, terrified of this reaper of souls, backed away, firing madly, until his weapon simply ran out of ammunition. He looked down at his rifle as if it had betrayed him, and threw it aside, before grabbing for his sidearm.
The blade flashed, and the soldier's arm, hand grasping the pistol, flopped to the floor, accompanied by a geyser of crimson. He didn't even realize he was injured before the figure sliced again, this time taking his legs at the knees and dropping him to the floor. Now he screamed, his left arm flailing, as his lifeblood poured out.
The shadow turned away and advanced further down the hallway, where two squads of Shinra soldiers were setting up a defensive point, complete with mounted machineguns and a pair of rocket launchers. Two members of SeeD directed the defensive point, at least until they realized the shadow was advancing.
A squad of soldiers bravely moved ahead, trying to slow the advancing shadow down. They leveled their rifles at the shining green orbs at its head and opened fire.
Then they were on fire, immolated as the shadow gestured at them and released a shockwave of devastating pyrotechnics. Most of the Shinra squad was either killed instantly or thrown to the floor, where they screamed and writhed in the hellish inferno. Two men managed to dive forward and underneath the fiery cataclysm, but then, as they stood, they found themselves facing the shadow itself.
A hand, muscles and tendons as tight and unbreakable as reinforced steel, clasped over one man's throat, lifting him into the air and suffocating him. The other soldier stepped back, trying to get out of range, but the nodachi jabbed forward, impaling the man in his stomach, before sweeping upward, slicing up into his chest and head, and exploding out the top of his skull. The shadow's shining eyes turned back to the doomed soldier held in its grasp, and the man began to mutter a helpless prayer to Hyne. The shadow's wrist flicked, and he went flying into a wall headfirst, where he felt a sudden hot explosion on the top of his head, and then knew no more.
The mounted machineguns were loaded and cocked in the few seconds that the dead men had bought, and the soldiers manning them shouted cries of vengance as they opened fire.
Then the shadow was suddenly behind them, even as the first bullets began to tear down the corridor. The doomed soldiers didn't even realize they were dead, except for one man, toting one of the rocket launchers, who managed to cry out as the shadow simply materialized behind the defensive point and came around, nodachi slicing into the confused gunners and shredding them instantly.
The man with the missile launcher set his teeth and steeled hismelf, before pointing his launcher at his opponent. They were at point-blank range, and it would be impossible to miss, but the man knew he was dead anyway at such a short range. He leveled the weapon and launched the rocket, knowing that even if the lethal shadow did not kill him, the explosion would.
The shadow wheeled around and slapped the rocket with its left arm, hurling it down the corridor to explode harmlessly. The soldier who had fired fell away, muttering something incoherently, and then the blade sliced in.
The shadow turned back down the hallway, to see the remains of the group of defenders, the pair of SeeDs who had been commanding the group. As one, the two masterfully trained and supremely deadly warriors drew their swords, standing before the door that would allow the shadow access to the upper levels. Wordlessly, the two men charged, blades raised.
They came in from opposite sides, a perfectly coordinated assault that would cleave apart any normal opponent. But this was far from a normal opponent, and the nodachi seemed to weave effortlessly between their two strokes and deflect the swords out wide. The shadow's left arm lashed out suddenly, batting aside the SeeD on its left, while the nodachi swept back around and struck at the right SeeD. The SeeD was able to deflect the blade, however, being no novice to battle, and countered with a quick jab at the shadow's chest. Somehow the nodachi managed to get back around, the huge, awkward blade parrying the smaller sword with surprising ease. Then, the shadow rippled forward, smashing its shoulder into the SeeD and throwing him back hard against the wall. Then, the shadow simply gestured, and the SeeD was engulfed in flames, an intense fire that killed the man almost instantly.
The shadow turned away from that dying SeeD, to see the other lying next to the door he had been guarding, still stunned by the powerful hit. The shadow stalked forward, bringing the nodachi low by its side, and as it neared the door, its suddenly charged forward. The SeeD was barely able to recover his bearings before the shadow passed, smashing through the door, the nodachi slicing through the wall where the SeeD's neck was located. Behind the shadow, blood slowly seeped around the side of the door, pouring from the dead SeeD's neck.
The shadow surveyed the room beyond, and smiled wickedly as more Shinra soldiers rushed in from doors all around, trying to intercept this reaper that had stolen so many lives in its rampage through the Shinra Building.
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It was a smell he was all too familiar with, and one that had him ready for battle even as he returned to the waking world. Squall opened his eyes fully alert, and was on his feet in an instant, dropping into a low, balanced combat crouch as he sniffed to air once more to confirm what his instincts were telling him.
Blood. He smelled blood.
Then he saw his door, the metal blasted inward as it it had been smashed by a massive hammer.
He roused Quistis immediately, and as she awoke, Squall stepped outside, and almost into a puddle of blood that was slowly seeping across the floor. A quick glance showed from whence the blood was coming, as up the hallway, near the corner that led to the main hallway on this level, was a pile of twisted and torn bodies heaped along one wall.
A gasp from behind him told Squall that Quistis was up and had seen the carnage.
"What happened?" she asked as Squall stepped out, his boots moving through he blood. Squall shook his head as he stepped, looking at the tangle of corpses.
"Someone piled them here," he stated, crouching next to the dead bodies. He looked around, then nodded as he reached into one of the pockets, removing a keycard. "Free the others. I'll go scout ahead, see if whatever it was is still here." Quistis nodded and they split, Squall running down the hallway while Quistis returned to the cells, unlocking Rinoa's first. She was already awake and alert, and wasn't surprised when Quistis opened her cell.
"What happened out there?" she asked, standing up off her bed. Quistis shook her head, not sure, instead stepping back outside to open Zell and Red's cell. The door slid open, and Quistis had to leap back out of the way as Red pounced out of the cell, landing easily with his tail taut. Zell was a step behind, alert and ready, in a low combat crouch. A moment later, he let out a low whistle at the pile of dead bodies and the lake of crimson.
"So, this is what Red heard," Zell whispered, shaking his head.
"More than just this," Red replied, shaking his head.
"There was a battle in the building," Rinoa added, and Red nodded.
"How did you know?" Quistis asked her, but she just shook her head and gave a shrug, the best explanation she could give for someone who could not hear the planet as she could.
"She's right," Squall added, coming back around the corner, carrying his gunblade in one hand and with Quistis' whip, Rinoa's crossbow and staff, and everyone's materia and bracers in hand. His Guardian Force bracer was barely visible underneath his jacket sleeve. "Everyone is dead. And I don't think any human could have done this."
"What do you mean?" Quistis asked as she and Rinoa took their weapons back.
"There were hundreds of bullet casings in one hallway alone, but only a few bullet holes." Squall replied. "Nothing should have survived that many hits. From the way the defenses were set up, the Shinra soldiers were well-organized, too."
"And it still defeated them," Red replied, and Squall nodded grimly.
"What the hell could have done that?" Zell asked.
No one had an answer.
Squall led them past the grisly pile of corpses, out into the hallway beyond. They soon passed a room which had clearly been an armory, judging by the racks that normally would have held weapons and ammunition, but were now empty. It was obvious that this was where Squall had recovered their weapons from. A few scattered magazines lay across the floor, and loose bullets were strewn around the room. A Shinra soldier was impaled on a twisted bar from one of the racks, one arm chopped off at the elbow.
Zell paused in at this room and glanced inside, before looking down at his jacket, which was tattered from all the close calls and conflicts thus far. It looked ready to fall apart, and that might interfere with combat in the future. With a pang of regret (the jacket looked really cool) Zell took it off and replaced it with a drab, light brown sleeveless vest hanging on one of the racks. There were a few flecks of blood on it, but nothing much. His outfit updated, Zell rejoined the party.
They moved past that room, and soon entered a longer hallway, strewn with dozens of corpses, or pieces thereof. Blood was spread in pools and smears along the walls, and crimson footprints marked the aggresor's path, a deliberate, unyielding path marked by streamers of blood and bodies cleaved apart. Both civilians and Shinra soldiers lay in crumpled heaps as the killer's steps meandered through the halls, as if it had been deliberately trying to get as many opponents and victims in its path as possible.
The road paved in corpses led to the huge storage bay where Jenova had been kept, and Squall was unsurprised to see the dome broken open, and the thing within taken. The blood trail led past a squad of men who seemed to have been shredded by claws and immolated by fire, and into the elevator leading up to Hojo and Odine's lab.
The lab wasn't any better, but the path of blood and bodies took a more linear route, straight through the door out of the lab and toward the stairwell leading to the higher levels. Neither Hojo nor Odine were among the sprawled and bisected corpses scattered among the halls, Squall noted, as he and Red led the group through the environment. They ascended the stairwell and continued up, reaching the sixty-ninth floor, where they found Shinra had made a brutal last stand in the foyer leading up to the president's office. Nearly a hundred men lay in several hundred pieces across the floor and along the steps, and the marble floor itself was impossible to see beyond the blood, bullet casings, weapons, and bodies that covered the floor like a macabre carpet. Blood led up to the Presiden't office.
The group moved up, and momentarily were surprised to see Alexander Louis Shinra sitting behind his desk, upright, staring straight ahead with open eyes, and for a moment, the quintet thought Shinra had somehow survived the carnage.
That was, until they saw the bloody nodachi poking through the man's stomach, the blade stabbed through the back of his chair and out the front of his body.
"So, he's dead," Zell spat as they crossed the room. "Good riddance. I owe whoever did this a beer and a high-five."
Squall shook his head at the words, crossing around behind the desk, and looking at the nodachi. He was inspecting it when he suddenly wheeled, a knife sliding from his sleeve and at a man he'd seen hiding behind a pillar. The man yelped in surprised panic as he tried to flee, but found the blade of the knife pinning the collar of his tan suit to the pillar.
"Palmer, you fat bastard!" Zell shouted, crossing the room to where the overweight executive was trembling in terror.
"You saw what happened here?" Quistis asked, and the shaking man nodded hesitantly.
"It was . . . it was him!" the man stammered out.
"Who?" Zell demanded.
"Sephiroth," Squall and Palmer stated at the same time. Palmer glanced at Squall, who stared grimly at the impossibly long sword.
"This was done one-handed," Squal muttered, looking at the penetration and how the blade had curved up through Shinra. "A one handed thrust with a sword like this. Only one man has the strength and control to manuver a weapon like that."
"Sephiroth," Palmer repeated.
"You're sure?" Zell demanded.
"Why would I lie?" Palmer squealed. "I heard his voice when he came up here. His sword was covered in blood, but none of it touched him. H-he was saying something about how he wouldn't let Shinra get the Promised Land right before he started laughing like a madman. Then, the president was dead and he was gone! I didn't even see him move!"
"Then it exists?" Quistis asked. "Sephiroth's here to save the Promised Land from Shinra?"
"No," Squall answered immediately. "Sephiroth's no hero. I know what he wants." His face turned even more grim as he looked back at the blade. "He's still alive . . . ."
Their conversation was cut short as the repetitive thwipping of a helicopter's blades neared the top-level office. The group turned as one as the helicopter neared, and out one of the panoramic windows they could see the helicopter nearing a private landing pad on the balcony outside Shinra's office. Standing in the open door was a tall, blonde figure in a spotless white coat.
"Shit," Zell spat. "Its Rufus Shinra, the president's son. Forgot about him. Probably flew in from Junon the second he heard the place was under attack."
The helicopter circled a couple of times, like a vulture circling prey. As they watched its flight, Squall looked down to the blood-soaked monitors around Shinra's desk, and frowned.
"We've got company," he muttered, waving everyone over. Zell left Palmer behind, and the group gathered around the desk to look at the monitor which Squall was observing, which was connected to the Shinra Media Center on a level far below, bringing them a live feed from a news crew outside the Shinra Building. The camera was pointed at a reporter who was even then interviewing the green-clad Heidegger, who wore a helmet and headset. beyonfd the Shinra commander was a virtual sea of soldiers, tanks, jeeps, and other military hardware, all surrounding the Shinra headquarters.
"No, no, not at this time," Heidegger was saying with a shake of his head. "We do not have plans to reenter the building immediately, at least not until we have determined whether the threat remains. However, we can confirm that a high-ranking official has been killed along with at least three hundred workers and soldiers, though we don't have an upper limit to that number. Right now, Rufus Shinra and a small strike team are dropping onto the rooftop office to assess the situation. We do have an armored probe unit moving in to get a preliminary estimate on damages and casualties inside the building itself. Once we have a general understanding of what we're dealing with, we will storm the building."
"How long has it been since the first report of an attack?" the reporter asked. Heidegger glanced at his watch.
"Approximately five hours ago," he stated. "Give or take. Whoever the attacker or attackers were, we haven't had any updates on them in the last twenty minutes. We do know there are some terrorists within the building under our custody, though it could well be that they have escaped and inflicted this carnage."
"Shit, they're blaming this on us?" Zell muttered, and Squall nodded as the helicopter closed in.
"Looks like he's finished circling," the ex-SeeD stated, turning toward the balcony.
"Let's give him a warm reception," Zell added, striding forward, leading the quintet outside into the polluted Midgar air as the helicopter floated near the balcony. From inside the transport, several red-clad soldiers tensed, but a wave from Rufus had them standing down. Rufus kicked a rope ladder off the side of the helicopter and began to descend, dropping to the balcony, his blonde hair flying in the helicopter rotors' area of effect.
Rufus turned to face the quintet, scrutinizing them with icy eyes. He was young, barely out of his teens, but his bearing and gaze spoke of an unusual wisdom and incredibly sharp intellect. His outfit was spotlessly white, including a white trenchcoat that featured a large, noticable bulge, obviously a hidden weapon.
Rufus Shinra nodded their way as he saw them.
"Sephiroth was here," he commented. "And yet he left someone alive? Who are you?"
"Zell Dincht, bitch!" Zell replied, jabbing a finger into his chest. "Head of AVALANCHE, and don't forget about it when I paste your ass! That's Quistis, my second." He jabbed a finger toward Quistis, who nodded. Rufus grinned, looking across the group, nodding as he finally recognized each of them.
"I know the rest of you," he replied. "Though just vaguely. You're that lab specimen Hojo had my men capture," he added, looking to Red XIII. The fiery beast narrowed his good eye.
"And you're the Ancient my father was so ecstatic about recovering," Rufus continued, looking to Rinoa. "And you," he finished, looking to Squall. "The traitor I've heard so much about. What a crew. Well, as you probably already know, I'm Rufus Shinra, head of Shinra Inc."
"Ownership passes down from the big rat to the little rat," Zell muttered, and Rufus chuckled.
"I suppose you could say that," he admitted. "And since you're the only audience available right now, I'll share a special inuguaration speech with you." He strode toward them, hands open as a sign of no threat.
"My old man tried things too hard," he began, crossing the balcony. "His approach was . . . inefficient. He tried using money to keep the people in line, and it seemed to have worked. People obeyed Shinra. They worked for us, got their pay, spent it on Shinra power and Mako, and continued to generate profits."
Rufus threaded between Squall and Zell, hands clasped behind his back in thought.
"But it takes too much to do it like him, especially since, as we have seen, not everyone can be cowed by mere monetary power alone. But, there is another source of power that can cow even the mightiest foe. Do you know what that is?" He stopped in front of Quistis, meeting her eyes, then turned away, stepping between Rinoa and Red.
"Fear," he answered his own question. "Fear will keep them all in line. Its the most primal source of power, after all, and quite effective. It takes too much to do it like my father, so I will control the world through fear instead of wasting money on the people." Rufus stopped as he neared his original spot, and looked back.
"How'd it go?"
"Bunch of hot air," Zell replied, shaking his head.
"I suppose my fine skill is wasted on you," Rufus replied with a shrug. "Oh, well. I guess it doesn't matter. Spending words on people who are either dead or never escaping again is meaningless anyway."
"Dead?" Quistis echoed, and Rufus' words had everyone sliding uneasily into combat stances.
"Someone needs to be blamed, and due to our . . . unpleasant history with Sephiroth, we can't exactly blame him for it. But who will be our scapegoat? I can think of none better than a ragtag band of terroists led by a cruel and inhuman traitor. Your executions will set records for the Media Center's ratings, or at least, those of you three. Can't let such valuable specimens be lost, now can we? Now, will you return to your cells, or will you be killed trying to finish off the last of the Shinra bloodline?"
"How about neither?" Squall answered, shaking his head. "Zell, get them out of here. I'll deal with him."
"But-" Zell began to protest.
"Now!" Squall replied, pointing his gunblade at Rufus. "Cut off the hydra's head and the body will be stunned. Get out of here, we have more important things to deal with!"
"He means Sephiroth," Rufus clarified, seeming bored. "Its not like you can escape, even if you kill me. There's an entire Shinra army waiting for you five downstairs, and they have express orders to shoot on sight, with or without my authorization. You can't escape. Don't try to, either, you'll just die tired."
"Get out of here," Squall reiterated, advancing toward Shinra. Behind him, Zell nodded, and the others broke away, Red first, with Zell grabbing the shoulders of both Quistis and Rinoa, the two women hesitant to leave him behind. Finally, they too turned and ran from the balcony, into Shinra's office, and down the stairs. Well, most of them. Halfway down the steps, quistis paused, looking back up the stairway at the office above.
"What are you waiting for?" Zell demanded, stopping and spinning back, while Red bounded on.
"Go on," Quistis replied quickly, looking up. "I'll catch up. I have to wait on him, just in case he needs me."
"Well, take care of yourself," Zell replied after a moment of consideration. "C'mon, Rinoa, let's get the hell out of here!"
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"Why do you insist on this nonsense?" Rufus asked Squall as the two faced off, the young president circling around Squall.
"A distraction," Squall stated honestly. "I'm pretty sure this is being broadcast live for the world to see, right?"
"Not exactly, though we can if you like," Rufus replied with a grin. "But this can't be all your reason for wanting to kill me. You file doesn't speak of you in this way."
"You want the Promised Land," Squall replied. "Can't let either you or Sephiroth have it."
"If that's the case . . . ." Rufus muttered, shaking his head. "I guess I have no choice-" from his sleeve a green light suddenly flared. "-but to entertain you!"
Squall was moving forward in an instant, the Revolver thrusting forward as Rufus tore a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun from within his coat.A faint dome of light resolved itself around Rufus a second before the Revolver dove home. The gunblade was deflected aside, the magic of Rufus' barrier spell protecting its caster. The Shinra president grinned and leveled his shotgun at Squall at almost point-blank range.
The ex-SeeD threw himself backward, rolling away from the blasting buckshot as Rufus pulled the trigger. The pellets sliced along Squall's jacket, and some of it actually struck his skin, but his Guardian Forces defended Squall from the damage. Squall landed on his feet and rushed forward, gunblade slicing in once more, the blade impacting along the the shield. Squall squeezed the trigger on his weapon as it struck, and a blast of concussive energy shattered Rufus's shield. Squall couldn't continue the assault, however, being forced to spin away in another evasive manuever as Rufus fired a second shot from his weapon at close range. Squall once again moved back and away in an evasive dive, and Rufus leaped back as well, widening the gap . The president cracked open his shotgun, and slid a pair of shells into the barrel, before snapping it shut.
Squall leaped forward again, trying to get at Rufus during his moment of vulnerability, but had to break off as Rufus fired his shotgun again, one-handed. Squall leaped aside, even as another green flare emerged from beneath the President's sleeve. Knowing Rufus was even then preparing another barrier spell, Squall charged forward again, racing to get to Rufus before the spell could complete.
His gunblade swooped in, and Squall thought he had beaten the magic, until the weapon was stopped bare inches from Rufus' neck. The president grinned as his shotgun jabbed forward, into Squall's ribs, the barrel still hot from the last firing. At that close range, it would kill even him.
"Not as good as you thought you were?" Rufus taunted, and Squall grimaced, before closing his eyes, as if accepting his fate, though he leaned back somewhat, settling back on his feet.
"A true SeeD never gives up," the young president taunted, pulling the trigger.
The shotgun fired, and the buckshot flew wildly, deflecting off a crimson shield of energy that had formed in front of Squall. The ex-SeeD opened his eyes, and then the air burned.
A great portal of fire formed in the air between Rufus and Squall, emitting heat as intense as if a gateway to the furnaces that fueled Hell's fires had been opened. And from this hellish portal came a great monster. No, not a monster, a demon, a mighty Guardian Force of fire known as Ifrit.
The Guardian Force was huge, twice a human's height and, if he were flesh and bone, would have weighed at least ten times that of any normal person. He stood on thick, dog-like, heavily muscled legs. Ifrit's chest was massive, at least six feet wide, and was also heavily muscled. Also powerfully built were his thick shoulders, as wide around as Squall's chest, along with Ifrit's mighty biceps and forearms. His fingers and toes were tipped with black claws, and his hide was a dark brown, as if cooked by the hellish flames the Guardian Force commanded. His growling visage looked like that of a hell-spawned lion or panther, and a pair of huge, slender black horns rose from the top of his head and curved back, extending out nearly ten feet. The Guardian Force had long red hair that ran down his back, and also a short red beard around his jawline. Ifrit's eyes glowed yellow, like molten gold, and had no irises or pupils.
The demon Guardian Force looked down at Rufus Shinra, fires rippling down its hands as the president fell back, his sleeve flaring green once more as he desperately erected another defensive spell. Ifrit threw a palm toward the president almost casually, and a gout of flame erupted toward the shocked head of Shinra. That fire would have utterly annihilated him, too, had it not been for the hasty but effective magical defense barrier Rufus had formed, the magical cone's tip deflecting the fire around Rufus and off the balcony.
Ifrit loosed a second wave of fire, but it, too, was deflected. Roaring in fury, Ifrit loosed a blast of flame from both hands, and though the flames were doubly intense, the inferno did not directly touch Rufus Shinra.
The Guardian Force's assault finished and its brief time in this world ended, Ifrit vanishing in the fires, fading away like broken embers.
"You were right," Squall replied as he cast a healing spell upon himself, restorative energy cascading down his body, mending his wounds. He looked to the singed Rufus, whose shield broke down and left the young president vulnerable to attack. Squall leveled his gunblade at Rufus.
"I didn't give up," he stated, and then began to rush Rufus. The president fell back, leaping away and onto the railing of the balcony, before jumping off with a smirk. Squall froze at the seemingly suicidal manuever, and then saw the helicopter rise up past his position, Rufus hanging onto the rope ladder that still hung from the open door. Then, Rufus was gone.
Squall watched the helicopter depart, but only for a second before turning away and running back into the office. He bounded down the blood-stained stairs, where Quistis was waiting for him. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but Squall shook his head.
"Rufus got away," he stated. "This is probably going to mean trouble for all of us. Let's get down to the ground floor."
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Zell and Rinoa found Red XIII waiting at the elevator, the doors already open. Red stood inside patiently as they stepped inside, and Zell wondered how the fiery creature had managed to get into the elevator. His unspoken question was answered immediately as the pair cleared the doors, as Red rose up on his hind legs and pressed a button with on of his paws, the digits moving with surprising dexterity. Zell noted that, despite their appearance, Red XIII's digits were jointed and shaped almost like shortened, human fingers.
The elevator immediately began descending toward the ground floor.
"I assume this is where we intend to go?" he asked, and Zell nodded.
"Straight down," the martial artist replied. "We'll go from there, though I think there's something downstairs that could come in handy."
They rode down in silence for a long while, looking out over the city. Far below, the trio could make out a ring of Shinra armament surrounding the building, and for Red's own incredible eyesight, he could make out the individual soldiers scurrying around or readying weaponry. They were soon past Level Sixty.
Then the glass suddenly shattered, and Zell pulled Rinoa down to the floor of the elevator. Bullets tore past well overhead, clearly intended to shatter the glass as opposed to hitting the occupants.
"Shinra weapon!" Red shouted, peeking over the edge of the floor of the elevator. Zell crawled forward, joining him, in time to see some type of armored Shinra reconniasance tank riding a heavy open-air cargo elevator, the lift rising up toward their elevator while theirs descended. It featured an armored turret on top, and bristled with machineguns and cannons. The elevator continued to descend, while the armored vehicle rose above them. Then, suddenly, both elevators froze where they were, the tank depressing its turret toward the trio of escapees, now in a perfect firing position.
"Shit!" Zell hissed, but Red rose, his muscles tensing.
"We'll only get one chance at this," he replied. "You said you were trained by Zangan, correct?" he asked Zell, who nodded.
"My grandpa," he replied. "Wait a sec. You were awake that whole time?"
"My kind doesn't sleep," Red replied simply.
"Put your hands and other appendages in the air!" came a sudden, amplified call from the tank. "Surrender now or we will open fire!"
"No time for explanations," he added, crouching low in preparation for a jump. "We must leap across! Its our only chance!"
"Right!" Zell turned back to Rinoa, holding a hand toward her. She grabbed it, and leaped onto his back, looping her hands around Zell's neck.
"I've been doing this too much lately," she muttered into his ear. Zell chuckled, and bent his knees.
"Okay, jump!" he shouted, and both he and Red XIII leaped with all their power, Zell channeling his ki into his leg muscles for an incredibly powerful leap, while Red's corded and perfectly developed leg muscles allowed him to spring across the gap, flying like a whispering gust of wind.
The trio crossed the gap without incident, the crew of the tank too shocked by the impossible leaps to react, until the trio of escapees had landed lightly on the same platform as the tank. One of the machineguns spun to point at Red, but Zell snapped a leg up, his still enhanced foot smashing into the barrel and bending it viciously.
A hatch on top of the tank opened, and an assault rifle poked out. The man wielding it rose out of the hatch as well, and took the butt of Rinoa's staff to the face for his trouble, the girl thrusting it up over the top. The man's head snapped back from the impact, and then Red leaped up on top of the tank, latching his claws into the soldier's shoulders and pulling him up and out of the tank. Red sank his teeth into the man's neck, and then swung around, his neck snapping like a striking snake, hurling the stricken man clear off the platform.
In the meantime, Zell had skittered around to the rear of the tank. He set his feet against the floor, spat into his gloved hands and slapped them together, then planted his palms against the backside of the tank. Focusing his inner energy, he grunted, strained, and pushed.
From within the tank, there came shouts of surprise and an exclamation of fear as the tank suddenly shifted forward. The men inside didn't understand what was happening as the tank slid across the floor, Zell pushing it with all his might. His veins popped out as his muscles corded, and with all the superhuman energy he could muster, the martial artist shoved the tank toward the edge of the platform.
From within the tank, the remaining soldiers suddenly realized what was wrong, and one of them began to hastily scramble out of the top of the vehicle. Red's claws were waiting for him.
The tank lurched as its front wheels passed over the edge, and then Zell roared a cry of both exertion and triumph. The tank lurched forward one last time, and then it toppled off the edge of the platform, Red leaping back and away from it with nimble ease. The recon tank plummeted into the darkness below, crashing heavily into the pavement many stories beneath.
"Now that that's dealt with," Zell added, glancing around the platform. He spotted a control panel, and stepped over to it, activating it.
"This elevator will probably drop us into a cargo storage area, but if the tank came from it, its probably gonna be crawling with Shinra goons," Zell stated. "So, we're gonna stop it a few levels below and send it further down after we hop off."
"How will we get down?" Red asked, and Zell shrugged.
"We came up via the stairwell," he replied. The martial artist rubbed his thighs. "At least it'll be easier going back down!"
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Now that was fun. BLOOD AND DEATH! The begining of the chapter was inspired by both Hellsing and the hallway cutscene from Metal Gear Solid. Sephiroth reminds me of an excessively evil Alucard....
And the next chapter is going to rock. One of my big gripes about FFVIII was the lack of a real car chase sequence, and in none of the novelizations of VII I've read so far has yet to have given the highway chase justice. I intend to remedy this. The next chapter will be partially inspired by the highway chase from The Matrix: Reloaded as well. Expect craziness and FULL ON ACKSHUN!
Sadly, I wasn't able to add a chapter of Gunblade at the same time, but me, being evil, I have actually completed the next chapter of Synthesis. But no, you won't get to read it, not until next week.
Also, you may or may not have noticed something small I have done during the course of this fic. Because the characters are composite characters, taking aspects of their FFVII counterparts to a degree, I tend to slip things intot heir character that help to emphasize who they replace. For example, Squall has glowing eyes like Cloud, Rinoa has Aeris' staff, and in this chapter, Zell has Barret's vest. I may do this for other characters further down the road.
Shout-outs!
Angel-brokensorrow: Indeed, Seifer is not going to play Sephiroth's role. Hm, but I wonder what role he does play? Hee. And Pimp Squall would be awesome to see in action. XD
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Seifer's role is a secret. But, thin of it this way: there's four other characters the heroes will encounter who will be "party" members. Some simple elimination and you may be able to figure out which one. but still, its gonna be a secret.