Using all the strength he could muster, Cloud attacked Genesis relentlessly.
Genesis was able to counter all of Cloud's blows but was growing tried and could not get a strike in against the blond. Genesis knew he was not strong enough to defeat Cloud by himself, leaving him with one last option.
After a series of strikes, Cloud jumped back with his sword raised and waited to see if his opponent had enough.
Genesis took this opportunity to reach into his pocket and pull out the switch Miles gave him. He pressed the button, holding it down. Almost instantly, Cloud dropped his sword and fell to his knees while holding his head in anguish.
Cloud have never felt a pain like this, and he had been impaled on more than one occasion. It felt as if something was ripping through his brain while trying to escape his skull. As the pain became unbearable, Cloud let out an agonizing scream.
There was no doubt in Tifa's mind whom that scream belonged to. She knew Cloud was in trouble and she had to go help him. Instantly, a wave of adrenalin rushed through her body giving her the strength she needed to escape her enclosure.
Miles looked up from his work to see Tifa move inside the mako chamber. Miles was about to approach her when the glass pod exploded causing shards of glass and mako to fly across the room. Miles shielded himself from the cell's fragments. Before he even had a chance to look up, Tifa rushed him and grabbed him by the neck. She forcefully slammed him up against another pod, pinning him so hard the glass cracked behind him. Miles gasped for air as Tifa tightened her grip on his neck.
As she choked Miles a sharp pain was starting to run from her head down through her body which she assumed was a reaction from the combination of mako and adrenalin. Tifa used every ounce of strength to fight the pain and concentrated on hurting Miles.
"St-stop…he's killing him...Ki-kill Genesis before…too late." Miles was barely able to speak as Tifa crushed his windpipe.
Cloud's screams were still audible in the background as Miles spoke. Instantly, Tifa released Miles by throwing him across the room like a ragdoll and raced towards the sound of Cloud's screams.
As she drew closer to the exit, she could see Genesis standing over Cloud who was kneeling on the ground holding his head in pain. Tifa was moving so fast Genesis didn't even hear her approach. She rushed towards Genesis, kicking him in the back and sending him flying in the air over Cloud. Genesis hit the ground hard and rolled across the hallway before finally catching himself.
The trigger Genesis was holding dropped to the ground next to Tifa and Cloud. Seeing it, Tifa walked over and destroyed it with her foot. Cloud took a few seconds to compose himself before struggling to stand up.
Tifa walked over to help him up before looking back towards Genesis. She was ready to finish him off, but he was nowhere to be seen. Part of her wanted to go track him down but she ignored the nagging feeling and decided to focus on Cloud.
"Are you okay?" Tifa asked her partner.
It has been a few days since they last seen each other and as soon as she touched him her stress and anger instantly diminished.
"I'm fine," Cloud replied before pulling Tifa in and hugging her tight. "How are you? What did he do to you?" he asked eagerly.
Tifa held him for a bit before answering.
"I'm fine," she told him, refusing to let go of his embrace. Tifa did not want to go into the details just yet as she knew it would upset him.
Releasing her, Cloud put his hands on her arms trying to look her in the face to see if she was telling him the truth. Tifa was looking down at first, refusing to meet his gaze, but she finally raised her head slowly until they were face to face. As Tifa looked into Cloud's eyes she could see his expression change as soon as he noticed the mako glow. He didn't say anything, but she could tell this was upsetting to him.
"Where is he?" Cloud asked as through clenched teeth as he tightened the grip on her arms. Words could not describe how angry he was with the scientist.
Tifa was not surprised at Cloud's reaction but she had never seen him look this angry at her. "In the room with Shelke," she informed him.
Tifa and Cloud walk back into the room and over to the table Shelke was laying on. She was unconscious but breathing. Tifa looked over in the direction she threw Miles, but he was nowhere to be found.
Realizing Miles had fled the scene, Cloud walked over to Shelke and picked her up in his arms. "Let's go," Cloud said softly to Tifa and they exited the room.
The three wandered the corridor maze, staying alert for any surprise attacks. As they turned a corner, both Tifa and Cloud heard the distant sound of footsteps causing them to stop in their tracks.
Cloud gently placed Shelke down on the ground, propped up in a sitting position against the wall. He proceeded to reach for his sword while Tifa prepared herself for battle. As the footsteps drew closer, they realized there were multiple people approaching. Cloud raised his sword ready to attack when suddenly some familiar faces turned the corner towards him.
"Cloud! Tifa!" Yuffie yelled as she ran over to them while the rest of the group smiled, happy to find their missing comrades. Yuffie stopped in her tracks as soon as she noticed Shelke propped up on the floor next to them.
"Is she okay?" Yuffie asked, kneeling so she was facing her friend. "What did he do to you?" she asked the unconscious girl softly as she brushed some of Shelke's hair away from her face.
"She's alive but we need to get her to a doctor," Tifa informed Yuffie.
"Anyone know the way out of here?" Cloud asked the group.
Cloud gently picked up Shelke and his friends proceeded to show him and Tifa the way out. As the group walked towards the exit, everyone was quiet for the first few minutes until Yuffie broke the silence.
"So, what happened to Miles and Genesis?" Yuffie asked.
"They fled once Tifa escaped," Cloud answered.
"Why do I have the feeling that's not the last we'll be seeing of them," Elena commented.
"You're right," Tifa explained somberly. "Miles has the huge materia and he plans on using it." Tifa felt bad for not sounding more concerned, but after what she went through over the last few days, she felt emotionally drained. It had slipped her mind up until now and she was so mentally exhausted everything felt like a daze.
"Do you know what his plans are Tifa?" Reeve asked, sounding concerned.
"All I know is that during the attacks on the cities he had the Genesis copies plant explosives in three locations. He plans on detonating them simultaneously, but he can only detonate them using a special activation code." Tifa continued to look straight ahead as she answered Reeve, too focused on trying to remember everything she overheard Miles say. "The fourth target he wants to detonate personally." As his captive, Tifa overheard him rant to Genesis non-stop about his plans for the huge materia. She had no idea why he was doing it, all he talked about was this overcomplicated plan.
As they continue walking with Tsang in the lead, Reeve took a few minutes to ponder Tifa's information. He knew Miles was working on a project to generate energy using materia, now he wondered if this was Miles' real plan all along. Over the past few months Reeve had kept Miles busy with the Corel project and the reactor demolition mission, Miles rarely left the WRO headquarters except for a half-day leave he took a few days before the mission. But Reeve had been so busy planning the satellite launch it would have been easy for Miles to slip away for a few hours now and again unnoticed.
Then, it hit Reeve like a bag of bricks, everything Tifa told him suddenly made since. The two WRO members that were found dead, Miles' project, the codes, and the clone attacks, he was sure they were all connected. One of the two people that were found dead in Edge was a programmer who worked on the satellite project and the other was an engineer who worked on the same project but had also assisted Miles with the designs for his materia project. Reeve was sure these two were assassinated because they either assisted with or knew about Miles' plan and had to be eliminated.
"I think Miles might be using the satellite to detonate the explosives," he informed the group.
"What?" Cid asked, upset over the thought of someone using his baby nefariously. "Shera and I oversaw that whole project, there is no fuckin' way someone tampered with it behind our backs."
"No," Reeve corrected the pilot. "I think he obtained the codes to reprogram the satellite after its launch. Which means he needs to send someone to enter the codes since they failed to do that during the last attack."
Although the copies managed to infiltrate the Junon headquarters during the last attack they were unable to reach the satellite control room on the fourth floor before they were defeated.
Reeve reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone to call ahead and notify the WRO.
Barret, who had been relatively quiet so far, finally spoke up after Reeve finished his call. "But why go through all that trouble?" he asked. "Why doesn't he use a timer or detonator to trigger em'?"
"He was a Shinra scientist," Reno piped up. "They're all crazy, it's probably just his way at getting back at the WRO."
"Does anyone have any idea who or what he is targeting?" Yuffie asked, the group.
That was a question everyone was thinking but nobody had an answer to. Reno figured if he wanted to know the plans of a crazy scientist he needed to think like a crazy person.
"How fitting would it be if he used the WRO satellite to destroy the WRO headquarters," Reno thought out loud.
Then the realization hit everyone, Reno was right.
"Reno, you're a genius," Reeve told the redhead.
There were three WRO offices in three separate cities on the planet. This would explain why the three headquarters were the primary focus of the attacks and why he targeted three locations.
After all that walking, they finally reached the exit and proceeded to trench through the snow. The group used two helicopters to reach the facility, since Cid's ship was too big to land close enough, but with one helicopter damaged they only had one remaining. Luckily, Cid made sure his airship and crew stayed nearby so they could be called for a pickup once they reached higher ground.
"What about the fourth location?" Cid asked.
Tifa was trying her best to remember if there was a piece of information she might have missed. It was then that she remembered something and spoke up.
"Miles mentioned having to travel near Kalm," she informed the group impassively. "He said he had an old score to settle." Tifa was looking straight ahead as she talked, not making eye contact with anyone as if she was lost in thought.
The more Tifa talked, the more the people around her realized she was not sounding like her usual self. She seemed detached and distant, but after what she went through, her friends did not blame her for acting different.
"The only thing in that area besides Kalm is the chocobo farm and…" Elena paused. She looked towards Tseng who came to the same realization as a look of concern grew on his face.
"The boss!" Reno and Rude said simultaneously, coming to the same conclusion as their fellow Turks.
Reno reached into his pocket for his phone to call Rufus but there was no answer. At this point the Turks only had one thing on their mind and that was helping their commander and chief.
The four Turks raced towards the helicopter while the rest of the party continued towards the pick-up location. Cid called ahead to inform his crew of their approach.
As soon as they boarded the airship, the crew had it prepped and ready to go. Cloud handed Shelke to Barret who took her down to the lounge with Yuffie. Cid, Reeve, Cloud, and Tifa proceeded to the bridge to decide on their next move.
"Junon?" Cid asked as he stood at the controls.
Reeve nodded in agreement.
If Reeve's prediction was correct, they figured the best plan was to try to stop them from accessing the satellite in order to prevent all three bombs from detonating. Reeve called all three headquarters to start evacuating and told security to search for anything that looked out of the ordinary. Luckily, many of the staff had not returned to work after the attacks since the buildings were under repair. He directed security to notify him if they found anything suspicious.
Everyone was silent the first half of the flight. Tifa and Cloud were standing close to each other near the back of the control deck while Reeve stood near Cid as he piloted the aircraft.
Cloud and Tifa knew they had a lot to talk about, but they wanted to wait for a more opportune time. Cloud figured they would have lots of time to discuss the events after he dealt with Miles and Genesis. He was still consumed with anger and wanted to hold on to it until he saw Miles again. He knew talking with Tifa would only calm him down; she always had that effect on him.
Tifa, on the other hand, was so consumed with her own thoughts she didn't even register Cloud as he stood next to her.
Shortly after, Barret joined the others on the bridge breaking the silence.
"I just got a text from Vincent," Barret informed his friends. "Weiss and two others escaped in a WRO airship, he is followin' em'."
"It must be Miles and Geneisis," Reeve commented. He assumed they were using the airship that went missing two weeks ago. He had a suspicion that it was an inside job and he was right; it was Miles all along.
"Now they won't be able to make a move without Vincent knowin' about it," Cid commented to the others.
The bridge fell silent again as everyone in the room stared out the window, eager to reach Junon.