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12. Cid

Cid's patience, which had the tensile strength of putty, finally snapped. He picked up speed to keep ahead of the army of wriggling black bodies. There were too many to count, popping out of things and reaching for him. He was forced to duck and stumbled several times. One latched onto his ankle until he swiped it off with his useless energy rifle. Its battery cell spent, it had become just a fancy club.

He almost stopped when he saw the gigantic ball-like Heartless attacking the Highwind. Thin screams emanated from within. Unthinkingly reacting to the terror of a child, he thundered towards the craft, roaring like a bear with a backside full of bee-stings.

One of the creatures turned. It boomed in the manner of a cruise liner and rolled to face him. Three pink-tipped tentacles snaked towards him. It was testament to years of training and service, plus the motivational power of adrenaline, that he evaded all three, coming up inside the thing's defences. Cid jumped and stabbed the barrel down like a blade. The creature's 'skin', for want of a better word, bowed inwards. For a moment it looked like it would repel him like a bullet hitting a rubber sheet, but something tore and it exploded. Cid hit the ground, coughing on black dust.

"Mr. Cid!"

Feet landed next to him and hands helped him up and into the ship. Cid wiped dust from his eyes and saw that the kids he had found earlier had made it back. The red and blue-haired boys peered at him expectantly, while Yuffie puttered behind them, trying to shove her way through.

"Mr. Cid, she's hurt!"

"Who?" he wheezed.

"The healer girl. She hit her head. She won't wake up!"

Shit. Shit, shit, and triple shit! "Show me."

It was true: a bundle of pink robes signalled where she had fallen, apparently trying to shield the blinded cadet. An emerging purple bruise on her temple looked nasty; more than enough to conk her out and probably cause a concussion to boot. Cid was reminded of the fact that healers, in a twist of fate nobody appreciated, could not heal themselves. He cussed her family line right back to her grandpappy for not breeding her with a tougher skull, then scooped her up and strapped her into a chair. It probably wasn't the most medically sound thing to do, but it beat letting her slide all over the floor as they took off.

And they had to take off. They were out of time and options.

"Get buckled in," he ordered. "All of ya. NOW!"

The redhead immediately obliged. The blue-haired boy helped lift Yuffie into a seat, for which Cid was grateful. It gave him leeway to hustle to the cockpit and do his thing.

"Kid, get that door shut!"

"I can do it!" Yuffie struggled free of her helper to complete the task Cid had set her earlier. She jumped up and down to reach the controls, but without his toolbox to stand on she was too short.

The blue-haired boy came over, but paused before hitting the button. "There's people!" he yelled. "They're still out there, heading this way."

The engines ground to life. The controls lit up and started giving Cid readings that weren't great, but were good enough. He looked over his shoulder. "How close?" Tough decision time. Stay to help and possibly be killed, or head off and know forever that he had left people to die when they were in sight of help? Please don't make me leave someone behind.

In answer, the boy leaned out and yelled: "Hurry up!" He yanked his head back in when a sphere-Heartless tentacle tried to grab his throat and pull him through. "Whoa!"

"Here!" His buddy slid his gunblade towards him. A plume of black dust heralded another Heartless dispatched. "Leave them – they're dead already."

The ship started to lift off, hatch still open and walkway extended.

"Close the door!" the redhead yelled, panic in his voice. "Close the damn door, Isa!"

"Wait!" screamed a high-pitched voice from outside. "Please, wait!"

"Don't go, you bastards!"

Something heavy and probably Heartless-shaped thumped against their side, nearly sending them back to the ground. Cid veered left. Sparks flew from the walkways as it scraped the ground. Out the corner of his eye, he saw two teenagers running alongside the Highwind, one carrying a little kid in her arms. They were too far away! He took a reckless chance and swerved closer, hoping he wouldn't accidentally turn them into red smears along their flank. Or maybe that would be better than leaving them for the Heartless.

"Mr. Cid," Yuffie suddenly screamed, pointing at the windshield he was neglecting to look through. "Look out!"