Tifa and Nimuria stood silent as both tensed up in their respective battle stance. Tifa stood firm with her fists up, ready to both strike and defend. Nimuria, on the other hand, held her left dagger behind her back while keeping the right dagger out in front with the blade pointed outwards. Both female warriors stood on the mountain path, neither one willing to make the first move. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tifa broke the silence by asking:
"So, you aren't willing to back down, are you?"
"A foolish question," Nimuria answered with venom in her voice. "In spite of my failure to keep your comrade from pursuing my master, I will still fight for his dreams and goals. Even if I fall here at your hands, I will gladly die knowing that I helped him punish humanity for its sins and achieve salvation."
"Then we have something in common," Tifa remarked. "Cloud is my friend...the one person I know would stand by me no matter what…the one person I would fight and die for. And if you won't back down, I'll make sure you can't stop Cloud from stopping that lunatic you call a master."
That last comment got a rise out of Nimuria as she rushed Tifa and started slashing away with her daggers. Tifa, remembering her martial arts training, kept bobbing and weaving to avoid getting cut. After a series of slashes, Tifa found an opening and started jabbing and swinging with her fists. And just like Tifa did on her first exchange, Nimuria deftly dodged and blocked all of Tifa's blows until Tifa managed to knock her up against the mountainside with a swift kick to the abdomen.
Tifa tried to take advantage by unleashing a powerful haymaker. Nimuria quickly jumped up into the air as Tifa's fist met stone, resulting in a series of large cracks emanating from the point of impact. Nimuria did a quick somersault in midair and landed behind Tifa, slashing at the fighter's back with her daggers and leaving a pair of crisscrossing gashes.
Tifa grunted in pain as she turned around and connected with the left side of Nimuria's head with a backhand swing. The force knocked Nimuria to the ground as Tifa moved to capitalize with a quick heel drop. Nimuria rolled out of the way and quickly countered with slashes to Tifa's left calf, nearly severing the Achilles tendon.
As the blood started to flow from her most recent wound, Tifa backed off and grabbed her calf to assess the damage and stop the bleeding. Nimuria didn't give her the chance as she kipped-up and landed a violent roundhouse kick to Tifa's right temple. The force of the kick disoriented Tifa as she dropped to one knee. Nimuria quickly moved around Tifa, knelt down behind her, and held her left dagger to Tifa's throat.
"You said you'd die for that man, didn't you?" Nimuria demanded as she continued to press the knife against Tifa's neck. "Well, it seems that you will be making good on your word, traitor. Do not feel regret, though; once my master has completed his task, you will be reunited with him in the Lifestream."
"To hell with that," Tifa weakly croaked out as she drove the back of her head into Nimuria's skull. The force was enough to force Nimuria to release Tifa as she stumbled to regain her bearings. Tifa remembered the technique that her fighting master Zangan had left for her to discover in Nibelheim four years ago and started collecting energy at the end of her right fist. She rushed the still-woozy Nimuria and planted a punch square in Nimuria's torso.
Tifa looked down and quietly whispered, "Final Heaven…"
The energy that surrounded Tifa's fist immediately exploded into Nimuria, causing severe internal damage and propelling the Repentant hard into the side of the mountain. The force was so great that Nimuria's body created a small crater into the hard rock of Mt. Nibel, breaking every bone in the Repentant's body and killing her instantly.
Nimuria's body fell to the ground in a heap as Tifa tried to catch her breath. Final Heaven was an incredibly powerful technique that only a few could even use without killing themselves. As it was, using Final Heaven took a great deal of energy out of Tifa and always left her feeling exhausted. Tifa shook it off as best she could as she grabbed some bandages from a small first-aid pack she carried.
Once she had managed to patch up her wounds, Tifa then turned her attention towards the Nibel Reactor on the other side of the gorge. Tifa knew a way to get there, but it was much more treacherous and time-consuming path. However, with the bridge destroyed, Tifa didn't have any other options.
Tifa walked gingerly, trying hard not to put too much weight on her injured leg. She limped towards the alternative path with one single thought on her mind:
"Be strong, Cloud. I'm coming."
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Through various catacombs, past a vast assortment of strange and vicious monsters, and on the other side of an oddly-placed door, the weary Repentant finally arrived at the Nibel Mako Reactor.
The reactor, long abandoned after Meteorfall, was showing the signs of decay associated with indifference. Reeve and the WRO would have torn the reactor down years ago had the organization not faced more pressing issues like the most recent battles with Deepground. Instead, the reactor continued to stand at the top of Mt. Nibel, locked up so no curious mountain climbers could sneak inside.
However, that was precisely what Cyrus had in mind as he walked up the steps to the reactor's front entranceway and began fiddling with the door's control pad. He had learned many things since being ousted from Shinra, and one of those things was rudimentary electronics. He continued cutting wires and manipulating circuit boards when his work was interrupted by a familiar voice:
"Cyrus! Stop this now!"
Cyrus casually turned around as he tapped his cane on his left shoulder. Standing at the bottom of the staircase was a warrior with spike-blonde hair and Mako-enhanced blue eyes. He wore a black sleeveless woolen shirt with matching dark pants. On his left shoulder he wore a leather guard with a steel effigy of a wolf, and on his upper left arm was tied a pink ribbon. Cyrus had not anticipated that this warrior with the large metal sword would have caught up with him so quickly, but he immediately dismissed his surprise and replied with a smile:
"Cloud Strife. I had hoped that we could avoid another meeting like this. I suppose the Planet sees fit to test me…see if I am truly worthy to use the Clear Materia."
"I won't let you…" Cloud stated simply. "…I won't let you erase all life in this world just to satisfy your need for repentance."
"And why not?" Cyrus inquired. "You, of all people should want the Planet's forgiveness more than anyone. After all, it was because of your inaction that the last of the Cetra perished in the Forgotten City…and it was your weakness that allowed Sephiroth to call forth Meteor. Or do you dare to deny your role in those travesties?"
"Shut up. Your mind games aren't going to work. I've put my past behind me, and I've been forgiven by Aeris…"
"Have you? Are you sure it wasn't just another delusion that your fragile mind created? You are like every other human being on the Planet…you think that one small act of heroism or charity absolves you from the sins committed by your brethren and ancestors, and you come up with such excuses and reasons why you should be forgiven."
Cloud tensed up and held onto his sword tightly as Cyrus raised his right hand into the air. "You stand in the way of the Repentant and refuse to grant the Planet the energy it needs to cure itself. You would strike me down and let the hopes of a true Promised Land wither and die. And for that transgression, I think it's fitting that one of the Planet's own guardians strike you down for your sin."
A red light glowed brightly from Cyrus's raised arm as flames danced from his fingertips. Then, a circle of flames surrounded Cloud as he jumped out of the ring. Seconds later, the ground erupted in a geyser of lava as a large humanoid burst from the embers. This humanoid was eight feet tall and a mountain of chiseled, dark brown muscles with large hands and feet to match. It wore a simple red loincloth and sported a pair of large curving horns jutting out either side of its forehead. The flame this demon was spawned from continued burning on its body without it noticing or even caring…in fact, the demon seemed to revel in the fire. It gave Cloud a wicked and toothy smile and stood ready to pounce as Cyrus smiled.
"Ifrit! This traitor to the Planet intends on ending the life of your summoner. Tear him limb from limb and reduce his body to ashes in your hellfire," Cyrus commanded as he finally tricked the reactor door into opening.
Ifrit nodded as he lunged at Cloud with all his ethereal might as Cyrus casually walked inside the reactor. Cloud blocked Ifrit's advance with his sword as he tried to push back the summon. The intense heat began to wear on Cloud as he finally broke off and retreated a few meters away.
"Damn it," Cloud thought as he removed one of the smaller blades from his sword and readied himself. He knew full well that once a summoned monster was called forth, it would not relent until it or its enemy was destroyed. Cloud would need to defeat Ifrit if he was to stop Cyrus from destroying humanity.
"Let's go," he whispered as he rushed into battle with the Demon Lord of Flames.
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Author's Notes:
Obligatory Summon Alert! Come on, a story like this needs to have at least one summoning, and since Bahamut has been WAY over-exposed in all the FFVII media (Neo, Zero, Fury, Sin), I decided to go with an old favorite of mine. Yes, Ifrit is my demonic brother from a fiery mother. See him and Cloud throw down in Chapter 21!
I'd like to thank everyone who's supported me in this project of mine. Special thanks go out to Writer Chica for her very large and quite awesome review. Glad my "Review Beg" joke was epic enough to bring about such feedback!
BTW, Kairi-loves-Sushi...you STILL ROCK!
Free your mind...free your mind...free your mind by releasing your thoughts on "The Rise of the Repentant" in the form of a review.
(Yeah, my burger joke was WAY better. Gotta dig deeper...get funnier! Eye of the Tiger, damn it!)
Thank you all,
"The Exile" Cyrus Truth