Nanaki replied, "I guess so. It's not like there's any flying companies except for Cid... that would even dream of undertaking this mission." Barret lead them into a building obviously designed to look like a thatched cottage. The inside actually looked futuristic. The walls curved down and up to reach the floors and ceiling, and it was all silver metal. In the center of it, there was a bar, with about 5 stools surrounding it, and the bar itself was made of bronze. The two people that were inside was one man, who looked down on his luck, and the bartender, who looked very old. "Heya gentlemen," he announced to them in a deep tone. "What can I get ya?"
Vincent replied, "I'll pass."
Nanaki responded, "Ya got Chicken Milk?" Chicken Milk was a drink comprised of cream of chicken soup, milk, and about a cupful each of several different types of liquor, served warm. It was really a niche drink, but those who liked it payed its hefty cost. The materials for it couldn't have costed more than 5 gil per drink, but due to the technique required to make it, and the rarity of people who can mix it, it had a price tag of 1,000 gil.
Barret sighed, "Beer." The bartender swiftly prepared those drinks and handed them to their respective orderers.
"I can't believe that we failed our mission." Vincent stared down at the bar.
"C'mon, Vince, there was no way we coulda hired someone for that!" Barret tried to cheer the gunman up. "It's a deathwish. Sephiroth is one evil son of a-"
"Sephiroth?!?" The bartender interrupted Barret's words. "I knew Sephiroth... I trained the bastard." The three stared at the bartender with shock.
"He didn't really pay back my favor too well though. He tried to kill me!"
Barret laughed. "He tries to kill everyone he sees!"
"Barret, who doesn't know that. Sephiroth is world news."
"Shut up ya little fuckin' dog!"
"Dog?!?" Nanaki's eyes became aflame with anger.
"Settle down." Vincent tried to settle the two down, then turned to the bartender. "So you trained Sephiroth eh?"
"Sure did."
"Then tell me... what was his number?" The red one was shocked as this bartender answered him correctly. "Hey, we could use a guy like you..."
"Fer what?" The old bartender seemed inquisitive. Sephiroth's mention made him angry for revenge on the inside.
"Well," Nanaki stated, "we need a battle plan. See, Sephiroth kidnapped Vincent's lover" Vincent blushed. "and we need to save her. We need a battle plan, and you would know his strengths and weaknesses..."
The bartender announced, "I'll do it!" He pulled out a shotgun from under the table. "Let's go!"
Vincent chuckled. "Heh, now all we need is a pilot."
"Hey!" The man who seemed down on his luck removed his cap, revealing red hair. "I was training to be a pilot!"
Cloud looked at his slots bracelet with disbelief. It was two zeroes and a... an olive?
'Aerith? What does it mean if there's an olive?' Cloud mentally asked Aerith. He was currently floating on a piece of debris which apparently survived a nuclear blast.
'An... olive?' Aerith flipped through the book, for a definition. 'That means... I'm not sure. I need to consult the Elder. Hold on, Cloud.' Aerith left Cloud's mental presence.
"Well, at least we live. Maybe we'll float to Wutai." The man who floated with him sighed.
The chocobo haired swordsman had an idea. "Were there any Materia that were destroyed in that blast?"
The man nodded. "Probably. T'was right next to Mount Nibel."
Cloud nodded. "Well, move over a bit. To the same side as me." The man did as he was told, and then Cloud moved his feet through the water in such a way that allowed them to move very fast. Soon, they literally flew through the air. They hit Wutai in less than a half hour, and, well, it was puny. It was the city, a few other islands... and that was it. As they jumped onto the beach, a dragon-shaped cloud of black dust settled down from the air, quickly taking the shape of a demonic figure.
"Chaos!" they both exclaimed.
"Huh?" Cloud was flabbergasted that this man knew what Chaos was. "How do you know about Chaos?"
"Who doesn't know about Chaos is a better question to ask, boy!" the man spoke excitedly. "We're about to become it's next meal!" Chaos suddenly lunged forward, in an attempt to rip Cloud in half. They both jumped to the sides, and the man drew a very large laser from his coat. "Th'name's Eric, boy!" He shot a beam directly at its head, causing it to momentarily writhe in pain before swiftly turning around and running at Eric. Cloud however, jumped a foot in front of him and parried Chaos' claw with his Buster Sword.
"Dodge to the side and hit it some more! I can't hold out too long!" Chaos heard this and turned towards the man, giving up its guard, allowing a clean slice of its right claw. But it regenerated it instantly and sped towards the laser shooter! He was ground into mincemeat by Chaos' claws. Although this was still a horror to behold, it gave Cloud enough of an opportunity to run into the city. By the time Chaos had paid attention to Cloud, he wasn't there. He dissipated into a cloud of fine sand...
Cloud met up with about 200 town guards, who aimed at Cloud at the same time, yelling the same phrase. "FREEZE!"
Sephiroth's evil grin barely forecasted what was to come. "Your surprise, Tifa, is this!" He pushes Tifa onto a table, where she falls over onto it and it shackles her in and spreads her limbs apart. Sephiroth then reaches for a nailgun on the ceiling. It was obvious that he had been planning this for awhile.
"You can't do this!" Tifa shouted out. "Lemme go!" Sephiroth responded to this by placing a ball gag over her mouth. He then drew a nailgun from the side. He was certainly planning this for awhile. He aimed carefully at her hand, so it would hit both nerve and bone, and then fired. It spurted blood everywhere. Tifa tried to scream, but it came out as more of a muffled yell. He proceeded to do the same for Tifa's other hand, by which then Tifa was already visibly crying. He then simply nailed her feet to the table, and laughed maniacally. "Do you like that, Tifa? Do you like feeling limitless pain?"
Tifa shook her head, to which Sephiroth responded, "You're gonna feel the pain that you caused me, Tifa." His voice was lifeless, and without any regret of any sort. 'Come on, Tifa, you can get through this!' Tifa kept trying to tell herself that, but then the ball gag got in the way. 'You can survive! So what if no one'll save you? You can save yourself!' Tifa tried to reassure herself of that, when Sephiroth lit a match. He placed it at the back of her hair, and it started to burn. He struck another and put it into Tifa's right hand's nail-wound, causing great pain. He laughed maniacally again as he spun the table around, faster and faster, with more and more speed, until Tifa vomited all over herself.
"You know now of a sliver of the pain you've caused me," announced the silver haired captor, "but you will feel the rest in due time." Sephiroth drew a small, multihooked knife, and removed Tifa's upper clothing (save for underclothes). He carved a small pentagram around her belly button, and traced a circle around her midriff with it. He licked a bit of the blood.
"Tifa... You taste delicious."
He then dragged a piece of barbed wire down her arms, making sure that it would cause major pain, and up to her head. By now. the flame had caught up to just below her shoulder, where he then removed Tifa's long hair at the shoulder, letting the burning remains of the rest fall onto the floor.
Sephiroth prepared for something much more sinister. He put the knife to Tifa's waist and laughed maniacally...
A/N: Woo! I'm back! Here's a new chapter, but still... woot! Today marks the exact 7 month anniversary of me not adding a chapter to this story, and I did! Woot, R&R!
-Master Tauren Chieftain