Start Date: June 21, 2022

Windwillow

Final Fantasy VII

Part Two: The World Beyond

Gaia, the world itself, is imperiled. The corporation, Shinra Inc., has created a new form of energy called "Mako." Easily refined and processed, it provides cheap power to a majority of the world. The common people happily make use of Mako, unknowing of its OTHER name...

"Lifestream." That is Mako's true name, a congregation of all that is, has, and will be, essentially the Planet's life force. Mako drains its proverbial life blood, sickening its plains, polluting its oceans, and slowly killing the very star upon which all life resides. They are killing their own world.

How long will the Planet survive? That question has been left unanswered, but as our story unfolds we'll explore what the Lifestream is and what it means to the Planet. For now, our attention turns to a terrorist... ahem... anti-Shinra organization calling itself AVALANCHE.

These brave folks are the focus of our story. Established by the Gun-armed Barret Wallace and presently led by former Shinra SOLDIER Cloud Strife, they endeavor to save the world. But Shinra Inc. is not the only threat to the Planet. The rogue SOLDIER, Sephiroth, has sinister plans for the world... though none know their nature. He is the world's mortal enemy.

AVALANCHE has escaped Shinra's capital city of Midgar, aiming to stop Sephiroth... and Shinra, for that matter... no matter the cost. For one of these brave heroes, the cost will be paid in their own blood...

We join AVALANCHE as they depart Midgar for the village of Kalm, to the northeast of the withered metropolis. What adventures they'll have, and the people they'll encounter, remain to be seen.

Let's explore their trials and tribulations, shall we?

Chapter 13: Departing Midgar

Scene One

It was a long way from Midgar to Kalm. How long would it take? Hard to say. No one in the party had an answer for that question. So, the only thing to do was hoof it there. After leaving the city gates, AVALANCHE entered a barren wasteland filled with nothing but desolation... A circle of ruin surrounding a damned metropolis.

As they entered No Man's Land, the party found uneven ground, upturned in some places and sunken into the earth in others. Cliffs ridged the landscape, like the abandoned bones of a long-dead beast, crafting the image of a skeleton snaking from Midgar on out.

"I haven't left Midgar in a long time..." mused Tifa as she navigated the rocky terrain. "I'd almost forgotten what sunlight looks like." She grappled onto the side of a cliff and began to pull herself up. "You know, I never really wanted to come here, now that I think of it..." Aerith followed her up, slowly and agonizingly scaling the cliff.

"What do you mean?" Aerith asked as Cloud and Barret followed. "Didn't you move here to work with Barret?" Tifa shook her head as she grabbed another stone and lifted herself further.

"I sort of woke up here. After what happened at Nibelheim I was badly wounded, and my mentor Zangan took me here for medical attention. One thing led to another, we drifted apart, and I sort of stumbled into AVALANCHE..." Barret dug his good arm into the side of the cliff, and dragged himself up to the nearest ledge. Since he could only climb with one arm, he was limited to platforms he could hoist himself up with his Gun-arm.

"Four years back I came..." Barret growled. "I left my hometown, founded AVALANCHE with the rest of the guys, and the rest was history." He managed to reach a plateau he could stand on. "Without them, it's sort of hard to go on... We went through a lot together..." Cloud dragged himself up to meet Barret, standing beside him breathing heavily.

"You never said what made you so determined to destroy Shinra," Cloud remarked. His eyes narrowed. "I think it's a good time to hear your story." Barret grabbed Cloud by the collar, dragging him closer to the former leader of AVALANCHE.

My story...

Barret lifted Cloud up. "Forget my story! Tell me yours! What's the deal with you and Sephiroth, huh? What do you that we don't?!" Shaking him off, Cloud turned away. He looked at Tifa intently, then sighed.

"That can wait until we get to Kalm... It's a long story." Ignoring Barret's foul remark, Cloud looked down at Red XIII, who was still far below. "How are you going to get up here? I don't see how you can climb like the rest of us."

Red XIII shrugged. "True enough, I cannot climb. However, I have materia." Aerith finally reached Cloud, Tifa, and Barret, and stared down to Red XIII with a puzzled look. "I possess two materia. One is Fire, which you've seen me use. The other is..."

A small crack formed beneath Red XIII, one that splintered into a spider web-like indentation in the ground. From beneath him the ground broke open, lifting him up in a pillar of broken earth. As the elevation evened out he lightly stepped onto the same plateau as the others, lifting his head to meet Cloud's with a smile.

"Gaea, Earth elemental," Red XIII stated. "I can manipulate natural, inorganic material such as stone, soil, and mud, and bend them to my will. It's a treasure I got from my Grandpa, back in my home town. Incidentally, you've all seen this... rotting carcass we're on. Care to know why it's here?"

His good arm trembling, Barret stomped his foot. "It's 'cause of the damn Shinra! It's all their fault, just like it always is!" Red XIII tilted his head with a smile. Barret flinched, the fact he didn't know the full answer irritating him.

"That statement is correct. Mako reactors drain the Lifestream, the Planet's energy, and slowly destroy the Planet. But this is a more dramatic after effect of Midgar's many reactors. Midgar drains so much of the world's lifeblood with its eight reactors that the ground around it has become dry and dead. This is what the Planet will look like one day if Shinra has their way."

Everyone present was appalled, stunned, and speechless. To think the world's inhabitants had no idea of what they themselves were doing to their Planet... While Cloud, Barret, and Tifa were alarmed, Aerith's most horrific suspicions were confirmed.

I haven't heard a single voice since I left the church... It seems that's because they've all been sucked from the Planet. How terrible...

"In my home town," Red XIII continued, "my Grandpa researches all this. Maybe someday I can bring you to him for his own explanation. He can describe it better than I can..." He looked up at the next two levels of cliff face. "By the way, I can take us to the top. Shall we?"

Barret angrily stomped his foot. "The hell didn't you say that earlier?! You mean we did all that climbing... for what?!" Red XIII tilted his head, confused. "What, you forgot?! God damn it, man!"

Scene Two

Red XIII had indeed forgotten about using his materia. He hadn't used his Gaea materia in so long that it never occurred to him. Barret promptly, well... it wasn't pretty. After he nursed the shiner on his head, Red XIII carried the party up to the top of the cliff.

The topography was more promising than a high chasm with a cliff jutting upwards. Mostly flat, its only ridges were on the side, rimming the area with two craggy lines of rock. There was naturally no sign of life, so as the party passed through they did so in relative comfort.

"No more climbing!" Barret exclaimed as he stretched his legs. "No thanks to someone!" Red XIII turned away sheepishly. "At least now we can enjoy the sunlight, without having to look into the frickin' sun!" Aerith kicked away a pile of dust that was in her way.

"Yeah, but it's still so humid out here! I should've brought some deodorant..." Barret sniffed his own armpit and, repulsed, turned and spat on the ground. "I can't wait to get a nice, warm shower! Think Kalm has a shower in its Inn?" Tifa shrugged.

"Even if there is..." she began, thinking clearly, "how would we pay for it? I don't think we've got enough Gil on us to cover room, board, and amenities..." She flicked open her purse and began to count her money. "Yeah... We're in serious need of cash." Barret flexed his neck and checked his own wallet.

"Maybe we can rob a bank or something?" Tifa bonked him hard on the head, sending him face first into the ground (which shattered it slightly). As he staggered to his feet, he flicked her off. "The hell was that for?!" With a sigh, Tifa waved her finger in his face.

"Well, I, for one, don't feel like becoming a common criminal!" As Clould tilted his head, Tifa angrily put her hands on her hips. "And don't give me the terrorist speech again! We're anti-Shinra, not terrorists!" Cloud started to say something, but Tifa snapped his mouth shut. "Okay, okay, maybe we're already outside the law, but I don't want to hurt anyone not involved with Shinra!" Red XIII shook his head.

"Something reeks..." he said quietly. Barret tilted his head and pointed to himself, but Red XIII shook his head. "Not us... Those fellows."

The party became aware that they were surrounded by a group of humans that were, indeed, smelly, and were armed to the teeth to boot. Swords, spears, guns, any killing tool they preferred - they had it all. And there were quite a few of them...

Cloud detached the Buster Sword and Aerith snapped her staff open. The question was, how had they gotten behind them as well? They'd clearly been following behind, and found a wide open space the ideal area to pillage the party.

From further up the path a cyclist on a devilish ride screeched to a halt atop the mountain pass. The Devil Rider was armed with machine gun turrets resembling Barret's Gun-arm on the back of his motorcycles. The apparent leader of the Prowlers, a roughneck calling himself Giovanni, promptly drew a pistol and aimed it at the team.

"Leave all your valuables and we'll leave!" Giovanni snapped. "All we want is your money! Well... and those weapons of yours look like they'd make nice trophies... I want the big ass sword on my mantle." Barret tossed his empty wallet at the thug.

"Ain't got no money, so beat it!" he growled. "Unless you want to fight it out... Might be fun..." Giovanni tilted his head, scanning the group. His eyes fell on Tifa, then slowly turned to Aerith.

"Leave the women and we'll call it even!" Giovanni shrugged. "I like the brunette..." Cloud formed a ball of fire and hurled it at the thief, though he promptly sped out of the way and skidded to a halt. As Giovanni (literally) fumed, Cloud narrowed his eyes and spat at him.

"Over my dead body!" Cloud snapped. He lifted the Buster Sword to his shoulder, forming another fireball in his palm. "Numbers don't matter when we're dealing with no-name thugs." Tightly digging his fingers into the flame he slung it at Giovanni, who drew out a small object, tossed it, and neutralized the fireball with a massive explosion. Cloud's eyes widened.

Giovanni stashed away his pistol, clearly furious. "Don't think the Rockets are gonna go down easy, punk!" snapped Giovanni, lifting his hand. "We didn't get this much money without having some... skills." He snapped his fingers and the bandits lunged.

The gangsters with guns began to fire, aiming for the party's feet. As he danced between the gunfire Cloud angrily slammed his hand to the ground with his fingers licked in flame. The fire spread out like a wave, one that didn't stop until it was right underneath one of the two gunners.

Cloud flicked his finger, causing a column of fire to incinerate the gunman. As the other gunner aimed and the remainder of the band charged, Barret narrowed his eyes and wiped the gunman out before he could fire.

The Rockets split into five groups of six, each aiming to surround a single party member. Barret whirled around to face his enemies. Before he could fire one of the bandits threw a flash grenade at him that blinded Barret. As he staggered, he was forced to fend off a trio of the enemy with the blunt end of his Gun-arm.

Cloud's sword clashed with three bandits at once. While he downed one in a single slice he was forced to match steel with two swordsmen at the same time. As another two converged he coated his Buster Sword in lightning and broke the enemies' blades, leaving deep gashes in their chests. But he was ambushed by the first swordsman who clashed against his gauntlet. He barely managed to repel him and nailed the thug with an uppercut. A sixth caught him by surprise and he narrowly met his blade with the enemy's scimitar.

Dammit, they're tougher than Shinra grunts!

Tifa's senses narrowed as her six approached. Her eyes darted back and forth, assessing the situation. Four were armed with short swords and the other two with axes. The two axemen came first, swinging from either side of her with diagonal chops.

If I time it right...

Just as the two axe wielders lifted their axes, Tifa allowed them to swing. Just as they were about to connect she somersaulted backwards. Their slashes continued and they cut down each other, taking them out of the fight. The remaining four came on her and forced her to dodge and parry with all her effort.

Tch... They are tough!

Red XIII was set upon by six spear wielders, forcing him to dart and weave around each lance. He ducked beneath one stab and opened his mouth, flames licking his fangs. As he snapped his mouth shut a shield of fire surrounded him and seared the attackers. He lifted his right paw and slammed it down, causing the earth around him to turn to quicksand.

While the six spearmen were bogged down in the quicksand, Red XIII snapped his teeth with force, and the quicksand drew them in further. From behind them six pieces of the ground cracked open, and from them six crags of rock skewered the men like they were being barbecued.

Barret recovered quickly and slugged one of his enemies in the jaw, knocking him back long enough for Barret to fire up his barrels and swing. The explosion blew holes in three of the swordsmen, and he promptly whirled around and mowed down the other three.

Dodging each slash, Tifa agilely dropped to one knee. With a single wide swipe she knocked the four bandits off their feet. She lifted her other leg and roundhouse kicked them one after the other, snapping their jaws and throwing them back onto the ground.

Cloud fiercely matched steel with his lone surviving foe, the Prowler's scimitar both parrying his strikes and unleashing slashes of its own. The Prowler's swordplay being equal to his, Cloud instead parried one final strike and roundhouse kicked the man. As the scimitar flew into the air, Cloud promptly cut the Prowler down.

As her six swordsmen approached, Aerith prepared herself. One reached her before the others, that one lifting his sword up to swing. As the sword was swung down Aerith skillfully parried with her staff and, as they broke apart, she thrust the end of her staff into the man's gut, knocking the wind out of him.

But as the remaining five continued on, Aerith lifted her hand to her chest and tightened her grip. A barrier of ice repelled their blades, shattering the ice but allowing Aerith to emit a maelstrom of fire that melted both the ice and their weapons. She pushed them back with that flame and was enveloped in a massive wave of lightning that electrocuted her foes.

She never saw Giovanni speed towards her, snatch her, and turn on his wheels before speeding away. His grip was too tight, and she didn't have time to activate her magic before he knocked her out with a gut punch, slinging over his shoulder and riding away. Barret nearly started to fire, but...

I'd just hit Aerith! God damn it!

Giovanni's motorcycle was too fast to catch. So, the battle ended with thirty-some thugs dead or dying, and Aerith as Giovanni's new hostage.

Scene Three

"Damn it all!" Cloud screamed as he dropped to one knee, digging the Buster Sword into the ground to stop his fall. He took in a deep breath, cursing himself inwardly. How could he have allowed this to happen?!

Tifa fell onto her seat, exhausted. Her fingers flexed and clenched and she slammed her fist into the ground, creating a small crater. She was too winded to stand. Until she got more energy back, there was no way for her to catch them.

Red XIII panted heavily and dropped into a seated position. He angrily snapped his fangs, but they'd lost their force and more or less just smacked against each other. This was too much, and he was getting too old for this.

Barret sank to his knees. There was nothing he could do... again! Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, and... His past and the faces of the people he'd failed flooded his head as he staggered to his feet and angrily kicked away one of the thugs closest to him.

"God damn it!" Winded he looked into the horizon where Giovanni had escaped with Aerith, then he turned his eyes to the unconscious Prowler next to his feet. Trembling, he slowly lifted his Gun-arm to the man's head.

"Don't do it!" Barret's head snapped up, finding Tifa standing next to him holding her wounded shoulder. She shook her head slowly, silently telling him it was over. "If you kill that man, we really would become terrorists... and murderers." Quietly, Barret lifted his arm into the air and began to fire wildly, furiously.

"So, what, that's it?!" Barret snapped, slowly beginning to taper his fire. He clenched his fist hard enough to draw blood. "Ain't no way in flying-" Tifa slapped her hand on his mouth, and he shoved her back. "Stop doing that, I'm a frickin' adult!"

Shaking his head, Red XIII staggered to his feet. "We won't abandon Aerith," he snarled. "But if we go out and fight now, we'd only be-"

"Get over here!" The party's heads snapped back to see Cloud with his left arm flooded with blue light. He took in a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. "I have enough mana left for all of you to fight. So get your asses over here and let me heal you."

Tifa clenched her teeth. "But what about you?!" she snapped. "We're all hurt bad enough you wouldn't be able to stand if you healed all of us! And we are not leaving you behind either!"

"I don't need to stand," Cloud breathed with a gasp. He turned his eyes to Red XIII. "Can you carry me?" Red XIII's eyes snapped open. "I'll have enough energy to ride on your back... but I won't be able to fight." With a shake of his head, Barret lifted his Gun-arm into the air and began to fire.

"We need you, man! You're the best fighter out of all of us!" Slowly he stopped firing. "Saying this makes me wanna puke, but we have to wait till morning..." Cloud angrily glared at him, but Barret flicked him off. "When we get there we'll be in top shape. And if they hurt Aerith..." Adjusting her glove, Tifa grit her teeth.

"We'll castrate the lot of them! We have to do this together, Cloud!" Slowly the light faded from Cloud's arm, traveling down to his fingers and fizzling out. Angrily he snatched the Buster Sword and turned to leave. "Stop!" Cloud angrily clenched his fist.

"We don't even have a place to rest!" Cloud snapped. "And without it, we'd just be lying in the middle of the damn..." The sound of breaking earth startled him. Red XIII stood behind him with his eyes closed tight.

Steadily, a large dome of solid stone began to form around them all. By the time it had closed there was a man-sized gap in the side, big enough for one of them to exit and return. Flames licked Red XIII's fangs and he spat on the ground, creating a small fire that heated the room.

"How many hours would it take to get us back in shape?" Red XIII said quietly. "I'd wager eight. It's getting dark soon... Given that it's eight o' clock, by the time we're ready it ought to be four o' clock. A bit early for the sun, but I'll light the way myself." He eyed Cloud intently. "Acceptable?"

As he clenched his teeth, Cloud drove the Buster Sword into the earth near the fire and dropped to his seat. Beckoning his friends to join him, he fell flat on his back and closed his eyes.

"We have eight hours. Sit down, shut up, and get ready to kick ass in the morning. Forget Tifa's idea; I'll butcher them all if they do anything to Aerith. Well... we could go with Tifa's idea first, but I'm ready for blood. Good night..."

Scene Four

It was four in the morning, back at the Rockets' HQ in the mountains. They'd taken residence in a series of caves, laced with various chambers they'd lit with lights they'd stolen from Kalm's electronics store. It was a fairly comfortable place, complete with beds and furniture.

The Rockets were divided into several divisions, made up of fifty in all. With thirty two laying on the Midgar wasteland, there were eighteen remaining. Most of them were armed from night to day, and they had an ace up their sleeve: two of them had Custom Sweepers, artificial Shinra armor they'd salvaged from a raid. These were what Shinra had used to defend the Sector One reactor, back when all this started.

There were two lookouts further from HQ, stationed far from the cave. They kept in contact with the headquarters via cellphone, reporting every hour on the hour. One of them had a Custom Sweeper to protect the lookouts.

"So, what're we gonna do with the girl?" one of the bandits at the Rockets' headquarters asked another. "I hear we locked her up, but..." He smiled pervertedly. "Heh... Well... Yeah. Whatever." Clicking a button he placed his cellphone to his ear. "Come in, guys. It's eight."

Somewhere in the distance, there was something... off. The Prowler tilted his head, confused. His buddy turned to watch him snap the phone closed. "Hey, what're you doing?!" The Prowler snatched up his rifle, and pointed towards the horizon as several columns of flame lit up the darkness. "What the hell...?!"

The second Prowler snapped open his cellphone and frantically dialed a number. "Uh, guys?! Come in! We've got-" He was stunned as the pillars of flame picked up speed, racing towards them like they were candles lighting one after another. He quickly snapped the cellphone shut and ran towards his Custom Sweeper.

By the time he fired it up his companion had begun firing rapidly into the darkness, the darkness that steadily was replaced by a field of flame. He continued to fire one shot after another, but it only vanished into a growing wave of fire.

"Sh... Sh... Shoot!" The Prowler fired frantically, but was quickly cut down by a field of gunfire that shredded his rifle and blew him back, riddled with bullets. As he dropped back, dying, the Custom Sweeper was finally started up. The wall of fire dispersed to reveal four very angry members of AVALANCHE walking steadily towards the lone Prowler.

Swallowing hard, the Prowler inside the Custom Sweeper launched his Matra Magic missiles, which flew forward with rocket propulsion. Barret and Cloud quickly rushed forward, weapons outstretched.

Barret locked and loaded, unleashing a torrent of bullets that shattered several of the missiles in mid-air. As Tifa came from behind, Cloud began to cut through the remaining projectiles, splitting them straight down the middle.

The Prowler switched to his machine gun. "H-holy-" Several walls of stone emerged from the ground, sent by Red XIII. As the rock absorbed the gunfire, Tifa agilely navigated through them with Cloud close behind. That was the last thing he saw before the connection broke.

Back inside the main headquarters, the remaining sixteen thugs and their Custom Sweeper dashed forward out of the caverns. They were all armed with guns this time, and were prepared to fire. As they did, successive columns of gunfire, flame, and lightning shot forward and met their fire.

The fire fight didn't last long. While several of the gunmen managed to empty their clips, none of their shots hit; they were either cut through, burst open with gunfire, or absorbed by incoming spires of earth. Once the goons were dealt with, the party dashed through the caverns on a mission.

"Aerith, we're coming!" Cloud shouted as they navigated the winding chambers. Finally the reached what seemed to be the final room, presumably where Aerith was being kept. Cloud was the first to enter, Buster Sword extended.

He was met by Aerith, bruised and battered, but otherwise fine. The same couldn't be said for Giovanni, who lay in a crumpled, badly beaten heap underneath Aerith's foot. Her staff extended, she jovially waved at the party.

"Hey, guys!" Aerith chirped. Stunned, none of the other party members could form words. She'd been imprisoned, but when Giovanni let her out for nefarious purposes, she'd beaten him into an unrecognizable pulp. She pointed towards a cache of treasure chests behind Giovanni's unconscious body. "We have money now! Lots of it!"

While everyone else's jaw dropped to the floor, Cloud reattached the Buster Sword to his back with a smile and stepped towards Aerith. He began to laugh nervously, finally reaching her and embracing her.

Does she really need a bodyguard?

Author's Notes

This chapter exists for three reasons: One, I needed to include some enemies from the bestiary. Two, the party needed money and this provided them with a hoard of it. Third, I had the mental image of Aerith standing over the bandit's body and couldn't resist it. So sue me.

To those not familiar with Pokémon, Giovanni was the boss of the nefarious Team Rocket, the primary antagonists of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. I made up the names on a whim, just because it sort of amused me.

Giovanni also refers to the English version of the name Iohannes, which is the Latin form of the Greek name of the same origin. It is derived from the Hebrew name "Yochanan," meaning "Yahweh is gracious." It's also related to the name John which is, of course, a name used by everyone from presidents to popes.

I hope I scripted the fights okay. Having to manage thirty-some goons with actual talent was something I'm not used to. Rest assured, much of the following story will include typical cannon fodder. I just wanted to try making them competent for once.

Incidentally, a scimitar is a curved, double-edged sword from the Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African regions. For purposes of this story please picture it as being the size of a knight's broadsword. To those who like Disney, imagine Aladdin's sword in the movie Aladdin. I wanted to make it bigger so it could actually repel the Buster Sword.