I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters.
Stowaways
Cody slipped onto the cargo ship and quickly led Boco to a cage containing several other chocobos. He was ecstatic that cage was there, but Boco didn't look pleased. "I know, Boco. But you'll have to bear with it. This is our only way across the ocean right now."
Boco let out a low, unhappy "Wark," that sounded more like a groan, or a heavy sigh, and Cody sighed, petting him and giving him a handful of Gysahl Greens to make up for having to keep him in a cage, then turned and left, Finding Jessie with Yuffie, who was seasick, both wearing sailor uniforms.
"You okay?" Cody asked.
"Do I..." Yuffie paused to gag, "look okay to you?" She groaned, closing her eyes.
"Here," Cody said, holding out a bottle of pills. "These should help a little. "Take two every other hour."
Yuffie nodded and took them and the bottle of water he offered her, taking the pills with a large swallow of water. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Cody said. "I'm going to get out of sight before someone notices my mask."
"Alright," Jessie smiled. "Good luck."
"Thanks," Cody smiled. "See you soon."
He tugged his mask down and gave her a quick kiss before leaving, heading up to a higher level where he could remain out of the way while waiting for them to arrive. The others were almost all in costume, minus Red XIII, who was hidden in the middle of a handful of shipping crates where he could get in and out easily but where no one would notice him, and Cody wasn't actually sure where Barret was. Hopefully somewhere out of the way.
He settled in to wait in silence, tinkering with his projects while he waited. After about a day, Jessie joined him. He smiled, sitting back against the wall where the shadows would hide him better, and she sat in his lap, looping her arms around his neck.
"So, how do I look as a sailor?" Jessie asked.
"It'd be better with a miniskirt, belly shirt, and the top opened, but you still look as beautiful as you ever do," Cody smiled.
Jessie laughed. "You just want easy access."
"Guildy as charged," Cody said, then sighed, frowning as the files his father had stolen returned to him, along with the feeling of dread he'd been feeling since seeing them.
"Any new ideas what he wanted?" Jessie asked.
"No," Cody said. "I considered asking Aerith if she would be able to find out from the planet, but I'm not sure I'm ready to share what my father was really doing. At least, not yet."
Jessie nodded. "That's understandable."
"Oh, by the way," Cody said, summoning one of his two projects from his sealing materia. "I finished this for you." He held up a small rectangular box with a small materia depression on one end, and lines of mako stone running along it on all sides.
"What is it?" Jessie frowned.
"The last upgrade for your sword," Cody said. "Now you just put a materia in the bottom of it and it's ready to fire blasts of that magic instead of mullets."
She gasped, then tugged his mask down, kissing him excitedly for a few seconds before pulling back. He chuckled, pulling his mask back up and holding his hand out. She summoned her sword and he quickly took the handle apart, swapping out the firing mechanism for the piece he'd created and reassembled it carefully.
"I've been meaning to ask," Jessie said. "Why is it lever action if it's single shot?"
"The lever's a manual extractor," Cody said. "Swing it out to eject the casing from your last shot, then swing it back down to chamber the next once you've stuck it in. It was labelled as being a prototype, so they'll probably make it hold more bullets, but now the lever will just charge another shot with the materia, making it properly lever action."
Jessie nodded, kissing the front of his mask as she sealed the sword again. "We'll test it whenever we land."
Cody nodded just as an alarm began to shriek, a voice warning about stowaways having been found. Cody and Jessie both swore, looking around before quickly heading down to the floor, Cody telling Red XIII to stay hidden, then headed for the deck, finding all of the others.
"There you are!" Tifa said. "We were afraid you were the ones who got caught. Wait, where's Red XIII?"
"I told him to stay hidden," Cody said.
"So, if it's not us, who is it?" Jessie asked.
She and Cody glanced at each other before looking around.
"It could be Sephiroth," Cloud said.
"It could be the guy me and Jessie keep seeing too," Cody said.
"We should go and see," Tifa said.
Cody nodded. "Me and Cloud will go."
"I'll get Boco ready for a fast exit, and warn Red XIII to be ready," Jessie said.
"I'll go with you two," Tifa said.
"Okay," Cody nodded. "Barret, Aerith, and Yuffie will go with Jessie. Better to have everyone in the same place together."
The others all nodded, and Cloud and Tifa both pulled their Shinra Troop uniforms off, having kept their normal clothes under them. The three chosen to see who the intruder was quickly headed down to the cargo hold ahead of the others, seeing a dead troop outside the engine room door, the troop having been guarding the door before. however, as Cody looked around, he saw that every Shinra troop or sailor in the hold was now dead. They ran to it quickly and Cody took the lead, opening the door carefully and making sure the room beyond it was clear before going through, the others passing them and heading for the chocobos and Red XIII.
Cody walked into the room and glanced around, seeing several dead Shinra troops and sailors, and an officer standing at the engines' controls on the far side of the room. They walked forward, Cody summoning his gunblade as they approached.
"Turn around, slowly," Cody said, holding his gunblade up in front of his chest as he turned profile, keeping himself ready.
The officer turned, blood running down his body from a thin but deep gash across his chest, then collapsed. Cody narrowed his eyes, looking around.
"At long last, the time has come," a voice said from all around them, just before something began to rise from the floor ahead of them. "I've finally awakened again."
Silver hair, a calm, proud face, evil radiating off of him in waves, silver pauldrons, black coat and pants. Cody's gut sank as he tensed, readying himself for a strike that he probably wouldn't be able to block or avoid.
"Sephiroth!" Cloud snarled, readying his own sword.
"Who are you?" Sephiroth asked.
"You don't recognize me?" Cloud asked. "I'm Cloud!"
"Cloud," Sephiroth mused, then looked up at the ceiling. "The time...has come."
Then, he shot forward. Cody stepped forward and slashed at him, but Sephiroth flipped over it before slamming the crook of his left elbow into Cody's forehead, hurling him backward as he likewise sent Cloud flying into Tifa. Then, he curved upward and exploded up through the roof of the engine room. Cody groaned, pushing himself up and sighing.
"You two okay?" he asked.
"Fine," Tifa said. "Cloud?"
"I'm fine," Cloud growled, standing. "Why didn't he recognize me?"
"Maybe his memories are fuzzy after being dissolved in the Lifestream after he fell into the Mako," Cody suggested.
"Maybe," Cloud said, just before there was a loud crash from ahead of them.
They all turned just as the floor was ripped apart, a mass of purple flesh erupting from the floor, the skull-like head adorning the top roaring deafeningly as the thing jerked, twitched, and grew. A pair of ten-inch-thick tentacles burst out of its sides in a pair of sprays of black blood, smaller tentacles burst out of it randomly all over its body, and a pair of masses of purple flesh grew outward from the sides of the top like arms, except that they reached about three feet then curled downward and ended, more small tentacles waving from along their tops.
"What the fuck?" Cody asked.
"What is that?" Tifa asked.
"Not friendly," Cloud said. "We can't let it destroy the engines."
"We'll have to be careful that we don't destroy them either," Cody said, readying himself again. "Let's go!"
He sprinted forward, only for a tentacle to lash outward, slamming into him before he could react, hurling him backward into the door to the room, bowing it outward. He groaned, healing his broken back, then cast Manawall and Haste on himself before charging again. Ahead of him, Tifa and Cloud were both already using Haste and barely avoiding the creature's tentacles as Cloud slashed the thing over and over, the wounds all sealing in seconds after being inflicted, and Tifa slammed punches and kicks into the thing as fast as she could. Cody blasted the thing in the face with a Thundaga and it roared in rage before both tentacles whipped downward at him. He leapt forward, using his gunblade to spin himself sideways into a buzz saw, shredding the tentacles this time before landing in a roll and regaining his feet in front of the creature, gunblade held behind him. He squeezed the trigger as he flipped backward and buzz-sawed up the creature's front, splitting it wide open and sending black blood spraying upward, only for the wound to, once again, seal almost instantly. Cody landed on his feet and leapt backward as the tentacles regrew in a spray of black blood, whipping at him and cratering the floor but missing him. He narrowed his eyes as Cloud got between the creature and the engines, then sent out several waves of Mako energy, which tore through the creature, only for the damage to seal before a tentacle whipped around, crashing into him and hurling him away from the creature.
He crashed into the engine off to Cody's left as Tifa jumped, streaking toward the creature with her hands and feet glowing a whiteish blue. She slammed a kick into it, rocking it backward before landing and spinning, sweeping a windmill kick into its side so hard that her kick actually blasted through the creature's body. Then, she spun around a second time without stopping, flipping and slamming the other foot into the creature in an aerial roundhouse kick, followed by her other foot's heel slamming into the same spot. As soon as she landed, she turned into a backward flip, kicking downward into the creature, foot once again ripping through its body like a blade, as did her other foot immediately afterward. She immediately flipped, slamming yet another flipping kick into it, only to this time blast the ground with an Aeroga, forming a tornado that spun her in the air, slamming a dozen kicks into the creature, along with the spell itself ripping into the creature, before Tifa landed on her feet as the tornado faded. Then, she finished the barrage with an uppercut, her fist shining, and black blood exploded up out of the creature from both the impact point, and the creature's face. In full the entire series of strikes took about two seconds, which was amazing, considering hoe many there had been. However, once again, the damage all regenerated within an equally ridiculous amount of time.
"This isn't working!" Cloud said.
"It must have a core somewhere!" Cody said.
"Maybe it's below us!" Tifa said, leaping over one tentacle, only for the other to crash into her, hurling her.
Cody swore as the first tentacle swung around at him and jumped, slashing it off before flipping and using a blast from his gunblade to buzz-saw himself in time to slash the other. Then, as he launched himself into the air in order to try sending a blast down through the creature, its head looked up at him and a pitch black laser with a dark violet aura as big around as his arm was flashed from its eye, exploding into his chest in an instant, shattering his barrier and bruising his ribs as it hurled him backward. He crashed down on his upper back and rolled backward, flopping to the ground and groaning, struggling to catch his breath as his head spun and his vision swam in front of his eyes. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, forcing his vision to focus as he lifted his head in time to see Cloud likewise get blasted by a laser and Tifa to get sent flying by a tentacle again.
Cody groaned, struggling to stand as the door banged loudly and rattled but went nowhere. He groaned. They were trapped. When he'd slammed into the door, he'd deformed it and gotten it jammed. He looked back to the creature they were fighting as a tentacle slammed into him, hurling him across the room into Cloud. He bounced off of him, rolling to a stop before restoring his Manawall and slowly struggling to his feet. He swung his gunblade's cylinder out, swapping the Fire Materia with his Lightning Materia, then closed and slashed, squeezing his trigger and sending an arc of lightning out, splitting the creature in half the long way. It shrieked in pain, rapidly stitching itself back together as Cody charged, Cloud just behind him. Cody slashing, taking off the creature's right tentacle, just in time for a third to erupt from its back, the end of it curled, and slam into his ribs, sending him bouncing off the wall again. As he hit the wall, Cloud slashed upward as he jumped, taking off the left tentacle and splitting the creature up the front, then flipped forward, sword glowing blue, before splitting the creature back down as he spun in a buzz-saw. Just as he landed, Cody reached them again and jumped, pulling his legs back up in time for Tifa to kick his feet, launching him into the air just before the third tentacle slammed into both Tifa and Cloud, hurling them. Then, Cody flipped, driving his gunblade down into the creature's face and instantly pulling the trigger. It shrieked and a laser exploded into his chest, cracking his already injured ribs and hurling him backward.
He bounced and rolled to a stop, groaning. "Fuck! Tifa, Cloud, pull the trigger again."
Tifa jumped instantly, curling into a ball as Cloud swung his sword. She kicked downward, meeting the flat of his blade and shot forward in a blue, slamming a kick into the creature's body just below its head that sent blood spraying up around Cody's gunblade and out of its face, then flipped up over the creature just before a laser exploded into Cloud's sword as he managed to predict it and blocked it. Tifa grabbed the gunblade and squeezed and the lightning having been constantly arcing along the blade fired in a lightning bolt that blasted down through the creature and through the hole in the floor to whatever was below them. Then, the creature began to glow from the floor upward so Tifa ripped the gunblade out and jumped, landing in a roll just before thing exploded. The concussion slammed into Tifa, launching her, and Cloud dropped his sword, catching her and skidding backward but managed to stay on his feet, holding Tifa. Cody groaned, his Healing Materia and Prayer Materia both shining before matching light shone from the three of them, healing Cloud and Tifa fully and healing Cody's cracked ribs to bruised. He groaned, picking up his gunblade and used his Water Materia to clean the creature's blood off of his gunblade and suit, then dried himself with his Wind Matera before swapping the Lightning and Fire Materia back and sealed his gunblade.
"Thanks for the catch," Tifa smiled up at Cloud, still standing with his arms around her, her right hand on his chest and her left on the right side of his neck.
"Are you alright?" Cloud asked.
"I'll be fine," Tifa smiled, just as someone began to bang on the door again, harder this time, actually making headway getting in. "We need to get out of here."
"Through here," Cody said, moving to the hole and looking down. "There's a catwalk that heads to a ladder back up."
"Let's go," Cloud said, the three of them quickly dropping through and heading to the ladder.
Cody carefully opened the hatch at the top and looked around, seeing the rest of their group ahead of them. "Hey! Jessie!"
Jessie turned, eyes widening before she looked around and nodded, motioning for him to come up. He nodded and climbed up, Cloud and Tifa following quickly before closing and securing the hatch again. Then, Cloud and Tifa both quickly got into their Shinra Uniforms again. Cody headed up to the same spot he'd been before to rest and Jessie followed, sitting beside him and wrapping her arms around him, her head resting on his shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Jessie asked.
"Yeah," Cody said. "Just bruised ribs to heal tomorrow."
"What was it?" Jessie asked.
"I have no fucking idea," Cody said. "It was a big purple mass of flesh with tentacles and a skull on top, and it kicked our asses."
Jessie nodded. "At least it's dead now."
Cody nodded in agreement. "I think we should be reaching the continent soon."
"We should be," Jessie nodded. "Mind if I stay with you until then?"
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be than with you," Cody smiled.
Jessie smiled and kissed him on the cheek before setting her head back down, Cody tilting his head back and closing his eyes to rest.
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