A/N I really have no excuse for posting this on the latest day possible. I got lazy this week and just waited till the last minute. Because of this I decided to make a longer chapter for you, my audience. I hope you enjoy. and happy MLK day
Ch 21
ATE
Normally, a person would be overjoyed at social interactions with people after being isolated for so long. Vincent just wanted what peace he could get, people just interrupted that peace. He couldn't go back to sleep now, thinking of the odd bunch that seemed to have freed him. The group that did pass by did allow him to awake and think after some time. But the thoughts that circled only made him hate himself more.
Sephiroth had become a monster, finding his birthright made him go insane, and now he was a force to be reckoned with, laying claim to the Planet and wanting blood. It only saddened him to know this was yet another sin he had to repent for, and the only way was to seal himself away. His immortality made it so that he couldn't kill himself, no matter what wound he would have inflicted, it would heal. He tried multiple times to kill himself before he finally thought of simply letting time pass him by.
You weakling.
He agreed. He was a weakling. But sealing himself wasn't just to repent. He would be a danger with Chaos sealed inside of him. The monster would whisper when he dreamed, telling him he could take the pain of it all away, soothe Vincent's soul if he gave him control. But Vincent was no fool, he was one of the best in the Turks after all, as long as he lived and had the Protomateria, Chaos couldn't escape. Yet how could he ever be forgiven for letting Lucrecia go along with Hojo's madness. What could he possibly do now?
He thought back to the group again. How they were going to fight Sephiroth to save the Planet. Vincent thought it futile. Hearing how Sephiroth became so powerful only to go mad for more sealed the Planet's fate. Yet they would still defy logic, just for a chance.
Humans, what worthless creatures you are. But you're all so amusing.
Vincent groaned and ignored Chaos' voice. Perhaps he could try to repent differently. Lucrecia wouldn't have wanted him to be like this, he acknowledged that. But letting Hojo take her child, and then experiment on himself for so long…
Vincent may have turned into a monster, but knowing one such as Hojo lived made his blood boil. The knowledge that the mad man still lived to experiment on humans and do as he wished while Vincent slept… If anyone had to repent for their sins, to suffer for eternity, to feel the pain Vincent felt, then Hojo deserved it the most.
Maybe the group would find him. Following Sephiroth would inevitably lead to a confrontation with every Shinra executive trying to block them. He heard some voices. The group from before was now walking the opposite direction of the study. If they would try something such as saving the Planet, then he could help them so they could help him. He'd help fight Shinra, and they would lead him to Hojo. It was mutually beneficial.
He pushed the coffin cover off, got up, and surveyed his surroundings. He wouldn't return here, not until Hojo was dead. Then he could have a little peace that Lucrecia had been avenged. He pulled out the gun in his holster and checked it. He'd slept for how long? Twenty years...maybe more, yet one of his most reliable weapons was in still working condition, even if he was caught off guard, he could transform still. He holstered his gun and ran out the door, intent on catching up to the group.
"Wait!" The group turned to him.
"If I go with you, will I meet Hojo?" Cloud shrugged.
"Don't know, but we're after him and Sephiroth. So I guess sooner or later..."
"Lucrecia...I've decided to join you." The reactions were ranged. Some shocked, surprised, the large man of the group looked irritated, their large feline had little emotion, the one with glasses smiled, and their leader was thoughtful.
"Being a former Turk, I may be of help to you."
"Alright then," Cloud agreed. Vincent nodded and followed the group. The planet may have changed while he was gone, but he would find Hojo no matter what.
"So now we have a vampire helping us. This is the best team ever!" The young girl exclaimed. The man with glasses and two swords just held in his laughter. Vincent looked at both who caught his gaze. The girl looked straight ahead, and the boy just nodded back at him and kept walking.
A very eccentric group to play heroes...
I was sweating buckets on the inside. Vincent was looking at me and I tried to keep a good poker face, but on the inside I felt like my soul was in a vice grip; and he was just looking at the back of my head. Everyone eventually left the mansion and took what supplies we could from the buggy. I was sad we had to start walking again. Cloud and Tifa knew the terrain very well. Traveling by car would be too dangerous considering narrow paths as well as Nibel dragons being in the area. But even if we had these dangers around, I liked the hike; it gave me a sense of familiarity with the mountains. Thinking about the monsters I decided to add the gravity materia to my arsenal. I was a little peeved that now I could not add anymore to my armlet, but I would let it slide. We left the town and started hiking up the mountain. Other than the occasional giant grasshopper and those bird monsters native to the mountain, we were good. It wouldn't be until deeper into the mountains that we would have to worry about dragons. So I decided to experiment with my materia a little.
I found out gravity actually had a physical manifestation like all other spells. It was a ball essentially; roughly the size of a tennis ball, so as the percentages got bigger, so would the ball. I cast the spell on a few rocks to see how it worked and found it basically compressed and expanded. I could see how damaged a body would be if it one second had a ton of pressure on it and then the next be light as a feather, it hurts like hell and it's disorientating.
My kind of magic.
"Alright we're going to split into two teams. One will stay here with the pipes while the other explores more. The exploration team will be myself, Nathan, Aeris, and Vincent. Stay on guard," Cloud ordered and we followed. I was surprised how easily Vince would take orders though, he didn't object, question, or comment. I expected some inquisitions on why Cloud was the leader or something.
"Cloud is this a way through the mountain?" Asked Aeris, he shook his head.
"He said north. I'm not sure he meant past the mountain, or to the reactor. I'm going in case he is at the reactor." I guess that makes sense, Sephiroth has only been seen by us in major places that have affected Cloud's life.
"So Vincent, how big were you during your time in the Turks?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Before I was locked away, I was one of the highest ranked members due to my exceptional skills with long range weapons." He replied rather blandly.
"Really, can you shoot the wings off a fly while under pressure?" He only glanced at me.
"I was good at my job, simple as that." He said, avoiding the question I asked. I was a little disappointed. Can't say I didn't expect it, Vincent was always cold and indifferent, much like how Cloud was arrogant from the start about his first class skills. Soon enough we came to the reactor with Cloud standing in front of it, as if confronting the thing.
"You think he could be here?" Aeris asked.
"I'll check, you'll all know if anything bad happens. Call everyone else and give me some support." He went inside the reactor, I sighed.
"I worry about him." Aeris stated.
"I'm sure everyone else does too Aeris, but this helps him I think, I don't think he'll find Sephiroth, but he will come to terms with his past more." I explained.
"Sephiroth became powerful with time...what makes you think your group can take him?" Vincent asked.
"We're here to help Cloud really, all of us are here for different reasons, going after Sephiroth is what seems to be a threat we can all go against." Aeris explained. I nodded. Vincent just stood guard, not acknowledging Aeris's answer. Within a few minutes Cloud came out.
"Let's get back with the rest of the group."
"Wait a minute Cloud, since we're here, let's scavenge a little." I asked. Since we already went out of the way, he agreed. I felt more at ease about our future boss battle. Vincent got the sniper left around and some ammo while we picked up an extra elemental materia, I kept mine instead of switching out for experience.
Beep beep beep
Aw god, my phone is ringing. I hate getting phone calls on this thing; it just reminds me Rufus is a total bum hug for stealing my phone.
Click "City morgue, we slash'em and bag'em." Not a single person in the group laughed, Aeris didn't even give me a pity giggle.
"Nathan this is not the time to be joking around," Tifa said on the other line.
"What's wrong?"
"We can see the exit out of the mountain, but there is a very large monster blocking the way, we need you guys to get here so we can take it down." I groaned. I never liked the materia keeper battle. After going through the whole Nibel mountain stage I had to fight a boss. It reminded me too much of Pokemon when Gary Oak would appear at the most annoying times.
"On our way." I hung up. "There's a monster at the exit, we have to kill it." I stated. It was Cloud that groaned this time.
"It's about three to five times the size of Barret?"
"How did you guess?"
"I'm noticing a pattern during our travels." That's RPG's for you Cloud; you can't go a day without at least one boss fight. We got back with the rest of the group in the pipe room. Tifa just pointed down and we looked over the edge. Sure enough, the giant scorpion thing was prowling around.
"Why the hell is there always a big monster?"
"Join the club Barret," I said. "So Cloud, what's the plan?"
"Barret and Vincent will stay on this platform and shot at it when possible, that sniper will actually help in this battle so go for head shots. The rest of us will follow the basics, fighters get up close, magic casters at medium range, and supporters heal when you can." He held up his hand with Sense materia and looked like he hyper focused on the boss.
"Nanaki, it's weak against poison so you attack as much as you can so it starts to wear down. Nathan, it absorbs fire so if you cast anything, make it lightning. Let's move." We all climbed down and pulled out our weapons. We couldn't surprise the monster, it knew we were in its territory, and it wasn't just going to stand around so we could get the element of surprise. The boss charged at us, we split off and it stopped, not knowing which group to go for until Nanaki took a lunge at one of its legs. It tried to pry him off, but Cloud and Tifa tried to attack at two of its other legs. The monster used its extra appendages to keep Cloud at bay and knock Tifa against the wall. It decided to ignore Nanaki since his attacks hadn't inflicted it with anything yet and swiped at Cloud and me. Cloud jumped out the way while I just collapsed on the ground and came up when the claw passed.
Knowing it missed both of us; it slammed into a nearby wall, throwing Nanaki off. When it tried to attack, it got a flurry of bullets to its side and one to its head and a megaphone scream. Now disorientated, Aeris tried to cast some cure magic onto Nanaki. Tifa came back and decided to smash the ever living daylights out of the monster's face. What surprised me was when she did the somersault off its face before it could attack her. I guess Tifa's limit break needs time more than anything. The boss finally came to its senses and set its sights on Aeris, Nanaki and Cait. Cloud came in to distract it, but it got a lucky hit in and knocked him away. The creature stopped for a second before a large pyramid of energy appeared and was launched at Aeris, Cait, and Nanaki.
The result was a huge electrical discharge that zapped not only them, but anyone in close enough proximity. Cloud tried to save them but was hit with a particularly powerful bolt and Tifa had to jump back from the monster.
"Barret, distract it so we can get everyone!" Cloud yelled. A spray hit the monster's head and Vincent took another shot, but from a high location. The monster couldn't reach either, so in its confusion Tifa and myself went to pick up the Thrine attack victims. Aeris and Nanaki were easy enough to get away but Cait was just a ton of dead weight and wasn't budging an inch.
"Cait, get a move on! They can't keep that thing away for long!" When I shook the mog, the cat just leaned forward.
"I forgot you were robotic, probably rebooting your connection. Shit."
"Nate, get Cait away. The monster's done!" Cloud yelled while materia keeper decided to go for easier targets and spotted us.
"Oh god!" I turned, I didn't think Cait would be able to wake up soon enough. Suddenly an idea came to me
"Why didn't I think of this before?" I focused on my materia arm and started channeling a bolt two spell onto my fist. Hopefully with my elemental now level two, I wouldn't have to worry about having nerve damage. The lightning started to crackle in the middle of my palm before it started to grow, the lightning not just concentrating in my hand but pulsating up and down my arm, I was ecstatic, I was now a human conductor. I saw Materia keeper get ready to charge at me with its horn, I cocked back my fist.
"It doesn't sound like one thousand chirping birds, but I don't think it will hurt any less." Materia keeper started running so I got myself in perfect position. Right when the monster was going to gouge me, I punched as hard as I could. I knew I didn't have the strength like Tifa to keep the thing away, but I got a good hit on the side of its face before it could make contact. The boss recoiled and hit a wall instead. I had a very satisfied smile on my face hearing it in pain. I sheathed the sword and pulled out Fusion in case it got ideas to attack again.
"What happened?" I looked back and saw a now perfectly fine Cait Sith.
"You were shocked, you idiot! I had to keep the stupid monster away from you. Next time, be more-" I was slapped across the cavern before I could finish. I wanted to get up but my legs were scraped badly and my hands were too numb to do anything.
"I gotcha!" Yuffie jumped over and cast a cure spell on me. I got up shaking. She handed me my sword and threw her shuriken. It cut the monster on one of the limbs, but it did hurt the monster. I stood when the boss decided to cast cure on itself.
"Just keep at it so it can't do that again." Cloud then activated his Deathblow materia and cleaved one of the legs clean off the monster, however when he tried to use it again, the magic used to enhance the blade just blew back making his slash veer off from its target. Nanaki came back in but was casting poison as much as he could, the boss was actually looking a sickly green and its attacks were getting sloppy. While Cait made another shout attack, Tifa and I focused on one leg. While I cut, she pummeled the wounds I made causing the leg to go limp. Barret kept spraying while Vincent was still calm and took shots at its head. Aeris was back in and was healing who she could while the monster was being bombarded from all sides. In the end it was one more head-shot from Vincent that took the monster down. The group was tired by the end of the whole battle. I just collapsed on the rough ground so I could get a breather.
"Everyone okay?" Cloud checked, he himself looked winded.
"Everyone's healed; a few of us just need some rest." Aeris came up with the rest of the group.
"Thanks for saving me, I was in trouble there." Cait said from his moogle. Barret and Vince climbed down.
"Man I'm glad I wasn't in the middle of that." Barret smiled.
"Don't count your luck; you won't get a position like that again." I caught my breath and got up. I looked at Vince.
"You were right when you said you were the best, I didn't see a single head-shot miss." I nodded.
"And I suppose your attack was...original," He...complimented? I noted that he didn't seem all that interested or affected by the battle. He looked a little annoyed actually.
"Let's leave, once we're outside we can set up tents. Barret and Vincent will take first shift, then Cait and myself. Everyone else can rest. Let's go." Everyone followed Cloud out the cave and finally the mountain. We were now in a very clear and grassy area, a town about a dot in the distance. Everyone set up tents and made a fire, anyone who was hurt extensively was given bandages to help wounds heal while cures took effect. I tried scratching at the ones on my knees and my forehead only to have a hand swat them away.
"Tifa come on, they're itchy."
"Nathan stop being childish, if you pick at them then they're only going to get worse. You're lucky you didn't get a concussion." Tifa said, now sporting bandages on her arms and legs.
"But I didn't, I hit the thing hard enough that it was confused when it knocked me away."
"That was awesome, was that that one the falcon attack you talked about?" Chipped in Yuffie, who I noted was on my left, near my materia arm.
"That was very dangerous Nathan, didn't you learn the last time?" Tifa scolded
"Tifa, I have a level two elemental now, probably gunna be mastered soon anyway. I don't have to worry about those attacks hurting me now, and no Yuffie that was called Chidori...well not really the exact same thing but it's like a lightning version of the falcon punch " I folded my arms. Yuffie looked miffed and walked away, I smiled.
"It's interesting you had the mental fortitude to do that" Vincent said from the other side of the fire. I shrugged. Aeris walked by and explained.
"Nathan has a gift with magic, he can channel it in ways that are near impossible, then again he is the group's genius." I raised an eyebrow at the statement. I even think I heard Vincent snort a little.
"That's weird to hear Aeris, what makes you think that?" I asked. Cloud finally sat by the fire.
"Don't think we haven't forgotten your inventions back at Shinra tower, you had items on you that were advanced even by Shinra standards. Your skills with magic reflect your mental capabilities, it's the only way I can explain how you haven't died from exhaustion yet." I rubbed the back of my head at the compliments. Considering I lied about most of this I really wasn't comfortable with them, I looked over and saw Nanaki with what seemed like the lion's equivalent of a smirk. Eventually everyone was done eating and resting by the fire and went into their respective tents while the guards searched for monsters nearby. I roomed with Nanaki again and made sure everyone was asleep or far away enough to talk to him.
"Okay I wanted to talk at the mansion but I could sense this is classified." He sighed.
"Did something not go how the story was supposed to?" I shook my head.
"No...well yes, kinda. The battle we had with the monster in the safe gave us a key and a materia, but there was supposed to be something else...a final limit break." He paid a little more attention now. I explained how the games mechanics worked back in Cosmo and ultimate limits were something not to poke fun at.
"Who's?"
"Yours," I simply said. His eyes widened a little.
"That's odd." He stated.
"I know, it's been wrecking my brain for a while. Nanaki, do you have some kind of clan technique or something?" He nodded.
"Many of my skills are from my clan's fighting style to protect Cosmo."
"Were any of them named Cosmo Memory?" He eyes were now fully opened. It took him a minute to speak to me though.
"Even secrets aren't safe from you, are they?" He asked rhetorically. I just waited for him to continue.
"Cosmo Memory is a very powerful and special ability that my species can perform, due to its destructive abilities; it is only to be used in the most dire of circumstances."
"So you already know it?" I was surprised to learn this. He nodded. "Then I guess it's okay, it will come in handy in the future, but I don't think anyone else has that luxury like you. They will have to learn or control theirs." He nodded again and lay back down. I decided to sleep too; tomorrow would be a very fun day with a very old loudmouth.
ATE
Rufus was enjoying himself at the moment. He was glad that the day after tomorrow he would be able to get a vehicle to help their search for Sephiroth. The trail with AVALANCHE was beginning to grow cold. He was currently enjoying music while signing company documents. Soon he would be on his way to Rocket Town. He happened to hear a phone call though and stopped listening to pick it up.
"Yes."
"It's Tseng."
"Tseng, I am happy to hear from you, how goes your investigation?"
"It's done." Rufus was happy; having a Turk investigate the island was a good idea considering how fast the job was done.
"And your report?"
"Nothing sir," Rufus's smiled was immediately replaced with a frown.
"What do you mean nothing?"
"I checked the hospital, mayor's records, even went to civilians personally to see who knew Mr. River."
"So by nothing you mean..."
"He doesn't exist sir," Rufus' irritation was now replaced by surprise.
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yes."
"Thank you Tseng." He hung up. Now contemplating what was going on. The one person to survive an encounter with Sephiroth in the tower, someone who peaked Hojo's interest, as well as have a connection to Jenova, was never born. This only made his appearance more annoying. Before he could finish his thoughts, he got another call.
"Reeve sir."
"This is unexpected Reeve. You usually hand in your report in the morning."
"It can't wait. I came across some odd information as well as possibly run into something." Rufus pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Report."
"We had run into Sephiroth. He had mentioned something about a Reunion. We picked up a Turk, and are about a mornings travel from Rocket town." Now Rufus was intrigued.
"A Turk you say?"
"One Vincent Valentine sir. He was apparently one of Hojo's experiments." Rufus wrote the name down. He would have to investigate files on another person. He sighed; he had to work later now.
"The Reunion?"
"I'm not sure. He didn't say anything specific."
"We will have to ask Hojo then. I will also have to the leave for my meeting with Highwind early. Anything else to report?" The line was quiet for a second before Reeve spoke.
"We may have a small problem with River." Rufus clenched his fist.
"How small?"
"He seems to know Cait Sith is controlled from an outside location."
"Explain."
"Cait was stuck by a powerful electrical spell; it caused him to short circuit a little before being rebooted so I could control him again. But while he was vulnerable to attack, River protected him, but acknowledged he was robotic and the connection was down."
"Does he know it's controlled by you or any other Shinra executive?"
"I'm not sure, but I recommend caution sir, my reports may be inconsistent if he suspects anything and examines Cait." Rufus now had a headache. AVALANCHE has a former Shinra employee with them and now someone who doesn't technically exist knows more about them than they do him.
"That will be all Reeve, I ask that you keep watch on River a little more now. He is now a high profile target along with their leader Strife."
"Yes sir." Rufus hung up. It was going to be a long night now.
The next day everyone started traveling across the fields. We had little trouble with monsters along the way, now having three long range fighters. Vincent was better than I thought with his handgun, nailing either head shots or disabling shots at what I believe was one-hundred percent of the time. By mid-morning we were able to reach Rocket Town. It was a small and very quiet town; it looked like any other village far away from the city. The one thing that stood out was the rusted rocket in the back of the village tilted to the side.
"I see Rocket Town lives up to its name," I said out loud, awed at seeing a real rocket in person for the first time in my life.
"I've never heard of anything like this" Aeris said.
"It used to be a part of Shinra's space program. I'm not sure what happened but I hear it was abandoned, don't know why though." Cloud said.
"Shinra has become very advanced while I was gone." Vincent mumbled. I looked over.
"What do you mean?"
"There were only talks of the possibility of going into space, I have been asleep for a long time, even you PHS is new to me." Wow, PHS weren't used twenty years ago? Technology really jumped in twenty years...actually that happened to earth the exact same way, can't say I'm too surprised.
"Everyone split up; find what you can about Sephiroth. Meet back here in ten." Everyone nodded and walked off in their own little groups; mine consisted of Nanaki and for some reason Cait Sith. I opted to head to the town shop first to get me some sweets. What made me mad about this whole trip was that every time I wanted to use just a little gil for some candy it was "wasteful." Inside the item shop I got me a few candy bars and a handful of hard candy before asking the owner if someone that fit Sephiroth's description came by. He said that he never saw anyone, so I asked if someone around town may have, so he told me to look for the Captain, or Cid basically. We walked back to the meeting spot and saw everyone else was already there.
"What did you find out?" Asked Tifa.
"No Sephiroth, and something about a Captain."
"Everyone was referred to the "Captain," at least I know where he lives, let's go check it out." The group went to the closest house to the rocket and Cloud knocked, no one answered though so he knocked again. After that he just simply walked in the door.
"Cloud, why the hell did you just walk through?" I asked.
"It was open." He supplied. I shook my head.
"Cloud, I would love to hear what goes on in your head when you knock, no one answers, and you decided to walk into their house." Going through the back door everyone looked at the faded red plane.
"It has the Shinra logo on it, Tiny Bronco...this is cool." Cloud said with a smile.
"I wonder why it's all the way out here though, shouldn't it be at Junon at least?" Tifa asked.
"Maybe Shinra has something going on here." Nanaki added.
"um...may I help you?" Everyone turned to see a nervous woman in a lab coat.
"No we're just looking at it." Cloud said. I am seriously questioning how she didn't scream at the eight people suddenly in her back yard.
"If you want to use it, you'll have to ask the Captain, he should be inside the rocket. I'm Shera, what are your names?"
"I'm Cloud."
"Barret, Tifa, and Nathan of AVALANCHE." I introduced.
"Red." Am I the only person who calls Nanaki by his real name here? I just noticed that.
"Yuffie, the Single White Rose of Wutai!" Que overly dramatic and useless pose.
"Aeris, a flower girl." She said with a smile. And Vincent really didn't introduce himself so Aeris told Shera his name.
"So you're not with Shinra. I thought the approval for the reopening of the Space Program came. President Rufus is scheduled to come here, the Captain's been restless all morning" She looked relieved and walked in her house.
"Rufus?" Cloud yelled.
"God damn Shinra is at every turn." Barret said.
"What should we do?" I asked.
"We should talk to the Captain; this plane could be useful for finding Sephiroth." Everyone left the house and went towards the rocket. When we got to the base of the rocket, only a handful of people wanted to go in.
"Like hell I'm climbing this tall ass ladder." Barret said.
"Barret, if you can climb a steel rope with one arm this will be a cinch." I argued.
"You go up then since you got both hands!"
"Anyone else not going?" Cloud asked, already starting on the ladder.
"Not me, too big." Cait said.
"My dress will get caught." Aeris said, which was a fair enough reason.
"Too hard without Barret to carry me." Was Nanaki's reply.
"I won't either." Okay why wouldn't Tifa? She doesn't have a fear of heights as far as I can tell, and she doesn't have any clothes to get in the way, all she wears is the skir...I'll shut up now.
In the end it was Cloud, myself, Vincent and Yuffie who went up. I focused on looking up rather than down so I ignored any jeers from Barret while going up. I was the last one to climb up and into the rocket.
"What are you guys doin here?" I heard an aggravated voice. I looked over and saw Cid looking at the other three with a very serious look on his face.
"We heard the captain was here." Answered Cloud, which got the old man to smile and boast about himself being the captain, but his real name was Cid. You know seeing him in person I really couldn't tell he was thirty something years old, guy looks like he's in his prime.
"So what do you want?"
"Could you tell us about the rocket?" Cloud asked. Cid was more than happy too and talked about how Shinra invented the rocket engine and chose the best pilot in the world to use it. Then on the day of the launch Shera apparently screwed up the whole thing so Shinra scalped the whole project and went on to Mako. He looked a little depressed after the whole story.
"Can we ask you another question?" Cloud asked.
"Fine, what is it?"
"Can we borrow the Tiny Bronco?" Cloud cut straight to the point and Cid looked very unhappy.
"Are you out of your fucking mind? That's my most cherished possession I won't let you take that!" Correction, he was more pissed at the question then unhappy.
"If you don't have any more business then scram, I'm tryin to work here." He went back to his switch board and mumbled about dumb people younger than him. Yuffie almost went to beat him senseless, but I held onto her until she went down the ladder.
"Any luck?" Barret asked, Cloud just shook his head.
"Let's go back and see if we can get Shera to agree." Everyone followed Cloud back to the house to see Shera expecting us.
"What did he say?"
"Nope."
"Cloud, I think nope is overly generalized; he called us out of our fucking minds." I said. And right then the front door opened for everyone to see the man in question walk in and eye the whole group.
"Shit! Shera are you blind! We got guests, Make Some TEA, FUCK!" He barked. Shera quickly apologized and started boiling some water. Everyone who wasn't on the rocket was completely confused at the scene.
"Really, don't mind us." Cloud tried to be polite. Cid just pointed at him.
"Shut up! Sit your ass down in that chair and drink your GODDAMN TEA!"
"Three spoonfuls of sugar and a little milk please." I said now sitting down at the table.
"ARGH, Damn I'm pissed! Shera! I'll be out back tunin up the Bronco. And make sure to serve some tea! Alright? Good!" He then proceeded to walk past the group and out the back door. Everyone besides me in the room had no idea what happened or how to react.
"The hell was with that guy's attitude?" Barret recovered first.
"I know, he could give you a run for your money!" I laughed out. He glared but I shrugged it off.
"Who does he think he is?" Yuffie yelled. Cloud just sighed before looking at Shera.
"Sorry, it's our fault." She was now pouring the tea into cups.
"No, no. He's always like this." She waved it off.
"How can you live with this?" Asked Aeris.
"No, it's because of my stupid mistake. I was the one who destroyed his dream" She berated herself.
"What happened?" Cloud asked. She explained how she was one of the mechanics assigned to the rocket during its launch date. How Cid was so happy to get his dream come true, to be the first man in space. Everything seemed as if it would follow through. But before the launch, Cid found out Shera was still examining a fault in the oxygen tanks so she told him to launch anyway even though it would kill her. Cid, having to choose either his dream or killing her decided to abort the launch and save her life. Since then, she blamed herself for him saving her and giving up his one chance at getting his dream, so she would live her life for him.
"You'll take everything he throws at you?" Aeris asked. Shera nodded.
"That's why it's alright; I don't care what the Captain says." Another door slam and Cid walked back in, still with the same scowl on his face.
"Shera! You still haven't served them tea? What's wrong with you?" She mumbled an apology and started serving everyone. Cid drank his with gusto and I sipped at mine. I never did like tea, but this is actually really good, the perfect blend of sugar and herbs. Everyone else just stood around holding their cups.
"Hurry up and sit down! Or ain't my hospitality good enough for you?" Everyone found a seat somewhere and took sips of tea. There was a really awkward silence going on in the room though, something I couldn't possibly let go on, so I finished my cup. Cid was done with his as well and was smoking a cigarette.
"Thank you for the tea, it was delicious." I leaned into my chair. Cid just nodded.
"That's one thing Shera's good for, she makes some good ass tea...none of the rest of you want to say anything about the tea?" Almost everyone had small mumbles of it being good and fine, Cloud just waved him off and Vincent just took another sip. For about five minutes the room was back to the awkward silence, Shera offered me more and I accepted, Barret finished after me but he refused another cup prompting Cid to yell at him about it not being good enough for him. I almost laughed the entire time.
"They're late...Where's Rufus?" Enter fat man in brown suit. Almost everyone save a few froze at the Shinra executive's entrance; I just wanted to finish my tea.
"Hey-HEY. Long time no see! So Cid, how ya been?" Palmer said ignoring the stares and glares directed at him.
"Well if it ain't fat man Palmer. How long were you figurin on keeping me here waitin? When's the program gunna start up again?"
"I don't know, the president's outside right now, ask him."
"Damn it! Good for nothing fat sack a shit!"
"Don't call me fat!" Wow, out of all that you responded to fat? Really shows how much he knows himself, I am actually astonished.
"Hey tea! Can I have some? With lottsa honey and sugar, oh yeah and don't forget the lard!" Everyone looked disgusted at the request except Shera who was actually starting to comply. Cloud and a few others ran outside to see what was going on while I just finished my drink, trying to hold it down while Palmer drank his and went out back. Shera went out the door to get the rest of the gang so I got up and stretched.
"You all want to use the Tiny Bronco right?" Cloud nodded.
"I think Palmer is going to take it, why don't you ask him." Everyone seemed to book it for the back door before we were all outside, looking at the man examine the now spinning propellers.
"Oh man, why do I have to do this? I'm head of the Space Program."
"Wasn't the program cut? Doesn't that make you just some fat guy in a suit acting like he's an executive?"
"Hey! Don't call me fat!" He turned and yelled.
"We'll be taking the Tiny Bronco," Cloud said now holding his sword.
"I've seen you somewhere before...the Shinra building when the President was killed. Security!" He yelled but no one came.
"Looks like your outta luck." Barret said reading his arm.
"I won't go down now!" Palmer pulled out a complicated gun and pointed at us.
"You think some puny little pistol will take us all out?" The response was a shot that was a giant fireball coming towards the group. Everyone jumped out the way.
"Hey Barret, lets antagonize the guy with the gun. It will be awesome, I'm sure!"
"Nate, you mess with me all the time and I got a gun!"
"Yeah, but I know you can't shoot me!" Another shot, this time a large icicle crashed near us. What really pissed me off was that Palmer was really fast for being an old fat dude. Not our kind but enough to play keep away from us. But all we needed was one good shot and he would chicken out.
"Vincent, just bust his knee caps so we can be done with this." This was never in my opinion a boss battle even when this was all a game. Vincent aimed and fired off three warning shots around his legs and torso. He froze when the shots were made.
"I'm feeling generous, we'll let you run and live and we take the Bronco." Cloud said. The man was red faced and yelled.
"I won't forget this!" He ran out the back yard and into the town. I would have worried about him getting Rufus, but the minute the thought entered Palmer was hit by a Shinra security truck.
"Man I love this game." I mumbled.
"It's not stopping, the plane keeps moving!" I saw Yuffie looking in the cockpit of the plane while everyone else was trying to find a way to stop the plane.
"Forget it, just get on the wings! We're getting out of here!" Cloud yelled getting inside while a few people held on; I jumped on and felt the plane turn.
"Cloud, are you insane? How the hell is anyone going to keep on this thing?" I yelled, apparently the glass was sound proof from the inside and he just pointed for me to hold on. In a few seconds the plane was up in the air and circling the rocket. I almost fell, had it not been for Cait who pulled me down to hold onto the wing. When we started ascending, I felt every bit of the G-force pile onto me.
"OH GOD LET ME OFF! I DON"T WANT TO STAY ON!" I yelled.
"THIS IS INSANE!" Barret yelled hanging on with his one arm. I looked over and saw Yuffie trying to hold on with one hand and cover her mouth with the other, which almost made me sick. Nanaki was being held by Vincent who had his claw hand sunk pretty deeply into the wing and Aeris and Tifa were on the tails. Cloud, who I assumed had never flown a plane before, went down to the ground and just passed Cid and Rufus. Rufus ducked while Cid started hauling ass to catch the plane while he was being shot at. I would have cheered if it wasn't for the whole wind pulling my face back while holding on for dear life thing going on. Cid was able to hop on right when a stray bullet hit the tail near Aeris.
"Shit! The tail's been hit!" Cid hit the glass pane on top of Cloud.
"Prepare for emergency landing." That did not sound good.
"This is gunna be a big splash! Hang on to your drawers and don't piss'em!" Cloud tried to slow down and stop the plane but we hit the water early. As I was only holding on to the edge of the front of the wing, I was thrown off and into the water. I surfaced soon enough and clung for dear life to the plane.
"Is everyone here?"
"My fucking Plane!" Well, Cid was okay.
"I'm fine." Barret was sitting on the wing.
"Same here." Said Cait.
" Aeris and I are okay." Tifa called.
"We're good." Nanaki said for Vincent and himself.
"Nate where are you?" Aeris yelled.
"Near the cockpit." I climbed up and flopped next to Barret. "I will never be scared to ride a roller-coaster again in my life."
"So that leaves-" Before Cloud could finish, Yuffie ran to the side of the plane and began throwing up. "That's everyone." Cid was ignoring the whole ordeal and checking the tail with a few tools that were on his person. He threw them all into the water though.
"She won't fly anymore." He sat back and lit a smoke.
"Can we use it as a boat?" Man you have got to admire Cloud; he sees opportunity in damn near everything.
"Shit, do whatever you want, I don't care anymore." He said letting a puff out. Cloud had a look of contemplation on his face before he talked to Cid again.
"Cid, what are you going to do now?" The man in question just let out another puff, looking at the continent in the distance.
"Hell I don't know. I have a history with Shinra and I've given up on my town."
"What about your wife Shera?" Cid just guffawed.
"Wife? Don't make me laugh! Just thinkin about marryin that woman sends chills down my spine." He let his cigarette butt fall into the ocean.
"What are you guys gunna do now you have a boat?"
"We're going after Sephiroth, we'll eventually run into Rufus and Shinra though."
"Don't know anything bout that, but..." Cid reached under the plane and pulled out a spear he had attached on the bottom. "What the hell, sign me up!"
"How bout it everyone?" No one really said no, but the only people to really agree to having his help was Tifa, myself, Aeris, and a slightly annoyed Barret. Nanaki and Vincent really didn't care and Yuffie was still blowing chunks.
"Glad to be aboard numbskulls!" Cloud looked offended.
"Numbskulls?"
"Sure, anyone stupid enough to go against Shinra nowadays has got to be a numbskull. I like it!" Cloud took a calming breath but I just laughed. He sent a glare my way but I smiled.
"So where we headin? Rufus said he was going after that Sephiroth guy to the Temple of the Ancients." Everyone was now paying attention to the man.
"A temple? Where?" Aeris pleaded. Cid just shrugged and scratched his chin.
"Don't know, little shit said they were headin the wrong way, so I guess that way." He pointed what looked like south. I noticed out the corner of my eye Yuffie having a glint in hers
"Alright let's go and see what we can find on land and collect information then." Right then Yuffie pounced.
"We should head to Wutai! I bet they have lots of information." She sounded a little too happy. Cloud looked thoughtful.
"I really doubt we'll find anything there, we should just go to the main continent and start there." I saw Yuffie's face drop slightly. I really was going to hate myself later for doing this, but it's good for getting items in the future...for the greater good I guess.
"Yuffie might be on to something Cloud." I said. Everyone looked surprised, the biggest being Yuffie herself looking like a deer in the headlights.
"Just think, we've seen Sephiroth in places he had connections to. Midgar, Junon, Nibelheim. He was the man who ended the Wutai war. He could possibly be going there." Cloud was considering the information; I decided to add the kicker.
"Plus isn't Wutai a traditional village without Mako? They have a ton of old documents, maybe a few will be about the temple." I looked over and saw Aeris nodding her head like she understood the reasoning.
"You make a good point; it's almost too good to pass up. Lets dock on the beach and start heading for Wutai, we're close enough to the island, and Yuffie can be our guide." I saw Yuffie with the biggest scamming grin I had ever seen her have. I muttered a few apologies and temporary goodbyes to my materia.
Thank you everyone, till next time in the chase for the Single White Rose of Wutai to get everyone's stuff back!