Sephiroth had been looking forward to this night for months. He had wondered how this young man fought. The way they would dance toe to toe, sword to sword. To learn the deeper mysteries behind Cloud Strife.
And Tseng had ruined it all.
"Come here goldilocks!" Reno charged forward.
Now what little trust he had earned from Cloud was thrown out the window. Sephiroth still pursued of course. He wasn't going to allow this mystery slip from him.
"Stay away from me!" Cloud yelled, tossing a fireball his way. He threw a grenade at Reno. The redhead dodged with a "whoa!", and the general advanced.
"I will have you." Sephiroth promised, dodging the explosion meant for him.
He may have sounded too possessive.
"Leave me alone!" Cloud panicked.
The blond leaped his way to the second floor. He aimed for one of the windows to escape. Sephiroth was closing on his heels. Without even glancing behind him Cloud leaped through a window, hoping it was the one that he climbed in from earlier.
How he managed earlier was climb his way onto the roof of an adjacent building. And it wasn't far from a window he could prop open. Unfortunately in his panic he chose the wrong window. And he was too far to reach for the other building just five feet distance.
And now Cloud was falling. He braced himself for impact.
Then a hand grasped his.
Cloud glanced up in surprise to see Sephiroth. He glared as he kicked with his legs. Those eyes narrowed at what he was trying to do.
"Allow me, I will ensure you will have my protection." Sephiroth reasoned.
"As if I ever want it!" Cloud snarled.
"Oh, hey! Cloudy boy!" Reno smirked down at them. "Seems like a number of people are interested in ya! Some of them are even fighting boss for a piece of you."
What? Why?
He couldn't tell if the Turk was bluffing.
"Get him!" Someone yelled. Down below was a unit from Public Security.
"Shit." Cloud cursed. He tried to yank on his arm. The grip on his wrist tightened to a vice.
"Let go!" He demanded.
"Accept my protection." Sephiroth pressured.
"The fuck you want!?" Cloud was in total panic.
"Would you rather land into Heidegger's hands?" He asked, and Cloud glanced down as the unit got into position. They took aim, but didn't fire.
All because of Sephiroth. And right above him was Reno. A Turk, who will have their asses.
Above them helicopters circled. One of them stayed still and a light pointed at them. Cloud winced at the brightness.
He was cornered.
Gritting his teeth, the blond glanced up.
No. He wouldn't. This wasn't how he would be taken in. Cloud began swinging. Sephiroth tried to pull him up, but in doing so his grip slipped when the blond swung hard. Now he was leaping down upon the men below.
Cloud landed on one of the troopers. His legs gripped the head of the man, squeezing the life out of him. All the while he blocked bullets with his main sword. He threw one of his smaller ones to impale another to his left.
The trooper fell with a gurgle. The one Cloud was suffocating began to fall seconds later. The blond let go and rolled towards the other fallen to recover the piece he threw. He only had time to block more bullets once he grasped the handle.
Having enough Sephiroth leaped down to join the fray. Masamune sounded the air. Cloud turned, tensing. Only to catch Sephiroth cutting the guns, making them explode in their owners faces.
"Back off." Sephiroth warned them.
His eyes were cold. Even though Cloud couldn't see them, he knew. He shivered upon hearing that tone in the general's voice.
Most of them ran. Scattered into the night. Cloud tried to make a break for it. He heard the song of Masamune and he whirled to block. Cloud couldn't see when he was blinded by the helicopter above.
"Surrender to me. And I will ensure your protection." Sephiroth pressured.
The general couldn't help but stare. The blue eyes had a wildness in them. Untamed and ready to bite. And it awoken something within Sephiroth. He felt his insides coil with excitement.
"Over my dead body!" Cloud kicked hard.
He heard a soft grunt. Masamune wasn't pressing down as hard. So the blond took his chance. He hit with his smaller blade to send the longer blade away and then slipped away.
He heard the helicopter give chase. Cloud grit his teeth. His bike that he had hidden was a bit far. But he could make it. All he had to do was shake Sephiroth long enough.
Behind him he heard Sephiroth. The sound of his boots made his heart panic. He would gain fast and Cloud tried throwing another fireball. He heard it go off, but he dared not look behind to see if it hit.
Behind him Sephiroth couldn't help the smirk. He couldn't help but feel a sense of power as he gave chase. The exhilaration pumped through his entire body. He felt it so powerfully, he couldn't even hear as the alarms went off of the whole warehouse.
A Sweeper raced towards Cloud. He was quick to cast Lightning. It paralyzed long enough for him to leap and cut his way through with ease. Sephiroth watched as Cloud succeeded and leaped down the other side and continued sprinting without so much as a glance backwards.
The Sweeper exploded. Sephiroth didn't bother to go around it. He leaped once. Landed on it before leaping off. He continued to give chase and began gaining on his target. Above them the helicopter didn't lose sight of Cloud.
The second one circled, but wasn't sure how to proceed. They couldn't fire bullets without the chances of hitting Sephiroth. Not that it would do much damage to him.
They breached the gates. More Public Security raced to cut off the escape. They made a row and took aim. They hesitated only because of the general.
Cloud charged right through as if they were nothing. He swung hard at one, tripping another. Shots were fired at this point but they missed. Other men collapsed with screams of pain.
Sephiroth leaped over the bodies that were meant to trip him. He knew the blond was beginning to panic by now. And as he picked up his pace he lunged forward with full speed.
Cloud rolled to the side. When he was back on his feet again he twirled his whole body to face the general. His eyes glared heatedly and he scowled.
"What the hell do you want!" He yelled in frustration.
"To conquer you. Cloud." Sephiroth saw the shiver of having the name roll off his tongue so.
Yes. Excitement surged through Sephiroth.
Cloud unleashed a fury of attacks. All with a battle cry. Those watching felt the power within his voice. And they couldn't bother to take aim as the pair finally began their dance.
Yes! Fight! Fight with all your power! Let me have a taste. Show me what you dreamed of. Sephiroth wanted this.
Above the helicopters circled. In the background Reno paused, too entranced at the sight before him. In one hand were handcuffs.
No one could tear their eyes away.
Cloud pushed with all his speed in an attempt to overwhelm the general. He met him equally, almost as if he couldn't be bothered. And soon he had the blond on the defense as he twirled and lunged.
The blond blocked, standing his ground. At this point his sword had become one. But after that strike he grasped the handle of a smaller piece to reach with a strike. Sephiroth twisted Masamune to block with ease, all the while he pushed with all of his strength.
Cloud was forced to back up. It was either back up or be knocked down. And he sure as hell wasn't going to be pushed down like a toy. All the while he glared at Sephiroth, who only smirked in response.
And those eyes glowed with excitement.
It made his heart flutter.
The blond pushed back his confusion. He didn't have time to give Sephiroth an advantage. He rolled when Masamune was raised for another strike. Cloud aimed for a strike in retaliation.
Masamune twisted to block. Sparks flew as the blades scraped together. Cloud winced as the cold blade cut his cheek. As it stung he glared even more heatedly. His heart wanted to give in at the sight of those eyes dilating.
That was different.
Different than the nightmares. The dreams painted a picture of Sephiroth being pure evil. And here he was acting like this was the most fun he had in years. As if he actually enjoyed fighting him.
A challenge, not a means to torment him.
In the momentary distraction Sephiroth sent both blades flying. Cloud took one step back, ready to bolt after one of them. Then a cold metal that was very sharp pressed against his throat. He was too afraid to even breathe with it so close.
"Kill me." He snarled. "I won't go willingly."
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice." Sephiroth reached to grasp blond spikes. It took all of Cloud's will not to make a sound. Masamune lowered away from his pale throat.
"My offer still stands. Surrender to me and I will protect you from Heidegger. From the Turks. From the rest of the company if I have to."
Cloud grit his teeth. He wanted to spit into the general's face. But something in those eyes made him hesitate.
"You will have my word, Cloud." Sephiroth swore, tightening his hold on the hair. This time Cloud couldn't hold back the softest whimpers.
"...Fine." He gave in.
He got himself into this mess. Might as well face the consequences.
"Good boy." Sephiroth smirked, eyes dilating again. "Reno! He's surrendered."
"You promised!" Cloud tried to push the arm away from his hair. He was in a panic. Sephiroth threw him down, and he released a cry as he fell.
In seconds Reno was on top of him and twisting his arms into the handcuffs. Cloud struggled even harder, eyes wild and burning. Reno had enough and hit him hard enough in the head to knock him out. Sephiroth winced at the sound of metal hitting Cloud's skull.
"What the hell you promised him?" Reno looked up.
"He's under my protection. I needed your handcuffs. And he jumped into conclusions." Sephiroth sighed.
"Shit. You're in for one hell of a war, yo. Everyone wants him." The redhead shook his head as he got to his feet.
"Until then he can be placed under Tseng's watch while I fight over him." Sephiroth knew he will be in for it.
One of the helicopters landed close. It was Rude in the pilot seat. Reno carried the unconscious blond to the ride. Sephiroth followed at his heels. He knew the cameras watched the whole thing.
He briefly wondered if the fight will still reach the media. And his assumption was correct when hours later videos of the fight between them surfaced. The short video went viral, showing the beginning of their fight up until he grasped blond spikes.
Sephiroth knew it was Cloud's network that did this. They were pushing for the media to fall in love with the blond. Once the people have taken interest the company won't have a choice in the matter.
And it looked like it worked. The next day people all over swarmed in protest.