"Ragnar!"

Calling out was useless, Cloud soon realized. The kid already had be be getting dropped to who knew where. So much for the hatch being stable…it had just popped open and swallowed him up. Now who knew where he was falling to…or into what.

"Cloud…what happened?" Aerith called from behind him, and he began to feel her pushing up to him. "Where's Ragnar?"

Others began to grow aware of this. The nearby units turned and started to look to the now open hole in the floor, and realized that one of them had just dropped through it. Wuu herself turned around and looked behind them, and noticed a gap in the line.

"What's wrong?"

Cloud, however, didn't bother explaining. Sitting here talking about it wasn't going to get anything done. The kid was dropping into oblivion, and when he hit the bottom he might be lost or hurt. And he knew that they couldn't stop the mission to go after him without even asking. They were just about to hit the reactor.

With that in mind, Cloud did the only thing he could.

He spun his head around, and looked to Aerith and Tifa behind her.

"Wait for us."

The two women stared back in puzzlement to this, but he had no time to explain. A moment later, and Cloud lunged forward and dove headfirst into the pipe after Ragnar.

The ex-mercenary soon found himself careening down into oblivion, falling down a vast, dark tube into what, for all he knew, was a termination into a concrete floor. Yet he didn't really believe that. Most of these tubes angled up at the end. For a few moments, he fell through empty blackness, feeling nothing but wind rush by him. But then, the tube began to raise up in front of him, angling out and catching his ventral side. As that happened, Cloud went from plunging down to sliding through the tube. He continued to do so for a few moments of empty freefall…

But then, he began to see something up ahead. There was a bit of light around his path…and beyond it there was a metal hatch. He was coming to the end. The man tensed at this, but quickly went into action. Reaching behind him, he grasped the end of Event Horizon and pulled out the first smaller blade. Once he did that, he swung it in front of him and gave a sharp twist, shoving the handle against one side of the tube and dipping the tip into the other side. After that, he closed his eyes and grit his teeth as a loud whining sound went out, followed by a shower of sparks flying around him.

For a few moments, the ex-mercenary felt sparks smack his face and deafening noise fill his ears. Yet the brace worked. He began to slowly stop sliding. More and more of his weight became focused on his arms, and his descent began to grind slower and slower. As the lights up ahead drew closer, the ringing sound and the sparks both began to die down as his slide stalled. Finally, after a few moments of pain and screeching…Cloud felt his body come to a stop.

The man cracked his eyes open at this. His body was partially collapsed on top of his smaller blade now, and he was dangling some ten feet from the lights up ahead. He looked down and saw, and realized that he had narrowly missed going splat. There was a break in the pipe up ahead, one that led into a different maintenance level. However, this pipe could evidently keep going if a connector was hooked up to it, because dead ahead of it was another pipe in the same position. Yet this one was closed off with a metal hatch. At his speed, smacking into it would have been seriously injuring if not fatal.

But there's no blood on it…which means the kid didn't hit it either.

After relaxing a moment, Cloud untwisted his blade and let his body slide down, at a much slower rate, the rest of the ten feet. He touched down hands first on a metal walkway as he came out of the pipe, and he used this as leverage to roll his body forward and up to his feet. Once he was there, he began to look around the area as he twisted Horizon around and put it back into the rest of his sword.

Nothing really stood out here. It looked, for all purposes, like the same corridors filled with machinery and technology that they had been going through before. And just like before, it looked like a twisted maze around him. Where he was right now was evidently a walkway for workers, but it stretched off both in front and behind him to who knew where. The only good thing was that this area had lumination, and he could see around him. The bad part was that this reminded him of the biggest mako reactor in the world…

Cloud soon cupped his hands to his mouth, and gave out a yell. "Ragnar!"

His voice echoed through the deep workings of the massive machine around him. However…they were not answered. He tried calling again, but once more it was useless. He wasn't getting an answer. The man sighed and dropped his arms at this. He couldn't have gotten far. Cloud had dove down after him only seconds after he went. So where was he?

However, as Cloud stood there…a more fearful possibility came to mind.

He said that Bahamut told him Sephiroth was going to be here…

If so, then…

He's just separated two of us from the rest of the group.

Cloud clenched his hand into a fist and swore. The bastard… He wasn't even man enough to take them all on at once. He was separating them, and dispatching them like that. If that was the case, and if Sephiroth really was to blame for this…then it meant that Ragnar could be face to face with him right now. And if so…

The ex-mercenary didn't think about that. He began to look around him instead, looking for the nearest way down. He had no idea where Ragnar was…but if Sephiroth was holding true to form…then he'd be at the bottom.

"Cloud!"

Tifa's cry came a moment too late. And Aerith, surprised at what Cloud had said to her, was unable to react in time. The man had leapt in after him.

The Cetra hesitated…not knowing what to do. One moment, Ragnar had been dropped through that hatch, and in the next Cloud had gone after him. What was going on?

She didn't know. She only knew that she was the next closest of their group to the hole, and with Cloud gone she now saw it gaping in front of her. Hardly knowing what she was doing, yet reacting on instinct, she began to pull her way toward it, not sure if she would look down it or jump down herself…

Yet the opportunity never presented itself. She had barely gone closer when, most suddenly, the hatch flipped back up and closed itself again.

"No!" Aerith found herself crying out, although she knew it was futile. She pulled herself forward the rest of the way, and then got on top of the hatch. She pounded at it the best she could manage with her own light form, but it was no good. It was sealed tight now. It wasn't giving for anything.

"What is going on down there?" Wuu suddenly called. "Where are General Cloud and General Ragnar?"

Aerith didn't answer. She was stuck looking at the sealed hatch, wondering what had become of them. Tifa quickly began to slide up after her, looking down to the hatch herself as she did so. Aerith noticed this. She would probably have a better chance of pounding through it…but would it do any good?

Yet before she could reach the Cetra…the overhead pipe covering suddenly dropped a bit, hitting both women on the head. The blow was minor, but they both winced and buckled under it. As they did so, and were caught between this new confusion and that of what had befallen Cloud and Ragnar, a yell came from further down the line.

"That's it! It's cut!"

Toward the front, Wuu was hesitant a moment. She noticed that something was wrong…but she also knew what the mission was. They had only a few minutes before the strike would begin. They had to finish this now. And they couldn't afford to stop for team members who had fallen behind. She wasn't even sure what had happened…but in the end it didn't really matter. After being torn for a moment, she sighed and indicated overhead.

"Everyone push!"

Moments later, hands went up and began to push against the section of pipe that was cut out. Aerith looked up to this, realizing it for the first time. She too was soon torn, looking down to the hatch and up to the pipe. The mission was still going on. But what about Cloud and Ragnar? Where were they? How were they going to get them back? Should they keep on with the mission, and let them go off on their own? Cloud was good on his own before when things like this had gone wrong. But she thought of Ragnar…and thought of abandoning him…

While Aerith was thinking over this, Tifa stared at the hatch and to the overhead pipe. In the end, she let out a curse…a rare thing for her. After saying that, she bit her lip and reached overhead for the pipe. She trusted Cloud better…especially after having known him for so long. But what had just happened? Why had it broken just long enough for the two of them to be carried aside? And now she would have to worry about him making it out on time… She was flustered, and didn't know what to do. So for now, she simply helped push on the pipe.

A second later, and the section went over the top with a surge of strength. The remaining soldiers lifted it over the cut and threw it to one side. The pink industrial light they had been seeing immediately flooded their world, and finally they could see once again. Aerith, distracted by this, turned and looked up and around her. They were out in the open now. Their pipe was resting in some sort of trench that had other conduits and pipes around it, and to their right the reactor wall rose large, formidable, and covered with technology. On their other side, the room they were in opened into a large space, one that was a few stories tall at least, and encompassing a wide circumference. This too was covered with conduits and pipes…but they were streaming from the center of this room and feeding out into the rest of the Dome and beyond. Although she couldn't see it yet…Aerith knew they were in the Reactor.

Wuu immediately placed her arms on the edge of the pipe and yanked herself up and out of it. Once she was over the edge, she quickly stood and turned back to the others.

"Come on everyone! We've-"

And that was the last thing Major Wuu ever said…as, to the horror of Aerith and everyone watching, her torso suddenly was peppered with numerous small eruptions, followed by spurts of blood from each one. Her body was suddenly turned into a rag as it was flung violently around, wrenched and twisted by forces that were hitting her. And as the sound of loud gunfire struck their ears…they realized it was bullets.

After what seemed like a minute of being shot by machine gun fire, though was probably no more than five seconds, the blasts cut off. The reactor room went silent, as did everyone in the pipe. Their mouths hung open as they stared at their leader. Her eyes were still open and frozen in the last moment of surprise. Her muscles kept her suspended for a second longer…but then her body collapsed to the ground and moved no more.

An instant after she fell, the edge of the trench was soon filled with New Shinra soldiers, each one of them holding a machine gun and aiming it down into the trench. The clicks of safeties going off filled their ears while the dark glare of visors reflecting industrial light filled their eyes. The sixteen turned and looked up, and soon saw some thirty soldiers all aiming down at them. They had perfect beads on them. They could kill them all before they had a chance to raise a weapon.

Those in the pipe froze. They were still trying to wrap their brains around what just happened...and actually realize what was going on. This was supposed to be empty and unguarded...and yet they were suddenly face-to-face with a soldier battalian. They didn't know what to do. They were still shocked at it all, at how they had suddenly been ambushed. The visions of Wuu dying were still cascading through Aerith's brain, freezing her senses and concentration and making her forget all else.

At last, a sound did catch their ears. This was of slow, measured walking. And from the sounds of it, it appeared to be from boots. As the New Shinra soldiers kept them all at gunpoint, a new person slowly pushed through them and to the lip of the trench, for all of them below to see.

It was an officer…a high one. This one was heavily decorated with a navy uniform. His hair was a close military cut, and his face, though obviously touched with experience that only came with age, was also rather youthful. Aerith had no idea who this person was…but Tifa and Barret recognized it. They had never seen it in person, but the mug shots that Ragnar and Cloud had circulated were clear enough. Not only that, but the Wutai officers readily recognized him.

"Colonel Seth." The "sergeant" announced from his place in front of the group.

Seth gave a nod. "Well, it seems as if you people are smart enough to know who your enemies are. Let us see you continue a streak of such intelligence. Surrender now."

In a matter of moments…Ragnar was on Sephiroth.

Swinging his sword around and down upon the dark man, he immediately went for a vital, and seemingly unprotected point. Ragnar soon learned two things about the Jenova hybrid. One was that he was fast, easily swinging his sword out and around and up to deflect his downward slash in the blink of an eye. The other was his power. Last night, Ragnar thought he had encountered true power with the mysterious assailant…but it was nothing like this. As the blow hit his sword, he felt like a tree had been dropped on it… The jarring was so painful that it filled his arms with a numbing jolt. He had been the one on the attack…and yet he was the one who ended up hurt.

Ragnar didn't let up, however. He immediately pressed on, executing a series of powerful slashes against Sephiroth. But despite the size of Masamune, he quickly and easily twisted around and intercepted each one. He was trying to move forward, to advance on him and push him back…but it was no use. Sephiroth was able to block each of his hits in a way as to cut off his advances. Ragnar was stunned. He was attacking with more speed and power than he believed he had ever used in his life…but Sephiroth was only moving his arms. He didn't even shift his posture. His eyes…his burning, green eyes…they gazed at him unblinking and unflinching, not even looking at his movements to follow them.

As Ragnar swung his sword up from underneath to try and slash up against the man, he found it once again intercepted by Sephiroth's blade. However, after doing so, he saw a flash of light next to it, so fast he almost thought it was a blur. Yet after he saw it…he froze in his attack. Hot, burning pain had suddenly come out from his shoulder. He turned his head…and to his surprise saw he was hit. His sleeve was cut, and a wound was freely gushing blood out from it. The youth was stunned. Not only at how painful it seemed…which was incredible considering the minor nature of the cut…but at how he never saw it coming until after his blood was spilled.

He looked up to Sephiroth after this, who finally moved by turning his head and smiled.

"Come now." He calmly answered. "Don't stop just for that. I expected more."

Ragnar glared at him, and narrowed his gaze again. He forgot about his wound, and thought only of Sephiroth. He once again adjusted himself into a proper stance. Now, he focused himself and his energy for a moment. It took only a short while…and then his blade responded. It ignited into a sword of flame.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "How interesting." He remarked as he shifted back into his ready position. "But children shouldn't play with fire."

This only made Ragnar sneer again, before he came forward and attacked.

Now, Sephiroth walked back. As Ragnar's assault grew even stronger and faster than before, the youth swung his blade furiously with a devastating chain combo of sword maneuvers. Even Cloud would have been unable to counter the ferocity and violence that the youth put into his assault as his deadly flaming sword cut through the air. As he pushed Sephiroth back along the catwalk and closer to the conduits and pipes on the side, his flaming sword easily sliced through the machinery that got in its way, leaving great burning scars in the metal. Each hit sent sparks and molten fragments flying.

But for all that he did, Sephiroth was still calm. He was moving back, but his face was still controlled and focused. The only real change was that he was smiling wider now…and to Ragnar, it seemed like he was mocking him. He kept bringing down his weapon again and again with killing force. But where Ragnarok would have sliced through anything else, the Masamune held true. Indeed…Ragnarok would have cut through any other blade on the face of Gaia at this point. Only the Masamune was a superior weapon to it. Yet for all of his strain, Sephiroth wasn't even buckling.

That look on his face continued to anger Ragnar. It seemed to be treating him like a joke. The insults he made before…of being a child…of being weak…that only made him angrier. He wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. Yet his normal strikes weren't doing it. He needed to do something else…and he knew what.

Abruptly, he swung his sword down into a clash with Masamune. He pushed his flaming weapon dangerously close to Sephiroth's head, putting all he weight behind it. But his enemy only slightly moved his arms in response to the force, not showing any other fluctuation. Yet this was what Ragnar wanted. He pushed in closer until the resistance became great enough…and then suddenly broke. He let the power of Sephiroth push him off and back away from him, giving him a greater distance. He touched down farther away from the Jenova hybrid a moment later, and summoned his second stage attack. His sword's flames increased in intensity and size. He snapped Ragnarok back over his shoulder, and then swung it forward right at the dark man. Immediately, a flaming arc broke off, and filled the dark passage with the sound of burning before making a beeline straight for Sephiroth.

In response, the man turned a corner of his mouth, and let out a slight chuckle. He waited patiently for the flaming arc to reach him. Then, moments before connecting…he leapt into the air. Some force immediately carried him higher, seeming to make him fly, as he soared up into the dark corridor and over the flaming attack. The arc impacted into machinery behind him a moment later, immediately erupting into a fiery explosion and melting all surrounding pieces of technology into pools of iron.

However, Ragnar didn't pay attention to this. His anger broke as he gaped in surprise again at Sephiroth's reaction. The dark man sailed overhead for a few moments, and then arced and came back to the ground. But to Ragnar's shock, it wasn't in the same spot. He touched down right in front of him instead, a mere six inches from touching him and immediately collapsing into a squat. The youth gasped, and in surprise recoiled and looked down in front of him. There, crouched against the ground with head down and silver hair spread around, he saw Sephiroth pause for a fraction of a second.

Then something happened…but Ragnar was never sure what. From what he could infer, however…Sephiroth suddenly leapt into the air, and spiraled his body out toward Ragnar feet first. When he did, his black boot connected firmly with Ragnar's middle, and ripped him off of his feet and into the air. Ragnar remembered none of this…just suddenly being cast away at incredible speeds, and feeling some sort of agony in his stomach a moment later. He felt himself sail through the sky for a few fateful moments, before he fell and crashed against the ground. It was a hard impact, and sent a painful jolt through the rest of his body. He writhed and cried out on doing so.

Ragnar lay there a fraction of a second, but then forced his body to roll up. When he did, he winced…feeling a horrible pain in his abdomen. It felt as if a cannon had just been fired into it. In any other circumstance, it might have been a crippling injury. It was hot and painful, and not subsiding, as he yanked himself up. At least it hadn't been his lungs. Now that there was a lull in the battle, Ragnar began to realize that his brow was already covered with sweat, and that beads of it were starting to roll down on his eyebrows. His arms were still vibrating from the pain that he had been through, and the muscles were already sore to the point of burning.

Yet the biggest surprise of all was when Ragnar forced himself to his feet and tried to stand. He winced again at this, and looked down to the source.

A bloody slash was across both of his calves.

The youth was truly shocked now. He hadn't even seen a blur this time. He had thought he had only been kicked by Sephiroth…but he had been slashed as well. He looked up ahead of him, and toward the dark man.

Sephiroth was back on his feet now. His sword was at his side, and he looked down calmly and patiently at Ragnar, still smiling.

"Silly little boy." He said after a moment, his dark voice laced with condescention. "Did you expect me to be as easy as your little kiddie friends?"

With this, Sephiroth flicked Masamune in front of him. Ragnar winced and snapped back, thinking he was slashing again. Moments later, something hot and wet hit him in the face. Ragnar, fearing the worst, immediately stumbled to his feet, ignoring his pain, and reached for it. He pulled it off a moment later, and looked to what it was. All he saw was red fluid. It was then that he realized what had happened. Sephiroth had flicked his own blood back at him.

He looked back up, and saw the dark man once again take position.

"Do you not know the face of death when you look on it?"

Ragnar stared a moment longer…but then tightened his now-bloody fist once again. He once more snapped Ragnarok in front of him, and after a moment of concentration it once again ignited into flame. Without fear, and ignoring his growing pain and exhaustion, Ragnar attacked again.

Aerith slowly exhaled as she stood in a row with her fellow captors. By now, she and the others looked like victims lined up for a firing squad. For all they knew, they probably were.

The Reactor stretched in front of them now. The core loomed huge and powerful, coming out of a great pillar in the center of the room and stretching to the sky. It tapered off through various levels and pipes until it reached a thick central point, which was not paneled with metal but rather some sort of heavy transparent mako-proof glass. Shimmering in the center of it was processed mako, burning blue in the light of this reactor, and streaming through some sort of flux. To most people it would probably be a strange and wonderful sight. But to Aerith, it wasn't beautiful at all. It was a perversion of nature. It was like seeing someone grinding up animals to make what they thought was pretty multicolored paint.

However, that reactor might as well have been a hundred miles away. There were four entrances into this chamber. Some of them were on higher levels that ringed the inner chamber, and had stairs going down into the main floor. But that didn't really matter. All were open now, and flooded with guards. The room itself was teeming with them, and all of them had their guns aimed at the sixteen. Their weapons were confiscated by now, piled up a good thirty feet away on the other side of a line of troopers. The only thing still in the pipe now was the EMP Projector (too heavy to lift quickly) and the dead body of Wuu.

This was a nightmare. Here they had expected a clear trip until now…and at this point, so close to success, they were captured, practically in front of their executioners. They had come so far, done so much…and yet somehow they hadn't been clever enough. Somehow the New Shinra had known they would come here. And now…everything seemed thwarted. It was all over…

Colonel Seth paced in front of them all like some sort of hunter with his trophies. He kept his arms folded behind them and looked over each individual one. He was silent at first, but then began to speak as he carried out his "inspection".

"Well…look who we have here." He remarked as he gazed over them. "The Planet Protector Army seems to have wanted to give us an opportunity to do away with its highest commanders in one fell stroke." He stopped a moment later, pausing in front of Aerith. He looked down and over her for a moment, and then snorted. "Though I hardly see how you made the cut."

Aerith said nothing. She had to try and think of a way out of this. She was one of the only people left who could attack. However…she didn't know what she could do at the moment. They were all handcuffed now and lined up in front of the pipe, like massacre victims waiting to be shot and fall into an open grave. What good would attack do when she couldn't hit at least a hundred guards with them open like this? Still, she tried something. She had never really tested this before, but she knew she could control basic fire spells. If she could aim it at a smaller level…on the handcuff chains of two particular people, for example…she might be able to give them some hope. With that in mind, she forced herself to look forward…but in her mind's eye tried to concentrate on the bindings that held Barret and Yuffie. She could see their links in her brain. And when she saw them…she imagined them growing warmer…and called out to the Planet's energies to make it so…

Colonel Seth finally made it to the end of the line, where the spies were. He turned back around at this, and then looked at them all for a moment. Once that was done, he sighed and began to reach for his own sidearm, unbuckling it from his pocket.

"Alright." He announced. "We know that twenty of you came in here. One of you went to the infirmiry. We're having him arrested right now. One of you is dead in that pipe. And I see sixteen here. That's only eighteen. Where are the other two?"

"We don't know." The second spy in command said from the front of the line.

Immediately, Seth raised his weapon, placed it between the eyes of the first person on the end, and fired.

Aerith snapped around in horror as a gunshot rippled through the room. The other PPA units did as well, although the Wutai ones merely swallowed and kept staring forward. They saw the first spy on the end collapse to the ground, a bit of smoke trailing up from his head.

"That was the wrong answer." Seth responded, and took a step forward. He cocked his pistol again, and pointed it between the eyes of the next person down the line. "Let's try again… Where are the other two?"

The Cetra stiffened. She knew what would happen if he didn't get an answer...and she wasn't as battle-hardened as the others. She couldn't stand to see another one die for this if she could prevent it. Immediately, she called out from the middle to the Colonel.

"They fell into one of the spillway conduits while we were in the pipe." She sounded, turning his attention from the next spy to her. "They fell down from there. We don't know where they slid after that. That's the truth. They could be anywhere now."

Seth hesitated for the briefest moment, pausing as he thought about what Aerith said. He seemed to consider it, and her appearance for a brief second.

Then, he pulled the trigger. Right after doing so, he moved the gun to the next person in line and did the same.

"No!" Aerith cried out, her eyes filling with fear and horrifed shock. "That's the truth! I swear!"

"Say it's the truth one more time, and I'll shoot three of you." The Colonel coldly snapped in response, causing the Cetra to recoil in surprise. "I'm not some stupid ignorant officer peon like the imbeciles you fooled coming in here. You expect me to believe you just lost two members of your group? This is getting irritating…but I'll ask you one more time. Where are they? Are they in here? Are they moving somewhere else? What?"

Aerith didn't know what to do. She looked around. Tifa and Yuffie were both beginning to look nervous. Barret's teeth were clenched, and he looked about a moment from snapping his bindings off and killing Colonel Seth with his bare hands, and no amount of New Shinra bullets were going to keep him from him. But Aerith didn't know what she could say. And she was losing her focus, unable to concentrate on getting the others free. She was too distraught now. Everyone was silent at this point, and no one said anything. Seth looked them over a moment, and then frowned.

"Have it your way." He said before killing the next three people in the line. Yuffie began to shudder after this…because the last person to be killed was right next to her. She would be shot next. Barret visibly grunted now, and nearly stepped forward. It was only because some of the stone-faced New Shinra guards in front of him raised their weapons at him that he held back. Even the Wutai people were starting to grow antsy here. It would be better to die making a futile attack on this man rather than to just let him slaughter them one at a time. But apparently, Seth was getting bored with this. He put his gun back into his side, and then turned his head above him. A moment later, he called out in a loud voice.

"If you two are out there, listen to this! Your cohorts aren't telling me anything, and I'm getting tired of killing them all one by one! So I'm going to give you to the count of three to show yourselves, or I'll simply have them all killed at once!"

With that, Seth stepped back to the side, and motioned to the nearest guards. They raised their weapons in response and aimed at the line of remaining units. Those in line, in response, started in front of them, their eyes showing a growing fear even if their faces were stoic. Now, death was staring them all in the face. This was it…and they were helpless to do anything but make a mad break for it. Their minds filled with fear and anxiety, wondering how they could possibly get out of this...

However…not all of them thought this way.

While the others were looking forward, Aerith's head had turned to the ground…and a new line of thought had entered her mind.

You…monster…

I told you the truth, but it wasn't the truth you wanted to hear…so you killed them. People have been killed all the time in this war…but it was in battles or in operations. These people were helpless and unarmed…and you shot them. All because we couldn't tell you where Ragnar and Cloud were… You looked so powerful and calm doing it…but only because you had all of these soldiers backing you up…because they couldn't do anything about it. You're not brave. You're a coward…you're a whining coward who's throwing a fit because he doesn't get what he wants…

You and the rest of them… You treat lives like garbage. You round up people who you consider dregs of society and make them slaves. You ruin homes and families to get your way. You're going to kill millions of innocent people who have nothing to do with our armies with that horrible weapon… And why? So you can ruin more of the Planet…so you can go on killing without thinking for a moment about what has happened already…how much we've lost…

You're all horrible…

"One…"

Aerith felt her hands slowly clench into fists. Something…was being released in her. Some sort of reaction was beginning. For the first time in quite a while…she was feeling anger. She hadn't felt it since she first started controlling her power. But she did now. And now that she felt it…it was feeding back on itself. It was going back into her and stirring up more anger. It was beginning to make her emotions more passionate and strong…and began to go from mere upset at the New Shinra to anger… A fire was beginning to light up in her eyes…and not just in the figurative sense. Somewhere deep inside her previously beautiful green eyes…something far more hostile was stirring. Something deep within her mind.

Something powerful.

Something primal...

"Two…"

As Aerith's anger continued to grow…those standing next to her began to notice that the air seemed strangely charged and cool. And it was getting more so as time went on. They paid no mind to it, thinking more of the imminent gunfire…but it was happening. As it did…the light began to grow in Aerith's eyes. In response, her power suddenly seemed to flow far more loosely and easily. It poured into her with far more focus and control…as well as might. The ability to break handcuffs was suddenly easy. She stretched out again…but this time she went not only to Yuffie and Barret's but to everyone else's as well. She focused…and soon the links began to grow hot on each one.

But she didn't want to stop there. She wanted to stop these people in front of her too. She wanted to be rid of them all… And so…as her anger continued to feed on itself…she began to reach out to their hearts…

Seth opened his mouth, and prepared to speak the final number, giving the signal to fire.

But at that moment…all of the lights in the reactor room shut off, and the room was plunged into darkness save for the faint glow of the central reactor.

"Thr…what the hell?" Seth's voice suddenly called out. Soon, shifting was heard as the people around the area began to move and look about in confusion. As for Aerith…it was like a balloon filling up had suddenly been popped. She abruptly let out a gasp, and the light in her eyes faded. Her anger evaporated, and felt herself suddenly feeling normal again. Her hatred had faded with the turning on of the light. The distraction had broke her out of her rage…

But after that…she was still frozen, as she realized what she had been thinking…what she had been about to do…

And she knew this wasn't the first time that this had occurred.

The Cetra looked down to the ground in the blackness, her eyes wide and filling with fear.

What's…happening to me?

Abruptly, another voice from right next to Aerith snapped her out of her sudden trance. It screamed out over the sudden confusion in the reactor to all of their unit.

"Get in the pipe!"

A second after, and Aerith felt a powerful fist enclose her arm. As it yanked on her, pulling her back, her wrists were broken away from each other. On feeling this, she realized her handcuffs were broken. And if this person was grabbing her, then his or her handcuffs were broken too. She realized what she had done. She had to have broken their handcuffs when she concentrated. She didn't know how… The amount of focus needed for that was impossible for her to achieve now…and the action itself seemed faint and dreamlike to her… But none of that mattered at the moment, as she felt herself dragged backward, away from the soldiers and toward the pipe.

They didn't get far, unfortunately.

"They're making a break for it!" Some soldier yelled.

"Open fire!" Seth immediately ordered.

Aerith felt new panic rushing into her. They were going to shoot them while they were still on the run. Even in darkness, it wouldn't matter. Some of the bullets would hit. Yet as she thought these horrifying possibilities…one rather calm and cold voice cut through the gloom…seeming to almost leave it darker in its wake.

"…I'd reconsider that order if I were you."

A moment later…and the pinkish lights suddenly began to flicker back on. Aerith was dazzled a moment as light suddenly struck her pupils again. She recoiled a bit in response, but then straightened up and looked around. She was closer to the edge back into the trench, but for now she was still exposed. The rest of the group was either out or going in, but they had stopped in the middle of their movements and looked out. The rest of the multitude was still there, although they had moved around a little. Unfortunately, the nearest ones still had their guns pointed at the group.

However, something was very different now.

Vincent, standing in his fake uniform, was right next to Seth with his gun resting on his temple.

The colonel swallowed slightly, and turned his eyes to Vincent's direction, but didn't dare move. It took only a few moments for all of the gunners to suddenly shift their aim away from those going into the trench, and over to the man who now had his gun pointed right at Seth's head. However, none of them made a move. There was a moment of silence.

Vincent, face dark and cold, looked behind him to the units standing over the trench. He gave them a snap of his head. Moments later, Aerith was being pulled into the pipe again. She looked to her side to see who was doing it…and soon recognized that Tifa was the one holding onto her arm. At any rate, she soon led both of them into it. The remaining Wutai units didn't immediately enter, however. Instead, they took advantage of the freeze to creep forward, squeeze in between the New Shinra guards, and grab their weapons. A few of the soldiers turned and aimed at them at this…but no one fired yet. No one was bold enough to make a move to stop them. Soon, these too were back in the trench.

That done, Vincent slowly turned his head over to Seth while he rested his gun on him. "We've seen that our army is willing to die for its members a few moments ago." He announced. "Now we get to see if you can say the same."

Seth snorted a bit, despite the fact that he was beginning to sweat. "This changes absolutely nothing, you know. Ten fold reinforcements are already on their way here. You're already a marked man, and there's no way out of this place."

"Here's what I want you to do if you want to keep all of your brain." Vincent replied, unaffected by his boasting. "Tell your units to move away at once, and back into the halls. After that, we will seal them. Once we have completed our mission and gone on our way, I will give you a painful yet nonlethal blow to the back of the skull that will render you unconscious until well after we are away."

In response, Seth merely let out a chuckle. "You think I'm just going to let you do all that? What if I refuse? Currently, the only reason you all aren't being slaughtered is because you have me as a hostage. Kill me and there's nothing to stop the rest of this Dome from tearing you apart. Maybe you're the one who should consider surrendering, before I give the order to have my men shoot anyway."

Vincent raised an eyebrow at this. He looked out to the people in the room, and saw them all taking aim at him. After that, he looked back to the man.

"…So you don't agree to my terms? You'd rather die than let us go?"

"The only way you're getting out of here is over our dead bodies." Seth immediately answered, his own voice growing dark and challenging.

Vincent hesitated a moment after hearing this. But then, he gave a slow nod. With a fluid movement, he stepped behind Colonel Seth, and pointed his gun at the back of his head instead. His free hand reached out and seized the Colonel by the back of his tunic.

"As you wish." He answered…before pulling the trigger.

The moment the soldiers saw the front of Seth's head erupt, forming a red hole, and saw his firm face suddenly slacken and fail, the nearest ones opened fire. However, Vincent appeared to be expecting that. Still holding Seth up by the back, he used him as a literal human shield against the bullets. It was only for a moment, however. Just long enough for him to crouch behind him, and then suddenly leap into the air. His superhuman strength immediately propelled him twenty feet into the sky, and he did a graceful backflip as he arched backward and farther into the room, over the soldiers. They continued to fire, but they were distracted, not expecting this, and suddenly looked up and overhead to see him fly by. Yet before they could raise their own weapons…Vincent, coming out of his flip, pulled out another gun, and began to fire both into the crowd as he arched overhead. Each shot sent one of them crying out and collapsing to the floor.

The soldiers shouldn't have turned their attention on Vincent, for at once the group in the pipe took advantage of the situation. Giving out a bear-like roar, Barret raised his mechanical arm and converted it into his tri-minigun. Soon, he began to spray the area in front of him with bullets, cutting down the line of their would-be executioners. The Wutai soldiers that had reclaimed their weapons began to take aim and fire back as well. Lastly, Yuffie drew her shuriken and flung it, launching it across the room to take out a guard near one of the doors, before swinging it back to her.

The reactor room soon exploded into a firefight. Realizing they were being attacked from two sides, the New Shinra soldiers quickly dove for cover as well, and returned fire into the pipe. After quite a few had gone down initially, the remainder had managed to barricade themselves well against those in the pipe. However, Vincent did not relent. Using his superhuman abilities, he appeared to defy gravity and physics as he ran around the room, sometimes leaping huge distances, sometimes running alongside a wall, sometimes twisting to avoid the spread of machine gun fire…but always shooting as well. He let soldiers trail just behind him with their own weapons, and all the while continued to shoot and fire. Soldiers continued to go down, or at least got flushed out into the range of the rest of the people in the trench. At first, it looked as if they were pinned down…but still managing to win thanks to Vincent's edge…

Yet that terminated after a few moments, as the man suddenly stopped firing, put both his guns away, and then leapt for the pipe himself. Moments later, he was shooting in alongside them, and crouching down along with them in their current position. Aerith herself looked to him as he dropped next to them, wondering why he had suddenly broke off and joined them. As for the New Shinra units…now they only had one target, and began to focus on it. Around Aerith and Vincent, the firefight continued to go off.

"…I'm empty." Vincent stated after a moment. "I used my last clip. There's still seventeen left. Eight behind one barricade, and nine behind the other."

Aerith turned at this and looked out. She didn't risk sticking her neck out too far, but she saw that the New Shinra had managed to hunker down. One group was behind a rather thick section of pipe protruding from the wall, which even Barret's guns couldn't get through. The others had leapt into an indentation on the floor, and were crouched behind it much as their own group was in their pipe.

The phony sergeant looked up and took aim with his own rifle. He fired a moment later…and then cursed at an obvious miss. He ducked back down into the trench, and began to go for a reload. "We can't hold them off forever. We don't have the ammunition." He sounded over the rest of them firing. "And we'll have reinforcements coming on us soon if we don't get the doors shut."

Tifa, from her spot next to Aerith, rather useless at this point without a firearm, turned to her side, where Barret was still pounding away with his minigun, and cursing the New Shinra all the way. However, he too had to pause to let his barrel cool periodically, and when he did he ducked back down under the returned fire. "Barret!" She called to him over the other gunshots, attracting his attention. "Do you have any of your grenades?"

Barret exhaled a bit, and began to nod, reaching down for his side… However, at that point, he suddenly froze, and immediately grit his teeth and sneered. "Aw sh't…" He swore. "I left the damn things in my other clothes before I changed inta' this damn uniform!"

However, on hearing this, the phony sergeant snapped around and looked to them. "Hey!" He called. Aerith and the others turned their attention to the spy, and when they did so he began to reach to his side pockets. A moment later, he pulled out, balancing them perfectly in one hand, a pair of fragmentary grenades. "These are standard issue for New Shinra sergeants! We can use these!"

"Yeah, but there are only two of them!" Tifa yelled back over the fire. "We can't afford to miss with one, and they're shooting anything that comes out of the trench!"

Aerith hesitated when she heard this. She turned her head somewhat to the side, and thought for a moment. Actually…there was something they could do. She had never tried anything like this. She had thought she would have to when she joined in that one battle, but she had underestimated her friends' abilities to avoid damage. Since then, she hadn't really practiced with this… And she wasn't sure she had the focus to maintain it for more than a few seconds… However, she had to give it a try. It might be their only shot.

Suddenly, the Cetra looked over to the spy and shouted a question. "Who are the two best throwers here?"

The others managed to hear this, even over the gunfire. One of the remaining Wutai soldiers turned at this, and looked to the woman. On doing so, he paused a moment, but then raised a hand a bit uncertainly. "I used to be a star pitcher on my high school's baseball team."

Aerith nodded. "That sounds good. Give one to him."

While the spy, a bit puzzled, turned and handed a fragmentary grenade to that soldier. As this happened, Barret turned and looked to his own side. There was Yuffie, continuing to fling her shuriken at the enemy. She threw it two more times before claiming it, and then quickly dove back under their own defensive post. When this happened, he reached out and tapped her arm with his own. She looked to him in response, a bit puzzled.

"Hey! You're good at throwing sh't, right?"

The young woman hesitated…and then began to bristle. As a look of rage passed over her face, she glared at Barret with murderous intent.

"Were you not paying attention the two months I was running around with you guys!" She belted at the top of her lungs. "What have I been doing since we got in this stupid gunfight! I can take the wings off a fly at a hundred feet! I can bullseye a gil from two hundred! I-"

"Alright then! Shut the hell up and take a grenade!" Barret roared back, cutting her off. He reached over and snatched the other grenade out of the fake sergeant's hand, spun around, and threw it into her hand. Yuffie's monologue was cut off, and instead, on seeing the grenade thrust in her hand, looked down in puzzlement to it. After a moment, she raised it up and began to look over it, and then, still confused, looked over to the others.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

Aerith answered by turning and facing forward, toward the firefight. She turned her head from one side to the other, looking at both people who now held a grenade. "Alright!" She called. "When I yell 'go', run out of this pipe as fast as you can, run up to both of the New Shinra barricades, pull the pins, and throw the grenades into the middle of them!"

Both people holding a grenade stared blankly back at Aerith. The others in the trench turned and looked to her as if she had grown another head.

"…Did you suffer some brain damage when you came back from the dead?" Yuffie asked incredulously. "Or do you want us to call for them to switch to blanks before we run up and get ourselves massacred?"

"Just trust me!" Aerith called back. With that, she turned her head forward and bowed it. She inhaled deeply once, and then closed her eyes. As she slowly exhaled, she began to smooth out the rest of her body and focus her full concentration and control. The Wutai soldier wasn't sure what was going on, but with a bit of a nervous look turned and prepared himself to do as was said. Yuffie herself was shaking her head at the whole idea, but Barret jabbed at her with his elbow, and pointed over the edge. Aerith saw none of this. She just focused her power as much as she could. It was hard with all of the gunshots, and especially the feeling of impending danger. But she was able to still herself. Quickly, she summoned as much power and control as she was able, and then redirected it away from herself. Holding it firm, she moved it around through the space around her, and let it rest on both runners. At that…she focused, and pushed more power into it. She let it move over them and envelope them both…covering them from head to toe. And then, she made it strong. As strong as she could possibly make it. She continued to breathe and focus, struggling to keep herself steady and maintain control. Her lips slowly moved as she continued to chant this spell…

Then, at long last, Aerith's eyes opened.

"…Go!"

The Wutai soldier hesitated only a moment, but then leapt over the edge. Yuffie didn't move for a second. She whined and looked around uneasily. However, she realized the direness of their situation…and, in spite of her complaining appearance, did trust Aerith. Swallowing, and letting out one last gripe, she leapt over the edge as well.

The New Shinra immediately cut off their fire, seeing that two of them were coming over the side. They didn't know what they were doing, but they didn't wait to find out. Immediately, both groups picked one target, and after aiming let their weapons fire. Both Yuffie and the Wutai soldier saw them aim at them and shoot. They froze, and instinctively raised up their arms to shield themselves, although it was a useless gesture of protection…

However, a few seconds later, and both of them realized that they weren't feeling any pain. Slowly, they peeled their arms down from over their eyes, and gaped in shock at what they saw. Bullets were still roaring from weapons and right at their exposed bodies…but they weren't reaching them. Right before they could pierce them…some sort of translucent white barrier that appeared to be wrapped around their forms halted them. It stayed invisible only until struck…and once that happened it turned white for a moment as it intercepted a bullet. Like trying to shoot through tempered steel, the bullets immediately were compressed, and then dropped off from them. A shower of metal was pouring down at their feet, from the bullets that attempted to hit them and were meeting with nothing.

Yuffie and the soldier were shocked. They couldn't believe it. As the New Shinra soldiers cut off their own firepower and gaped at what was happening, they both looked around their bodies. They felt no different, and they could see nothing…but they had been rendered invulnerable. Those back in the pipe were likewise astounded. Aerith had made them invincible. Tifa and Barret had only seen this happen once before, in the Temple of the Ancients. There, the power of her ancestors flowed into her and enabled her to perform a move they knew only as Great Gospel. But this was different. It was like a barrier spell…but one far more potent and strong than any they had ever seen. It was enough to totally protect them…and both sides were immobilized as a result.

But then…Tifa heard a groan from nearby, and turned to the source. She saw Aerith. She was still in her seated position…but her brow was soaked with sweat. She was breathing hard, looking like she was struggling under a massive weight, and barely sustaining it. Tifa understood immediately. This spell hadn't come free. Every gunshot had taxed Aerith a bit more, and had increased the strain on the spell a bit more. Now, she was barely holding it. Immediately, she turned back up to the others.

"Hurry and throw it!"

The two snapped out of their daze at this. They looked back up and to the enemy, and then remembered their mission. Immediately, they took off again, and began to run closer so that they could throw it in. As they did, the New Shinra snapped out of it and opened fire again. This time, Aerith began to cry out in pain as she felt the shots come in, but somehow she managed to hold it. It seemed to take forever for them to get there…but at last both were in range enough to ensure it would hit. They both pulled the pins from their grenades, waited a few precious seconds, and then threw them. Their aim true, both grenades arched through the air before landing in the midst of either of their respective groups.

Yuffie and the soldier immediately spun and hit the deck. The bullets cut off a moment later, as the people spun around to see what had happened. It was fortunate too…for Aerith couldn't hold anymore. Abruptly, her body went limp, and would have fallen backward if Tifa hadn't quickly reached out to brace her. A split second later, the soldiers in the barricades turned and tried to break for it. However, it was too late. The fragment grenades went off at roughly the same time, casting up a fiery explosion in their wake. The New Shinra soldiers cried out as they were flung aside from the eruption, exploding out from behind their barricades and being cast to the ground.

Regardless of whether or not this had accomplished its desired effect in entirety, those in the trench immediately leapt out of it. Tifa stayed with Aerith as she regained her senses, but the others quickly moved and held their guns out at the ready. The huge echos from the grenades began to die down, and when they did they revealed motionless or barely moving bodies surrounding them. Both kinds had fresh serious wounds that were running freely over them or on the ground. However, two other soldiers, one on either side, had managed to get in the clear before the grenade went off. One of them immediately raised his gun and began to fire. Yet this time, the strike team had the drop on him, and soon dispatched him. The other turned and began to run for the exit to the chamber. However, he never made it before he was hit as well.

The second the last soldier fell, the new commanding spy gave a call out to those in his group. "Get to the doors! Close them and lock them! Break the locking mechanisms and get the welders! Use those to seal them!"

Though none of the people who were left were slated for this, it took only seconds for them to comply. While three people broke off, turned, and began to run back to the trench to get the torches that had been left there, the rest quickly rushed to the doors. As Aerith began to stir again and get her strength back, Tifa looked up and to their activities. She remembered what the Colonel had said. As her accomplices and friends ran to the doors, she feared that they would suddenly be riddled with bullets as Wuu had…or that some great divison would break through shooting everything in sight. But luckily, neither of those happened. The others ran to all four doors, shut them, enabled the locks, and then began to shoot the locks out.

Once they had done this, and the three who went back to the pipe leapt in, grabbed the torches, and had come out again with the intention of running to each door and fusing it, the spy gave a nod.

"Alright…we can still pull this off." He announced. "Get the EMP Projector and let's start setting it up."

"Uh…" Aerith stated a moment later, as the people went running again. Tifa looked down to the Cetra, and watched as her eyes cracked. With some sluggish movement, she turned a bit against her, but then put strength below her body and began to rise.

The woman immediately began to support her and help her to sit back up. "Aerith, are you ok?" She asked.

"That took…a lot out of me…" She groaned in response. "But I'll be fine. Did it work?"

Tifa nodded. "Yes. We're closing off the room right now. We can still use the Projector."

Aerith nodded back, and looked down again as she straightened herself up into a sitting position. However, as she looked down, she noticed her wrist, and the New Shinra issue watch that was on it. She paused a moment, but then brought it up and looked at the time.

On doing so, she swallowed nervously.

"We better hurry." Aerith spoke anxiously. "It's already 0601 hours."

To be continued...