Calamity's Reign: Chapter 3 - The Edge Incident
The Theme Song for this Chapter, after it gets to Tifa's Point of View, should be 'Those Chosen by the Planet', if your into listening to music while you read. It's what I listened to while writing that part.
Warning: Mind Break / Corruption
Warning: Character Deaths
Cloud rushed over and knelt down next to his fallen friend. "Tifa? Tifa!"
He shook her, causing her to cough and spew black goop out of her mouth. "C-l...oud...?"
He looked down at her stomach where the Calamity had impaled her, at the hole that weak oozing the black goop. "What... did it do to you?"
Tifa coughed one last time before her eyes closed and her head rolled to her side. Cloud's heart skipped a beat and he put two fingers to her neck quickly. There was a pulse, but a weak one.
"She okay?" asked Yuffie as the ninja and the other's caught up.
He shook his head. "I don't know."
"Leave her or kill her, the pest is more important to deal with at the moment," called down Sephiroth.
Cloud glared up at him. "Kill her?! Are you insane? No wait, of course you are."
Sephiroth scoffed and landed a few feet away. "She's been infected with his cells, she's as good as dead already."
Cloud looked at him, startled, before looking down at the hole in Tifa's stomach. "Shit."
He tilted her on her side and, as gently as he could, tried to drain and scoop as much of the black cells out of her stomach as he could.
"The longer you wait, puppet, the farther the pest gets," said Sephiroth with annoyance.
"Unlike you, I don't turn on and abandon my friends! I help and take care of them!" retorted Cloud.
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Hmph, little puppet, how wrong you are. I never abandoned the only ones I ever called friends. No, they abandoned and left me behind."
Cloud gave him a confused look before shaking his head and gently picked up Tifa. "C'mon Teef, I'm getting you back to Edge. Yuffie! Go to Aerith's church and get some of the her water to help Tifa! It'll clear the cells out and..."
"It's gone Cloud," whispered Yuffie.
He froze. That's right... Midgar had just been destroyed by the meteor. He looked down fearfully at Tifa, noting brown spots slowly appearing on her skin. No... she... she was developing what looked like Geostigma... she... without the water...
He ground his teeth. "I'm taking her to Edge and putting her under Marlene's care. We'll figure out what to do for her after. Cid, Yuffie! Get Barret onto the Highwind, I'll be back."
"Be quick about it, puppet, the pest is gaining distance," warned Sephiroth.
Cloud ignored him and rushed off, trying his best not to jostle Tifa to badly. He reached Edge a few minutes later and swore to himself. The outer parts of the town had been utterly devastated by the meteor's wave of fire and debris. People were rushing about trying to care for the wounded and rebuild. He took note of the Shinra personnel and Turks giving out a hand, and two in particular...
"Reno! Rude!" Cloud hollared.
The two Turks turned and looked at Tifa in his arms grimly. "Seventh Heaven, now!"
The ran after him, Reno called out. "Yo! What the hell happened?"
Cloud ignored him until they reached the bar. It was still standing, but, a bit roughed up. He went in and walked up to the bar. Marlene paused her cleaning of a glass and looked at Tifa fearfully.
"Tifa! What happened?!" exclaimed Marlene.
"Upstairs, now," said Cloud.
He turned and addressed the bar patrons. "Bars closed until further notice! Get the hell out there and help pick up the town!"
The patrons grumbled, but complied. Reno and Rude walked in and followed him upstairs. Cloud walked to Tifa's room and gently set her down. He grabbed his cure materia, muttered quietly to himself, and cast the most powerful cure spell he could over her. It help to seal her stomach wound and and what was left of Sephiroth's cut...
What was left of it...?
He frowned intently. He knew Jenova's cells gave him increased healing abilities. Apparently so did Morbunova's. He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all. Even if they could cure the Geostigma like plague seeming to affect her, she'd still carry the Calamity's taint in her, just like he did. Dammit, she didn't deserve this affliction...
"Yo. What. The. Hell. Happened," demanded Reno.
"Sephiroth came back and we fought. In the middle of the fight, a new Jenova came down riding on that meteor," said Cloud.
Reno coughed and sputtered. "A new WHAT?!"
Rude fished a phone out of his pocket and began to dial a number.
"It's called Morbunova, We fought it, but, it ran and came across Tifa. She had been wounded by Sephiroth and we had left Barett with her. It knocked Barret out and... injected Tifa with its cells," explained Cloud.
Rude frowned, but merely put his phone to his ear and stepped out of the room. "Rufus, sir, we have a problem."
Cloud looked sternly at Marlene. "I want you to look after Tifa for me, I have to go and destroy the Morbunova."
Marlene nodded. "Okay, I will."
Reno frowned. "What about Sephiroth?"
Cloud smirked. "Sephiroth doesn't apparently play nice with other Calamities. He wants it dead bad enough to work alongside us, for the moment."
Reno raised an eyebrow. "He's totally gonna stab you in the back yo."
Cloud nodded grimly. "I'm aware. I'll be ready."
He stood up and moved away from the bed, hearing the Highwind approach the town. "Reno, go find Denzel for me and get him to help Marlene look after Tifa."
Reno nodded. "Sure, go give that new Jenova a good whack for the rest of us."
Cloud left without another word, going outside and seeing a rope ladder swinging down from the highwind, he jumped to it, grabbed ahold, and whispered a silent prayer, "Aerith... please look after Tifa."
Aerith heard the prayer, but could only bite her spectral body's lips nervously in response.
Minerva spoke solemnly, "As the original Calamity did before it, the new Calamity has started its infection of Gaia's children. It will corrupt and twist them, turning them against one another. It can kill and parade about within their corpses as a deceptive mockery of their lives, using the hollow shells to lull others into a false sense of security."
"I... I have to release Great Gospel, Tifa needs it, the others will need it too!" said Aerith.
Minerva shook her head. "No."
"But she needs me! I can't abandon Tifa or let down Cloud and the others!" Aerith tried to argue.
Minerva frowned. "Your closeness with them clouds your judgement. If you use that ability it will use energy from the lifestream, energy we desperately need to go through with our plan."
Aerith wanted to cry, to rage against the goddess. Minerva... she was asking her to abandon Tifa, even if it was for the greater good of the planet. She didn't know if she could live with herself for doing so...
Zack put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Sometimes, we have to follow orders, even if we don't want to. Had to do that all the time in SOLDIER. The boss lady's right, we can't mess this up. One life isn't worth the entire planet."
Aerith bowed her head. "I... I know... but..."
She looked desperately at Minerva. "What IS your plan?"
Minerva turned to Vincent and held out a hand, in her palm, a red materia formed. "Vincent Valentine, former host of Chaos. I ask, will you take up the mantle of Omega's Squire once more?"
Vincent frowned intently. "Have I not paid my penance? Can I not be allowed to rest?"
Minerva slowly shook her head. "You paid your debts a long time ago Vincent Valentine. This is not about the past, but the future. Chaos was weakened immensely during the confrontation with Omega. He cannot exist on his own outside the lifestream without a host for the foreseeable future, especially after we move onto the next phase of our plan. The planet needs you to become Chaos once more. It will take a great deal of energy to revive you and merge you with him. This time however, your union with Chaos will be... more natural and less destructive for you."
Vincent crossed his arms. "So, you want me to willingly become Chaos and fight the new Calamity and any more that come?"
Minerva pursed her lips. "Eventually, but we have another task for you first."
Vincent sighed and took the materia into his hands, slowly pressing it against his chest where it phased into him. "What is it?"
"Holy," stated Minerva, "You must find the Holy materia that was lost within the lake of the Forgotten Capital. Once you find it, we will give you further instructions."
Zack whistled. "Holy huh? Bringing out the big guns."
Aerith scowled at him. "Using Holy is no laughing matter Zack!"
Minerva ignored them and gazed into Vincent's eyes. "Are you ready?"
Vincent nodded. "I am."
The lifestream began to spin and churn around them, rushing in to surround Vincent's soul. In a flash of green light, he was gone. Minerva sagged to a knee, breathing heavily, looking drained.
Aerith gave her a worried look. "Are you alright?"
Minerva retook her feet and stood. "As well as we can be. For now, we wait."
Aerith nodded and looked back through the lifestream, looking over Tifa from the afterlife and praying for her...
Tifa Lockheart sat alone in darkness, her arms wrapped around her legs. She couldn't see or hear anything in the endless abyss. She felt ill, felt sick, felt more vileness in her body than she had ever felt before. It hurt... it hurt her body, it hurt her mind, it hurt her soul.
"It is time... join with me... submit to my embrace... become my daughter..."
Tifa groaned and clutched her head, screaming in pain as a memory flashed her by...
Little Tifa Lockheart sat down on the local date spot, the water tower, in Nibelheim, her feet kicking against it softly, she looked up at her friend, a young Cloud Strife who was going to be leaving to join SOLDIER. "Hey, let's make a promise."
She grew a little nervous. "Umm... if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind... you'll come save me, all right?"
Cloud looked down at her, startled. "What?"
Tifa grew bashful and looked down. "If I'm ever in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to experience that at least once."
Cloud frowned at her. "You want me to... rescue you?"
Tifa hesitated for a moment. He sounded... angry? That wasn't supposed to happen! Had she said something wrong?
She looked up at him desperately. "Come on! Promise me!"
Cloud glared down at her. "Why should I rescue you? The last time I did that, I got blamed for everything when you got hurt!"
Tifa wilted under his glare. "I... I'm sorry..."
Cloud spit at her and leapt off the water-tower. "Forget it, you can rescue yourself from now on."
Tifa watched him go, feeling miserable and heartbroken. She put her head in her hands and cried...
Tifa cried out, gripping her head. No... that... that wasn't what happened... it... no... was it...? He had promised her... no... he had refused the promise...?
"He abandoned you my daughter... they all abandoned you..."
Everything hurt so much... which was the truth? Which was the lie? Had Cloud promised to protect her? Or had he refused the promise? She... she didn't know...
She gave another scream as another memory flashed her by...
Nibelheim burned. Sephiroth, Cloud's hero, destroyed and murdered everything and everyone. She followed him, tried to stop him, but was cut down. Cloud never came... he never showed up... he left her to die... if not for Zangan, she would have died...
Tifa shivered, groaning painfully, the black abyss around her churned and bubbled.
"Do you not see? He abandoned you. They all abandoned you, refused to trust you. The one you loved left you for another..."
Tifa leaned over the side of Don Corneo's wagon, sighing to herself. Cloud was too expensive to rely on buying his skills to help them. She considered herself lucky she had been able to get him to agree to even one mission instead of storming off at the sight of her. She had to take matters into her own hands.
She pouted a bit. She cared for him, but didn't know how to properly show it or tell him. She hadn't heard or seen him since the failed date on the watertower back home. When he had just suddenly walked into the bar in sector seven, it had taken everything she had just to convince him to help her and the rest of Avalanche.
She sighed. Not that Avalanche trusted her. Barret Walace could barely tolerate her, and little Marlene always stuck her tongue out at her and continually hassled her. She just wanted them to accept her, but no matter what she did, it always blew up in her face. She was lucky they hadn't thrown her out...
She HAD to do this! She had to get all the information she could out of Don Corneo, then she'd prove herself to them! And maybe Cloud wouldn't look down on her anymore either... wait... was that Cloud?
As the carriage moved past the sector seven gate, she noticed him sitting ontop of a slide next to a girl in pink. She gasped and grew mortified when they both leaned against one another to kiss...
He... he had found someone else...
Tifa let loose another scream of pain. No! It was a lie! Her friends cared for her! Cloud... he... he might have cared for Aerith yes... but he never kissed her... not then... had he...?
"They hate you my child... you know it to be true..."
She shivered, feeling so lost and confused...
"Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge are ALL DEAD because of you!" yelled Barret, pointing an accusing finger at Tifa, "You killed EVERYONE in sector seven!
"No! I...," began Tifa tearfully.
"You fuck up! You weaseled your way into Don Corneo's mansion like a fucking whore. Did it ever occur to you that he might know who you are? He worked out where you came from and told the damn Turks, they told me! And low and behold, you come when its TO DAMN LATE to actually help and they drop the damn plate!" roared Barret.
Tifa trembled under his barrage, even Cloud was looking at her in disgust.
"If it wasn't for that Aerith lady, Marlene woulda died to, she was captured protecting my daughter like you SHOULD have been," yelled Barret.
"Your a fuck up Lockheart, I don't know why the hell I bother with you," he muttered, "Were going to bust Aerith out of Shinra, and if you have any good bone in your body, you'll help us do it!"
"I... of course I'll help!" she said desperately.
Barret narrowed her eyes. "You better, and I swear Lockheart, if you fuck this up again..."
Tifa sobbed to herself, clutching her head and falling to her side, curling up into a ball.
Lies! It was a lie! She... she hadn't been the one responsible for sector seven's destruction... she... it... no... had she...?
Tears streamed down her face. Had she gotten them all killed?
"You fucked it up again Lockheart!" roared Barret from his prison cell, "How the hell could you screw THIS up? We went up all those stairs, slipped by security, got Aerith, and you trip a fucking alarm on the way out!"
"I... I'm sorry," stammered Tifa.
Cloud glared at her from his corner of the prison cell. "Why couldn't someone useful have survived Nibelheim?"
Tifa pushed herself into the corner of her cell, brought her legs up to her chest, and cried into them.
"Fucking useless," muttered Barret.
Tifa let out an anguished scream, clutching her head and convulsing on the ground of the black abyss she was trapped in. It wasn't her fault! It wasn't her fault! They... why had they been so mean to her? She had been trying so hard... trying to hard to help them...
"They are cruel my child..."
Yes... the... the voice was right... they were so cruel! She had given up so much to try and help them, but, they kept on being so mean... she had fought just as long and hard as they did! Tried to help them cope and get through the madness of Sephiroth's return and Meteorfall.
"You didn't deserve their cruelty my child... you tried so hard to be there for them, only for them to accuse you and turn you away..."
Turn her away...?
"Do you not remember my child? Let me show you..."
Tifa watched as Cloud withdrew into himself after letting Aerith's corpse drop into the lake at the Forgotten Capital. He sat alone, miserable. She felt so bad for him... she had put aside her own feelings when she had seen how happy Cloud was with her. Now? He just looked like a wreck...
She bit her lip. She couldn't leave him alone right now, she was afraid for him. She walked over to him and knelt down next to him.
"Cloud? Are you okay?" she asked tenderly.
"I'm fine!" he shouted bitterly.
She bit her lips nervously and scooted a little closer, wrapping her arms around him to give him a hug. "It'll be okay Cloud."
She gave a yelp when he threw her off of him. "Really Tifa?! She hasn't been gone an hour and you try to move in? God, your scum."
She looked at him, shocked. "That's not... I wasn't..."
"Low Lockheart, really low," muttered Barret, "If you weren't at least capable of fighting I might shoot you just to put you out of your fuckin misery."
Tifa sobbed to herself. She hadn't meant to hurt Cloud! She had been trying to comfort him! Not take advantage of him after Aerith had died! Why... why had it ended that way? WHY! Why why why why why?!
She gave a scream of pain as her memories locked into place, she saw years of abuse and neglect flash through her eyes, all done by her so called 'friends'. Why didn't they just trust her? Why did they have to say such hurtful things to her? Accuse her of things she didn't mean to do?
"They don't trust you. They don't care for you. They don't love you. They hate you."
Tifa bowed her head, tears streaming down her face. "After everything I did for them? Even after all these years, despite how much I've been there for Cloud and the others, they still hate me. It's not fair..."
"No, it's not my child, but it's alright..."
No... no it's not... nothing will ever be okay... nothing will ever be alright again...
"But it will be. For my child, you are precious to me. Where they hate you, I will love you. Where they will abandon you, I will hold you close. Where they would seek to demean and weaken you, I will praise you and make you strong."
Tifa looked up. "You... love me?"
"Oh yes my dear child. If you will but accept me into your heart, I will accept you into mine. Speak my name, accept me as your father, and yourself as my daughter..."
Tifa shivered. "I..."
"Do it, accept me, head my call..."
A name sounded in her mind. It sounded... the name, and the voice, he seemed to care so much for her... unlike the others...
"Tifa!" a familiar voice screamed into the silence, "Don't do it! It's lying to you!"
Tifa groaned and clutched her head. "A-aerith?!"
"She's trying to take you from me my child. Reject her, and accept me. Become my daughter, and I will give you everything you are missing in your life. Family, respect, and my unconditional love. Together, we will take revenge on those who have wrong you..."
"Those who have wronged me...," whispered Tifa, losing focus on Aerith's voice.
"Tifa! NO!" screamed Aerith.
"Morbunova... my... father... please... accept me as your daughter...," whispered Tifa.
There was a deep chuckle as the black abyss around her began to change colors, turning a deep blood red shade. A buzzing sound filled her ears, all consuming.
"Awaken my treasured daughter," whispered Morbunova, "Awaken my chosen one. Take revenge, and come to me..."
Aerith let loose a scream as she was forcefully ejected out of Tifa's mind. "TIFA NO!"
Zack grabbed her shoulders to steady her. "Aerith? What's wrong?!"
"Oh no...," whispered Aerith, mortified, "Oh no no no no, I should have used it... I should have used the gospel... I could have saved her..."
Zack grew confused. "I... don't understand..."
Minerva spoke, its tone grave. "Tifa Lockheart is gone, and in her place, the new Calamity has sired its child. Omega's Squire must be swift, we feel that things are about to spiral out of control in a way we never foresaw..."
Tifa coughed and opened her eyes, groaning.
"Oh thank heavens your awake at last!" came a voice, "Your still so pale though, and your hair's gone gray..."
Tifa turned her head, sighting Marlene leaning over her. "At least your awake though, we were so worried!"
Tifa growled. "Why the hell would you care?"
Marlene blinked a few times, growing confused. "Tifa?"
Their eyes met, and Marlene froze. "What's with your eyes...?"
"She and her father have wronged you my daughter," her father's voice whispered into her mind, "Take revenge. Kill her."
Tifa smiled cruelly at Marlene and grabbed her throat with one hand, and the top of her head with another.
"Tifa?! What are you doing?" cried out a voice from the doorway.
Tifa turned her head and saw Denzel there, staring at her with horror. "Don't worry Denzel, I'll be with you in a moment."
She turned her sickeningly cruel smile back to Marlene and wrenched, snapping her neck with such force her head twisted around, killing her near instantly. She let go, watching the girl slump over and collapse onto the ground. Tifa slowly pushed her blanket off of her and stood up, staring down at the girl. She felt a brief pang of... something... was it... guilt? Sadness? Why did she feel those things for this little bitch?
"Because your heart is great enough to care for those who wronged you so. Yet still they made you suffer, they must be punished for their crimes," came her Father's voice.
Tifa grinned wickedly and looked at the boy in the doorway. "It's time for your punishment Denzel..."
Cloud Strife walked out of the main cabin of the Highwind, rubbing his eyes. For some reason he had the most awful feeling in his stomach, and it was growing worse by the minute. He paused, sighting Sephiroth standing at the front of the airship. He hesitated briefly before walking over.
"Do you have any idea where it might have gone?" demanded Cloud.
Sephiroth turned and raised an eyebrow. "I am not connected to him as I was my mother. I could faintly feel his presence for a time, but he has gone silent, hiding himself. Had you not wasted time on Lockheart, puppet, we might have been able to catch it."
Cloud glared at him. "Shut up!"
Sephiroth had his sword out in a flash and had it pointed inches from his neck. "Tut tut puppet, you should mind your words, talking back to your master like that? On your knees, I want you to beg for forgiveness."
Cid, Yuffie, Nanaki, and Barret, with a new gun arm, walked out onto the deck seconds later, weapons ready.
Cloud glared at him. "Sephiroth, I swear I'm going to kill..."
Brr. Brr.
Cloud frowned, feeling his phone vibrate.
Sephiroth chuckled and put his sword away. "You should answer that."
Cloud scowled and got out his phone. It was a call from Denzel.
He flicked the phone open. "Denzel? How's Tifa...?
"CLOUD!" Denzel screamed through the phone with terror, loud enough for the others to hear.
Cloud winced and pulled the phone away, putting it on speaker. "Denzel?! What's wrong?"
"It's Tifa! Oh god, shes gone insane!" screamed Denzel, sounding like he was running.
Cloud began to sweat. "What do you mean?"
"She... oh god... she killed Marlene... she snapped her neck...," exclaimed Denzel.
Barret gave a horrified cry. "NO! MARLENE!"
"Tifa... shes... oh god shes killing everyone!" screamed Denzel, "Something... somethings wrong with her Cloud! Her hairs gone all gray, almost silvery. Her eyes... they're red... they look just like a cats..."
Cloud froze. "Tifa..."
Sephiroth frowned intently. "I warned you that you should have killed her, but you didn't listen my puppet."
Cloud recovered and gripped the phone tightly. "Denzel, I want you to get out of there. Run, and don't stop. Just run!"
"Cloud, shes... oh god shes coming for me!" squealed Denzel with distress.
"DENZEL! RUN!" roared Cloud into the phone desperately.
There was a sound of heavy breathing and running before an audible *CRACK* sound erupted from the phone followed by Denzel screaming in pain. There was a clattering of a phone being dropped.
"Tsk, it would have been easier for you if you just stood still," came a sickeningly sweet voice from the phone.
Cloud shivered. The voice sounded like Tifa... but... it sounded so wrong...
"Hmm? Calling someone were we? Who... oh... him," came Tifa's voice with disdain.
The sound of a phone being picked up was heard. "Hello Cloud."
"Tifa! Stop!" begged Cloud into the phone, "Don't hurt Denzel!"
There was a dark chuckle from the other end of the phone. "Oh Cloud. Cloud, Cloud, Cloud. You ask me this now? After all I did for you, after all the hell you put me through, all the times you and the others yelled at me, abused me, accused me?"
"Tifa... what are you talking about?" exclaimed Cloud with confusion.
"Forgotten me already? Well, that's alright, you never paid attention to me anyway but to yell at me. Despite that, I have a wonderful gift for you, Cloud. Something you and the others have given me all throughout my life," said Tifa with a deadly calmly Cloud had only ever heard from Sephiroth.
There was a painful scream from Denzil before he suddenly went silent at a god awful RIPPING sound and the sound of blood splattering. "Despair."
CLICK. BEEP.
The phone went dead. Cloud stared at it for a moment before it fell out his hands. He fell to his knees, gave a roar of pain, suffering, and loss, and slammed his fist into and through the flight deck of the Highwind...
Tifa held up Denzel's ripped off head to her lips and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight Denzel, sweet dreams."
"Yo Tifa what's... god... what the hell...?" came a voice.
She turned her head, sighting Reno. "Hello Mr. Turk."
She dropped Denzel's head and crushed it under her foot, sending splatter everywhere. "I believe you and I have things to... resolve. I seem to recall you dropping a plate on sector seven and getting me blamed for it."
Reno took a step back. "The... fuck... Tifa... what happened to you? Why did you kill Denzel?!"
Tifa narrowed her eyes. "Because Father wills it."
Tifa was a blur as she charged Reno. The Turk swore, pulled out his electro-rod, and swung it at Tifa. She ducked under the attack and thrust her fist forward with all of her might. She punched clean through his chest, sending blood spraying everywhere.
Reno coughed, blood leaking out of his mouth, and dropped his weapon. "T-ifa... why..."
She pulled her fist out of him and started walking away as Reno dropped to the ground dead. She put a hand into her pocket and pulled out a fire materia, equipping it into her glove. She turned and looked at Seventh Heaven, before aiming a hand at it and releasing a blast of fire. The building ignited in flames a moment later.
Tifa began to laugh, almost hysterically, as she turned and unleashed fire everywhere, upon every building. As people poured out, trying to get away, she was upon them, killing them with years of honed proficiency. One by one, by one, she killed them all. A punch through the chest, a neck snap, a head caving in under the force of her fists, it didn't mater, they died, they all died. When the ones coming from the outskirts of the town returned, they died too. Her fists, her arms, her legs, they were all covered in blood by the end of her work.
She smiled at her work, humming a soft eerie tune to herself, and aimed a hand at the first corpse, ready to burn it.
"No, leave them for me my daughter," came her Father's voice.
Tifa paused and titled her head. "Why?"
"Because they may be of use to us, even in death," was his reply.
"As you wish, Father," answered Tifa.
"Gather them together for me," said Father.
"Yes Father," answered Tifa, reaching down and grabbing the first corpse.
One by one, she dragged them out of the inferno consuming Edge. She lined them up one by one, except for two bodies that she cast aside.
"My daughter?" asked Father with confusion.
Tifa's lips curled into a sneer. "I'm leaving Marlene and Denzel for them, as a message."
There was a chuckle. "I see, I'll be there soon."
Tifa waited as patiently as she could. She could feel him. She could feel Father. He was coming... closer and closer... she could feel him...
SLAM!
Tifa gave a startled cry as a fist hit the back of her head with extreme force. She staggered and fell to a knee before turning her head and hissing, sighting the Turk Rude standing behind her. He reached down for her, grasping her neck and squeezing. Tifa grabbed his hand and crushed it in her own, electing a startled cry from the man. She yanked him down and slammed him into the ground by her side. She rolled ontop of him and wrapped her hands around his neck and squeezed. He struggled for a short time, before his strength fell, and his body went still.
Tifa growled in agitation. She had been caught offguard. She dumped Rude's body off at the end of the line of corpses and stood at the ready, waiting patiently, but keeping her eyes open this time.
At last, she saw him, her beloved Father, flying down and landing infront of her. She stared at him wordlessly, awestruck by his powerful and fearsome form. Father eyed her briefly, before turning and approaching the first of the corpses. A tendril snaked out of his chest and stabbed the corpse, injecting a black liquid into it. He kept repeating the process, one by one.
Tifa was broken out of her stupor at the familiar sound of the Highwind off in the distance. She sighted the ship on the otherside of the town, dropping off a group of people off the side on a ladder.
"May we kill them Father? Just the two of us? Together?" asked Tifa hopefully.
"Your not strong enough," her Father replied.
"Oh...," answered Tifa, feeling dejected.
"But you will be, soon my daughter, I will make you strong," said her Father.
Tifa perked up at that, and then watched curiously as the corpses of those she had killed rose to their feet and began to shamble away, their dead eyes glowing red.
"They will serve. Now... come to me," ordered her Father...
Cloud was horrified, no, horrified didn't even begin to describe what he felt. It was Nibelheim all over again. Everything was on fire. There was blood everywhere, but there were no bodies. The worst thing... the worst thing was that unlike Nibelheim, it wasn't his childhood hero who had destroyed Edge, who had murdered Marlene and Denzel. It was Tifa...
The pushed through the flames, trying to find survivors, and trying to find Tifa. At the other edge of the town, they found her. Cloud skidded to a halt, mortified. For a brief moment, it was Nibelheim again, and he was watching Sephiroth disappear into the flames. Then, his vision corrected itself. He saw Tifa, her hair gray, silvery like Sephiroth's. Her eyes, her red, catlike eyes, briefly passed over him, filled with hate, before she turned and walked through the spreading fire towards Morbunova.
She stared up into its face with childlike awe and longing. She wrapped her arms around its torso as far as she could, pulled herself up, and kissed its cheek before laying herself against the Calamity.
"Father...," said Tifa, her voice a whisper that he could barley hear over the cackle of flames.
Morbunova turned its head, its eyes locking right onto Cloud's. If it were capable of facial expressions, he was sure it would have been grinning mockingly at him. The Calamity wrapped a tentacle across her back, pinning Tifa to him, before it took off a flew into the air, vanishing off into the distance...
Author's Notes:
Twisting her memories and corrupting her body, Morbunova has turned Tifa into his own Sephiroth. Edge burns, Marlene, Denzel, Reno, and Rude are dead, and Tifa/Morbunova have vanished. Hell in a hand-basket, everything that could go wrong did go wrong.