Start Date: June 10, 2022

Windwillow

Bolded and Underlined: Sephiroth

Final Fantasy VII

For AVALANCHE's sins, everyone in Sector Seven of the city of Midgar perished in flame. The surviving party members were left to pick up the pieces - what little remained. Yet, in Aerith's final words to them, Tifa found hope...

A little light named Marlene Wallace still shone.

Chapter Nine: Take the Fight to Them!

Scene One

There was no longer a seventh sector. All that remained was shrapnel, broken promises, and three anti-Shinra activists with a bone to pick. In the aftermath they found themselves broken and battered in Sector Six's playground - what was left of it - with severe injuries and broken spirits all around.

After struggling, Cloud snapped his broken arm back into place and began to heal it with his materia. The pain seemed insignificant compared to the hell they'd just gone through. Barret stood inconsolable at the entrance to the ruins, his only thoughts of his daughter Marlene and her horrific fate.

That left Tifa Lockhart to wander the chaos, many thoughts in her head. Chief among them was a tiny light in the darkness: the last words Aerith had spoken before the plate fell to pieces.

She's still alive...

Gripping her injured shoulder Tifa approached Barret, as he lingered in his own hatred and despair. She limped slowly, but each step brought them closer to the only bit of good news left to hear.

"Barret..."

Not even bothering to turn around, Barret let out a low growl. "What is it?" he snapped. "I ain't in the mood for pity, so beat it." Tifa slowly dropped to her seat, lowering her wounded body to the ground. Barret lowered his head, steadily gnashing his teeth to bloody stumps. "I couldn't protect her..."

"I think Marlene is still alive..." Tifa gasped, leaning against the broken slide. Barret's head whirled around fast enough to snap a normal man's neck, his eyes gone wild. She sighed, nursing a headache. "Remember what Aerith said? She said 'she's safe' right before they took her... I think..."

"Y-you think WHAT?" Barret yelled as he staggered to his feet. "Y-you mean... impossible... She just died in front of my God damn eyes and you're sayin' she's alive?!" Tifa shook her head.

"You didn't SEE her die, you assumed it. Before Cloud and I headed to back you up, I asked Aerith to take Marlene to safety. So when she said she was safe..." Tifa flashed a smile towards Barret. "I think Aerith saved her." Her pounding head began to feel a bit better. "Before the sector was destroyed..."

Barret dropped to his seat, falling back with enough force to generate a small dust storm. As the dirt settled he turned his eyes to the sky, incredulous. Was it possible? Tifa was right: he didn't see her die when the plate collapsed. By now he grasped onto every straw of hope with all the strength in his battered body.

She... can she really be...

Having mended himself enough to stand, Cloud staggered to his feet. Ignoring the ache in his arm he began to slowly walk outside of the playground unseen by his companions.

"What we did wasn't right, Barret..." Tifa muttered to herself. "People died because of us. But does that mean..." Angrily rising to his feet, Barret tightened his lone fist tightly. "Does that mean we're responsible for-"

"Hell no! HELL no!" Barret stomped his foot resolutely. "What we did and what THEY did is night and frickin' day! What we did... well..." He lowered his eyes, raising them with a heavy sigh. "What we did was somethin' else entirely. Shinra wiped out thousands of innocent people to get to US. If we're responsible for anything, it's 'cause the Shinra wanted to kill US."

With a sigh, Tifa leaned back. "I don't know anymore... I don't know what to feel..." She dragged her knees to her chest. "But I know that THEY need to pay. What about Cloud?" Tifa turned to head only to find her friend's boots scraping through the dirt. "Where are you going?!"

As Tifa rose to her feet and chased after Cloud, Barret lifted his head to the sky. "Yeah, what about needle noggin'? He... Wait, what?!" He jumped to his feet in shock. "You left my girl with the one who got kidnapped?! What 'bout Marlene?!"

Scene Two

Cloud's thoughts were, for lack of a better term, clouded. After everything that had happened, he kept going back to Tseng's words about Aerith being an "Ancient." This wasn't the first time he'd heard someone say they were an Ancient.

In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients! I am ENTITLED to rule this world! You filthy vermin aren't fit to lick my boots!

When he said it I thought he was just nuts. I mean, he WAS, but... What does Sephiroth have to do with all this?!

Clutching his head, Cloud dropped to his knees.

Don't stress yourself! You're going to break your mind again!

What do you mean?! Get the hell out of my-

"Cloud!"

Eyes snapping open, Cloud turned to see Tifa and Barret staring at him in confusion. Well, confusion and irritation that he'd gone off on his own. Tifa's eyes lowered as she kicked the ground.

"Are you alright?" Tifa wondered.

"Get your act together, dude!" Cloud turned to Barret, watching him drag himself towards him. "I'm startin' to get sick of you goin' loony. If you got somethin' to say, then say it!"

Tifa nodded. "Don't bury everything inside yourself... You aren't alone anymore, Cloud." Cloud tilted his head in confusion. "We all need to clear our heads. Why don't we visit Aerith's mother?" Cloud shook his head to clear it. There had to be a deeper story to it all.

"Yeah..." Cloud nodded, extending his arms. "Grab onto me and I'll heal you. We're gonna need everything we can get." Though Barret seemed confused, he extended his hand with Tifa's as they each clasped one of Cloud's hands. "I've got enough mana left to keep us all going..."

From Cloud's fingers a blue light shot into his friends' bodies. The warm energy steadily eased their pain and gave them strength, mending their wounds. As the energy faded, Cloud's arms seized up in pain and dropped limp.

"Cloud?!" Tifa gasped, rushing to Cloud. She ran her fingers along his arms. "You're so cold!" Cloud flexed his muscles, cracking his knuckles as he felt warmth once again pulse through his body.

"Whenever someone uses materia, it drains energy called mana, or magic power... MP for short. It's kind of like a second circulatory system, except with magic instead of blood. Overuse saps it and, as you just saw, the effects become very real and physical indeed. It'll recharge, but I won't be able to use magic for a while."

Tifa brushed her fingers along her body, feeling her strength returning. Her body was beginning to respond again. "Yeah... I feel like I can fight, now! Let's go!" With a nod, Barret cocked his Gun-arm.

"Who needs magic when I got this baby? Anyone tries somethin' funny and I'll just blast 'em open!"

"You can't use magic anyway..." Cloud muttered. "Not like you have the smarts to figure it out." Barret angrily flipped him off, but Cloud laughed it off. "Kidding, I'm kidding! Man, take a joke..." Swallowing his rage, Barret shook his head to shake his anger off.

Frickin' sonuva...

Scene Three

Now south of what used to be Sector Seven was a wide span of rubble and empty road. What remained of AVALANCHE now traveled through it towards Sector Six and Aerith's house. It was here that Cloud and Aerith dealt with the Hell House and the bandits several hours earlier.

As they continued through the broken pipes and over various flotsam and jetsam left behind by anyone who wandered through, the party encountered neither of the enemies they'd faced previously.

For his part, Cloud was glad; he didn't have enough strength to fight then, neither with magic nor swordplay. He'd used up the last of his mana restoring his friends. Even lifting the Buster Sword would be difficult.

"Whatever's in your head," Barret growled, "just let it go. Watchin' you overthink everything's giving me a migraine!"

Tifa suppressed a giggle. "Uh-huh!" She was tired just WATCHING Cloud think. At least, for the last several minutes, he hadn't had another breakdown.

With a soft smile Cloud nodded. "I am being sorta dramatic, yeah... Watch yourself!" He slid to a defensive position and his eyes darted both forward and back. "We aren't alone... What the hell ARE those things?"

From various crevices and from under garbage several bizarre monsters appeared. They were almost entirely mouth, bodies melting into their long tails with vicious fangs protruding from their maws. Whole Eaters were an uncommon, but vicious, predator. Running across one was hard, but over twenty?

Barret's good arm grasped his Gun-arm, hoisting it at chest-level to scan across the horde. He didn't see any problem that couldn't be handled. The barrels of his Gun-arm began to rotate and spewed out round after round at the Whole Eaters.

The Eaters skittered away from the gunfire while mostly evading the shots, with only a handful nailed by the barrage. They retaliated by spitting a dark gunk at the team. Cloud quickly dodged it, but the goo melted away part of the pavement as it hit. Subsequent sprays were also evaded, leaving crisscross patterns of super-heated acid.

By reflex Cloud's hand went for his weapon, only for his fingers to stop responding as they reached the handle. Equally in vain he attempted to form fire, only for it to fizzle out. His mana, and his stamina, were close to zero.

"Squirrely little suckers!" Barret growled. Undeterred he continued firing, managing to nail another group. As he fired four darted between his shots, fangs extended as they leapt into the air. He was too busy aiming to defend himself. "Dammit!"

Tifa nimbly flexed her fingers, causing several daggers of frost to form between them. She took aim and slung her hands forward, the spears landing squarely in the Whole Eaters' mouths and freezing them from the inside out. Barret promptly swatted them away and continued firing until the last of them were felled.

Barret lifted his Gun-arm in triumph and pumped his fist. "Didn't need no magic to do that!" he laughed. Cloud put his hand to his head.

She just USED... whatever.

Scene Four

Not surprisingly the destruction of Sector Seven was the talk of Sector SIX. They'd watched the plate drop, and they'd been fed the propaganda that AVALANCHE had been responsible. Some believed it, others didn't. Most by this point had stopped listening to Shinra ages ago.

Having passed through the remainder of the sector and the slums in peace, AVALANCHE now reached the house of Elmyra Gainesborough and her daughter Aerith. Barret's first remark was to the beauty of her garden, which he too didn't understand where the flowers had come from if they couldn't grow in Midgar anywhere but the church.

They found Elmyra's back welcoming their entry, her head bowed as if in prayer. As the party entered they were greeted with a solemn sigh.

"Your name is Cloud... right?" she asked. "I knew I'd be seeing you again." Cloud stepped forward and kneeled on one knee in penance.

"They have her..." Cloud murmured. Elmyra turned and nodded, the team seeing no tears in her eyes. It was if she'd resolved herself.

"I know..." Elmyra sighed. "I watched them take her. They finally got their precious Ancient..."

Tifa tilted her head. "That guy in the suit said something about Ancients. Why is Shinra after Aerith, anyway?" Elmyra bowed her head.

"She's an Ancient," she said quietly. "The sole survivor." Barret averted his eyes, but they perked up as he had a thought.

"Wait... Aren't you her mother?" Barret wondered. "Doesn't that make you one too?"

Elmyra shook her head, seemingly ashamed. "I'm not her mother by blood..." She lowered her eyes, then slowly lifted them towards the ceiling. "How long ago was it...? Must be fifteen years back..."

This is going to hurt...

"It was during the Wutai War. My husband was sent to the front. One day I received a letter saying he was coming back on leave. I rushed to the station, and found no one... But I came back every single day, holding out hope."

Then I think I found it...

"At the station I saw a dying woman, with a child tending to her. Inconsolable, as you may expect. I rushed to help, but it was too late, she was too far gone... With her final breath she asked me to protect her daughter Aerith. I had no one left to care for, so I took her in and adopted her..."

We adopted each other, more like...

"She and I talked a lot, about a lot of different things. One day she explained that they'd escaped from some sort of twisted research lab, though she never said what they'd done to her there. But it was odd... she wasn't sad. Aerith only said that her mother returned to the Planet, and that she wasn't alone."

"Returned to the Planet?" Barret interrupted, eyes widening. "The hell does that mean?" Elmyra shrugged.

"I never understood. I asked if she meant a star in the sky, but she said quite firmly that it was our world. Then one day, she came downstairs with a determined look in her eye... but she couldn't meet mine. 'Don't cry, Mom' are the words she said. Of course I didn't understand what she was saying all of a sudden..."

But I did end up crying...

"Aerith told me that someone dear to me had returned to the Planet. At first I was just confused, but when the letter came saying my husband had been killed in action I knew that there was something bigger than what I could understand at play. That girl is mysterious in all sorts of ways."

"She said he returned to the Planet," Tifa noted. "Just like she said her mother had. But what does that have to do with the Ancients?" Sighing, Elmyra crossed her arms in front of her.

"Some long-haired man in a suit came to us, called himself Tseng." Cloud jolted, guessing that he was the man who'd abducted Aerith. "He gave us some bull about Ancients bringing everyone to eternal happiness... as if Shinra gave a damn! Aerith kept saying it was a lie, and I backed her up."

I got sick of seeing him REAL quick...

"Tseng came back over and over again, but always came away empty-handed. This is speculation, but I think he started misleading the Shinra... He and Aerith became as close as friends. I can't fathom any other reason they didn't take her in..." Tifa's attention piqued when she said that.

Wait... He didn't shoot her at the plate... because they were friends?!

Tifa shook her head, incredulous. "Then how did she get taken this time?!" Elmyra's eye twitched, a look of anger briefly crossing her face.

"Before the plate dropped she brought a little girl here..." Barret jolted, anticipating what she was about to say. "When they came she traded herself for the girl's safety..." Barret's stomach dropped. He was responsible...

"My Marlene?" he muttered. "She got caught 'cause of my daughter?!" Elmyra's face twisted for a moment, but her anger faded quickly.

"You left a four-year-old alone? What on earth were you thinking, putting her in danger?" She shook off her anger. "No... there isn't any point getting mad about it... Aerith made her choice..." Barret bowed his head, not sure what to say.

"I ain't got an answer, ma'am. I wanna be with her, but I wanna protect her. So I fight to protect the Planet so I can be with her, but then I gotta leave her... Dammit, I'm going in circles. Ain't much in my head, but I guess there's less than I thought... Sorry..."

Elmyra took a deep breath in and exhaled. "She's upstairs," she muttered with a shrug. "Go to her and hold her tight..." Barret nodded fervently and darted not-so-gracefully up the stairs. As he did, Tifa bowed to Elmyra.

"This is all because of me..." Tifa whispered. "I'm so sorry, ma'am..." Elmyra's response was to grasp her by the shoulders, gripping hard in sympathy. Tifa's eyes opened wide, but no words came.

"Don't talk like that... Aerith made her choice. Don't second guess hers with your own doubts." As Tifa's eyes began to water Cloud turned his attention to the second floor, where Barret went to meet Marlene.

This has to be hard for him to swallow... Better go see him...

Scene Five

They'd finally captured Aerith because she'd offered herself for Marlene, and there was no telling what Shinra would do to her. As he ascended the stairs Barret's thoughts were many: shame, fear, anger. The idea that he was responsible for EVERYTHING finally hit home for him.

Barging into Aerith's room, Barret found Marlene with her legs dangling on the bed, rocking back and forth. He lost all control of himself and rushed towards her, clutching her tighter than he ever had.

"Daddy, that hurts!" Marlene wailed. "Your whiskers hurt!" She paused, hearing Barret's tears. "Why are you crying, Daddy? Did I do something wrong?" Barret gnashed his teeth, swallowing his pain.

Ain't no one done wrong but me...

As Cloud entered Marlene's eyes lit up. "Guess what, guess what! Aerith was asking all sorts of things! 'Bout you, y'know! I think she likes you!" His eye twitching, Cloud stepped back silently. She liked him? Had he really been that oblivious?

I... I... God dammit, Aerith, I...

Turning with shame in his heart, Cloud headed for the stairs. He had to right it. There was no other way: he'd take her back if it killed him. But as he touched the banister he felt a firm grip on his shoulder. He swiveled about to see a very resolute Barret.

"I made up my mind," Barret said softly. "You gonna get her back? I'm in. I'm gonna save her 'cause she saved my Marlene... I owe her that much, but so much more, y'know? I just can't leave it be. Let me go with you or I'll deck you."

Cloud choked back a laugh at his forwardness, then nodded. Seems the man honored his debts after all.

"Guess the two of us-"

"The THREE of us." Both men startled as they saw Tifa ascend the stairs. She shrugged and shook her head. "We all owe her. No way I can leave it at this." Cloud narrowed his eyes.

"We're heading right into Shinra's heart," he said. "Whatever happens, it won't be pretty." With a smile, Tifa pounded her chest.

"Don't worry about me. Shinra are the ones who ought to be worried!" Cloud's face broke into his own smile. Tifa flexed her knuckles and adjusted her gloves. "Let's take the fight to them!"

As the party descended the steps, they were soon met by Elmyra. Hands on her hips, she shook her head with a sigh.

"None of you are in any condition to go anywhere, folks!" she scolded. "A little rest and you'll be up and fit."

"But we don't have any time!" Cloud balked. "We have to-"

"You're ghostly white!" Elmyra admonished. Cloud looked at his hands and found them a pale, cold white. His fingers still stung from deprivation of mana. "Whatever they have planned, we ought to have a while to regroup. And don't you dare tell me otherwise!"

With a nod, Tifa stretched her limbs. "We have to be in top shape. Sounds like we have to take our licks and go wreck 'em in a few hours!" When Barret just shrugged, Cloud was forced to give up and everyone went to lay down. Tifa was given the guest bedroom, with Marlene earning Aerith's and the boys sleeping on the floor.

Herself exhausted, Elmyra retreated to her own room and set up for bed. As she tidied up the pillows and made the bed, her thoughts were of Aerith, of course. But there was a nagging voice in Elmyra's head that kept picking at her.

Maybe a SOLDIER really will be Aerith's hero...

Scene Six

While none of them slept very well, they did get enough rest to get them through the upcoming trials. A notable exception would be Cloud. As he lay on a blanket on the floor, the worries of everything that happened weighed on him. Finally, he gave in and closed his eyes.

A little bit of sleep... Maybe that IS what the doctor ordered...

Not like you've been listening...

Get out of my face.

No, you're right. Rest now, save Aerith later.

God, I'm sick of you! Just shut up!

You aren't listening to orders anymore, anyway. You're free.

And what is that supposed to mean?!

Hush. Just rest...

Fine, whatever. I don't have the energy to yell at myself right now.

By evening, everyone had risen from their beds and stretched themselves. Barret worked out a few kinks from laying wrong, but Tifa had no issues whatsoever. If Cloud was bothered by anything, it was the voice in his head - not sore muscles.

Everyone gathered in the living room, united and rested. Cloud had recovered his mana, and his friends had mustered enough energy to get them by. Having visited Marlene, Barret swallowed his pride and asked a question.

"Would you mind takin' care of Marlene a bit more, ma'am?" Barret asked. As Elmyra nodded he scratched his head in thought. "And... get outta Midgar if you can. Things are only gonna go downhill from here when we pick a fight with Shinra. Anywhere you can go?"

Elmyra thought for a moment. "I have a friend in Kalm... I'll go there as soon as I can. And don't worry about your daughter! Having her is almost like having a tiny Aerith to play with. She's a lovely little girl. But..."

Barret tilted his head. "But?" he asked.

"Promise you'll come back to her!" Elmyra smiled. "I'm only doing this for a little while, so you'd better take her back when everything calms down!" Barret's reply was a toothy grin, and the three team members departed Aerith's house together. Elmyra turned her eyes to Aerith's bedroom - occupied by Marlene - and a soft smile formed on her face.

Go get my baby back for me...

Outside Elmyra's house, the party had a meeting to decide on what to do. Charging Shinra HQ without a plan seemed suicidal.

"How we gonna get there?" Barret wondered. "Ain't no train that goes there no more and they ain't lettin' us in by themselves."

Putting a finger to her mouth, Tifa thought carefully. "If there's anywhere we'll find a clue, it's Wall Market. Let's start there." Their path decided, AVALANCHE departed for Wall Market by way of Sector Six. They were fully ready to fight any monsters that came their way, but only with the minimum amount of effort; they needed to husband their power for the raid.

They barely made it out of the slums before they were set upon by the same thugs Cloud and Aerith had dealt with the other day. Bandaged, bloodied, but determined, they barred the party's way to Wall Market. Though Barret started to lift his Gun-arm, he thought for a minute and lowered it instead. There was one compunction he had with gunning them down, and he wasn't going to do that.

One of the slum-dwellers - missing his front teeth from Cloud's earlier punch - approached first brandishing a dagger. He was the unfortunate first recipient of the beat down, and the one least disabled. The rest had received sword wounds and electric shocks, taking longer to get up and running.

"We ain't letting you get away with this!" he snarled, deftly switching hands with his blade. "And as for your lady friend, leave her-" His speech was ended by a vicious gut punch that knocked the man out immediately. As his unconscious frame hit the ground the remainder charged. At least as best they could.

Cloud dropped to one knee and slid his leg forward, catching three from below and unbalancing them. A further roundhouse from Tifa knocked them out as well. The remainder charged, but were beaten down by the team's fists - Barret's lone hand included, no shots fired.

As the party turned to leave, one of the hoodlums grabbed onto Cloud's leg with the little strength he had left. His grip was shaky, as was his vision.

"Showin' mercy this time?!" snarled the bandit angrily. "Why not use your weapons, cowards?!" Cloud responded by shaking his leg free and softly nudging the man back with his foot.

"She wouldn't want us to do that... and you punks ain't worth the effort anyway. Go find a job." The party left a badly battered gang behind, stupified and angry. The fact they were still alive didn't factor in as much as their pride...

Scene Seven

Once at Wall Market, the search began. Or, it would've if Cloud hadn't pulled his friends in for a little chat.

"Barret, if you happen to hear something, I am WARNING you NOT to ask me any questions. I will kick your ass." Cloud warned, remembering that Barret didn't know the specifics of how they entered Corneo's mansion. And he wanted it to stay like that.

The first place they checked for info was the bar where the dressmaker had been found. Shortly after they entered Cloud was greeted by a toast.

"It's little Miss Cloud! You're looking awfully manly today!" Cloud's threat silenced Barret, and they continued on. As they asked around, they received little information about how to get to HQ. But as hint after hint dropped and Barret became increasingly suspicious (and amused) Cloud called an end to it.

One of the pieces of info they managed to extract was that the weapon store manager may have a way in. They headed there immediately, and found two old people discussing matters of the day.

"Heard 'bout Sector Seven?" one asked. "Rumor has it some punks called AVALANCHE destroyed it!" A fierce glare from Tifa kept Barret from responding. "All that junk came falling down and rained everywhere!"

The old woman nodded. "The weapon monger apparently found some goodies... Keeps boasting about batteries. Whether a magical robot bunny manages to turn our luck around? I doubt it. The man's nuts anyway."

After entering the weapon store, the party engaged its owner in conversation. Most of what he talked was nonsense, but a few key words slipped out: "battery," "Sector Zero," and "secret path."

"I got some batteries that'll lead right to HQ!" boasted the shopkeeper. "I'll give 'em to ya for a hundred Gil per. Five makes 5k. We got a deal, spiky?" Though he clenched his fist, Cloud forced himself to nod.

"You better not be lying..." he growled as he exchanged the money for the batteries. "Any idea how these pieces of junk are supposed to lead to Shinra's top office?" The shopkeeper flashed a grin.

"Trust me! They'll propel you right up there!" That being everything Cloud could take, he headed out from the weapon store into an area just south of Corneo's mansion. As they did they heard a pair of children bickering.

"You say it leads up?!" one shouted. "How far up? Above the plate?" The other kid shrugged.

"C'mon, everyone's already up there! You wanna be last?" Stomping his foot, the first child angrily shook his head. "Then it's just over here!"

Cloud and his friends followed to find a lone, rickety wire extending high into the air. A group of children had already climbed up to the top to see Sector Seven's ruins, leaving AVALANCHE to gather around the wire and have a discussion.

"This thing's our ticket up?" Tifa wondered. "Sure looks safe..." With a shrug, Cloud examined the wire further.

"If we're lucky it'll support us... Not sure if it WILL... Is this even going to work?" Barret nodded his head.

"What do you see here?" he asked. Cloud tilted his head.

"I see a wire. You seeing something I'm not?" Barret pounded his chest.

"I see a golden shiny wire of hope!" Barret pronounced proudly. "Don't you see it, Tifa?" Tifa could only put her head in her hand, and Cloud started to say something but decided against it. With a tug, Cloud tested the wire. It seemed like it would support them.

Staring at the plate above Cloud's thoughts focused on Aerith. A minor issue he thought of was whether it could hold Barret's bulk. But one triumphed over the other and he slipped up onto the wire. Tifa followed as Barret began to haul himself up as well.

As they climbed up the wire the full devastation of what used to be Sector Seven became clear. From above Sector Six they found the entire area caved in on itself, the ruins of the city above the plate sliding down like it had dropped off a table. Anything they saw of the slums was beneath a helmet of steel, unrecognizable from a distance, causing Tifa's determination to harden like steel.

We're gonna make them PAY for this...

Scene Eight

After several minutes of climbing the wire, they came to an area filled with broken train tracks. They looked like they'd snapped vertically, as if the rails collapsed. There was no way to climb through, seemingly, with a wide gap separating them from the far end.

"What now?" growled Barret. "Can't jump that far..." Nodding, Cloud searched around for another solution. His eyes narrowed in on a large broken propeller, twisted and fallen at an angle. The blades were sturdy enough to climb on, but the only two remaining were in the opposite position.

Cloud sighted a small box next to the propeller, cracked wide open to reveal a series of electronics. "You don't think..."

He climbed up next to the box and wrenched it open. There were a number of circuits and broken wires, but what caught his attention was a small battery unit. Cloud turned his head, confused. Was that it?

Flicking open the unit he found five empty slots waiting to be filled. Cloud flashed a quick smile and began to fit the batteries inside, leaving Barret stunned. "The hell did he know we needed batteries?!"

With a flick of the switch the propeller began to slowly spin, landing at a position that left a clear path for the team to climb up on. They continued on, climbing the wrecked rails and dragging themselves up broken wires. They came to a notable gap, one with nothing to climb on.

"We got another battery?!" Barret asked. Tifa shook her head and pointed at a swinging bar going back and forth between the two areas. "Oh, hell no! Ain't no way!" Tifa wasted no time crossing, as did Cloud. Barret caught the bar on the way back. "Well, this is a bad idea..."

He grabbed on and swung anyway, narrowly making it by grappling onto the next line before the bar broke apart. With a scowl Barret dragged himself up into the remains of what looked like a maintenance tunnel. Cloud flashed a grin.

"Perfect!" Cloud chuckled. The party followed what used to be a train terminal, and soon found themselves in front of a huge building, jutting out from the sky like the Planet's sorest thumb. Cloud hoisted himself up onto the pavement and detached the Buster Sword, slinging it over his shoulder as he stared at the complex.

This was it. Shinra Headquarters, their final destination!

Author's Notes

Not many comments. I enjoyed torturing Cloud again and using the MP system for an Easter egg, but nothing other than that.