Peace and training; Another setback; Dislocated perspective;
One down, five to go; A moment put on hold; Covering your tracks;
The importance of discretion and the fallout from the lack thereof
After leaving Nibelheim, they went south along old, abandoned logging roads winding down the mountains. Cloud had difficulty getting Fenrir through such rutted and overgrown roadways, but they didn't want another encounter with Shinra. Now that their faces were known to the company, the major ocean-going ports were unsafe to use. They had to make their way toward the great river that cut like a snake across the continent. The company had provided most of the funding for the system of locks, built almost a decade ago, allowing sea-liners and merchant ships to pass right through the heart of the west instead of sailing around the long way. While the locks were all manned and guarded by Shinra troops, there was no garrison beside the bay the river spilled into. Less scrupulous ship captains could therefore pick up contraband along the last leg of the river journey and avoid paying Shinra's tariffs - and that contraband could include passengers wanting to travel below the company's radar.
They caught a ride on a small cargo vessel returning from dropping a load of mythril and iron off in Brarrow, the village that would one day be Rocket Town. The ship was now headed for the east continent, up the Otar river, north of Junon, to sell its cargo of greens from the western farmlands and pick up more ore. The sea was gentle. Standing at the stern, she could watch the white foam trail behind them, or she could walk to the bow, feel salt spray on her face, and watch dolphins riding the bow wave. For the first time in over a week, Tifa felt like she could relax. Cloud leaned on the rail next to her watching an albatross float on the wind. A few yards away, Denzel sat with his back to the metal railing, reading a book he'd picked up at the mansion. Vincent lingered nearby in the shade cast by the ship's bridge.
Even the three chocobos seemed to be enjoying the downtime, wandering freely around the wide open deck. The crew of the ship didn't care what the birds did as long as they didn't have to clean up after them. Nothing a little salt water and a mop couldn't handle. The only one not enjoying herself was Yuffie. The sea was steady enough to not upset Cloud, but it still left the ninja nauseous and pale. With luck, though, this would be their last time ocean crossing for a while. Thoughts of what awaited them on land tightened Tifa's grip on the rail.
"Cloud…. I know I pushed to not leave the kids behind, but in that last fight, Denzel got hurt fighting just one trooper. He's not ready to infiltrate Shinra."
He tensed. After a moment, he nodded in a small jerk. "Wartime. Security'll be even worse than when we tried before."
And the only reason why they'd escaped at all then was because of Sephiroth. She shuddered, the salty air suddenly too reminiscent of the stench of blood. That wouldn't happen this time. If the Turks hadn't canceled Vincent's code yet, they had a way in. If they had… things would get a lot more difficult.
"We might be able to use Vincent's code still, but Veld saw him, so I don't wanna count on it." She sighed and dangled her arms off the cold railing, exhaustion suddenly overtaking tension. "And we still have to find someone to replace Hojo. Is there anyone in the Science Department with morals?"
"No."
"There's got to be someone."
He was silent, frowning slightly. The albatross overhead wheeled and dove into the water, sending up a splash, and Tifa swiftly lost sight of the spot where it had entered the sea. "Maybe over in medical," Cloud finally answered.
"We could ask Vincent to look at employee files, and Reeve might've remembered someone."
"It'll take time, though, to set someone up."
She nodded. "For now, let's stay away from Midgar and train Denzel until we have a plan."
"Fighting monsters isn't the same as fighting people."
"Good thing there's four people to train him then."
When they eventually put ashore at a small mining town, they didn't spend much time in its crowded, muddy streets. Immediately they headed for the local mountains, not wanting to attract the attention of anyone who might be an informant for Shinra. She realized that traveling with Denzel in tow left she and Cloud a lot more cautious than they had been back when they were chasing Sephiroth around the planet.
They were almost clear of the last ramshackle wood buildings when Denzel let out a low "whoa", well-trained Freyr immediately pulling to a stop. The boy realized what he'd done and urged the bird forward again.
Tifa turned around in her seat to look at him. "You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I was just looking at that." He pointed ahead to where three large wagons, each hitched to another, were making their way down the steep mountain road. A team of ten green chocobos in front guided the wagons and another ten were hitched in back, acting as brakes on the steep grade.
"It's an ore team," she explained. "When they're on flat ground or going up the mountain, all twenty birds will be in front pulling. On the west continent they often pull an extra wagon full of water for the birds."
They made extra room on the road for the large wagons to pass, Denzel staring in wonder. Even with all the ways bringing Denzel with them was turning out to make the trip more stressful, she was happy that he was getting to see so much of the world. She, Barret, and Cloud had talked about taking the kids traveling before, as a family, but there was always so much to do, and their plans never came together. She thought that this time, when this was all over and they were reunited, she would make sure they got the chance.
Even with a late start, they made excellent time along the packed earth road. After a few hours, they veered off, down a path Yuffie found while scouting ahead for a place to rest. They came to a small woodland clearing of springy grass and tiny saplings, split in half by the moss-covered remains of a giant beech. A stream of clear water ran under the log along the edge of the clearing. Sliding off Fenrir, she walked over to the water's edge. Nerthius, now that Vincent had dismounted, eagerly followed behind her. Mountain trout scattered to hide in the grasses overhanging the banks as the chocobos bent their heads to drink. Behind her, she could hear the others pulling out lunch. She took one of the energy bars and ate slowly, feeling the sun and the breeze on her skin, listening to sound of birds. The peacefulness that they'd enjoyed on board ship was still with them. She stretched, joints popping. Peace or no, it was time to get to work.
She picked up a small lump of earth. "Denzel! Heads up!" She pivoted and threw the clod at him, bits of grass trailing behind.
He barely dodged in time, the whipping grass hitting his sleeve. He looked at her with a mix of disbelief and shock.
Tifa settled into a battle stance. "You never know when you'll come across a random encounter. You always need to be ready to react."
She rushed him to punctuate her point. He reached for his sword but hesitated halfway, earning a hit to the stomach. He stumbled back, clutching his gut. Tifa didn't worry - she hadn't put any power into the blow. He was more startled than anything.
"Don't worry about hurting me, Denzel. My defense is high enough you won't be able to do much. Right now, you need to think of the four of us as your enemies."
"All four?" He looked round, eyes wide.
Vincent, catching on quickly, had assembled a handful of pebbles, and flicked one menacingly past Denzel's ear. Cloud held a thin branch in each hand, and Yuffie grinned and held up a purple materia. It took Denzel a moment to recognize what it was. Hastily, he pulled Enhance off his back. The slot that typically held his long-range materia was conspicuously empty.
"Get ready." She lowered again into a stance.
He nodded and followed suit, eyes completely focused on her. A bad habit. The only clue she gave him was a quick flit of the eyes. He caught the sign, twisting and barely bringing his sword around to block Cloud's strike. He disengaged as small stones came flying in. They were aimed wide of him, but served as a reminder that he couldn't stay still without cover. He took off for the woods and Tifa pivoted to follow. Yuffie moved to cut him off, but Denzel didn't seem willing to be forced away from his path. He slowed only slightly and shot off a fire spell.
Yuffie let it deter her. They didn't want to make the exercise too hard to beat, after all. Vincent, however, showed his disapproval of Denzel's "straightest line between A and B" course, and flung a pebble right between the boy's shoulder blades. He pitched forward slightly from the sting and Cloud called out, "Enough". The group regathered, Denzel trying awkwardly to rub the spot where the stone had hit.
The sticks hanging loosely from his hands, Cloud asked, "Why'd you get hit?"
"Because Vincent's a really good shot.".
Cloud's voice was dry. "He could have hit you any time. Why then?"
If it were another topic, Tifa might have smiled at the banter. As it was, they were lucky the regular army were such poor shots. But what they lacked in skill, they made up for by sheer numbers, blanketing an entire area with bullets.
Denzel couldn't come up with an answer, but as soon as Cloud said, "You ran in a straight, obvious line," his face reddened and he ducked his head.
Tifa called out, "Alright, let's try again. We'll give you a goal to make it easier this time. You need to not get hit for three minutes." Next time they got into a pinch, even if Denzel ended up on his own for a while, that should be long enough for one of them to get to him.
In the evening they sat around a modest fire, roasted mountain trout and wild greens making for a pleasant dinner. Fireflies drifted across the meadow, winking in and out amongst the surrounding trees, and crickets made an evening serenade.
After dinner, Vincent vanished into the woods to brood, and Yuffie started in with a series of ghost stories. "The ogre took their bones and with a mallet pounded them into a fine powder. He baked that powder into sticky buns, and all night long, the huddled warriors could hear him in the next room eating them." Yuffie acted out her story as she told it, from miming the exaggerated motions of lifting a heavy mallet over her head and pounding it into the ground, to smacking her lips and licking her fingers as she pretend-ate.
Her theatrics distracted Denzel from his sore muscles. The few wounds he'd gained from tripping, or the whipping impact of branches and brambles had been quickly healed, but the ache of hard work was still there.
With the stream nearby, the night was cooling rapidly. Tifa cuddled against Cloud's side - she was a little taller than him right now, she noted with soft amusement. She'd forgotten that. It had been in the period after the bridge fell, when they hadn't spoken much. And when he finally caught up to her, he'd left for Shinra. She wondered how things would go for their younger selves in this new, altered timeline. Perhaps they'd be closer friends, maybe even childhood sweethearts.
She laughed aloud. Her father would have a heart attack if that happened. Beside her, Cloud shifted, looking at her curiously. "What?" he asked.
"Just thinking how we might grow up this time."
"You mean, us? Or the kids?"
"Oh-" The question caught her off guard. Them? She hadn't really given much thought to having to grow up again. She felt like an adult, just… short. "The kids…" she murmured, caught by his eyes. His eyes had made her uneasy for a long time after she found him collapsed in the Midgar slums. Glazed over, or glowing. Damaged eyes. SOLDIER eyes. Now, she loved his eyes, how they showed what he felt even when he didn't say it. She leaned in closer… but his face was a child's face, still round with baby fat, and she readjusted, burying her face in the crook of his neck instead. Oh, man. Puberty all over again was going to suck.
It took two weeks, stopping frequently to dispatch monsters or drill Denzel, to reach the expansive Midgar wastes, a dark smudge on the horizon marking the distant city. They stopped early, as one of the chocobos was beginning to limp. Cloud examined the foot, Nijoror standing calmly on one leg despite the background chaos of Yuffie throwing stones and the occasional flaming tumbleweed at Denzel.
"How is he?" Tifa asked.
"Twisted his ankle. Maybe he stepped in a burrow. Cure should fix it." He stood, dropping the bird's foot, and began to warm up the green master magic materia he held.
She gave a small hum. "It's a good thing it wasn't Huginn." The fidgety, high-energy bird was a terrible patient.
"Huginn wouldn't have tripped!" Yuffie shouted over, defending her favored chocobo. She'd wanted to bring him, but as one of their fastest, he'd been left at the track, financing their future.
Cloud's spellcasting was interrupted by the low ring of his PHS. He passed the materia to Tifa, who finished the Cure spell and patted the relieved bird. Cloud frowned as he answered. "Vincent."
Vincent was calling again? In her peripheral vision, she saw the Vincent they were traveling with turn towards them from where he had been surveying the wasteland around them. She wondered if the Turks were up to something again… or perhaps one of the other groups had run into trouble?
"I understand. We'll head there." Cloud snapped the phone shut, looking displeased.
"What is it?"
He didn't answer immediately, stowing the PHS away in his pocket. "Hojo left Midgar." His voice was low, angry. "Vincent doesn't know where to." He straddled Fenrir, revving the bike. "We're heading back to Banora, Hollander's there."
Alarmed, she asked, "In the caves?"
"No,there's a lab, a warehouse. We'll go after him and get information on Angeal and Genesis."
Yuffie stamped her foot. "Oh, come on! I thought we were done with boats! Why the hell'd he leave?"
Vincent speared a glance her way. "Most likely, it is because our actions taken in Nibelheim have caused them concern over the other hidden labs."
Yuffie let out an exaggerated groan, but quickly leapt onto Nijoror's back. Cloud had already began to speed away to the south. Tifa, who had been mainly riding double with him, was slightly upset that he hadn't waited for her. But, considering the news, she didn't begrudge him much.
"Yuffie" she called and the ninja offered her a hand up. She grabbed it, hauling herself into the saddle behind her smaller friend.
Following the dust left in Fenrir's wake, she could only guess at what Cloud was feeling, having lost an opportunity to take out the mad scientist. If they hadn't spent so much time training Denzel, they would have reached Midgar before he'd left. Realistically, she told herself, hurrying wouldn't have done any good. They still had the problem of gaining access to the man, let alone finding a replacement for him.
Vincent wasn't sure of what to make of his current traveling companions. He'd taken them for children when he first awakened. Even knowing differently, their behaviors, conversations, and skills, so at odds with their appearance, unsettled him. He found it easier to be around Denzel, who was exactly as he appeared to be. Helping train the boy was also a subtle way to brush off his own long-neglected skills.
The elder time travelers, by contrast, made him self-conscious. They treated him like an ally and friend, sometimes speaking of past experiences, then awkwardly pausing and explaining themselves as they remembered he had not been there. In confrontations with local wildlife, they often expected the skills of one at level 99, not 28. And there was the knowledge they had of his past, while he knew barely any of theirs. As a Turk, skill and knowledge were everything. Among these three, he found himself severely lacking both.
Now, on the outskirts of Banora, he had to mentally prepare himself for another encounter, this time with the individual who shared his past mistakes. Apparently, he also suffered from age regression. Fortunately, the group had to clear out a warehouse laboratory used by Hollander before entering the caves, which gave him more time to mentally prepare himself.
Their target, a three-story construct of brick, steel, and glass, was situated in a natural depression, formed thousand of years ago at the base of a waterfall for a long extinct river. The cliffs on either side guaranteed protection and privacy. There was a single dirt road leading in past the small sleepy town. They, however, were not limited to a frontal assault. Crouched on the cliffs above, peering through the building's skylights, they assessed their options. The bulk of the building was a warehouse, huge metal crates scattered across its herringbone floor and smaller wooden ones tucked against the walls in the shadow of second story balcony that ran around the whole space. Vincent counted only a handful of scientists and less than a dozen infantrymen. The rear of the building butted directly into the cliff face; Vincent knew enough of the Science Department's habits to assume that there was likely a hidden area of the building.
Yuffie had clambered down the cliff to scout. Beside him, Cloud and Tifa were talking in low voices with Denzel, the boy's brows knit, eyes flicking from one parent to the other. Once joined, the conflict would be brief and bloody. Despite their stated intention to keep the body count low, the individuals inside were from the Science Department. The department that regularly ran projects involving human experimentation. The halting of such projects was a priority of the time-travelers. As such, that decision had been made already - there was no way to conduct a moral litmus test, to ascertain which scientists inside would continue dubious experiments and which wouldn't. When dealing with such a toxic department, the simplest option was to wipe the slate clean.
Did they want Denzel in there? No. Defending himself in a fight was one thing, participation in a massacre was another. They would leave him under cover and call when it was clear. The boy, who until now had been stubborn to stay with the group, easily agreed to wait.
Not long after their conversation finished, Yuffie dropped from a nearby tree and flung herself into the grass in the midst of their group. "It's all clear, everyone seems to be inside. And through the roof is definitely the best way to go."
Cloud nodded. "Right." He looked at Vincent, as if checking something. "We'll still try to spare the troopers."
He made to stand, but Vincent stopped him with a motion of his hand. He was unsure if his companions had noted the same oddity he had and failed to mention it, in another case of them expecting him to be on the same page as them, or if they had overlooked it. "You are aware this facility is likely to be much larger than what is externally visible."
Cloud's eyes narrowed. "It belongs to the Science Department." His tone implied that secrets were a given. "We'll find the rest of it once we've cleared the room below."
"From watching their movements, I believe the access point is in the rear, at the base of the cliff."
Again, Cloud nodded that he understood. "Denzel."
The boy mirrored his nod before scooting backwards on his knees, away from the rim. Once far enough, he stood and ducked into the expansive orchard behind them. In a minute, he vanished as anything but a flicker of movement behind the heavily-leafed arches, and a minute after that, Vincent ceased to hear his footsteps through the long green grass. With the boy safely hidden, Cloud rose from his crouch. For a brief moment, his grip tightened on his fully assembled sword. That was their only warning before he jumped from the cliff edge, shattering and crashing feet first through a skylight.
Yuffie plummeted next, followed by Tifa. He hung back a moment. There was no love lost between he and the Science Department, and yet… he had been a Turk. A company man. Now he stood on the precipice, poised to attack Shinra. With this action, he would be committed to this course. He undid the safety on his Quicksilver.
He landed on the steel plate floor of the upper balcony, gun at the ready. Screams, howls of pain and gunfire came from below - the others were already on the lower floor. From the rail he surveyed the scene. The silver crates were, in fact, cages for guard hounds, three to a kennel, but the swiftness of the attack meant none had been released. Four troopers were frozen in place, caught in a moment of surprise. Three scientists were dead. Two lay in pools of blood, the third had a broken neck.
Gunfire rang from right below him, most of it ricocheting chaotically off the cages. The time travelers hung back, avoiding the sleet of bullets.
Vincent vaulted over the railing, twisting mid air, getting a swift look at the shocked faces of the infantry crouched in a doorway beneath the balcony. The report of the Quicksilver sounded before his feet touched the ground. The troopers pulled back, Vincent's action clearing a path for Yuffie to rush in, casting a Contain spell as she went. The other two followed her, and Vincent advanced more slowly, scanning the area and watching their backs. The indiscriminate gunfire had shot the lock off a cage, and while one hound whimpered inside, licking a hole in its lower belly, its two companions had fled their confinement. Vincent neither heard nor saw them, but remained on his guard.
He passed through a room stacked with boxes scented faintly of apples and more strongly of less pleasant things. In the next room, a glowing computer and a still-slightly-moving swivel chair suggested a recent and hasty exit. Beyond that was a short hallway with a door at either end. Cloud signaled for Tifa and Yuffie to take the right, leaving them the left. It was not lost on Vincent that he'd been paired with the strongest member of the team - that he was clearly being treated as the weakest link.
The broad hall past the door had been tunneled through stone. Wires and pipes wormed along its ceiling, branching down to the rooms blasted into its left side, and footsteps and the tracks of narrow wheels marred the fine layer of grit along its floor. Together they ran down it, checking each room they passed. Most seemed to be living quarters for the personnel. In the third room they checked, they found a pair of researchers cowering behind a bed. One of the terrified men had an open PHS clutched in his hand. Vincent shot it. The man screamed and clutched at his hand, his fellow whimpering and starting to beg.
"Wait! Please, don't kill us, just tell us what you want."
Cloud looked them over, face blank. The scientists paid him only a passing glance, fixing their frightened eyes on Vincent. When the apparent boy spoke instead, confusion flickered and mixed with the fear. "What is Hollander trying to do here?"
One of the men hesitantly licked his lips, gaze zooming frantically between the tall, red-caped gunman with the clawed hand and the petite, glowing-eyed blond. "It's.… You see… Hollander and Hojo, they're trying to come up with a new formula for… SOLDIER." He spoke hesitantly, slowly, pausing often to assess their reaction. "Whoever comes up with one will be department head…"
He could hear the leather of Cloud's gloves creak. "How?"
"Um, well it-it's simple, really, who ever comes up with it, um, first will get the funding and-"
"That's not what I meant," Cloud snapped.
The man drew back. His attention was mostly on Cloud now. "Uh, then I-"
"The formula, how are you testing it?"
"Um… on the guard hounds. Humans would be more useful but the president only gave clearance to Hoj-"
Cloud cut him off "You want to test a new enhancement process on humans."
"Uh!" The man seemed to realize he was digging himself into a hole. "We've got to! The hounds are inconclu- for pity's sake, it's for science, it's the only way to, uh, be sure!" His eyes were frantic again, darting to Vincent as if he thought help might come from that quarter. "Sacrifices - sacrifices must be made - uh, it's like they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained-"
"You aren't the ones who sacrifice anything," the time traveler snarled, and thrust his sword through the scientist's chest, severing his spinal cord. The man died instantly. The other scientist screamed in horror, but a single shot silenced him. Cloud wiped off his sword with a sheet and began to walk away. Vincent thought of the PHS he'd shot earlier.
"It is highly likely that Shinra knows we're here."
Cloud shrugged.
They found no other personnel. At one point, gunfire echoed faintly, bouncing off the stone hall from the open door behind them. They both turned to look but it cut off and did not begin again.
Cloud seemed to force himself to relax. "We need to finish this side." He didn't wait for a response, not that Vincent was inclined to give one, before stalking down the hall. A pair of massive metal doors ended the stone passage. The punchpad beside it revealed it as a freight elevator. There were no directional buttons inside, meaning only a bottom destination, where they'd come from, and a top.
They disembarked in a wide room with bright windows running its length. A large tank of glass and metal sat empty against one brick wall. It differed from the type Hojo favored, but its purpose was much the same. He looked down at his gold prosthetic. Monsters making monsters.
That was the only room in the building, which from outside appeared to be simply a heavily padlocked brick outbuilding perched on a Banoran hillside. An overgrown and weedy orchard of the ubiquitous dumbapples surrounded it, the silvery trees hanging over the single dirt road.
The elevator returned them to the stone hallway. As they approached the room previously occupied by the scientists, his skin prickled. A faint, grisly noise came from inside. The sound of ripping flesh and the low huffing growls of monsters. Focusing his gun on the doorway, he listened as the sounds changed. The growling intensified and the sound of eating was replaced with the clicking of claws on stone. The two escaped guard hounds appeared in the doorway. Their eyes glowed with the taint of mako, and their muzzles dripped with red. He fired but they sprang out of the way faster than he expected. Following their movements, he caught one in the shoulder, but the bullet did little to slow it down. Cloud appeared beside it and severed its head from its body in a blur of motion. The second hound was flung into the wall by the flat of the sword. It crumpled on impact, leaving a bloody smear on the wooden paneling as it fell to the floor. It still tried to stand, snarling. A bullet through its throat put an end to its struggle.
He stood in contemplation for a moment. The extra power provided by mako enhancements was still new to him. He had misjudged the hound's speed and durability. While he had seen the mako's effects in Cloud, he'd had the impression that the swordsman's strength was unique. He revised his opinion as he followed his companion back to the central hallway. Cloud's strength and swiftness may have been near the extreme end of mako-granted ability, but the gap between the blond and other enhanced beings was not as wide as Vincent had believed. And Vincent himself had mako in his blood. Preoccupied with the greater horrors of the demons inside him, he'd not paid much attention to the other changes to his constitution, clearly an error on his part. Knowledge of your own abilities and limits was crucial for a Turk.
They met Tifa and Yuffie approaching from the other direction. "Hollander's dead," the martial artist greeted.
"Any troopers?"
"Three, so eleven total."
"Yuffie." Cloud passed over the Master Magic materia. "Cast Mini on them and put them in a box outside for the Turks."
The girl quickly snatched the materia. "We expecting them?"
"Yeah," Cloud sighed. "We caught a scientist making a call."
She groaned. "Yuck. Fine, eleven mini troopers coming right up."
As she went for the door, Tifa asked, "Yuffie, when you go outside, can you bring Denzel and the chocobos down?"
"Sure," she called over her shoulder, bouncing down the hall.
Tifa crossed her arms over her chest. "If Shinra's on the way, we won't have much time to go through everything."
"We'll just take what we can." Cloud turned back down the hall. "Burn the rest."
She nodded. "I'll call Vincent and let him know about Shinra, then start in the back room."
While they went through the boxes and papers, Vincent returned to the warehouse and systematically took out each of the remaining guard hounds. As he was passing by the grandfather clock in the computer room to rejoin the others, it tolled out the hour. He paused mid-step, scrutinizing it. The hollow echoing sound that followed each strike was unusual, and the clock was atypically large. Yuffie entered, carrying a repurposed apple crate. TURKS had been sloppily scrawled on it in black ink.
"What's up?" she asked, setting the box down on the desk. "Oh, shoot, missed one." She zipped to the previous room and back, now holding a frozen, shrunken trooper in her hand. She tossed him casually into the crate and approached Vincent.
"It's hollow."
"What?"
He extrapolated. "There is a space behind this clock."
Her eyebrows shot up, and she stepped forward to examine it. "Huh! Wonder if it leads underground?"
"Why would you think that?" He looked down to where she was crouched beside it, examining the floor under its low fleet.
"There's a whole creepy Shinra area down there."
"I see." He stepped forward, running his hands over the clock's exterior. Finding nothing, he opened the case. Inside was a winding key. He put it into the keyhole in the clock's face, turning it until he heard an audible click. Slowly the clock slid aside, revealing a narrow landing and an elevator.
"Whoa! Hey, Tifa! Cloud! Come look at this," Yuffie called.
The pair joined them promptly in front of the folding metal grate doors, Tifa still dusting off her gloves. "It leads underground?"
"Yeah! Remember, we never did figure out how to make that elevator down there work? This," Yuffie knocked on the clock, "makes perfect sense. Hollander wasn't here then. Power was probably off."
Tifa's eyes lit up. "We won't need the chocobos to carry everything we've found."
Beside her, Cloud nodded. "Yuffie, tell Denzel to head for the cave. I'm going to scout this out and I should meet him at the entrance."
"Right." She sprang up but paused at the door. "Oh, hey. Where do you want me to drop the troopers?"
Cloud, already in the elevator, thought for a moment while the doors rattled closed. "We don't want them hurt."
"Gotcha, further from the building." She picked the crate by one side, and Vincent could hear the troopers sliding into a pile at the lower end.
Tifa looked up at him as the ninja skipped out. "Help me gather stuff up, we'll put it here for now."
He followed her back and forth through the echoing corridors, arms filled with folders, binders, books. In the last room of the righthand stone passage, the bodies of Hollander and two other scientists sprawled messily behind a tipped-over stainless steel table. Tifa ignored them, directed him to collect the contents of the room's filing cabinet, and herself hoisted a miniature refrigerator filled with various "samples" onto her shoulder. Yuffie eventually rejoined them and added several boxes of Banora White juice and wine, setting them down beside the two salvaged computers.
She shrugged when she noticed his sideways glance. "Waste not, want not. 'Sides, if things end up going like last time, these'll be worth a fortune."
It nearly two hours before Cloud returned with Denzel. The boy was pale; he must have seen the murdered scientists in the warehouse. Cloud kept a hand on his shoulder. "Everything's unloaded. Birds are with the Shera."
"You got the chocobos into the cave?" Tifa set down a stack of books and stared at him in astonishment.
Cloud shrugged. "Chocobo lure."
She laughed. "That explains it! Well, we're almost finished here. Let's take everything down."
The elevator was of a long, narrow type such as might be found at a hospital or clinic, and would not fit all their gathered items in one trip. It ran smoothly, though, and came out into an area Vincent hadn't expected to find underground. The air was rich and humid. Subterranean plant life coated the rocky walls and floor, even the iron bracing that Shinra had installed.
"We think - agh, this is heavy - the place might've been a Cetran temple." Yuffie, behind him, huffed from the weight of the wine crate she was carrying. "Shinra started digging it up, but they stopped. Who knows what they -ack- were thinking, huh?"
Perhaps there had been no profit to be made. He didn't answer and instead turned back to the elevator to help unload. Each grabbed what they could carry. He took the mini fridge. Carrying it was easier than he expected, part of his enhancements, he supposed. As they descended deeper into the cave system he saw the slashed and stabbed bodies of gargoyles and other creatures dissolving back into the lifestream, remnants of Cloud coming through the area earlier. Not having to fight the cave's residents made the job of toting items easier. He also recognized them as higher level creatures. Denzel and he would not do well here if separated from the others.
At last they came to a shallow lake, luminous with the light of the crystallized mako that ran through the stone here. At the lake's far end sat a vast and impressive machine. This was an airship? It was clear by its shape that it had never been intended to dock terrestrially. It rested now atop one of the many calcified mako formations. Its runners, clear of the formation, sank into the water, thus allowing it to sit on the ground undamaged.
Traveling here, they had stuck to rural and isolated areas, where the advancement of years was not easily seen. Looking at this ship was a reminder that he had much to catch up on.
As they approached the aft of the ship a ramp was let down. A dark-haired boy waited at the top… a boy who looked very much like Vincent years ago. It was incongruous looking at him. The same feeling he had when observing the older time travelers, intensified. He did not doubt that this person was the same as him, but by that same token, he was made uneasy. He could feel the demons inside him stir, confused by the presence of their much stronger likenesses. The feral Gallian Beast in particular was… anxious and wary around its more powerful incarnation.
Halted at the base of the ramp, he was unsure of how things would progress. They had spoken before, but in the context of explanation - who these strange, powerful children were, and how they planned to achieve their goals. In the following weeks, he'd been content to observe and absorb. The passive option was ended, now. From here on, it was his own story. He waited, almost with bated breath, to hear what the other would say.
"Genetic samples are in there?"
"Yes."
"It can be connected to the system in the galley. I will show you." Professional. He could respect that.
The other Vincent turned to Cloud. "There was a transmission to Junon from above. I anticipate hostiles arriving within the hour."
They stowed the items onboard as quickly as they could, to be sorted through at a later date, and returned to the warehouse for the rest. All his conversation with his future self was along the same impersonal lines, which was something of a relief.
Near the prescribed hour, Cloud slipped away to keep watch for the approaching strike team. Twenty minutes later, Vincent thought he heard the sound of a helicopter. Not long after that, Cloud returned with arms full. He dumped the five Stopped SOLDIERs and pilot into the box with the troopers.
"Let's finish up. One of the SOLDIERs was radioing another unit," the swordsman said as he grabbed a filling cabinet nearly the same size as himself.
Forty minutes later, the last of the research was on the Shera. Dropping an armful of binders, Denzel looked to Cloud. "Are we going to get rid of the warehouse like we did the lab?"
"Yeah. I just wish we could block the caves too."
"Shinra's reinforcements are going to be here, and soon," Tifa joined them, "so we need to figure out how to keep them from finding the Shera."
Yuffie popped up beside the bruiser, nonchalantly shrugging. "We've been all over these caves, and we've only found the two entrances. We can just bust the elevator shaft. It's not like they're using the cave one."
"It's true there's no sign of Shinra over that way, so maybe we can risk it. But they'll still probably try to see if we damaged anything down here," Tifa pointed out.
"Not if we really busted the way down. They know we were at the warehouse. No need to be sneaky now."
Cloud's lips quirked. "Go over the top to hide the problem. Sounds very Shinra."
Yuffie spluttered. "Hey, that's not what I meant!"
"Its a good idea as long as we don't collapse the caves," Tifa added.
Cloud gave a nod "Alright."
"So… Summon or Comet?" Yuffie asked, already rifling through her stockpile of materia.
Tifa rolled her eyes. "Summon. Comet would collapse them for sure."
"Okay, so which…" the ninja's eyes lit up. "Denzel's never used a summon before! Now would be a great time for him to try."
The boy in question started. "Wait! Me?"
Tifa tilted her head, considering him. "It's not a bad idea. You should be strong enough now to handle it."
They returned to stand on the cliffs above the warehouse in golden sunlight at the days end. He paid, with half an ear, attention to what Cloud said, walking the boy through a summoning. The rest of his attention was on the sky, alert for the sound of aircraft… and partly upon the other Vincent, who stood silent and watchful alongside him.
"Focus on what you want attacked, then feed in your energy. Kujata is an angry summon, so give it your anger."
Denzel's eyes clamped shut in concentration, a scowl on his face as the glyphs started to appear around him. They shot into the sky before exploding, lightning crackling down into the warehouse, shattering glass and shorting out fuses. Wooden beams and crates burst apart into hundreds of splinters, starting fires wherever their shrapnel landed. As the sparks danced through the building they grew cold and hard, changing from energy to ice. They grew to the size of a fist before going off like grenades. Ice shot up the walls, creeping into the mortar around the bricks and pushing them apart, causing collapses. Pipes and the liquids within froze and burst.
The frost did not linger long. Their damage done, the crystalline fragments burst into flame. Heat intense enough to melt metal and the remaining glass, any remaining wood was quickly reduced to ash. The fire rushed through the stone corridors. A spike of fire on a hilltop showed the location of the outbuilding holding the mako tank. Below them, the fire was twisting, forming an intense heat, rage, in the middle of what once was a warehouse. Many giant horns, dark as sin, appeared through the smoke. Cloven hooves shattered the concrete. Flames consolidated into Kujata, its many eyes burning.
With a great bellow, the giant demon bull reared up, snorting fire, then down it crashed. A shockwave destroying anything that had survived its previous anger. Bricks fell, turning to dust. Even the cliffs shook and rumbled. Rocks dislodged, clattering down the cliffside, down before the edifice groaned. The whole cliff face slid down, crushing the rooms and corridor underneath it, and smothering the fire. When the earth and dust settled, there was barely a trace of the warehouse left, only a few melted, twisted beams rising from a pile of rubble. The summon had already vanished.
Its summoner wavered and collapsed, caught by Cloud. "I-I'm okay, just really tired," he slurred.
"It's okay," Tifa reassured. "You did great. Here, drink up." She pressed an ether into the boy's hand.
A fire bell was ringing in the village, its inhabitants startled to alertness by the summon's rampage. The other Vincent stepped forward, taking Denzel from Cloud.
The boy protested. "I can walk."
"You will stumble, making our trail harder to cover."
It was odd watching this other self, the gentleness of his interactions with these people. In his life he'd only ever been close to a very small number of individuals, and none of those relationships had required him to be nurturing. He watched as the other settled the boy piggy-back, careful not to jostle him. Unsettled by this difference between them, he took extra time in covering their trail, stalling in order to think.
When he returned to the Shera, it did not take long to find the other Vincent, his demons pinpointing him quickly. He was unsurprised to find the other waiting for him as he approached, his own demons undoubtedly alerting him in turn.
"I want answers."
"Wait. The others will be leaving soon. We will talk then."
He could tell his past self was disappointed, though there was little outward sign. He knew the two of them had much to come to terms with, but there were things moving in the world beyond the caves that needed his attention. This other Vincent could wait. After all, he would not leave until he'd gained his answers. After that … Perhaps he would leave to see Lucrecia. Or he might stay to see this through. Time would tell.
He went to meet Tifa and Cloud on the bridge. He found them standing beside each other, slumped against the wall, but with their heads leaning forward, listening intently to Cloud's PHS speakerphone. A velvety voice, slightly distorted by the cave's poor reception, was bidding them farewell. The phone snapped shut as Vincent approached, and the two looked up at him. They looked nearly as tired as their son.
Tifa greeted him with a small smile. "Reeve said to say hello." He tilted his head slightly to acknowledge the greeting. "He's also," she continued, "going to send some people from the canyon over to pick up what we've got so far."
"They will be discreet?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I'm sure Reeve wouldn't send them without trusting them. You might want to get their contact info and help guide them discreetly in here."
He nodded, mentally adding it to his long list of tasks. "There is something else."
"Oh?"
"You were not discreet in Nibelheim." They'd caused scenes in Junon and in Kalm, and failed to learn their lesson, and once again it had created a problem where none had existed before.
Tifa and Cloud shared a look, disgruntled and sheepish. For just a moment, he felt as though he was scolding a pair of children.
"Things seemed to work out in the end," Tifa hedged.
"The Turks are investigating your families there." They jerked, panic and adrenaline replacing the weariness in their eyes. "I recommend that you remove them." "Before the Turks decide to," he left unsaid.
Cloud cursed, copying one of Cid's preferred explicit epithets for the Turks. He put a hand to his head, struggling to think. "We… we could move them to Round Island. With the chocobos and some supplies. It's cold, but bearable to someone from Nibelheim."
The island was not the worst hiding place, completely isolated in the northern sea. With the environment hostile at the best of times, though, they would need to leave quite a large amount of supplies. More food than they had at hand, certainly, and probably more tents, too, as the enchantments in the fabric that kept the occupants safe and comfortable wore out after a few days of use. "Are any of them materia users?" That would be of some help, at least.
Tifa shook her head, shooting Cloud a dark look. "No. Sure, they won't be found there, but it's a terrible place to leave someone."
Defensively, Cloud offered, "They wouldn't have to be there long."
She rolled her eyes at him and moved on. "I don't think we can leave them here. Our parents wouldn't stay."
"There are the cells." They looked at him, appalled. He amended, "Icicle Inn?"
Tifa gave a thoughtful hum. "It would be like a vacation, I'm sure…" she faltered for a moment, "I'm sure the kids would enjoy it."
"Hojo tracked Gast there eleven, twelve years ago." Cloud turned his PHS around in his hand, fretting. "I don't know if he's still got any interest in the area but I'd rather they didn't go anywhere he's been. Mideel?"
"The Turks have already connected the gold chocobos seen there and at the track to you." At their startled looks, he informed them, "You have not been subtle. Their communication lines are filled with chatter about you."
"You hacked into the Turks' network?"
"It's the best place for information on what the company's doing. What that department knows, I know." Truthfully, while it hadn't been easy, it had taken less time than he'd expected. Whether it was because he was used to more advanced software or if theirs hadn't been upgraded for a while, he didn't know. For now, it worked in their favor.
There was silence as they thought. Cloud was the first to break it. "Cactuar Island?" It seemed he was determined to not only keep their families safe, but to also keep them completely hidden and isolated, as far away from their plans as possible. A policy of absolute avoidance.
Tifa looked unimpressed again. "What about Cosmo Canyon? I know we already have a lot there, but at least we'd have allies to keep an eye on them."
He stared down at Cloud, who was frowning. "You may wish to keep them out of what we are doing, but so far, this is the best suggestion."
Cloud's eyes were haunted, but he nodded, resolve slowly moving across his face. "Denzel still needs to rest. We'll leave for Nibelheim in a few hours."
By accident, they had made contact with their families. Now they had to pay for those moments.
*Notes
20 chocobo team = IRL the 20 mule teams that use to haul borax through Death Valley.
Can someone please ring up SE's design team for the Banoran warehouse and ask them to explain what exactly is going on with the layout of that place? How do you explain Zack going into the back of the building, which is directly against a cliff face, and meeting Genesis in a room with big light-filled windows? And once you've added up the two rooms prior to it, and the skylights over the warehouse area, there's just not enough space for that room anyway. We ended up sticking it as an alternative entrance to the warehouse, for moving things Shinra didn't want the locals to see, but the designers may have created it as a TARDIS - bigger on the inside.
Why did we give Kujata to Denzel? It's always struck us as an angry summon, and in AC/ACC you see that Denzel has a lot of anger. Kujata is also from the same mythology as Bahamut, even though they've both been transformed a lot from the originals, and Denzel tried to attack Bahamut SIN with his fists. It fits, okay.