I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters.
Behemoth
Cody walked out onto the roof of the building, leaning on the railing and looking out at the flowers. Aerith's home was beautiful. And it reminded him of the field where he buried Cissnei. He heard the door open and turned his head slightly to acknowledge their presence, but didn't look back at them. He returned his attention to the field and sighed. He wondered if Cissnei would approve of him storming Shinra HQ. Probably not. But then, he wasn't really doing it for revenge. He hadn't really done anything against Shinra for revenge. Not for a while, at least. He'd enjoyed slaughtering Shinra troops at the munitions factory where he fought Roche, but he hadn't been there for revenge. He was there for Jessie. He smiled behind his mask. He was doing an awful lot for Jessie recently. And yet, he still didn't know if he could really say the words he wanted to be able to, the words he knew she wanted him to.
A pair of arms snaked around him, pulling him out of his thoughts as Jessie pressed herself into his back, not wearing her armor, something that almost never happened. He rested a hand over hers as she placed them together on his abdomen. She hummed pleasantly, resting the side of her head against his back.
"Can't sleep?" he asked after a moment of comfortable silence.
"I was going to ask you that," Jessie said. "But you looked like you were pretty deep in thought, so I didn't want to interrupt you."
Cody smiled, turning around in her arms. She pulled back slightly, smiling up at him, and he glanced down at her, half unintentionally, and half curious to see what she looked like without armor. She was slim, as he had expected, but her chest was a little bigger and perkier than he thought, not that he'd spent time thinking about her breasts, but he had formed a mental image. Despite his glance being little more than his eyes twitching downward, she still caught it and grinned knowingly.
"See something you like?" Jessie asked.
"Not at all," Cody said. "You're so physically repulsive that I have to go wash my mask now, you old crone."
Jessie laughed. "You're so romantic." She reached one of her hands up and brushed some of his loose hair into place. "You'll have to redo your hair tomorrow."
Cody snorted. "Yeah, shockingly, going through a plate collapse, a near-death experience, falling three stories, and fighting a giant monster, not to mention the dozens of Shinra troops and two Turks before the plate collapse, tends to have the effect of messing up my hair."
Jessie rolled her eyes, before returning them to his face, thumb brushing over the side of his face just above his mask for a moment before her other hand slid up to cup his face. Her eyes met his as she slowly slid her hands toward the back of his mask. As she removed it and pulled it away, he leaned in, capturing her lips with his own. She sighed out a shaky breath and dropped his mask, hands cupping his face as his arms wrapped around her, holding her against him. The kiss began to quickly grow more passionate, their tongues beginning a sensual dance as Cody stepped forward, pressing Jessie against the door and trailing his hands along her arms until he was able to lace their fingers together. After a minute, she realized he was holding his breath in order to be able to continue longer, and smiled, taking her hands back and clutching at his face again, pulling him tighter as the kiss began to grow more heated quickly. Cody's hands fell back to her hips, pulling her against him, before slipping backward and coming to rest on her tight, firm cheeks, Jessie whimpering softly as he began to massage her rear through her pants, pressing a leg between hers. She pressed into his leg as he pulled back long enough to let out the breath he'd been holding, taking another. Then, they were right back to it.
Cody's hands slid up Jessie's sides, trialing lightly over her tight purple top, cupping her breasts and kneading them, pulling a moan from her lips, his own muffling her. However, before they could continue, they heard the front door open, then close, then again a minute later. Cody sighed, pulling back and letting out a slow breath, hands resting flat against the door as Jessie tried to slow her breathing.
"I wish your apartment wasn't crushed," Jessie smiled.
Cody snorted. "You and me both." He sighed, walking to his mask and pulling it on, taking a deep breath before sighing and turning back to her, seeing her still watching him and leaning on the door. "What?"
She opened her mouth to speak, only to hesitate before changing her mind, shaking her head as her eyes fell to the ground. He walked over, pulling his mask down and kissing her chastely for a second.
"If you're going to be my better path, you're going to have to learn to speak up once in a while," he said, Jessie staring at him. "It's seriously tiring having to do all the talking all the time."
Jessie's eyes began to water before she laughed and pulled him into a kiss again. He kissed her back for another minute before pulling away and pulling his mask on.
"I just want you to know I'm about to be grouchy all day tomorrow," she said. "You got me going, then quit."
He smiled, leaning against her and making sure she could feel his erection press into her, Jessie letting out a shaky breath as he did. "Trust me, I'm going to be grouchy too."
Jessie smiled, shaking her head. "We could always stay up here and try to be quiet."
"I don't want you to be quiet," he whispered into her ear, feeling her shiver against him. "Besides, it's fun to mess with you."
She gasped, feigning being offended and he tugged her out of the way, opening the door and walking inside. Jessie laughed into her hand and followed, giving him one last kiss before heading back to the girls' room Cody returning to the boys' room.
Cody stepped out of the shower, drying himself and sighing. It felt good to be clean. Probably for the last time for a while, since Elmyra had finally understood the need to save Aerith and asked them to do it. He pulled on his freshly cleaned and pressed suit, fixed his hair, then pulled on his watch and armbands before heading out to meet up with the others at the stairs leading out of the clearing Aerith's home was in.
"You got all dressed up for the occasion, huh?" Jessie asked, smiling.
"Well, it is a special occasion," Cody said.
"Let's go," Cloud said.
"Where to?" Cody asked. "All the roads and railways will be completely blocked off."
"We know," Cloud said. "We've got a plan, but it's not pleasant. We're going to track down Don Corneo and see if he knows a way up."
"Don Corneo, like, ruler of Wall Market, chooses a new woman to rape every other day, who then disappears afterward?" Cody asked. "That Don Corneo?"
"Yeah," Cloud said, grimacing. "That one."
Cody nodded, then stopped as they reached an orange gate on their left side, one which was usually closed, but that was open this time, several thugs waiting inside. "Who the hell are you?"
"Holy shit!" one of them said. "They were actually here the whole time!"
"Perfect," the one in the middle said. "We didn't even have to wait for long."
"Why were you waiting for us?" Cloud asked.
"We're just following orders," the third said. "We were told to find the guy with a gun for an arm, along with all his friends, and then kill them."
Cody snorted, summoning his gunblade. "They sent the three of you to kill the five of us?"
"Wrong," the middle one said. "They sent the three of us to deliver the thing that will kill the five of you."
He stepped aside, allowing them to see a cage just as one of the others lifted the front of it, allowing a green gecko-looking monster standing about knee high and wearing a faded brown robe, its left hand holding a lantern and its left a rusty kitchen knife. Cody swore harshly.
"Aw!" Jessie said, starting forward. "He's so cu-" she stopped as Cody held an arm in front of her, keeping her from approaching the monster. "What?"
"That thing is a Tonberry," Cody said. "It's a monster wielding a cursed lamp and a cursed knife. The knife inflicts wounds equal in severity to the sum total of whatever injuries, pain, or wounds you've caused others in your entire life. For us..."
"That think will kill us instantly," Cloud said.
"And the lantern?" Jessie asked.
"It can spew flames that can burn anything, including water, and it absorbs the souls of anyone it kills, making the Tonberry stronger," Cody said. "All of you need to stay back. Cloud and I will deal with this."
"Right," Cloud nodded, drawing his sword. "Let's go."
Cody nodded and they sprinted forward, the Tonberry cocking its head to the side. Cody moved in front of it and it suddenly lunged, closing the five feet of distance with him in a second and stabbed at him with its knife, only for him to spin past is, squeezing his trigger and spinning, slashing it several times before leaping away as Cloud's sword tore into it several times as well. Then, he dove aside from a stab, narrowly avoiding it. The Tonberry made an odd sort of mumbling sound as the deep gashes it had received shrunk into small scratches. Cody growled in annoyance.
"I forgot how annoying these things were," Cody said.
"You're free to run away if you want," Cloud said.
"Nope," Cody said.
He sprinted forward as the Tonberry raised its lantern. He rolled out of the way of the fire blast before he and Cloud slashed it across the face in an "X", then spun, both slashing it back down the back. It spun and they both leapt away from it, only for one of the thugs to catch Cody around the torso.
"I got you now!" the man said. "Come on Tonberry! Come kill him!"
The Tonberry turned, waddling toward him and Cody waited. Finally, as it drew close, he looked back at the thug.
"Let's see how good a person you are, shall we?" Cody asked, then flipped the thug over his shoulder.
The thug crashed down in front of the Tonberry and it stabbed him in the side. The moment the knife broke his skin, blood exploded out of the knife wound for a second before ending, leaving the thug staring lifelessly up at the sky.
"Shit!" one of the others shouted. "Donny!"
"See, this is why tending to a Tonberry should be a woman's job!" the other said.
Cody stabbed the Tonberry, then squeezed his trigger, the blast sending it streaking across the round area they were in into the cliff surrounding it. Cloud sped past instantly, slashing the front of the Tonberry's throat, but as with every other wound, it healed to a small scratch almost instantly. Cody narrowed his eyes. This was getting annoying. He and Cloud charged again and the Tonberry moved to meet them. However, Cloud and Cody had both had enough, and when they reached it, they both avoided its knife before they slashed, both swords passing entirely through its neck. Its head spun into the air and its body collapsed. Then, both head and body dissolved into mako energy. Cody turned to the remaining two thugs who both fell to their knees, sobbing.
"Please don't kill us!" one of them wailed.
"We won't tell nobody you were here!" the other said. "We'll say the rumors were wrong!"
"Yeah, and the Tonberry killed Donny so we ran away!" the first said.
Cody looked to Cloud, who sighed.
"If we ever hear about you, or any of your friends coming round here again, we'll find you," Cloud said. "And we'll make you pay."
"Yes sir!" one of them said as both stood at attention like soldiers in Shinra's army, then turned, fleeing as fast as their legs could carry them.
"Now that that's settled," Cloud sighed as they walked back over to the others. "Let's get to Wall Market."
"Not yet," Cody said. "There's one other thing we need to deal with before we go."
"What?" Cloud asked.
"That research facility under Sector Seven," Cody said. "According to the computer, Shinra has a Behemoth stored down there."
"Oh my God!" Tifa gasped.
"If that thing got loose..." Barret trailed off.
"A lot of people would die," Cloud said.
"We have to kill it!" Jessie said.
The others all nodded and they turned, quickly making their way toward Sector Seven again. As they walked, Barret mentioned that he thought he had heard the Behemoth roaring, so he could lead them all to it. They headed to Evergreen Park in Sector Six, then took the underground tunnel from the playground until they reached a ladder that led back down into the locker room they'd passed through just before reaching Wedge. Barret turned, walking back into the facility and the others followed in silence, Cody summoning his gunblade and Jessie her submachine gun. They walked through the room with several platforms in multiple levels, hearing a loud, angry roar as they did, through a room with several cages, through a fan that had clearly been shot until it stopped working, and then through a room with a platform surrounded by tall, thin, round cages. As they passed through the room, another roar rang out, louder this time, vibrating the floor beneath their feet. Cody shook his head slowly. They had to be out of their minds. They were willingly going to fight a monster that would probably kill them and that likely wouldn't be able to get out ever.
They took several flights of stairs, using a second platform to bypass a massive insect hive the size of a building, then ran down a long flight of stairs to a curved hallway. At the end of it, there was another shot-out fan with a ladder behind it in a maintenance hatch. They took the ladder down to a shaft behind a third fan that Barret had shot to death and slipped under it, following the hallway on the other side. Finally, they passed a wall of collapsed stone just as there was a massive, grinding crash from nearby, followed by a much, much louder roar. Then, there was another crash, then silence. Cody swallowed hard as Barret led them through a door into a large open room with a ladder going from the catwalk they were on to the floor, then a massive, destroyed double-door off to the left, the doors dented and deformed with deep gashes and one of the two doors having a hole completely through it, giving clear evidence that something massive had broken through them.
"Those were closed before," Barret said.
"Be ready," Cody said, sliding down the ladder and slowly creeping toward the door, Cloud just behind him, then Barret, Tifa, and finally Jessie.
On the other side of the door was a hallway with massive gouges lining the walls and floor. They silently followed the hallway until they found the remains of another set of massive doors, this one ripped into shreds almost. On the other side, Cody could see a massive, open, square room at least a thousand feet across in both directions, a hundred feet high, a few shipping containers along the stone walls here and there, a dirt floor, and a massive creature with a thick, dark blue hide, lighter blue underneath, four massive legs with huge, sharp claws, a pair of jagged horns curling forward, a longtail with a dozen spikes on the end, and its horns, the tip of its tail, and its four horizontal slit-like eyes all glowing an angry reddish-orange, matching electricity flickering along its horns. It roared deafeningly, and Cody swallowed hard, he and the others all turning to face the Behemoth and readying themselves instantly.
"We might have miscalculated a bit," Cloud said.
"As long as we're careful, we can handle this," Cody said. "Jessie, Barret, no matter what happens, do not get close to it. Barret, keep Jessie safe."
"Right," Barret nodded. "Kick its ass for us. We got you covered."
Cody nodded and he Cloud and Tifa began to spread out, moving to surround the Behemoth while getting out of the way of Barret and Jessie's bullets. The Behemoth growled, eyes following Cloud and Cody, since they were the ones holding big, obvious weapons. After a minute, Cody stopped and Cloud kept walking. The Behemoth looked between the two for a moment before roaring and charging at Cody. He sprinted forward, launching himself into the air at the last second and avoided the Behemoth's claws, then flipped, spinning himself like a saw blade and split the Behemoth's back open before rolling down its tail and blasting himself away just before its tail crashed into the ground where he'd been. At the same moment, Cloud spun then slashed his glowing, mako-green sword into the ground, sending three waves of mako energy exploding outward from him and splitting the Behemoth's underside when they reached it. The Behemoth roared just before Tifa's feet crashed into the side of its head, knocking it sideways several steps. A moment later, Cody squeezed his trigger, launching himself along its left side, his sword splitting its side open the entire length of its side before he skidded to a stop, bullets beginning to slam into the Behemoth.
It roared, tail whipping out to its right in a blur and crashing into Cloud, launching him before its left forepaw batted Tifa aside, fortunately not hitting her with its claws. It turned on Cody, completely ignoring the bullets, and Cody swallowed hard, readying himself. The Behemoth roared, charging and lowering its head to ram him, only for Cody to launch himself over it again. He flipped, moving to land on his feet, only for the tail to crash into him, launching him. Instantly, the Behemoth roared, rounding on Barret and Jessie and charging. Just as it leapt into the air to pounce on them, however, Cloud crashed down on its horns sword-first. His sword didn't damage the horns, but they stabbed into the ground and the Behemoth's front end came to an abrupt halt, its backend flipping over its front and crashing down on its back. Cloud flipped over it instantly, sword glowing dark blue before he spun, sword splitting its underside open the long way before Cody crashed into Cloud, tackling him off of the Behemoth just before its hind legs slashed in an upward arc through the space Cloud had just been. Cody flipped, landing on his feet as the Behemoth rolled over and stood, roaring until Cody, Tifa, and Cloud all cast Thundaga, the massive lightning bolts exploding against its horns at the same time, smashing both and breaking them off. The Behemoth roared, rearing up in time for Cody to launch himself forward, slashing its hind legs as he stopped, then launch himself to the side as the Behemoth collapsed.
He skidded to a stop as Cloud shot forward, slashing at the Behemoth's face as it was struggling to stand, only for its left forepaw to bat him aside before he had realized it had moved. Cody swore as the Behemoth snarled, looking around at them. He sprinted forward from behind it, launching himself into the air. The Behemoth looked up as he sent a second blast upward, launching himself down at the thing. It roared as he flipped his gunblade over. Then, the Behemoth's foot flashed up, batting him aside and sending him crashing along the ground. He groaned as he stopped, his Prayer materia all shining before he, Cloud, and Tifa all shone with matching golden light before it faded, taking their injuries with it. He stood, rolling his shoulders, and looked to Cloud, who nodded. He nodded back and both charged from opposite sides. The Behemoth growled, but before it could attach one or the other, Tifa reached it from the front, a materia on the back of her right wrist glowing as purple energy suddenly condensed around Tifa's right foot before she flipped backward, smashing a kick into the underside of the Behemoth's jaw, blood and teeth spraying out of its mouth. Then, Cloud and Cody reached it, both crossing before slashing the opposite side foreleg off of the Behemoth, allowing it to crash to the ground before Cody launched himself into the air again, sending a blast upward before flipping his gunblade and driving it down into the Behemoth's head. It raised its head slightly, growling for about a second before collapsing. He sighed, pulling his gunblade out of its head and leapt off of it, landing in a roll and standing beside Cloud and the others as the Behemoth's body began to dissolve, only its horns remaining.
"That wasn't too bad," Jessie said as Cody and the others walked back over.
"That sucked," Cody said flatly, dusting the front of his suit off, Jessie dusting off the back for him. "But, now that it's dealt with, we can go deal with Corneo."
"I think I'd rather fight the Behemoth again," Tifa said.
"I'm sure Shinra could arrange something along those lines," Cody said. "And most likely will whenever we get to Hojo's lab."
"True," Cloud said. "Let's hurry. We need to get there before Hojo gets bored of blood samples and questions."
"Assuming he isn't already," Cody said.
They all quickly headed back up out of the facility, then turned toward Wall Market.
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