I HOLD NO CLAIM TO ANY OF THE ORIGINAL FINAL FANTASY 7 CHARACTERS! NOTHING! :(
Chapter Eight
Strike Three
WRO Headquarters was in shambles. Claire hurried through the area, searching for the two that she was looking for. She burst into the main office.
"Reeve! Barry! Thank God." Claire sighed in relief. The boy pushed himself up from beside Reeve and ran to the woman, wrapping his arms around her waist as he fought back tears. The child must have been so terrified.
"I'm so ashamed," Reeve looked like he was about to cry. "I am supposed to be a hero of the Jenova war. But look at me."
"Don't take all the blame." Vincent told him.
"Yeah, they kicked our ass, too." Claire added.
Vincent looked at the man on the floor. "Reeve." He looked up. "You're not thinking of giving up, are you?"
The man didn't reply so Vincent knelt down beside him. "I used to be nothing but a stone in the river of time. But three years ago it was you and the others who taught me that I had to move ahead." Claire gave a soft smile.
"Vincent," Reeve began but the man stood back up and moved away, leaving the room. He motioned for Claire to follow him and she did, Barry right behind her.
They found Yuffie in the healing chambers, staring at Shalua as she laid there in her tube.
"Is she all right?" Claire instantly demanded.
Yuffie hung her head. "They…they say she won't wake up." Claire bit her lip. "She suffered too much trauma to her head. Unless there's some kind of a miracle, she's…she's not…" She slammed her hand on the desk she was sitting on. "You two were there! Why couldn't you save her?!"
Both of them hung their heads but Barry tossed his arms out. As if trying to block the two of them. "They did nothing wrong!" He told the ninja sitting there. "They tried their hardest! I know that they did!"
Yuffie sighed and hung her own head. "No, I didn't mean to…" She was cut off by the door opening again and this time Shelke walked in. she gave her sister one look.
"She was a fool," She stated.
Yuffie had jumped off the desk and slapped her across the face. "You have no right to call her that! You don't know-you don't know what-" Vincent placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back from the girl.
"Why? Why would she do something so…" Yuffie couldn't take it anymore and stormed out of the room.
"Before," Vincent began. "When I asked Shalua what she was looking for, she answered. 'her reason to live'. It was you, Shelke. You were her reason to live."
"So?" Shelke asked after a moment. "I don't understand how someone could give her own life for that of another. Do you understand, Vincent Valentine?"
~I do~ Claire told herself. ~For Jeanne and Cloud…for any of them really~
Vincent turned away. "I can't answer for your sister, but…"
"But?"
"When a person has someone they care about that much, giving their life is sometimes the least they can do. But maybe…that's what makes us human."
"Someone they…care about."
"Although, it seems that there are a lot of people around me who don't need a reason to risk their lives for that of another."
"And are you-" Shelke stumbled forward, like she was out of energy. Claire watched, an eyebrow raised, as Vincent and the child just stood there, staring at eachother for a moment.
"What are they doing?" Barry asked.
"I'm not sure…" She frowned. Something told her that this had something to do with Lucrecia again.
"I'm sorry," Shelke apologized as she stepped back. She turned. "Why are her data fragments responding?"
"Data fragments?" Claire asked.
Before she could get her answer, Reeve entered the room and saw them standing there. He moved to the other man. "Vincent. I agree with you. This is not the time for us to give up. But I need to know something. Those data files that you recovered from ShinRa Manor, are you sure there were not anymore?"
Vincent shook his head. "I'm sure."
"I see." Reeve hung his head. "Did you get ahold of Jeanne?"
"I did," Claire began. "But she said that she didn't have them." Reeve hung his head. "What's wrong?" Claire asked him.
"Well, the Omega report, the file was incomplete. To make any sense of it we are going to require the other half. If possible, I wanted to know more about our foe before we launched the attack on Midgar."
"Are you speaking of Lucrecia Crescent's findings?"
Claire frowned at the name and Barry grabbed her hand as they continued to talk. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Claire shook her head. "Just some…bad memories."
"You know what can make that go away?" Barry began.
"What?"
"Some ice cream!" the child grinned.
She gave a small laugh. "Will go get some right after dinner, all right?"
"Yeah!"
"Vincent! Claire! Reeve! You better get out here!" Yuffie's voice blared over the intercom.
They ran out onto the launch pad and they recognized the ship that was landing before them. Claire joined Yuffie in jumping up and down, waving their arms and calling out a certain pair of names. Barry gave Claire one look before joining in. Claire felt tears rising in her eyes as the ship landing; the memories were coming back. She could just see what Cid was saying as he brought it to a land.
"Ha! What the hell we waiting for? It's time to get up and go! Come on, get on board!"
She then laughed at what she was sure Renee would say in return.
"Calm down, Cid. They'll be on soon enough."
It wasn't too long before they were onboard and Claire was running for the pilot. "Cid! Cid! Cid! Cid! Cid! Cid! Cid! Cid! Cid!
"Whoa! Calm down there, sweetheart!" The man laughed. "It's good to see you again, too!"
Cid Highwind wore a pair of black pants and boots, a blue shirt with a faded, red jacket tied around his waist. He wore a pair of gloves on his hand and those goggles in his blond hair like always.
Vincent could hear her voice the moment he stepped onto ship behind Yuffie.
"Renee! Renee! Renee! Renee!"
Yuffie's aunt had long hair still dyed red and was wearing a pair of khaki capris and a white tank top with a grey jacket.
"Look at the babies!" Claire gasped. "They've gotten so big!" Vincent stared in shock at the two one-year-old's that Renee and Yuffie were holding; both were girls. He remembered that Renee had been pregnant during the events last year by why hadn't he been that they had been born?
~Oh yeah,~ He closed his eyes. ~I didn't get in contact with them. It surprised me that Reeve knew how to find me; then again he did have the geniuses on the computer that could probably do it for him.~
"Hey, Vincent!" Cid grinned from behind the wheel as a third one-year-old sat in a seat beside him. This one was a boy. "Long time!" He had let go of the wheel and one of the crew members gave a cry. "Sorry about that." He grinned. "As much as I'd like to sit down and reminisce about old times, you'll have to take a rain check. Why don't you have a look around my bird until our meeting?"
"Claire," Renee grinned. "Come with me. We need to talk."
"Vincent," Claire turned to the man behind her. "Let's meet up for something to eat later, yeah?"
Vincent stared at her for a moment before giving her a nod.
"Here," Cid handed off the baby that was sleeping. "Take him with you. Me and Vincent here are going to have a man talk."
"The question is can you really call it a 'man' talk then." Yuffie teased as she took the boy.
"Now, now," Renee chuckled as she led the way down the hall.
"So," Claire grinned as she followed, the girl in her arms playing with her hair. "How have the two of you been?"
"Good, besides exhausted due to three little rascals but we're getting along just fine." Renee gave her a wink. "Now don't be surprised if we leave them with you and Jeanne before taking off on our own for a bit."
Claire gave a laugh. "Just tell me the time and the place!"
"You should give them to Zeke; he'd love to have to look after four children instead of just his." Yuffie decided to say as they reached the babies room.
Renee laughed at her niece. "You tease Zeke too much now, Yuffie."
"Ha! Yuffie does that to everyone. Remember how she used to treat Cid when we traveled together?"
Renee shook her head. "Used to? She still treats him that way."
Yuffie was flushing. "All right guys, I think we get the point. Let's change to conversation to what you wanted to talk to." The young woman held an icepack to her head.
"Still can't take flying, huh?" Claire asked her.
Yuffie frowned. "No, not really."
"You know," Renee set the children, Selena, Aurora, and Bastian, in their cribs to let them rest. Bastian and Selena slept peacefully but Aurora refused to, playing with her toys as she watched the three women instead. "I had a talk with Jeanne just the other day."
"Really?" Claire asked. "Are they all right?"
"Yes, they're all just fine. They were all rather upset about the attack on Edge; Zeke making a big fuss over them being able to protect the people if they had been there."
"Well of course!" Yuffie nodded. "If they had been there then Deepground wouldn't have had a chance to make Edge an empty place."
"True. They're on their way now to help with the attack on Midgar, so keep your eye out for your brother. He seems to be very worried about you."
Claire pulled a face. "Yeah, I heard when he called Vincent after Nibelheim. Sometimes, Cloud's just a little too protective."
"Yes, well you're the only family he has left so of course he is." Renee smiled. "Anyway, so tell me, how are things with Vincent?"
Claire glanced away. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play coy now, Claire." Yuffie grinned.
"Damn," Claire shook her head. "What do you two want me to say? I'm in love with a 60–year-old man." She then thought about what she said. "There's something wrong with that."
"Yes, well, at least he looks like he's in his thirties." Renee chuckled.
"I agree there." Her niece grinned.
Claire flushed. "Shut it, guys."
"Renee, we need you guys up here. They're ready for the show." Cid's voice announced.
"Shall we?" Renee smiled, turning to leave the room.
"Are we just leaving the kids here?" Claire asked.
"Not by themselves," The mother assured her. "Shera will be here soon to stay with them.
"Shera's here?" Claire asked as they walked down the hall again. "Wow. I didn't expect that."
"Shera's a good friend and has been for years." Renee told them. "I'd trust her with my life after all that we've been through."
"Yeah," Claire gave a smile as they entered the front again and found everyone gathered around a large orb beneath the wheel of the ship.
"All right," Cid began. "Our old buddies and the remaining WRO Squad will lead the ground assault."
"While we launch our attack," Yuffie was holding that icepack to her head still. "From the air."
"Right," Cid nodded. "So Reeve, you ready?"
"Yes." The man nodded with a firm face.
Claire watched in awe as everything went dark and the globe in the middle lit up. It reminded her of Red Xlll's grandfather three years ago when he showed them the planets. All the stars were there again and she wore a huge smile on her face. She felt like she was floating in the galaxy.
"Just as we return to the planet when our lifeline is fading," Claire frowned at Lucrecia's voice. Renee placed a shoulder on her hand, knowing how she was feeling. "The planet returns to the Cosmos when her time has come." The trip through space they were receiving was extraordinary. "Anything that has definite shape will one day cease to exist. The same is true for this world." They watched as their planet began to explode. Claire gasped. "Before she takes her final breath, the pure Lifestreams that flow freely beneath her crust
Will be brought together into one," They watched as it happened. "By Omega, the ultimate life form. His purpose? To gather all life, sentient and not, and lead it into the sea of stars where it will embark on a fabulous journey along a road untraveled." They watched as 'Omega' shot off across the galaxy. "However, when Omega has lifted the life from this planet," They all glanced down to find a red ball that had once been their planet. It began to crumble apart. "All that will remain will be an empty shell, destined to die silently in the limitless void of space."
Everything returned to normal after that.
"Omega is the same type of life form as the three Weapons that we encountered three years ago," Shelke's voice came to them.
"You mean, the creatures that Sienna raised and could control?" Renee asked.
"The very same."
"So, that means…if Sienna were still alive…she would be able to control Omega as well, right?"
"Perhaps. I am not sure but from what I have learned, then yes, she would have been and Deepground's mission would have been pointless."
"That figures," Cid hissed.
"The Planet gave birth to the Weapons to protect itself it too will give birth to Omega when the end of the world is imminent. In essence, Omega is an elaborate safety mechanism designed solely to maintain and protect the flow of life."
"Then how would Sienna be able to control it? Weren't she and Sephiroth trying to destroy the planet?"
"Something happened when she came into contact with the Weapons," Shelke answered. "I'm not sure on what it was so I cannot answer truthfully." She paused. "Normally, Omega poses no threat to us. It only manifests when the planet has detected something that may cause her danger."
"However," Reeve began. "Deepground is attempting to awaken the beast early. Thus, the kidnappings."
"But why?" Claire demanded. "Why would they do that?"
"By slaughtering thousands of innocent souls," Reeve continued. "They are creating a pure Lifestream in order to trick the planet into thinking the end is near."
"Why those conniving!" Cid gave off a yell. "I don't know what this Weiss character is thinking but he's crazy if he thinks we're gonna let him get away with it!"
"You damn right!" Claire agreed.
"Omega is being revived deep beneath Midgar Mako Reactor Zero." Reeve continued. Claire remembered that path from three years ago when they had to save Aerith the first time and then again when they had to stop the Sister Ray. "To increase the output of Reactor Zero all the other Reactors have been tied to its mainframe. Our Objective is to destroy One through Eight and slow the reanimation process. Mission details for each squad will be relayed separately."
"All right," Cid grinned. "We still got some time before the big show. You got anything that needs tending to, do it."
"Vince, Claire," Renee began. "You two don't worry about those Reactors. We'll handle those."
"Yeah," Cid agreed. "You take care of those four Wackos."
"Not a problem!" Claire grinned.
"I don't like letting you have all the fun," Cid added. "But you know that I can't leave my baby here alone." He referred to the Ship. "Or the three kids." He teased. "Cloud and the others will be shutting down the power and there's no way we're letting Yuffie and Renee go down there by themselves."
"Don't worry, Cid," Claire told him. "Vince and I can take care of the Tsviets, no problem!" She rubbed the back of her neck though, remembering what Rosso had injected into her. Just…what was that? She prayed that it wasn't going o cause a problem.
"Good," Cid grinned. "'Cause we're counting on ya."
Claire gave a smile. "Now excuse me, I think that I need to go take care of something really quick," She glanced at Vincent. "Meet you in the kitchen?"
The man gave a nod and she hurried from her room, searching for a bathroom. She found one and began to check herself in the mirror. No swelling. No funny looks. No different colors. She looked fine, except for the dark circles under her eyes but with all the crap that's going on when could she really sleep unless she'd been knocked out?
Giving a sigh of relief she turned and looked at the back of her neck. No marks there, either. Maybe she was just imagining things. If Rosso had truly injected something into her then something would have happened by now, right? Besides, she didn't know this Weiss guy so there was no reason as to why they were wanting her. This was all just some kind of trick.
~Stop thinking about it and just go get something to eat.~ She told herself as she left the bathroom. Walking down the hall she found everyone getting ready for the mission. Heading to the kitchen she found no one there. She waited for a little while but no one came. She frowned. ~I guess Vincent's getting ready for the mission as well. Might as well just go and join them.~ Grabbing an apple, she ate it as she passed through the halls, heading for the back of the ship to get ready to start the mission. When the hall door opened in front of her she found out where Vincent was.
He was on the ground, clutching at his chest, gasping for breath. "Vincent!" She slid down next to him, grabbing his arm. "What's wrong? What's going on?" he didn't reply, just sat there, clutching his chest. "Oh God, its Chaos, isn't it? Is he trying to take over?" ~He can't control Chaos without the Protomateria! What am I going to do? What can I do?~
"You…you're here," His voice was short and in pain.
Claire raised a brow. "Of course I'm here. We were supposed to have lunch, remember? You see what happens when you bail out on me?"
"I'm…I'm sorry…"
"It's-"
"Lucretia."
Claire fell silent and raised a brow. That was when she noticed that Vincent was staring at the doorway in front of them. She now understood what he was saying and to whom he was saying it to. He didn't even know that she was here. Claire's anger skyrocketed. Could she never get away from that damn woman?
~There is a way to do that~ She told herself. ~And only one. Can you do it?~
"Claire?" Vincent's voice made the woman rip herself from her thoughts. "what are you doing here?"
"I'm not quite sure anymore." She clenched her eyes shut as she pulled away from him. Vincent looked at her in confusion. "I can't…I can't take it anymore! I thought that I could but I just-I just can't, Vincent! Not anymore!" She glared at him. "I hope you're going to be happy with that damn crystalized woman in that cave!"
"Claire, wait!" Vincent reached for her but she was gone from the room as Cid's voice blared over the intercom.
She was hoping that he would come after her but he didn't. If he did, he could have caught her. Instead she found herself alone a she burst into the launch pad, searching for someone. She found them.
"Claire, what happened?" Yuffie demanded, turning from Reeve. The blonde was silent for a moment before lowering her head as her tears decided to fall. Yuffie grabbed her, holding her as Reeve shook his head.
~Vincent, you fool~
~I think I'm drowning;
Asphyxiated,
I wanna break this spell
That you've created.
You're something beautiful;
A contradiction,
I wanna play the game,
I want the friction.~
"Claire," Yuffie called to the woman beside her. "Try to stick with me and Aunt Yuie, all right?"
"Not a problem!" The Strife called back.
Claire had changed her mind. She was letting Vincent go off by himself. She didn't care anymore. Instead, she was going to go find Cloud and the others and help them bring down the Reactors. The others didn't ask why and Vincent didn't show up; she was glad with both of them.
"All right, go!" Cid cried.
"Catch you on the flip side." Renee called over her shoulder as they took off.
(OH points for the Power Ranger line! XD)
Claire gave off a cry as she was shot into the air that quickly turned into laughter as she dodged the missiles from the enemy below. She whipped out her gun and began to fire back, giving victory hoots as they landed. This was making her feel better. She had given Vincent three tries and he kept doing the same thing over and over; always ending with Lucretia. It wasn't fair and Claire was done with it, just like Jeanne had told her to be before the events with Deepground started.
Vincent Valentine had just struck out.