Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X are copyrighted to Square Enix.
Word Count: 2524
Pages: 7
AN: Thanks goes to Stormie, Midnight Phase, Tiri Li , ilovegaara-sama, Wraith the Destroyer, ScreamingHeartstrings, almost funny, and the anonymous person who all reviewed. Also thanks for all the alerts and favourites I got this week.
Pulling 3 green materia out of her pouch Aerith said to the others:
"This is Materia."
"What's materia?" Rikku, the short blonde girl asked, her eyes glinting at the sight of the small orbs.
"Materia is Mako energy that has formed into small spheres. We use it to achieve various effects. Green materia gives us elemental attacks and it's also used for curative magic."
"Magic? You best let Lu handle those. She's the black mage of the group." Wakka spoke up.
Aerith handed the green spheres to the raven haired woman that stepped to the front.
"How are they activated?" Lulu asked in her cool tone.
"Oh! How silly of me! I forgot to give you this." Aerith pulled out a Four Slots bracelet and handed it to the mage who put it on, letting it fall down around her wrist. "You insert the materia in the provided slots and-"
The flower girl's speech was cut off when Lulu, after equipping a fire materia, created a ball of flames in the palm of her hand.
"Told ya she's good!" Wakka enthused.
Lulu smiled. "You just focus on willing the magic out."
"Ya," Aerith blinked, surprised and impressed at the mage's understanding. "You guys done this before?"
"Something of similar effect. When you understand magic of any sort it isn't difficult to comprehend how others function. It's in your body; it feels familiar to you." Lulu replied.
"Alright. Well onto the next kind of materia. You got your yellow command materia that enhances your abilities. Like Sense materia, that allows you to better sense your enemy's power and weak points; there's Steal materia that guarantees you come away with a prize if the enemy has anything on them and there is also an Enemy Skill materia that lets you learn enemy attacks."
"Cool! Can I have those? Or the Steal sphere at least?" Rikku's eyes glinted mischievously.
"Naturally" Aerith handed over two of the yellow orbs already in the duo grooves of a Titan Bangle.
"Thanks!"
Gippal shook his head, "You don't know what you just did."
Rikku shot him a dirty look but didn't hold it for long, as she was too entranced by the small orbs around her wrist.
"Aerith, you said that there was a materia that lets you learn enemy attacks?" Yuna asked, while Aerith confirmed with a nod of her head. "Well, Kimahri here could do that back in our world. Would you mind giving that to him? He's already experienced in that kind of powers."
"No problem!" Aerith smiled and gave the blue furred Ronso an armlet equipped with the yellow materia.
Kimahri grunted his appreciation and slipped on the armlet.
"There is also several other kinds of materia and effects but I'll leave that for later, the lift is here now."
The door opened revealing a lone guard, carrying an assault rifle, who must have come up to see what was going on. He probably wasn't expecting the group because Barret knocked him out cold with a single blow from his metal arm.
Gippal picked up the dropped gun. "You don't mind if I borrow this?" He directed his question to the unconscious guard. "Of course you don't!"
Gleefully, he slung the weapon across his shoulder and pulled the guard out of the elevator.
"We'll go in two groups. Everyone with weapons will come with me so we can clear the path for those that aren't armed." Aerith determined.
Aerith, Barret, Red XIII, Gippal, Wakka and Lulu stepped onto the platform that would carry them down while the others waited on the 69th floor.
The lift began to move downwards when Aerith pressed the button to go down. They waited in silence for about 10 seconds when that peace was ended with the sound of machine gun fire and breaking glass.
Coming down on the other elevator's platform was a Shin-Ra security attack machine. Standing on four wheels, equipped with two chain guns and 3 turrets, the menacing Hundred Gunner stood opposite the 6 companions.
"Only Barret and Gippal are going to be able to hit it with their weapons," Aerith realized, "Lulu! Cast your magic at it."
The Hundred Gunner 's chain gun began to roll and Lulu shot an Ice spell that froze one of the rolling barrels before the other fired off and sent the small crew dodging and diving. They got off the floor a little bruised but relatively unscathed after that round of bullets.
Barret handed several grenades to Wakka as Aerith activated her Sense materia to scan the war machine. The flower girl could feel the machine's weakness to electricity and its program's fear that made it protect itself from the shocking elemental power that flowed through the Black Mage.
"Lulu! Use lightning against it!" Aerith commanded.
Adhering to the girl dressed in pink, Lulu cast a bolt at the remaining chain gun which short circuited the weapon, restoring it to an inert state before it could begin to roll again. Having been disabled from use of its machine guns, the security machine relied on its propelled grenades.
3 explosive shells flew at the 6 of them making Lulu side stepped one that missed her head by inches, Gippal rolled under one to avoid the shell and Barret shot the one coming straight for him out of the air with his gun arm. Adrenaline overcoming the fear of being unprotected from severe heights, the crew agilely manoeuvred around the platform avoiding the gun fire.
Red XIII shot a fireball at the robot in counter attack and Lulu bombarded it with more lightning attacks. Aerith could feel the strength and energy of the machine waning, giving in to the physical damage and the circuitry burning out from the unregulated electricity tormenting its core. One of the wheels had already given out and the security machine would not have been capable of escape were it programmed to do so.
Wakka threw a grenade Barret had handed him earlier and it effectively destroyed one of the three shell turrets. Unable to make any direct contact with the machine up close- in fear of getting hit with bullets and the unevenly shifting platforms of the lift betraying them into a multiple story fall- the group continued to hit the security machine with elemental spells and gun fire until Red XIII felt the machine slowly beginning to teeter into submission.
Wanting to make the static state of the enemy permanent, Red concentrated all his energy into his hindquarters as he reared up to charge. Sprinting on all fours at full strength, he leaped across the gap to the second platform and continued to soar through the air until the destroyed chest plate of the machine came directly in front of his face; its wiring exposed. Sinking his canines into the cords of the machine, the lion-wolf's fur bristled and stood on end as the overflow of non-channelled electricity coursed through his body.
Regardless of this discomfort, Red XIII shot through the opposite side of the guard robot, pulling behind him a trail of wires attached to his fangs, like entrails spewing forth from an exit wound. The Hundred Gunner ceased to function as it slumped onto it wheels, unmoving.
Wakka had begun to cheer, but Lulu could feel something else was coming by the sound of rushing wind. Looking upwards, a Heli Gunner was dropping down from above with its conical bottom spinning like a drill.
"Look out," the Black Mage called, not losing her cool temperament as she took a step back to brace herself against this new enemy. Wakka had to dive out of the way to avoid the dangerous underside of the machine.
This robot was reasonably smaller than the previous, but still a bit larger than a human. For the most part, it was made up of a central system, to which the drill was attached. The core unit was shaped like a triangular prism, with one large red lens on each side. On the three points of the prism were 3 gun-copter appendages. Each appendage had a copter fan situated at the top with a weapon at the bottom.
Aerith activated her Sense materia again and she felt that this machine was less powerful than the Hundred Gunner but she knew it still posed a challenge to the group, who were a little worse for the wear after their encounter with the previous Shin-Ra security machine. The flower girl cast a Cure spell over the crew, healing them of any menial injuries they had sustained and strenghtening them so they can carry on against the Heli Gunner.
The war robot brought up two of it appendages, levelling the guns to Gippal's height.
"Uh oh…" the blond man muttered before ducking into a roll and ending up right underneath the machine. Looking up his face was inches away from the drill point and the machine started to spin itself, spiralling downwards as it sensed an enemy lying below it.
Gippal rolled on his side as a lightning bolt hit the core of the security robot, causing it to stop its downwards movement but still kept itself afloat.
Using her logic, Lulu pieced together that most robots were weaker against electricity and she shot another bolt at the Heli Gunner. Getting to his feet again, Gippal joined Barret in the act of pelting the robot with bullets.
Rex XIII had leaped back onto the platform the others occupied and slashed at the machine, leaving 4 open swipes on its metal core. The Heli Gunner reared and brought its guns up once more, firing a shotgun round at the orange lion-tiger. Red XIII dodged most of the pellets but the wide spray of the shotgun round caught several shots in his shoulder, splattering blood on the pink dress of the flower girl he was protecting. She knelt by his side and placed a hand on his wounded shoulder, directly channelling her curative magic into the injury.
The damaged machine hovered lopsidedly backwards to the other platform with its slashed side still exhibited to the group.
Red XIII got back onto his feet, thanking the flower girl silently in the process. In retaliation to the machines attack, the orange beast formed a fireball in his mouth before firing it off at the wounded machine. The heated metal casing of the robot turned glowing orange and Lulu followed up the lion-wolf's attack by casting an Ice spell at the damaged metal, sensitizing the robot's core.
Wakka unpinned three of his grenades and ran to the edge of the elevator's platform before hurling the explosives at the machine. The first explosion destroyed the sensitive metal casing before the other two directly injured the robot's circuitry, blowing out bits of its wiring.
The robot faltered as if in a drunken stagger. Lulu added another bolt spell after Wakka's work for good measure, which short-circuited the robot's central processing unit, causing the machine to drop to the platform floor and implode.
./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./ ./
Tidus, Cloud and Paine stood side by side atop the huge veranda of the Shin-Ra building facing off against a blond haired man in a long white, trench coat with a shotgun in his right hand, arm hanging loosely by his side.
"Why do you want to fight me?" President Rufus asked.
"You seek both Sephiroth and the Promised Land," Cloud exclaimed.
"Indeed. Did you know Sephiroth is an Ancient? If I find him, he will lead us to the Promised Land." Rufus called back to the blond swordsman, unfazed.
"That is something I can't allow. Shin-Ra's tyranny must end!"
Tidus and Paine looked at each other, confused for a moment before realizing Cloud was speaking of a different Shinra.
"I see, I guess this means we won't become friends." Rufus pronounced, raising his shotgun for emphasis.
Rufus pulled the trigger of his shotgun and launched an array of pellets flying at the trio. Cloud brought his massive Buster blade forward to cover his face and turned the blade on its side. The ball bearings hit the metal of the sword and bounced back slightly, falling to the ground with a light thud before the warrior's feet.
"Hmm, 3 against 1 isn't an equal match" Rufus lifted his left arm after making his remark. His helicopter flew level to the side of the balcony and 3 Dark Nations jumped out.
The 3 nigrine fiend hounds roared and flicked their extra long tails, before casting their Barrier magic on their master.
The protected Rufus smirked gleefully and pointed his finger at the trio of sword wielders.
"Get 'em boys."
The fiends took off at a mad dash towards the intruders. Cloud braced himself, pulling his sword into a position ready to strike. He saw out of his peripheral two swords on either side of him being raised in defence as well.
A shout rang out across the rooftop to Cloud's left. He retained his defensive position but the cry was enough to distract Paine into looking. She saw Tidus gritting his teeth and clutching at his head, evidently pained, one hand still holding his sword.
The sable fiends jumped. Cloud rushed forward and swung his sword in an upwards arc, segmenting the Dark Nation into two halves. Tidus fended off with one hand the fiend attacking him. Paine dealt with her own fiend, which had caught her off guard while looking at Tidus.
Cloud started towards Tidus to help him but Rufus fired another round off from his shotgun and Cloud had to raise his sword again to defend against it.
Paine managed to part the fiend of its head and rushed to help Tidus, running the blade of her sword through the dark hound's mouth up to the hilt.
With all the fiends gone Tidus slumped to the ground and used both hands to grab at his skull, letting the Hardedge fall to the floor with a clatter.
Barriers gone, Cloud dashed at Rufus and pressed the tip of his sword against his wrist, causing the President to relinquish his grasp on the shotgun and dropping the weapon beside him.
"Alright, you got me." Rufus smirked, putting both his hands up and edged backwards, away from the sword.
"Call off the search on Aerith and the other Ancients," Cloud began, "and do not go after the Promised Land!"
"I…" Rufus started, stepping back some more, "I…can't comply."
With another superior smirk, President Rufus turned and ran to the edge of the balcony, the helicopter coming to his rescue. Leaping from the railing he latched on to the metal bar on the underside of the copter that it used for landing purposes.
Cloud activated his Fire materia, but the small ball of inferno missed the flying vehicle by several feet.
"RUFUS!!" Cloud shouted after the still living President of the Shin-Ra Company.
AN: Action filled chapter. If you guys beat last chapter's record of 8 reviews then you get an update Monday. My laptop keyboard is giving out and doesn't type some of the letters so there are possible typos (err...or maybe crumbs from my beef patty got into it...damn those flakes!)