Chapter 25
The Other Other White…Materia
Vincent and Samael sat inside the now peacefully silent Fort Condor; the place was deserted after the battle with Shinra had been won. They both sat at a round wooden table.
"Getting back to Centre Time isn't just a matter of finding a way around the locked door," Sam was explaining, "it's a matter of getting around the guards guarding the way around the said locked door."
"Who guards the door to Centre Time?" asked Vincent.
"The keepers of time, I believe you've been acquainted with them," Sam said, "Shadows."
"The things that attacked us guard our time?" asked Vincent.
"I'd say that's ironic but nobody really knows what ironic means, they just say 'wow, that's ironic' and hope someone doesn't know the dictionary definition and call them on it," Sam rambled, "but yeah, that's probably ironic."
"They'll stop someone even if they're from Centre Time?" asked Vincent.
"You and I are intruders to them, nothing more, you can't prove to a mindless creature that you're not against them."
"So what's your loophole?"
"My loophole is the fact I have someone from Centre Time."
"Me?'
"You."
"What do I have to do?"
Sam shrugged, "Nothing, just when we come to our destination make sure you're right beside me I'll do the rest."
Vincent nodded.
"At this point it's clear that the only true key back to Centre Time is Cloud himself, and he has to willingly open the door," Sam said. "Lucky for us we have me and you."
"If you can bypass the door can't the Outcasts?" asked Vincent.
Sam smiled, "You're not really getting it, I'm not just a person that can bypass a locked door, tall dark and shady, I'm the only person who can bypass a locked door."
"You claim to be the only person in existence who can find these loopholes of yours?"
"Exactly," Sam said, "and up until now I was just some dead Cetra, eh?"
"And an idiot," Vincent added.
"Well, another one of my many talents."
"So what exactly is involved with getting to the door?" asked Vincent.
"There's a sort of Mirror World outside of Centre Time, like the doormat to Centre Time's door if you will," Sam explained. "This Mirror World is identical to Centre Time; everything looks exactly the same. Cross the doormat and you end up at the door, unfortunately you will hit a locked door that can only be opened by a key from inside of Centre Time."
"Due to our situation the key is now outside of Centre Time and is fair game," Vincent guessed.
"Right, the only thing the key, or Cloud, has going for it, or him, is the fact that no one really knows who the key is. Even more deceptive is the fact that everyone expects this key to be, in the literal sense, a key. In fact it's a person: Cloud."
"They didn't want to make it easy for anyone," Vincent commented.
"That does make sense being that Centre Time is the most important," Sam said. "In any case, past the Shadows is another obstacle."
"Other than the locked door?" asked Vincent.
Sam nodded, "The door is invisible."
"Invisible door," Vincent muttered. "You don't know where it is?"
"No one does," Sam said, "when I say 'door' I don't really mean there's going to be your stereotypical door standing out on a beach somewhere…if this were a Stephen King that might not be such a stretch…but in fact it's more like a portal."
"How do we locate it?" asked Vincent.
"We need White Materia," Sam said.
"We have that," Vincent replied.
"No, we need the other other White Materia," Sam said.
Vincent closed his eyes and shook his head, "Where do we find that?"
"Conveniently enough, it's kept on the Mirror World for the key to find."
"I assume it's guarded as well?"
"Shadows," Sam said, "place is full of them."
"Where's the Materia?" asked Vincent.
"I don't know," Sam said.
Vincent closed his eyes and shook his head for the second time, "So how do we find it?"
"We use the White Materia," Sam said.
"The one we have," Vincent said.
"Right," Sam said nodding. "That's why the Outcasts need this Materia, it's essential to finding the item that finds the door."
"And the other artifacts?" asked Vincent.
"Necessary to enact other parts of their plan," Sam said, "as far as I know the Black Materia is for controlling the Ancient Black, and the Peacemaker is for opening the door to the Planet."
"The door to the Planet?" asked Vincent.
"In a sense, yes, as far as I know their plan basically requires them to access the Planet's core and manipulate it to create a mass resurrection of Cetra from the Lifestream. The only way to access the core is with the gun you have now, the Peacemaker. In itself it is a weak weapon but used on the lock of the door to the Planet it becomes the key to everything."
"We have two of their five needed artifacts," Vincent said.
"They have one as far as I know," Sam added, "the Black Materia. Their plan has a wrench in it, for it to work they need every single artifact as well as Professor Gast."
"Shouldn't we be focusing on getting the remaining two artifacts before the Outcasts do?" asked Vincent.
"No, their plan is halted anyways, right now we need to use the Omega Materia," Sam said, "if we allow Omega to awaken and do his thing then it won't matter how many artifacts anyone has."
Vincent nodded, his logic was undeniable. Omega took priority.
"We may already be short on time," Sam said, "if you're ready we should get going right now."
Vincent nodded.
"Alright, now, as soon as we hit Mirror World we'll probably encounter enemies right away so be prepared," Sam warned.
Vincent stood up and drew his revolver.
Sam snapped his fingers.
§
Vincent and Sam traveled between planets and through stars, stopping and reappearing in knee-high snow with cold winds blowing in their faces.
"There," Sam said smiling, "we landed on snow this time."
"Are we anywhere near where we need to be?" asked Vincent.
Sam pulled out the White Materia and looked at it, "No, not even close."
Vincent nodded, "Good, get us out of here then."
Sam snapped his fingers and they reappeared in a field of grass.
"Back to the old fashioned endless green field of grass then I guess," Sam said, he looked at the Materia. "Okay, that's better; we need to go a few miles…"
"Down!" yelled Vincent pushing Sam aside and firing his revolver blowing a pair of Shadows off their feet.
Sam composed himself, "I was going to say a few miles to the left, but down works too if you consider which way we might be facing."
"More coming," Vincent warned ignoring Sam.
Sam looked and saw a group of Shadows moving in from their right side.
"This is small-time compared to how many are here, we should move while their numbers are small," Sam suggested.
The two ran, Sam held out the White Materia like a compass.
"We're getting closer," Sam said.
Vincent turned while running and fired back at their pursuers.
"How far?" asked Vincent.
Sam looked around, "Ten minutes."
"Too long, they'll catch up," Vincent growled, "I'll slow them down, keep going."
Sam nodded and sprinted off.
Vincent reversed his momentum and jumped into a back flip; he sailed over his enemies and rained bullets down on them. He landed behind the group of Shadows. The ones that were hit were getting back up and the others were turning to move on Vincent.
Vincent ducked and evaded attacks left and right, he slashed with his golden clawed hand clearing a path to the other side of the Shadows. Vincent saw Sam was almost out of sight and figured he'd done his job well enough; it was time to catch up.
Vincent started backpedaling firing at the Shadows as he ran; mostly he fired at their legs for the best chances to knock them on the ground. After he had them at a safe distance Vincent turned and ran to catch up with Sam.
Sam wasn't paying any attention to where he was, all he was focused on was the White Materia that was telling him to go straight, keep going straight.
Right into the water.
Sam fell off dry land suddenly and splashed into the water; he swam to the surface and made sure to hold on to the Materia in his hand.
"Water," Sam muttered.
"This is no time for a swim," joked Vincent.
Sam smiled, "If I wasn't so proud of you for saying that joke I would definitely swear at you."
"The White Materia is in the water?" asked Vincent.
Sam checked his White Materia, "Under water, actually."
"Under water," Vincent muttered.
"You have problems swimming, tall dark and shady?" asked Sam.
"I'm not partial to it, no," Vincent replied, "lead on, you know where you're going."
"Hopefully," Sam said and went below the surface.
Vincent dived into the water behind him.
Vincent opened his eyes and saw a large world of blue around him, Sam was a few feet ahead and looking back at Vincent. Vincent swam forward, keeping his gun out just in case; he knew the thing would fire under water just as well as it would above.
Vincent was constantly on the look out for submerged enemies as he followed Sam. Ahead Vincent could make out a familiar sight: the Under Water Mako Reactor. Sam seemed to be heading toward the reactor; the Materia must be hidden there.
Then, to Vincent's shock, something black in colour seemed to explode right through the reactor. It tore the construct to pieces and blew right through toward Sam and Vincent.
Sam attempted to turn and swim away but the creature grabbed him on its way by.
Vincent recognized the creature was identical to the creature he'd killed back in the City of the Ancients when he had become Chaos.
Vincent fired his gun, the bullets knifed through the water and connected with the Shadow. It appeared to flinch when the rounds hit it but it didn't really slow it down any. It shot forward and likewise picked up Vincent in its claws.
The Shadow exploded up through the surface of the water with its two prisoners in hand.
"Look, Vincent, in the thing's mouth!" Sam yelled.
Vincent looked at the Shadow's mouth, inside was a small white object.
"The Materia?" asked Vincent.
Sam nodded.
Vincent growled and jabbed his golden claw into the now airbourne Shadow's claw forcing it to let him go. Vincent quickly aimed up and fired while falling, two shots freed the Materia from the Shadow's mouth and another three freed Sam. All three were falling toward the ground.
Sam reached out and used his telekinesis to pull the White Materia to his hand, the Shadow follow the Materia and attacked Sam.
Vincent saw this however and emptied his revolver into the back of the Shadow. Vincent reloaded his weapon and started firing again, enough shots hit the Shadow so that it decided to turn its attention to Vincent.
The Shadow sailed toward Vincent and tried to catch him in its mouth to finish him off quickly. Vincent instead fired his gun into the Shadow's open mouth and managed to use the time he'd gained from that to get on the creature's back. He drove his claw into the Shadow to steady himself and then began firing his revolver into the creature at point-blank range. The Shadow cried out and cut sharp turns and did flips in an attempt to throw off its enemy.
The Shadow then turned back and nose-dived toward the water. Vincent made certain his claw was firmly planted in the creature and hung on. They both shot into the water at a speed that might have killed someone else, but not Vincent. As soon as he shook off the impact he began firing away with his gun again. The creature appeared annoyed by the continued assault and decided to try its luck in the air again. It shot upward and out of the water with another magnificent splash. Vincent still managed to stay on its back.
Vincent made a spectacular display of reloading with only one hand and then went back firing his gun into the same spot he had been firing at the whole time. The Shadow tried a different tactic; it flew low and then turned upside down dragging Vincent along the ground. Eventually Vincent's claw gave out and he was tossed on to the ground, he tumbled and came to a halt. He got to his feet after a moment and followed the Shadow with his eyes.
After watching the creature's movements for a moment Vincent reloaded his gun and charged forward in an attempt to intercept the flying creature. The Shadow was still flying low trying to find the White Materia it had lost. It flew in a straight line and Vincent was running forward a few feet ahead of the creature in a good position to cut it off. The Shadow noticed Vincent coming far too late to do anything about it.
Vincent jumped through the air and landed on the Shadow's back again, this time Vincent fired his gun into the black creature's head, hoping that it would damage it more attacking there. The Shadow cried out again as bullets peppered the top of its head. The creature started flying straight up, slowly becoming more and more slanted until it was completely vertical, and Vincent slid off its back.
By this time they were very high in the air and Vincent's fall to the ground was no short trip. The Shadow knew it had time to attack its enemy while he was falling helplessly through the air. The creature dived down, ready to take its revenge. Vincent flipped in mid-air and came around so he was falling in a position to fire upward at his flying enemy. His gun exploded over and over sending bullets into the creature that slowly wore it down. The Shadow swiftly shot to the right and knocked Vincent's gun out of his hand. Then the Shadow shot forward and turned around ready to shoot back up and finish off its enemy.
Vincent managed to turn to the left with enough momentum to avoid the Shadow. Vincent felt the creature shoot by barely missing him. Then he turned in the air again and spotted his revolver falling downward. Vincent knew he'd need a push to get enough speed to catch up with his gun. He looked over his shoulder and saw the Shadow coming back for him, mouth open, ready to swallow him whole if that's what it took to finally kill its enemy.
He saw where his push was going to come from.
Vincent positioned his feet so as soon as the Shadow was in range Vincent used them to pry open the Shadow's mouth. In turn the creature's momentum pushed Vincent forward enough that when the Shadow broke off Vincent was close enough to grab his gun again.
The Shadow came around for another attack, Vincent dexterously put a boot on the incoming Shadow's head and popped himself upward, sailing over the creature's back. Along the way Vincent emptied his gun into the creature. The black thing cried out in pain and shot forward, ready to come around yet again. Vincent was falling once more and used this time to reload.
The Shadow was back and shot straight toward Vincent who fired his gun at the approaching creature. The rounds exploded into the monster's face forcing it to veer off course and miss Vincent. Vincent spun around and followed the creature as it sailed by, spraying him with as many bullets as possible before it was out of range.
This time the Shadow was climbing upward, it then did a back flip and started coming straight downward to attack Vincent from above.
Vincent stared the Shadow down with his red eyes and quickly reloaded his gun and raised it upward. Vincent fell downward firing straight up at the creature as it came down, mouth open, sure it had him this time.
Vincent reloaded twice and emptied as many bullets into the Shadow before it finally reached him. Vincent then quickly drove his golden clawed hand into what he assumed was the creature's chin or at least bottom jaw. Vincent had damaged the Shadow enough that when Vincent kicked it with his feet the creature spun around so that it was now falling down with Vincent on top of it.
The ground was close now, rushing up toward them very quickly, Vincent fired his gun into the creature's bottom jaw to keep it from trying to right itself in the air.
At the very last moment Vincent withdrew his clawed hand and pushed off from the Shadow shooting back up into the air. He positioned himself so his feet were pointed to the ground and emptied his revolver into the falling Shadow for good measure.
The Shadow had nothing left; it couldn't even begin to right itself in time. It smashed hard into the ground and made a huge crater with its body weight. The impact combined with a countless number of bullets completely removed every last bit of energy from the creature. It sat for a moment silently and then disappeared in a cloud of what appeared to be smoke.
Vincent landed a few feet away from where the Shadow went down, right in front of Sam.
Vincent hit the ground in a crouch, Sam looked over to where the Shadow landed to confirm it was dead and then looked back at Vincent.
"Can't say I've ever seen a non-Cetra kill one of those so fast," Sam said, "not bad, with the mid-air acrobatics and whatnot you earned a strong 7 out of 10."
Vincent stood up, reloaded his revolver, and holstered it, "Only 7?"
"If you kill all of them, I'll give you a 9," Sam said gesturing behind Vincent to what appeared to be at least thirty of the same Shadows they had been running from before they hit the water.
Vincent looked over his shoulder and then back at Sam, "All of them?"
"Yeah," Sam replied.
Vincent's eyes flashed yellow, "Alright."