Author Note: Jesus, that last chapter was the longest chapter I have ever written. I'm really getting into this fic, I think I will really finish this one. So many ideas have been going through my stoned little mind lately, so I had to get it written down. Well enjoy this, though there may be some more offence in this chapter, so I'm sorry in advance.
We feel free when we escape
Even if it be but from the frying pan to the fire.
Cloud and Serah had been driving for hours now. They'd pulled up at a gas station in the middle of the country and Serah filled the car with petrol with Cloud going in the station to buy some food and drinks. The pair climbed into the car after paying for the gas and drove off again. The wind whipped through Serahs' pink hair, making her forget the previous day's events. Cloud looked into the sky, the bright sunlight bringing out the light blue in his eyes. He smiled at the sky and closed his eyes. Serah cleared her throat dragging Cloud out of his daydream.
"So, brands?" asked Serah, staring at the road with a stern look on her face.
"Etro, she gave us them," replied Cloud, "apparently there is a great fight coming up."
"That's all the information she gave you?"
"Yeah, all I know is these brands give up powers, which will be useful." Serah looked to Cloud then quickly looked back to the road. She remained quiet for a long time, making Cloud feel very uncomfortable. He closed his eyes and leaned against the door. Serah cursed under her breath, causing Cloud to open his right eye, looking at her. She nodded to the wing mirror on Clouds' side. He looked into it to see a set of four black SUVs following closely behind them. Cloud popped open the glove compartment and pulled out the gun he picked up in Lightnings' home. He looked out the window to see through the lightly tinted window a man loading a Sig Saur. Cloud cursed and aimed the gun at the SUV. He began pulling the trigger, shooting at the window. The bullets pinged off the bulletproof glass. Cloud cursed again and unloaded the clip. He slammed a full clip into the gun and began firing at the wheels. A bullet punctured the right wheel sending the driver spiralling out of control into the two SUVs behind it, creating a large explosion which forced Cloud to take cover in the car as the explosion was catching up. Serah floored the gas and sped forward. Suddenly she pulled down the handbrake and spun the car at 90 degrees to allow Cloud enough time to shoot the wheels of the last SUV, sending it over itself, crushing the man inside it. He pulled himself back into the car and Serah sped forward again. Cloud looked at Serah, who was looking at him and burst into fits of laughter. Serah turned her head to the road and laughed with Cloud.
"My hands are shaky from the adrenaline rush there," giggled Serah.
"How do you think I feel, I thought my hands were going to fall off after shooting that," laughed Cloud. Serah smiled and pressed down on the pedal.
It only took them another three hours after the last event to get to New Yorks largest mall. Cloud covered his spiky hair with a beanie cap. Serah wore a large white hat, matching her dress top. She kept close to Cloud, feeling he knew what he was about to do. They walked through the massive doors and looked at all the shops around them. Some shops were ones famous people shopped in. Serah began feeling anxious about the plan and Cloud could feel her shaking. He looked down to her and nodded. He focused on the brand and what power it would give him. A wave of strength rushed over him and he threw the power from his fingertips, sending a blast of lightning through the roof of the mall; showering shards of glass upon all the shoppers in the building. Serah focused and threw a ball of ice, freezing everything, in the radius it hit, into ice. Shoppers began running away, screaming at Cloud and Serah.
"I can't believe we are doing this," growled Serah, sending a fireball at a shop, blowing it up.
"We want their attention so we can find out what they want us for, right," replied Cloud, blasting more lightning through the roof.
"Fair point," sighed Serah, sending a wicked aero spell around the mall. They stopped attacking for a moment and a large group of suited men ran into the mall, aiming a large number of Sig Saurs at the pair. Both cursed and looked at one another. Cloud felt a power build up inside of him. He sprinted towards a suited man; hit him square on the chest with an ice ball, dropping the suited man's gun; which was caught by Cloud. In front of him appeared a bunch of suited men standing, aiming their guns at him. He leapt back beside Serah and aimed the gun at one of them.
"Damn, we're outnumbered," groaned Cloud.
"We're done for," cried Serah.
"We'll be…" Cloud trailed off as his body slumped into unconsciousness from a hit to the back of the head. Serah looked down then quickly turned in time to see the butt of a handgun coming down on her forehead, knocking her out.
Cloud opened his eyes and saw only darkness. Suddenly the darkness turned to light and Cloud tried to cover his eyes. He struggled against the restraints which her holding his arms about his head. He looked down to see his legs were spread and restrained them against a metal pole. He grunted and wiggled his arms around to try and loosen the cuffs, which ultimately ended in failure. He looked around the room to see it was covered in mirrors, Cloud seeing every part of his body around him. He quickly noticed he was only in his underwear, which made him feel very uncomfortable.
"Hello?" asked Cloud, his voice echoing through the mirrored room. "Where the fuck am I?"
"All will be answered in a short time," echoed a robotic voice.
"Who's that!?" yelled Cloud, becoming angrier. "Show yourself!" With that order a section of the mirror opened up, revealing a window and a man standing inside it.
"What do you know?" asked the man.
"About what?" yelled Cloud.
"Please, refrain from shouting. I mean what you know about the government."
"This is an interesting way to ask a survey."
"Tell us."
"I know that this is a one world government, I need to show people everything is a conspiracy."
"That was all we needed to hear," said the voice. The shutter that had opened only moments ago had now closed again, leaving Cloud alone in the large, empty room. He closed his eyes and dreamed of a time he would be out of here. A faint alarm made him open his eyes and see the power had been turned off, his cuffs released him and he stumbled onto the cold, concrete floor. He suddenly felt a cold draught and wrapped his arms around himself, jogging on the spot to keep his body temperature up. A hissing took his attention and a small shelf came out the wall. Inside was a pair of boots, a long leather jacket and a black t-shirt and combat jeans. He slipped into the clothes that fitted very well. A door opened and he slowly walked up to it. Looking outside he seen a long line of other cells. He walked slowly from his cell to the neighbouring one.
"Serah?" he whispered, "Serah!?"
"Cloud, is that you!?" cried Serah, banging on her cell door. Cloud ran up to the door which was three doors down from his on the opposite side.
"Shhh, the guards might hear you," whispered Cloud, reaching through the bars to hold onto Serahs' hands.
"Oh God, Cloud, what is happening?" asked Serah, frantically holding onto Clouds' hands.
"I don't know, I'm going to look around a bit, I figure there should be one guard nearby," replied Cloud, looking down the hall of cells to see if a guard was coming.
"Where did you get those clothes?" asked Serah, finally realising he was wearing new clothes.
"Check your room, there should be some," smiled Cloud, releasing his grip on Serahs' hands. Serah nodded and quickly walked away to check her cell for clothes.
Cloud quickly and silently walked up to the nearest corner and snuck his head around to see if there were any guards. Looking around, he noticed a guard unconscious on the ground. Cloud quickly ran up to the guard and looted his pockets for any weapons or ammo. He found a Beretta 92 under the belt of the guard and two full clips for the handgun. He smiled and turned to run back to Serah. Standing in front of him was a tall, muscular guard. Cloud quickly rolled backwards, over the unconscious guard, lifted his handgun and shot at the guards knees, sending him crashing down. He rushed up and kicked the guards face with his heavy boots, knocking the guard unconscious. He rummaged through the pockets, finding a Sig Saur and plenty of ammo for it. He ran back to the cell and seen Serah had found clothes. She was wearing a red skirt, a white shirt and a white, see through, open vest.
"Stand back," ordered Cloud, aiming the handgun at the door handle.
"Cloud, you sure that'll work?" asked Serah, quickly cowering in the corner of her cell, on top of her bed. Cloud pulled the trigger on the gun, knocking part of the door handle off. He shot another two times, sending the handle and locking mechanism off the door. He kicked the door and it swung open. He stepped inside and held his hand out for Serah. She leapt off the bed, clutching his hand. She smiled and held onto him. Cloud held out the Sig Saur for Serah to take. She reluctantly took the handgun and he passed her the ammo clips.
"I don't expect you to need to use it, but it's better to have it and not need it," said Cloud, reassuring her about the weapon she was now holding.
"I've never used a gun before," whispered Serah.
"There's nothing to it, just aim and squeeze the trigger. There'll be a recoil but you just keep your arms tensed and allow the recoil," said Cloud, smiling. Serah nodded and looked at her visible brand. She looked back to Cloud and the pair ran down the hall. They passed the two unconscious guards and continued through the hallways. Cloud looked at the walls hoping for a sign to say where they were. After running up about five sets of stairs they finally saw a sign saying "B5".
"We're on the bottom 5th floor?" questioned Cloud.
"This goes on for ages," sighed Serah, her breathing slightly laboured for running up the stairs.
"I don't think we have much longer, we still don't know where we are thought," said Cloud, disheartened slightly. Serah sighed again and grabbed Clouds' hand, running up the stairs again. She laughed quietly and shot up the stairs.
Finally, after what felt like ages, the pair ran into a wide open airport area. Cloud looked around and saw nothing but desert around them. They both sighed and suddenly they were surrounded by armed guards aiming MP5's at them.
"Oh, fuck," cursed Cloud holding his hands in the air. Serah copied him out of fear she may be shot dead.
"Drop the weapons," said one of the guards in a monotone voice. Cloud nodded at Serah, who dropped her gun at the same time as Cloud. She felt the power rush through her veins again and brought it to her fingers, ready to attack the guards. Cloud dropped to the ground, catching both handguns as they dropped through mid-air. He shot the pair of guns multiple times, the guards dropping with bullet holes in their bodies, blood spilling out. Serah shot the guards which were still standing with fireballs, sending them flying backwards and in flames.
"That was fun," said Serah, the sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"It had to be done," replied Cloud. A groan came from behind them, Cloud holding his handguns at the source of the noise. A guard was getting back up and Cloud walked up to the guard.
"Where are we?" asked Cloud, pressing the barrel of the gun to the guards head.
"In Area 51," groaned the male guard.
"Area 51, why?" asked Serah, walking up to Cloud.
"It's where we keep everything and every one of the people involved in the truth about the government," said the guard, clutching his wound.
"How do we get out?" asked Cloud, pressing the gun harder on the forehead of the guard.
"Take this key card; take the main elevator to sub level five. You'll find a train which take you just outside Las Vegas. I understand you have found things out about the government, but I want you to tell everyone," moaned the guard.
"Is there anything we can do to repay you, I feel bad for hurting you," whispered Serah, holding back her tears.
"Kill me, quickly?" offered the guard.
"If it is your wish," said Cloud, bowing his head in a respectful gesture.
"Before you do, I want you to go to sub level 3 and take as much evidence as possible to bring this government down," sighed the guard, closing his eyes. He nodded for Cloud to end his life. Serah turned around and closed her eyes tightly. A gun shot rung through the empty air field and then Cloud put his hand on Serahs' shoulder.
"It's time to go," nodded Cloud. He knelt down and picked up the key card the guard left out. Serah slowly walked by the body and bowed in respect.
The pair made it to the main elevator and slid the key card into its slot. The lights in the elevator came on and Cloud pressed the button for the 3rd floor. The doors closed and the elevator lurched and went down. Elevator music suddenly came in the stereo and Serah scoffed. She grabbed her gun from Cloud and shot all the speakers, silencing the disgusting music. The elevator halted and the doors slid open. The pair jumped out from the sides of the doors and aimed their guns around the room. An entire line of bookshelves filled the room and no-one was in the room.
"Look for anything that might be incriminating enough to bring this government under pressure," ordered Cloud. Serah nodded and began looking at the spines of the folders to see what was in them. He eyes scanned by a folder entitled 9/11.
"Oh, god, Cloud, I have something!" yelled Serah pulling the folder out of the shelf.
"I found one as well, something about JFK," replied Cloud, running up to Serah with the folders.
"Let's go then," said Serah, turning back to the elevator. The pair ran into the elevator and Cloud pressed the button for the 5th floor. Again the elevator lurched and went downwards. The elevator ride was done with silence. The doors slid open and a massive train sat on the rails. Cloud handed Serah the folders and opened the doors to the train. Inside was like a giant machine, gears turning and engines pumping. Cloud pressed the large start button on the train but nothing happened. He checked around and saw the power was off; the engines were working on the emergency power.
"I'll go out and fix it, you stay here," smiled Cloud running out the doors. He checked around the massive train yard he was in and found the power generator. He pulled the choke and the power turned on. An automated female voice suddenly echoed through the empty room.
"Power restoration beginning. Power has been cut off; reset is in T-Minus five minutes."
"Huh?" questioned Cloud, looking around the room for the source of the voice. Suddenly everything went dark and then the emergency lighting turned on. Cloud began running back to the train when a large body fell from the top of the room. Standing in front of Cloud was a massive behemoth, standing on all four legs, its red mane clashing with its dark blue fur. Saliva dripping from its growling jaws, eyes as red as blood, claws bigger than Clouds' hands, this behemoth was nothing Cloud has ever seen before.
"Oh, fuck," cursed Cloud, aiming his handgun at the beast. Cloud tried to make a move to go to the left but the behemoth anticipated a movement and blocked him off. It reared its head and roared, shaking the room slightly. Cloud cursed again and began firing shots into the behemoths body. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the behemoth, swishing its claws through the air to hit Cloud. He dodged the attack and leapt over the behemoths claw. The automated voice echoed through the room again.
"T-Minus two minutes until power restoration, Bio-Weapon detected on sub level five; T-Minus three minutes until detonation of base."
"Oh, fuck!" yelled Cloud, cursing more than he usually does. He sprinted towards the train with the behemoth following closely behind him. "Can this day get worse!?" Serah quickly opened the door to allow Cloud entry. The door closed and the behemoth smacked against the train. The pair heard a loud roar on the other side of the doors and wished the power would come back on. Suddenly the train burst into life and the power button flashed red.
"Let's do this," said Cloud. Serah nodded and slammed the button down on the panel, sending the train lurching forward.
The train burst out from a hole in the ground, light illuminating the train. A sudden blast shook the train, sending Cloud and Serah onto their knees.
"Amazing, we made it out in less than a minute," gasped Serah.
"It's a bullet train, fastest in the world," smiled Cloud, looking out the window, seeing the smoke rising behind the train.
"I'm glad we're out of there, but how are we going to get this information out?" asked Serah, "the government declares what gets shown on TV and what gets broadcast on the radio."
"Yeah, unless we hijack a TV station; I'm sure Vegas has enough TV stations," smirked Cloud, looking into the sunset as the train made its way to Las Vegas.
The difficult we do immediately,
The impossible takes us a little longer.