What Lies Beneath

Chapter 5

Rematch

Cloud's teeth clenched as he felt his arm throbbing. He could feel the sticky red liquid on his hand. He looked up at the two men standing a few feet away. Two men both looked similar in appearance but one was more muscular while the other was leaner in physique. The leaner one brandished a gun which he used moments ago to hit Cloud in the arm. The bullet did not go through Cloud but it did graze his arm bad enough to cause blood to exude out.

Aerith rushed to Cloud's side. Without thinking, she took her ribbon from her hair off and wrapped it around his arm. Cloud watched her long brown hair unravel into long waves. When she finished one of the men, the more muscular one, stood only a mere inches from her. Aerith stood up.

"Stop!" she yelled, mustering up her courage. "You cannot attack someone like this!"

The man smirked and then before Cloud knew it he found Aerith lying on the ground unmoving. His eyes widened, a gasp escaping his lips. The man had hit Aerith so hard that it knocked her out. She looked like a rag doll that had been carelessly tossed aside. Rage began to fill up. Something inside him was screaming for release. Something that wanted to hurt these men for what they had done.

"Leave Aerith alone!" Cloud snapped.

The long haired man tilted his head to the side. "She is coming with us; our brother desires his property to be returned to him immediately."

Brother? Cloud thought before it hit him. KADAJ!

Cloud gripped his sword tightly, glaring at the two brothers. He felt foolish for not realizing these two were somehow related to Kadaj. They could be triplets for all he knew.

"Stand aside," the long haired brother ordered.

Cloud's eyes narrowed and suddenly they began to flicker and glow just as they did in the last fight. "If you want Aerith… you'll have to beat me!"

Cloud launched himself at the long haired man. However, the shorter haired brother intercepted him in midair. Cloud's sword slammed down on the man but he blocked it with a metal guard on his arm. The short hair man grinned and then with his other hand, bawled in a fist, punched Cloud. However, it was not a normal punch. Cloud felt a jolt of electricity run through him, sending him flying through the air. The long haired brother then jumped onto his brother's shoulders and launching himself off him after Cloud.

He used his gun like a sword as he attacked Cloud. He was quick, very quick that Cloud was instantly on the defensive. Cloud landed on the hardwood floor with the man quickly firing his gun. Cloud blocked the bullets and went to launch his own attack when the other man back flipped into the air. The spiky haired man's eyes widened as he saw a large church pew being thrown at him. Cloud lifted his sword and sliced it in half. Next her proceed to attack the brothers. The two brothers fought together in such fluid motions as if one knew what the other was going to do before it happened.

They must have trained together to be able to do this. Cloud thought as he dodges one of their attacks from hitting him.

Watching the fight with amusement was Kadaj.

"Kill him, brothers!" Kadaj shouted.

"Hurry Loz, we shouldn't keep our brother waiting."

"Killing him will be easy, Yazoo."

Cloud turned his head to see Kadaj smirking sinisterly at him. The minor distraction however, sent the blond haired man crashing into a pillar. Cloud groaned and opened his eyes to find his vision blurry. He blinked several times to get it back properly. Lucky for him, it returned in time to duck out of the way of the short haired brother's punch. The punch itself left a large crack in the pillar.

As the fight continued, Aerith stirred from her the ground. She let out a soft moan before picking herself up. She could hear the sound of weapons clashing. Her eyes found Cloud on the defensive, being knocked back, with his weapon falling from his hand. The girl sucked in a sharp breath.

"Cloud!" she cried in fear for his safety.

Her cry however, alerted Kadaj. He spun around, eyes finding her immediately. An evil glint appeared in those jade eyes.

"Hello, Aerith."

Aerith turned around and saw Kadaj was now in front of her. Without hesitating, Kadaj grabbed her by her brown locks and forced her to her feet. Aerith whimpered and pushed at his chest. Kadaj grabbed her arm and in a quick motion lifted her off the ground.

"LET ME GO!" Aerith screamed. "AHH!"

Cloud heard Aerith screaming and quickly threw the two men. He saw the front doors of the church thrown wide open. He watched as Kadaj forced Aerith onto a motorcycle before getting on behind her. He started up the bike and drove off.

Cloud cursed mentally and ran down the length of the church and out the doors. He could see Kadaj riding off down the street. Not hesitating, Cloud got on his own bike and quickly began the pursuit. As the spiky haired man began to catch up, Kadaj peered through his side mirror to see him. Then almost to make sure he was not seeing things, looked back over his shoulder to see Cloud was gaining on him. He gritted his teeth and made his motorcycle to move faster. However, it seemed that Cloud's bike was much faster and was easily gaining.

Kadaj found Cloud at his left side and out of desperation skid his bike into his. The bikes collided hard, causing Cloud to swerve. Cloud quickly recovered but Kadaj once again hit the bike with his own. The collision nearly caused Cloud to lose control but he was able to regain himself and continued the pursuit. When Kadaj tried to ram into him a third time, Cloud met him and the two bikes began to grind, both their legs trapped between the metal as the two men rode next to one another. Kadaj clenched his teeth and tried to shove Cloud off his bike but met with resistance. Cloud looked down to see Aerith sitting with her eyes shut and clutching to Kadaj out of fear. Kadaj saw Cloud's gaze on Aerith and grabbed his double bladed sword that was sheathed at his side. Kadaj steered his bike away to give him room and then with blinding speed, swiped at Cloud. Cloud moved out of the way. The blade cut through his shirt, but missed penetrating his skin.

Cloud glared at Kadaj and went to move back next to him when suddenly Kadaj's brothers appeared on either side of him. He watched as Kadaj got onto a lower ramp, while the brothers kept Cloud on the same road. He cursed mentally and tried to get away but the two crowded him in. Cloud's eyes widened as Loz's fist came flying at his face. Cloud bent backwards, to avoid the swing. At the same time, Yazoo took out his gun and aimed it at Cloud. He fired three shots. The blond haired man, did not even think as he flipped off his bike to avoid the shots before landing back on it. The three bullets hit Loz's bike causing the short haired brother to glare at his brother.

Upon landing on his bike, Cloud pulled out the sword he had acquired and swiped the two brother's away from him, causing them to swerve to avoid from being hit. Cloud gunned his bike through a tunnel as the two brother's trailed behind. Loz sped up and used his bike to jump up and over Cloud. Fenrir, Cloud's motorcycle, screeched loudly as Cloud served and spun out to avoid from a head on collision.

Yazoo sped past him as Cloud recovered. Glaring, he hurried Fenrir to catch up. However, meters from them he saw Loz slam his fist into the road,then using the muscles in his leg swung his bike around in midair, and then throw it at Cloud. Eyes widened, Cloud lifted his sword and with one quick stroke slashed the bike in half. Loz stared in disbelief as the blond haired man sped past now only having to worry about Yazoo.

Yazoo was a good distance ahead of Cloud and he was going to make sure it stayed that way. As Cloud started to get closer, Yazoo would turn around on his bike and aim at Cloud, which to avoid Cloud had to swerve or risk himself, his bike, or both being shot. Last thing Cloud needed was to be shot dead or have his bike explode from a bullet in the gas tank.

As Yazoo aimed another set of bullets at him, Cloud swerved and hit the guardrail hard, causing him to wince. Yet his eyes widened as he saw Kadaj's bike on the ramp below him. Eyes narrowing, the blond gunned his bike, heading straight for Yazoo.

Down below on the other ramp, Aerith whimpered in fear. Kadaj could hear her and it greatly annoyed him.

"Will you shut up?" he snapped. "You'll have more to cry about later."

Aerith looked up almost ready to cry but when she did she let out a small gasp. Her eyes widened and she screamed out, "Cloud!"

Kadaj looked over his shoulder expecting to see Cloud riding behind him but instead, saw no one. It was only when he saw a shadow over him did he look up into the sky. Kadaj eyes widened as he saw Cloud's bike soaring through the air over him. Realizing Cloud would land on him, Kadaj skidded his bike to a halt second before Cloud landed in front of him. However, Kadaj lost control of his bike and it went skidding off the road and down the side of the rocky hill.

Both Kadaj and Aerith were thrown off the bike and went rolling down the hill. Kadaj landed on the ground, hitting hard pavement. He groaned waking up from being briefly knocked out to find Cloud standing over him. Kadaj tried to get up and fight with Cloud with his own sword but could not manage to get a swing in before collapsing at Cloud's feet. Cloud pointed his sword threateningly at his opponents neck. Kadaj swallowed hard.

"I lost... again?" he whispered to himself before passing out.

Cloud sighed and looked around. His eyes found Aerith who had landed in a soft patch of grass and flowers. Cloud walked over to Aerith. He knelt down to her, grabbed her arms gently so he could place her in a sitting position. She let out several low groans, blinking slowly. The fall was a rough one but from what Cloud could see there were no serious injuries; just maybe some scrapes and bruises.

"I'm fine." She said softly, getting to her feet in the process. She did not look at Cloud.

She stumbled slightly, Cloud steadied her.

"Are you sure that you are okay? "

Aerith placed her hands on her hips, "I'm fine Zack!" Aerith looked up and then her eyes widened. She placed her hand over her mouth.

Cloud looked confused. "Zack? Who is Zack?"

Aerith looked away from Cloud. Her hand trembled slightly as if she had revealed a horrible secret to someone. Her face was etched with concern. Cloud could see a strain in Aerith, something painful in her eyes. She looked up at Cloud, her emerald eyes finding his azure ones.

"Zack is the owner of that sword." She announced, indicating the sword Cloud currently possessed.