Chapter 31: A Storm is Coming

MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE PRESENT….

July 2, 0011

The stripper danced gracefully around the pole as Cid looked on. It was his bachelor party, and, as he had been earlier informed, the last time he would be allowed in a strip club.

Red XIII sat nearby.

Also present were Reno, Rude, and Tseng.

That was all.

Barret was married and felt wrong about it, Zack, Vincent, and Reeve were on their Deepground Mission, and Cloud had been de-aged back to a child and went back in time to grow.

And then, the door opened. In came Shera.

Cid immediately spun around as his fiancée reached his seat.

Shera immediately turned her attention to the dancing stripper.

"You know," she observed, "she's spun around that pole so often I don't know why she hasn't gotten vertigo yet."

"I didn't touch her!" Cid quickly defended.

"He's right," Red XIII insisted. "He didn't."

"They don't even take their bottoms off here," Reno added.

"Never mind any of that," Shera dismissed as she jammed her hands in her jeans pockets. "I have something important to tell you."

"What?" Cid sighed.

"If you're wondering where Vincent, Reeve, and Zack are, something's come up," she replied. "And they need you."

"They need me?" Cid asked.

"Reeve sent his Cait Sith avatar below the streets of Midgar. Omega could be coming."

"Omega?!" Red XIII exclaimed. "Grandpa once mentioned him to me."

"Is that bad?" Cid inquired.

"If Omega arrives," Red XIII replied, "it'll likely destroy the Planet."

"That's bad," Cid observed.

"So," Shera continued, "needless to say, they need you."

Cid grunted.

"You know," he began, "you could have just texted me."

"I wanted to come in here," Shera insisted.

"Why?" Cid asked.

"Because I'm the only woman in here wearing clothes," she replied. "I feel kind of powerful."

"That makes me feel weak," Red XIII muttered.

MEANWHILE…

Vincent, Lucrecia, Zack, and Yuffie sat in the Zack that carried them across the ocean to the Eastern Continent.

Yuffie was particularly quiet.

"What's on your mind?" Zack asked.

"Those people on the swan," Yuffie replied. "I wonder why they would get married and then kill themselves like that."

"I really wouldn't dwell on it," Vincent insisted. "People do a lot of weird things in this world."

Just then, the screen began ringing.

"Looks like we've got an incoming call," Yuffie announced as she stood up and answered it.

Reeve appeared on the screen.

"I have some good news," he announced. "Using you-know-who, I was able to infiltrate Midgar. However, what I saw wasn't the prettiest of pictures."

"Uh-oh," muttered Zack. "That doesn't sound good.

"Omega," Reeve continued. "I should have known."

"Omega?!" Lucrecia exclaimed. "This is really not good!"

"We cannot let them sacrifice the lives of any more people," Reeve said. "Once we've gathered our forces, we'll launch a full offensive. Of course, we'll require the help of you four as well. Please hurry back to headquarters. Oh. I'm analyzing the data files you sent earlier. I should have results soon. Tuesti out."

"Wait!" Lucrecia pleaded, but the screen was already off.

"There you have it," Yuffie said. "I don't know what's going down, but it sounds big. I've been waiting a long time to get my hands on those Deepground punks. They've had their way long enough. Now it's time to give them a taste of Pain a la Yuffie."

"But how many lives does Cait Sith have?" Zack inquired. "Will they…..eventually run out, like in a video game?"

"Good question," Yuffie complimented. "And, by the way, what's Omega?"

Lucrecia, who was unimpressed by the banter, sighed.

"It's a scary story," she began.

THREE DAYS LATER…..

July 5, 0011

Shelke opened her eyes. She found herself in a tube full of a water-like fluid, though she could faintly see technology on the outside.

"Where am I?" she thought.

Suddenly, the fluid drained. The tube blew her dry, and released her.

Shelke stepped out of the tube to see Shalua asleep on her computer.

Her weapons were right next to her.

Cautiously, Shelke picked them up.

At that moment, Shalua stirred.

"Shelke!" she exclaimed as she sprang to her feet. "How are you feeling?"

Shelke briefly scanned her sister's body.

"You were a fool to let your enemy live," she announced as she deactivated her weapon. Now I'm going to kill you and return to Deepground."

"I don't think so," Shalua dismissed, remaining calm.

Shelke continued to glare at her sister.

"I have to admit," Shalua continued, "I wasn't myself back there. Seeing you for the first time in ten years left me in a spin. But I've had time to recover. And I'm not letting you get away. Not this time."

Shelke continued to stare down with her weapon still aimed.

"There's no way I'm going to let you kill me," Shalua pressed, "and there's no way I'm going to let you go back to Deepground."

"I don't recall needing your permission to do anything," Shelke retorted.

"And I don't remember you ever being able to win any of our fights, do you?" Shalua replied.

For a moment, the two sisters were silent.

"How about it?" Shalua taunted as she signaled for her sister to come at her. "You want to try your luck?"

MEANWHILE….

Azul lay on the table, motionless.

He did not respond to the sounds of mice in the room.

He did not respond to the sounds of footsteps.

He did not respond to the sounds of the air ducts.

And then, Azul opened his eyes.

MEANWHILE…..

A lone WRO soldier patrolled the hallway outside the room.

All of a sudden, the wall exploded.

The soldier was knocked away.

A foot that did not appear to be human stepped out.

MEANWHILE…..

Two WRO soldiers stood guard at a door in the main lobby when they both suddenly fell dead.

At the front entrance, several Deepground soldiers, one with a smoking rifle, advanced. More Deepground soldiers appeared on the balconies, firing and causing WRO soldiers to drop.

And then, several more broke through the ceiling window; the foyer was now taken hostage.

WRO soldiers who entered the foyer were gunned down quickly.

MEANWHILE….

"Understood," said Reeve as he stood in the control room. "You may begin mobilization."

"Commissioner!" cried a female soldier over the intercom.

"Deepground?!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, Reeve heard an explosion behind him.

He turned around just in time to see an armored Deepground soldier open fire.

MEANWHILE…..

Shalua and Shelke continued to stand deadlocked when a female voice sounded "EMERGENCY" over the intercom.

"They're back?!" Shalua exclaimed. "But why?"

Shelke lowered her weapons.

"They were waiting for Azul," she replied.

"Azul?" inquired Shalua.

"His death was merely a prologue to the true terror," Shelke said ominously.

MEANWHILE….

The Zack had arrived at the Eastern Continent, and was heading towards WRO headquarters.

Vincent and Lucrecia were sitting side by side, with the latter resting her head on the former's shoulder.

Meanwhile, Yuffie had straddled Zack and was making out with him. He was running his hands over her back through her shirt before letting one rest on her butt through her shorts.

"Geez, Yuffie!" Lucrecia finally said. "I told you the world could end and that's on your mind?"

"You reminded me how short life is," Yuffie replied in between kisses.

"We'll be arriving shortly," called a voice over the intercom.

A second later, a more frantic announcement came.

"What the hell?" exclaimed the same voice over the speaker.

Suddenly, the Zack jerked, causing all four of them to fall to the floor.

"Looks like shit just hit the fan," Zack realized.