Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I depend on my daughter, Angeal Valentine, and on Bjanik for all my information on the subject.
(4:30-5:30 am, Mideel—Apple Town; 2:30-3:30 am, Midgar; 10:30-11:30 pm, Gongaga; 6:30-7:30 pm, Wutai)
Reno was slumped with the side of his face on Lynette Hiland's desk; blood from the bullet hole above his heart was soaking into the blotter's felt and creeping toward his eye. Hunh. Soaking into all the little fibers, one by one. Wonder how far it could go if nobody came, yo, but Gonzo's coming. Don't think I want to move… can move. Blood's darker than my hair in this light. Yeah. Yo, Rude, wish you were here, man. I wouldn't be dying if you were here…
"Reno!" Gonzales crashed around the desk and reached for Reno, unzipped the back of his night-ops Turk suit, and gently turned him over. "Hsst, man look at all that blood! Reno, don't you die on me! Rude'd kill me for sure!" A slight chuckle shook Reno's frame followed by a groan. "Well, you're not dead if you can laugh, I s'pose." Gonzales wrapped his arms around Reno's abdomen, lifted the body slightly, then nudged the rolling desk chair out of the way. He carefully lowered Reno face-up to the floor then gently peeled the rubbery suit from over his left shoulder and upper arm to get to the wound. Bright red blood pumped onto Reno's ghostly white skin—arterial blood, bad sign!
The materia Gonzales had earlier pulled from a pocket, he now rolled between his fingers for a few seconds while he centered his intent. Gonzales knew he wasn't all that good at this and the materia didn't look to be much more than first aid capable; he had to get the healing exactly right. He hoped that the bullet wasn't stuck in a bone somewhere; even so, the materia's wiggling the bullet out could cause more damage to Reno than the bullet had caused when it first went in! The whole shoulder area was full of vital nerves and blood vessels.
A whisper reached Gonzales' ears. "Do it." Reno's voice wasn't much more than an exhale.
"Yeah." Gonzales lowered the materia to the entry point, and the blood covered his fingertips, "Cure1." The pale green materia was quickly lost in the blood as it dissolved into the hole. For a finger's length about the hole, the surface of the blood pool rose, fell, and rippled like a drumhead to the beat of Reno's heart and breathing. "Come on, come on, come on. Get out of there." Gonzales knew it was no use to urge the bullet out, but he tried anyway. Nerves. Slowly an edge of the butt end of the bullet emerged from the blood and the hole. Gonzales delicately lifted the lead sideways to carefully twist the flatted nose out of Reno's body, raised the bullet to the window, then studied it in the moonlight. 45 caliber. The hole in Reno's chest closed over, but Gonzales knew there was more internal tissue damage—more healing was needed. "Reno, man, you are lucky to be alive."
When Reno didn't respond, Gonzales looked back at him sharply. Reno's eyes were closed. Gonzales bent his ear close to Reno's mouth and put a finger to his throat to feel for a pulse. Breath. Pulse. Good. Suddenly Gonzales felt something wet against his ear. What?! Gonzales jerked upright and raised his fist, ready to punch. Reno—that bastard!—had kissed him! He barely heard Reno's words.
"Thanks… Guad-al-fre-do." The corner of Reno's mouth twitched in a smile. "Tell Tseng… secretary… killed… Hiland… who shot… me…" Reno's eyeballs rolled up in their sockets, and he lay still.
"Ain't fallin' for that one again, Reno."
Reno didn't move.
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(4:30-5:30 am, Mideel—New Banora; 2:30-3:30 am, Midgar; 10:30-11:30 pm, Gongaga; 6:30-7:30 pm, Wutai)
Tseng, Rufus, and his bodyguard were standing in the tube control room where they had completed the "disposal" process and were now awaiting Turks and clones to arrive for the evacuation. Suddenly Tseng's communicator vibrated about his ear. Now what?! He tapped it thoughtfully, "Tseng."
"Commander? Gonzales here. Reno's down! He was shot by Lynette Hiland! She was shot and killed by her secretary, who's now on the run underground. Landers is in pursuit."
Tseng's hand moved slowly from his earpiece. He was stunned. "How's Reno?"
"Bad, sir. Lynette Hiland came in through a secret passage in the office and shot Reno when he was going through her desk. The bullet missed his heart, but my best spell and materia are only Cure1—Lando, too, if he was here. The Mideel Base guys have arrived, but none of them has any materia."
Gonzales sounded worried. That wasn't good. Nothing much bothered Gonzo, except his code name. Tseng had thought that he would never be surprised by anything that happened to Reno, or by anything that the redhead ever did for that matter, but now that he'd been shot, Tseng added another item to the list of things that had surprised him over the past few days. "All right… Call Landers and tell him to return unless he's got her in his sites. With the military arriving, Apple Town's bound to wake up. We'll be bringing as many of the Banorans to live at Apple Town as will surrender. Shinra will be providing funds for the Banorans to jump start their lives. You'll need Landers to talk to the Apple Townians while you take care of Reno."
"Boss, do we tell 'em that Hiland's dead?"
"Yes. They might as well hear it all at once. The Banorans' lives aren't the only ones that will be changed tonight." Tseng glanced at his watch. "Finish getting all the documents and computers out of there and onto the truck. We'll join you shortly." Hm. Complication. Tseng had wanted to leave Rude in charge at Apple Town for the interim, but if Reno were in trouble, Rude might not stay.
"Yes, sir." Gonzales paused. "Commander, who's gonna tell Rude his partner's been shot?"
"I'll deal with it. Tseng out."
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Stepping through the door of the tube control room to the pool overlook platform, Tseng felt his jaw drop and his temple pound with a headache—another damn surprise for his list. The platforms surrounding the mako pool were crowded with clones; so many faces that looked the same, over and over, made his head pound. More clones could be seen standing back inside the hallways that emptied onto the platforms. The effect was dizzying. Most were dressed in coveralls, a few in black guard outfits. A very few, notably the Vanessas, were bright spots with their variously arranged strawberry-blond hair, lab coats, tee-shirts, and jeans. Three Vanessas even held babies in their arms. Who knew there would be so many Banorans?!
"Overwhelming, isn't it?" Rude glanced at Tseng.
Tseng nodded at Rude's question; Rude was certainly correct about that. Rude was standing nearby outside the control room door with most of the remaining Turks and his arm around Vanessa-7. Tseng had the impression that Rude was keeping contact with the girl so he wouldn't lose her in the midst of so many identical young women. If the Banorans had been armed, they might have been able to overrun the small group of Turks. With Vanessa-7's knowledge of the complex, however, Tseng's people had located the New Banoran armories and commandeered the weaponry. On the off chance that one of the Banorans might recognize Rufus, Tseng had insisted that the Shinra president remain safely out of sight inside the control room with his bodyguard. Shinra was the original cause of Banora's problems, after all. In the control room, Rufus was making some long distance arrangements for the Banorans' futures.
"Rude, Vanessa-7, I have some bad news for both of you, so steel yourselves." Tseng took a deep breath. He knew he should be used to this sort of thing by now, but somehow it never seemed to get any easier. Seven looked a question at Rude; he wasn't sure she knew what the phrase "steel yourself" meant. "Rude, Reno's been shot at Apple Town—he's not good." The only sign of a reaction from Rude was a blanching of his skin—"Mr. Silent," indeed. "He's alive, but neither Gonzales nor Landers nor any of the Mideel troops have the materia to affect anything more than a Cure1. As soon as we arrive at Apple Town, we'll be able to treat him, but I want to forward him on to the base immediately along with Zack Fair. Major Niven has reported that Fair's been poisoned. I find that, like Sephiroth, I don't want to trust the Mideel city hospital either."
"Sir? What's my bad news?" Vanessa-7 looked into Tseng's eyes and tried to read his face.
"I'm sorry. You've been a big help to us, Vanessa-7, but it was Vanessa-0 who shot Reno. She's dead now, though. Vanessa-1 killed her. One of my men was chasing Vanessa-1, but I've called him off the search." Tseng tilted his head at the woman. She had displayed no reaction to his information, not even Rude's blanch. "When we seal the exits to this complex and at Apple Town, can she still escape?"
"Hm? Maybe…" Vanessa-7's eyes left Tseng's face. She could feel a tremor running through Rude's arm about her waist. She wanted to draw him away from this crowd. "I'm sorry. I don't know the tunnels between here and Apple Town, but there's probably an exit along the way. Maybe more than one…" She shrugged and shook her head, her hair rippling around her shoulders.
There was something about Seven's hair that caught Rude's attention and took his breath away. He wanted to bury his face in her hair and hold her to him. Just for a few minutes, then run after Reno. Damn it, Reno! Rude took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders, and raised his eyes to Tseng. "Let's get this over with."
"Right." Tseng looked down at the girl. "Are you ready to talk to these people? Try and get the others to surrender?"
Vanessa-7 nodded and started walking through the clones toward Lynette Hiland's old, monitor-filled office where the intercom system should still be operational. Suddenly she found herself surrounded by black-suited Turks pushing their way, roughly, through the clones. Vanessa-7 stopped, laid a hand on the arm of one tall Turk, and shook her head gently, half-smiling. The Turk stopped in his tracks. The girl resumed walking, and the clones parted before her, only Rude followed.
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"Banorans." The intercom screeched with feedback. "Ouch!" Vanessa-7 stopped speaking into the microphone and covered her ears with her hands. She glanced at Rude who stood in the office doorway with his arms crossed. Rude shrugged. Well, at least she now had everyone's attention.
"Banorans. This is Vanessa-7. If you're still out there shooting and fighting, please stop and drop your weapons… Everyone who made us, who ran our lives, is dead, or captured, or trying to run away. Genesis Rhapsodos and Vanessa-0 are dead, Dr. Hollander has been captured, and Vanessa-1 is on the run… Please stop fighting. There's nothing left to fight for."
From outside on the balconies above the mako pools, she could hear the clones asking questions. "My friends, sisters, brother clones too, we have new lives we can start right now. We won't have anyone ordering us around, or disposing of us, or replacing us anymore. There are trucks waiting on the surface to take us to Apple Town. From there, we can make decisions as to what we want to do with our lives. The outsiders you see here are going to help us start over, but the lives we lead from now on will be our own."
"I've been talking to the outsiders for a while, and I think this can work. They are going to close the exits permanently after we leave though, so we can't stay here." Vanessa-7 paused again. The noisy questions outside were subsiding. "There's a big world out there that we don't know much about. We'll have to learn about it, but now we have the chance. They'll help us. We have to go now. If you're still fighting but want to stop, lay down your weapons, raise your hands, and join us in the mako pool room. We're going to leave from here. Please hurry. Thanks."
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When Vanessa-7 started talking, a pause occurred in the firing. Verdot, Vincent Valentine, and the two Turks who had been fighting with them and covering each other's retreats, stopped shooting. They could hear soft voices talking in the distance. Suddenly, the sound of guns hitting the floor was loud in the corridor. Black-clad clones with their hands raised appeared and took several steps into the open toward the Turks.
"We surrender."
All the Turks and former Turks kept their weapons trained on the clones. Verdot called to them. "You heard what she said. Do you want this 'new life' the girl was talking about?"
"Yes." The clone in front nodded. "To live is always better… I am William-23."
"Fine. Move." Verdot made eye contact with his people. "Keep them covered and stay out of their arms' reach. I don't think they'll try anything, but let's not take chances."
"Yes, sir."
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Not long afterward, Verdot and Vincent Valentine were the only people remaining on the landings above the mako pool at New Banora, near Lynette Hiland's former office—hopefully they were the only people within New Banora at all. Tseng and crew were topside and nearly loaded into the trucks and RVs.
It's time to act. Chaos grumbled darkly.
Vincent sighed. Fine. I'll tell Verdot to go on ahead. Just don't do anything stupid like that "raise the land" thing you mentioned earlier.
Humph. Chaos sighed as he ran through his plan one last time. It had taken time for Chaos to decide what to do with the huge mako pool; he had had to abandon his initial idea of "raising the land." It wouldn't have worked since the Lifestream had a nasty habit of running counter to gravity. He might not have been able to do it anyway. Only one possibility for resolution had finally seemed feasible, but he would have to ask for help—help from an unusual source indeed.
Vincent blinked slowly and came back to himself; Chaos had interrupted his conversation with Verdot, but Verdot hadn't noticed Vincent's wandering attention. Verdot was still handicapping the romantic possibilities between "their" daughter and Rufus Shinra. "I don't even give them until we get back to Midgar—ten to one, against. He has no idea what he's getting into! Even if they stay together for a while, she'll have a few surprises in store for him." Vincent cracked a small smile, and Verdot let out a whoop. "That's the Vince I know!"
The smile faded, and Vincent turned his full attention on Verdot. "Go on ahead to the surface, my friend. Tell Tseng he has ten minutes to get everyone to Apple Town from here."
Suddenly Verdot noticed that gold streaks were swirling in Vincent's red eyes. Alarmed, he questioned, "What?! Why?"
"Just go… Now!" Vincent could feel Chaos about to emerge. While his daughter-in-law had once seen Chaos, Vincent didn't want anyone else, much less his old friend, to see him in that demon form. "Go!"
Verdot, with a worried frown on his face, headed for the main exit tunnel at the far end of the landing.
Vincent shook his head. Verdot would wonder what was going on. Next time he saw his old friend, Vincent was sure Verdot would lecture him on his "lone wolf" behavior; it wasn't good Turk procedure.
With a brilliant flash of light, Chaos shoved Vincent Valentine's consciousness aside, and Vincent felt the sensations of his soul being encapsulated and wings bursting from his shoulders. Chaos smirked as he flexed his leathery, bat-like wings and metal claws. Come on, my Vinny, we have work to do. Looking out over the natural pool of New Banora, Chaos propelled himself out over the mako with his wings. Halfway across, right there in midair, he suddenly launched full-voice into a rousing, echoing rendition of the tune Kamui had been singing earlier, ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE!
Working is fine... just stop singing! It's bad enough with her doing it. I don't need you joining in, the former Turk huffed.
You know what your problem is? That stick up your ass goes so far up it has snapped your funny bone.
What is that supposed to mean?! Vincent's mental voice was incredulous.
It means you have forgotten how to have fun! Back-winging, Chaos settled gently to the surface of the pool and began walking across it, his feet creating ripples. At the center of the pool, he stopped. Stay close to my consciousness, Vinny, unless you want to be lost forever. With that, Chaos crossed his arms and wings across his chest and fell backwards into the pool. Soon he felt the current of the Lifestream through the mako and let himself be moved by it.
The light filtering through the mako dimmed until there was only blackness. Vincent blinked. He'd only entered the Lifestream once before as a faint consciousness when he'd been on Hojo's operating table. Suddenly he felt himself pulled in several directions at once—pulled apart—unraveled!; then, as abruptly as it had begun, the sensation ceased, but he next found himself spinning. As strands of his hair whipped across his face, Vincent found his hair was no longer long but short and sparks slipped from its ends in green arcs—what?! Almost stranger, he had on his old, blue Turk suit rather than the black, night-ops outfit! No claws tipped his left hand but sparks spiraled from the fingertips of both hands.
Still spinning, Vincent could see that four other entities were present as well. The trio of beasts that only obeyed Chaos weren't spinning; they seemed to have found "up" and had settled to the "ground." Vincent gave a gentle push with his hand—there, that stopped the rotation—and he righted himself in the same "up" orientation with the trio to his left.
The fourth entity was Chaos himself who stood alone to Vincent's right watching him. Rather than the demon Vincent had expected to see, Vincent saw a red-metallic-winged man with a similar build to himself and the same facial structure. Two tattoos, almost like tear streaks, ran from the centers of Chaos' eyes to just outside the corners of his mouth, and red and gold armor encased his body. Armor! Unlike Vincent and the beasts, Chaos did not drip sparks—his body didn't even seem solid!—but glowed with a constant light.
Chaos' gold eyes caught Vincent's now brown ones. When you enter the Lifestream, you appear in the form of your soul rather than your physical body. Vincent nodded.
Suddenly small golden comets flew toward one area from all directions, and a soft gong-like tone shimmered through the Lifestream about them. Chaos turned toward the coalescence point of the light and dropped to his knees; his deep crimson, metal wings swept down and back in graceful arcs as he knelt. In front of Chaos, the golden figure of a beautiful, blond woman formed. The woman, dwarfed by the massive armor she too wore, stepped forward, accompanied by a grey-haired teen in green and gunmetal armor. Nearby Galian Beast, Death Gigas, and Hellmasker all bowed. Belatedly, Vincent bowed as well.
My Lady, it has been two falls of an empire since last we met. Chaos spoke solemnly as he took the woman's translucent hand and kissed it.
"Rise, everyone," the goddess commanded, but Chaos remained on the ground. She turned to him. "Knight Chaos, it has been too long." The goddess smiled at him. "What is it, my child?"
Lady Minerva, the current of the stream here is dangerous and has created a huge concentration of mako. I humbly ask that you aid my friend by dispersing this pool. Chaos requested and bowed his head.
"Why do you not take care of this matter yourself?" The goddess asked the warrior.
Chaos flushed and hung his head. I am afraid that my power is diminished by my confinement in a host. He muttered, ashamed of the fact.
The goddess considered this for a moment then walked over to the entranced Valentine. She reached out for his face and placed her hand on his cheek. Vincent's brows furrowed, but she smiled at him, "Vincent Octavian Valentine." Now Vincent's eyebrows rose in surprise, but she pressed a finger to his lips as he began to speak. How did she know his middle name?! Vincent hated the name "Octavian," had never used it, indeed, had thought he'd obliterated its existence from every database on the planet! Yet here it was come back to haunt him. "You have a touch of destiny about you." Vincent's eyebrows rose even higher at this statement. The deity took a step away from the human and smiled at the solemn, gray-haired youth who had accompanied her. "Omega, assist your brother in this matter but do so discreetly. We do not need to create mass hysteria among the populous."
Vincent felt his jaw drop. He had no idea what was going on. Wait, wha…? He started to speak, but the goddess turned back and re-placed the finger on his lips.
"Please refrain from talking. In the future after you leave here, do not try to describe what is about to happen to anyone. After all, who would believe you if you tried to tell them?" She smiled at him brightly.
Vincent swallowed roughly and nodded. Y-yes, ma'am.
The goddess smiled at him again. "Ah excellent. I'm glad we have an understanding." She turned back to Chaos and Omega. "Boys, get to work. And you three," her gaze sharpened as she addressed the three beasts, "help them." She smiled at Vincent. "You may want to watch this."
Vincent nodded. He certainly was interested in how Chaos, Omega, and the others were going to disperse the pool, but suddenly a breeze—breeze?!—touched the hair on his neck, and he felt his hackles rise. A hideous laugh came to his ears and pulled his attention away from those working to divert the Lifestream. No! It couldn't be… Vincent's hand felt for the pistol inside his suit jacket in answer to the touch of menace, of warning…
"Oh ho, long time no see, boy-ee."
Vincent saw red as he spun in the direction of the voice. There, just ten feet from him, stood the grimy form of the windbag himself. Even with Lifestream sparks and translucence, the form was dirty and grimy, the hair greasy. "Ho-jo!" Vincent snarled, and his left fist clenched. He was glad of the feel of the gun's handle in his right.
"Hoo, hoo! Tem-per, tem-per!" The apparition stepped close to Vincent and put its face near his. How could Hojo smell bad even in the Lifestream? Form of his soul, hunh?! "It was just like this, wasn't it? You and I were alone in the basement while your beloved toiled away." Hojo turned and all around them ghost images of the Nibelheim mansion basement laboratory wavered; no one else was present. In the distance Vincent could even see the box where he'd lain for twenty-five years. He felt his skin crawl with revulsion and fear. "She was unaware of that ludicrous, alcohol-fueled plan of yours, but I knew…" Hojo cackled long and loud; he spun toward Vincent and drew his pistol. The motion was all too familiar to Vincent. The moment had played itself out hundreds of times in Vincent's mind.
Hojo pulled the trigger, time slowed, and the bullet spun toward its target. Unlike before, however, Vincent's body, imbued with the power of a goddess' servant, reacted accordingly. He watched the bullet approach him. Vincent's left fingers—fingers!—rose, snatched the bullet, and stopped it within inches of his heart. Holding the bullet between his forefinger and thumb, Vincent brought the slug to eye level. Squeezing his fingers, he crushed the slug. When the bullet was flat, Vincent dropped the metal. In the time between the bullet's leaving his fingers and hitting the floor, Vincent's right hand pulled his gun, and he shot Hojo's elbows and knees. Hojo, and the compressed bullet, landed at the same moment. "I can finally tell you something I wanted to back then," Vincent growled. He walked to Hojo's writhing body, put his foot squarely on the scientist's chest, and pointed the gun at the slimy head with its hair spread wildly about. "Hojo, on your way to hell, take a bath." On that note, Vincent put four bullets through Hojo's eyes, two each. Red sprayed from the eye sockets. Such satisfaction…
Vincent twirled the gun about his forefinger then slid it into its holster. He looked up, but the laboratory was gone as was the body, and he was suddenly back at the goddess' side. What? Vincent stopped himself before he said too much.
The deity stood at his side gazing at him thoughtfully. "When a living being enters the Lifestream, spirits from their pasts can be attracted. Interesting..." The goddess paused. "The Lifestream has been diverted. The pool will have healed when you and Chaos leave." The goddess turned to watch Omega and Chaos embrace. "I feel sorry for them; they are brothers, yet they rarely see each other."
Vincent, mindful of the deity's admonition to remain silent, simply nodded as he walked to where Chaos stood waving to him. Together he, Chaos, and the others swirled together, moved closer, and coalesced as they ascended into brightness. Vincent shook his head and suddenly found very long hair whipping by him again. Blinking to adjust his eyes, Vincent found himself back at the bottom of the now-empty rock pool at New Banora. He clenched his hands then smiled slightly as the hand and claws relaxed. Relaxed. Vincent Valentine rarely relaxed. He found the song that everyone seemed to be singing of late lazily drifting into his mind. Death's a joke, it's true.
Hurry, Vinny, the stability of the land will soon end.
What?! I thought you were done.
The underground chamber still holds much that could be used for evil. The caverns must cease to exist, and the entrances must be sealed. Do move quickly!
Beneath his feet Vincent could feel a trembling in the floor of the former pool. Overhead pipes and flood lamps were swaying in grand arcs; in the distance Vincent could hear the hiss of gasses leaking, glass breaking, and liquids flowing. Scrambling, climbing, and running suddenly seemed like a bad idea. Right. You could help, you know.
Perhaps you are right. With another flash of light, Chaos again pushed Vincent aside. With a grand down stroke, Chaos' wings swept from full overhead extension to the floor and, with a jump, propelled his body upward. Pipes were beginning to fall. Chaos swerved slightly to avoid one piece of plumbing with mako spilling from it. Another sweep of the wings, and Vincent could feel Chaos' speed increase. Hold on. Chaos raised his arms and light burst from his hand and claws.
Uh, oh. You're going to dig your way to the surface?!
Qui-et. I need to concentrate here.
Sorry.
First tubing and plumbing surrounded them, then rock bits pelted Chaos' face. The light spread from Chaos' hands and grew brighter and brighter. The power Chaos was generating seemed enormous, a thrumming in the air and rock, but the air, in turn, seemed filled with rock. Indeed, what air?! Vincent tried to close his eyes, but Chaos held them open. The rock lessened and was replaced by soil. Dirt. Vincent could taste it on his tongue. The dirt seemed too close. For a man who had been confined to a box for twenty-five years, it seemed odd he should now feel claustrophobic. Hm. Don't think about that! The thrumming grew louder and just when it seemed the pitch and volume had risen so high his eardrums would burst, Chaos broke through the surface of the ground.
Slowing and extending his wings, Chaos hovered in mid-air above the site where New Banora lay underground. Below Chaos, Vincent could just see that the ground was undulating in waves from the exit site; it broke in circular cracks, and the trees swayed wildly like sticks floating in a stream. The few remaining decomposing fighters' bodies burst apart in sprays of green sparks. Even at this height, Vincent could still taste dirt in the air. Without the impetus of Chaos' power, the ground waves soon subsided, however. Below him, Vincent could see that the soil was settling into a bowl-shaped depression. Chaos lifted the clawed hand and, with a cutting motion, pulled in water from the swamp to the south to flood the area. Moving the claws and hand, Chaos next pushed outward away from his body, then upward and downward toward his head and legs. On the ground Vincent could see lines of depressions forming as the outward snaking tunnels from the pool room collapsed, one long line in particular running in the direction of what must be Apple Town, two miles away.
There. That should do.
I have to ask: why didn't you do that before?
The mako would have exploded and dropped the island into the ocean. Too many people would have lost their lives… including your daughter-in-law and grandchild, Vinny.
Hm, yes... Thank you.
Now you must run for a few minutes, Vinny.
What?! You can't fly us to Apple Town to catch up with the others?
I have just caused a small earthquake, kept Mideel from sinking into the water, and helped move the Lifestream. What have you been doing, Vinny?
… Oh, is that all!… What'd it take you? All of five minutes?! Real work, hunh? I have been fighting and moving for hours.
Oh yes. Little pellets of lead moved by a controlled explosion from those long pipes you call a gun. So much work…
The pair continued to grumble at each other. Chaos flew them to a hilltop with a view of Apple Town and the Shinra caravan. With an expanding sensation, Vincent resumed control of his body.
A/N—My thanks to AV for the Vincent-in-the-Lifestream section, but the conclusion of that part was mine. We loved it.
A/N--And to think I had a whim in the Prologue that sent Reno and Rude to Mideel to check out Londo's old commune. More than eight months and a hundred thousand words later, we now know what was going on in Mideel, and we can finally say, "Good-bye to New Banora"! Thanks, Bjanik, for putting Londo's commune on that island--you set this up brilliantly for me!