It was a peaceful afternoon in Midgar. A bright blue blanket wrapped over the skies, dotted with the occasional puffy white cloud, or flock of birds cutting their way through the warm air. The city was one big circle, at the center of which was a tall building that overlooked everything and everyone around it. Shinra headquarters.
The sun turned the side of the building into a giant glowing stick coming out of the earth - reflecting off the many, many windows that covered it. If a passerby was to look up at it from the streets below, the three people that were slowly descending down the side of the giant tower would appear as nothing more than dots, lost amidst a wide sea of sunlight.
Loeb - who had pulled off his Shinra mask, but was still dressed in the classic blue garb - was slowly lowering down the rope, holding on tightly to the man he had, only moments ago, used a harness to attach themselves to each other.
"How you doin buddy?" The dark-skinned teenager asked, not taking his eyes off the rope he was carefully moving along.
"I'm hanging in." Teioh answered. His voice was still weak from the beating he had received at the hands of Rex Arinthone an hour ago. His ribs hurt, and his face was badly cut and bruised, but mentally he was feeling great. His friends had did it. They had gotten him out, just like he hoped they would. Now he could get to Marlene… he could save her before it was too late.
They just had to make it down this damned tower.
"How bout you, Put." Loeb called up to the pudgy, sweaty guy above them.
Putter looked down. He immediately recognized that as a mistake.
"Uh… I'm… I'm hanging in too." He managed to squeeze out of his suddenly-dry throat. "Uh… hey Loeb, ya think you could move maybe a little faster though?"
"I'm trying man! I'm doing this with two people, remember that."
"Well, it's just… If you don't hurry, I think I might throw up."
"Putter!" Loeb cried out.
"Sorry! But I am! I don't like heights!"
"Jesus man! Don't freak out on me up there, you slip - we slip!"
"I didn't say I was going to slip, I said I was going to throw up."
"Yea, well don't get nervous, either. Your hands get too sweaty and their gonna slide right off this rope."
Putter gulped hard, suddenly tightening his grip on the rope. Tightening it so much he stopped moving.
"Loeb, I can't do this!"
In perfect timing, a strong gust of wind kicked in from the east, sending the entire rope and everyone on it flailing around in the air.
"WHY!?" Putter screamed and shut his eyes tightly.
"Relax." Loeb said, briefly shifting his grip to adjust to the winds push. "And keep moving! They're gonna figure this whole thing out pretty soon you know."
"I CAN'T! Just leave me! JUST LEAVE ME!" Putter began yelling.
"Fine, I'll leave you." Loeb said calmly. "Just know when I get to the bottom of this rope, I'm setting it on fire."
"Oh geeze." Putter said nervously and began slowly climbing down again.
"Hey, you gonna call him or what?" Teioh asked, coughing into his hand.
"Oh yea." Loeb said, and stopped moving. Putter was very thankful for the break again. "Let's just hope this number we got is right."
With that, Loeb pulled out a cell phone wrapped in a piece of paper. He grabbed the tip of the paper and rolled the phone into his hand before reading off the number and dialing it.
"What?" A voice said angrily. Loeb put on a fake voice, for no real particular reason, and responded.
"Is this General Rex Arinthone?"
"Yes." The voice said, then added, "And who, may I ask, is this?"
Loeb pulled the phone away and covered it.
"He wants to know who it is."
Teioh told him what to say.
"I was told to inform you that names aren't important, general. It's what's inside the name that counts." Loeb answered, almost laughing as he said the last few words. Even Putter heard the yell that followed that comment. Only Loeb heard the pounding of something though. They shared a laugh.
"You won't live through this, I PROMISE YOU THAT!" Came bursting from the tiny cell phone. "You hear me!?"
"You come in this room and you die, do you hear me?" Loeb replied, before slamming the phone shut.
"Ha-ha! That old fool thinks we're in there!" Putter cried out cheerily.
"Yea, and let's make sure we're on the ground by the time he figures out we're not." Teioh added.
"Good point." Loeb said, chucking the cell phone into the breeze. It began its long fall towards the earth below.
Ten minutes later the three rebels were standing at the bottom of the rope, hovering around the wrecked cell phone.
"Wow… that was a pretty strong phone." Putter said, looking over the mangled, but still all together, cell phone.
"Yea, I'm just glad we're not as messed up as it is." Loeb said, shooting a glare at Putter.
"Hey! We made it, didn't we?" He shouted defensively.
"Not yet." Teioh said, looking around. They were at the side of the Shinra building, and if he knew Rex Arinthone as well as he thought he did, the general would have figured them out by now. "We need to get as far away from this place as fast as possible."
Loeb looked at Putter, whose thick, tangled, black hair was matted down to his head from sweat. Putter looked back at him confused before shouting
"Oh yea!" He pulled out a cell phone and began making a call.
"Come on Put! Pull it together!" Loeb yelled at him.
"Hey, I was the only one with enough guts to do this with ya, so cut me a break."
Loeb would have said something, only he was right. For all his shortcomings, he had to give it to the pudgy guy. He was brave… like his father.
In a few minutes, a large truck with a covered back came screeching around the corner. It skidded to a halt in front of them.
"Let's roll!" The man in the drivers seat called out. "Teioh! Good too see ya again man!"
"Same." Teioh said as Loeb wrapped his arm around his friends torso and began helping him to the back of the truck.
"Put! You made it!" The driver shouted and started laughing. Putter shook his head and followed the two rebels to the back of the truck.
Loeb helped Teioh in first, before climbing in behind him. Putter hopped in last, turning around and pulling the dark green tarp over the backside of the open truck. Loeb slapped his hand off the trucks wall, and with that, the driver punched the gas and they were off. Loeb flopped down into the bench that lined the side of the tunnel-shaped room and let out a long breath. Putter took a seat opposite of him, and Teioh sat beside him.
"Mission success." Putter proudly stated.
"Save the celebration till we're a few miles away and we've got no tail." A coarse voice said from the front of the room.
Teioh squinted towards the voice, letting his eyes adjust from the bright, sunny day to the dim trucks interior. Sitting on the floor, leaning up against the wall was a man in a cloak of some sort. His head was hung low, letting a thick hood hang over his face. He could have asked who it was, he could have guessed, but he didn't have to. He knew.
"Cloud Strife." He said in a low voice. He felt somewhere between shocked and angry. This was Cloud Strife. The Cloud Strife. The guy was legendary for what he did in the early years of Shinra. But… he was also Cloud Strife, the chocobo rider who beat him and his dad the one time he got to ride along in a race. He was the reason there only was one time. It seemed petty when stacked up to the list of accomplishments this guy had, but it didn't change the fact that it hurt Teioh to even look at him.
Cloud lifted his head, and there he was. The old dog himself. Teioh was even more surprised. Marlene had told him Cloud looked bad, but… that was an understatement. Either she toned it down, or he'd gotten worse.
"You're Cloud Strife." Teioh said. Even he wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question.
Cloud said nothing.
"Why…?" Teioh asked. "Why are you here?"
"Teioh…" Loeb began.
"It's OK." Cloud cut in. "He has a right to ask. I'm here because me and you have recently come into a common interest."
Teioh frowned.
"People we care about have fallen into the same hands." Cloud began, his voice was calm - steady. "Now, I'm not entirely sure if you're one of the ones that doesn't care for me, or hates me. Most hate me, so I'd understand. Regardless of how you feel about me, it doesn't really matter right now. The only thing that matters is that we're both driven men. I understand you care a great deal about Marlene? Well, I felt the same way for Tifa. You want to save her? Well, I want to help…" Cloud's voice drifted off, as well did his eyes. He suddenly made a cringing face and grabbed his leg. In seconds, it was twitching uncontrollably, banging off the floor of the truck. All three of the young men watched him.
"What's happening to him?" Teioh asked.
"He has… attacks. Some kind of muscle contractions or something." Loeb answered.
"He'll be OK in a couple of seconds." Putter added.
"I wasn't worried." Teioh quickly replied. "Just curious."
"What was I saying?" Cloud asked once his attack was over.
Teioh shook his head. He was going to get help from this guy? He seemed as weak and feeble as any other old man he knew, if not more so. But there was… something about him. Maybe it was the confidence in his eyes… or maybe it was just the guys incredibly built reputation. Whatever it was, even as an old man with spasm attacks and a forgetful head on his shoulders, he was still intimidating.
Seeming to sense Teioh's thoughts, Cloud gave him a sharp look. For a moment, Teioh was thrown back a bit and didn't know what to say.
"You were saying," Loeb cut in, drawing Clouds faded blue eyes away. "that you want to help him."
Help me. The words rung in Teioh's head, and he couldn't keep himself from constantly wondering… How?
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The sun was going down over the Western sea, and one large truck, along with four small figures, had become silhouettes in the descending giants reddish-yellow glow.
"So you think we can honestly just walk right in the front door of this place?" Teioh stated with a hint of sarcasm. He was sitting on the dusty ground, legs folded and arms stretched behind him holding his body at a slant. Across from him, Cloud was drinking from a small flask and sitting on top of a wooden crate. He finished his drink, and, after leaning his elbows on his knees, gave Teioh another intimidating stare.
"Yes." He said with such confidence, either he was a fool… or he was right.
"And he's even been there before… up in the mountains, that is." Putter added. The short, tubby guy was sitting with his back to the sun, happily chowing down on some sort of sandwich that was overflowing on both sides with meats and cheeses. "He's been there a couple of time, actually." He added, wiping his lips with the arm of his shirt.
"Twenty years ago." Teioh added on top of that, trying to return Cloud's piercing stare.
"Mountains don't change." Loeb said from his position across from Putter.
"No, but people do." Teioh shot back.
As if to accentuate the harshness of his words, a cold breeze brushed through the men's make-shift camp. Teioh squinted into the breeze before nodding his head towards Cloud's side.
"Can you even use that thing anymore?" He asked, referring to the large, broad sword than laid sleeping in its sheath beside its owner.
"I guess we'll find out, won't we." Cloud answered. His voice was as gentle and swift as the breeze.
"This isn't a joke to me!" Teioh said, leaning up. "I care about Marlene and Tifa. More than you can even understand. They're everything to me."
"Good. Use that motivation when you get up close enough to those mountains that you could smell the death in them."
"Yea, and I'm wondering what's your motivation?"
"Teioh…" Loeb said in a low voice.
"No." Teioh said, brushing him off. "I want to know. I don't want to get up in those mountains and be stuck with some… crazy old loser!"
Loeb and Putter both glanced over at Cloud and watched for his reaction. It was like waiting for a drunk to ride a chocobo… something bad was bound to happen.
Instead, Cloud simply took another drink from the flask.
"See… he's out of his mind." Teioh said, gesturing to Cloud. "We'd be better off ourselves."
Cloud finished off the flask and set it down beside him. He leaned up on his knees again and laced his fingers together, staring down at them - he was silent. The three young men all looked around at each other. Putter looked worried, Loeb a little less so, but Teioh looked satisfied. Nothing between them besides the dying suns glow and the occasional cool breeze that swept in from the ocean.
"I'm uh…" Cloud suddenly began, cutting through the silent tension. He was still staring down at his hands, which he was now rubbing. "I'm on a clock kid."
Teioh looked confused. "What?"
Cloud shook his head. "When I was probably around your age, I was injected with a substance called "Mako"."
"I know what Mako is."
"Yea, well… you don't fully know what it is until you get the stuff coursing through your veins." Cloud said, his voice almost… sad. "Turns out-" He stopped short and began heartily laughing to himself. The three others exchanged another confused glance. When he was finished he took a deep whiff of air through his nose and continued. "Turns out there's some side effects."
All three listened intently.
"Hence the gray hair, the muscle spasms, and the forgetfulness. I'm… not doing so good, to say the least."
Teioh frowned. Marlene hadn't told him Cloud was sick… just old and a little crazy.
"Look, I know I did something horrible to Tifa and Marlene when I left. I understand that, and I understand that's probably why you've got it out for me."
Teioh blinked. He was surprised. The man speaking to him suddenly didn't seem so crazy. He seemed… vulnerable.
"But I'm dying kid. Can you understand that? I don't know how much time I've got left… the only thing I do know is that I can't die like this. Not like this."
"What do you mean?" Teioh questioned.
"I've got to do this." Cloud said, looking up at the other three for the first time. His eyes weren't intimidating anymore, they were just sad, and a little tired-looking. "I've got to save her… got to save them both. If I can do that… if I can do something like that before… the end…"
For a moment, Teioh swore that the mighty hero Cloud was going to cry. He didn't.
"I've made a lot of mistakes in my life." Cloud said, his voice small and weak now. "I won't make another one by not finishing this."
Another cold breeze, this one made Teioh shiver. At least, that's what he told himself did it. What it probably really was, was that, for the first time, he felt good about this mission. He had been wrong. He wasn't going into the mountains with an old, crazy loser. He was going with a fiercely determined man on the final mission of his life… one that didn't have any option but success.
"What are we doing waiting around?" Putter suddenly asked. "Let's get moving! We ride through the night, we can be there by morning!" He added cheerily.
All three of them looked at Cloud. He, rightfully so, had the deciding vote. When he stood, it filled them all with great morale.
"Alright!" Putter shouted. "To Mt. Nibel! Let's kick some cult ass!"
Loeb laughed and slapped the pudgy guy on his back as they headed to the truck. Teioh walked over to Cloud.
"Look, I-
"Don't worry about it." Cloud cut in.
Teioh looked at him for a moment, before nodding and turning towards the truck. He glanced over his shoulder at Cloud - who was now facing the open oceans surface, having a stare down with the sun.
"You coming?" He asked.
"In a second."
Teioh climbed into the back of the truck, sat down, and turned to watch the dark silhouette in the red suns dying light. He didn't know exactly what Cloud was thinking, but he had an idea of his own. He thought Cloud was wondering if it was the last sunset he'd ever see…