Chapter 21: Finish Her!
Summary: Uhhh. The title kinda says it all.
Author's note: Was listening to a history of reggae documentary, and I've decided that Aerith's song for Zack is "My Boy Lollipop" by Millie Small. I mean, read these lyrics:
My boy Lollipop
You make my heart go giddyup
You set the world on fire
You are my one desire
Whoa, my Lollipop
Tifa hated being stuck back here. She could be far more useful up front, fighting that… that thing that had appeared in front of them and warped their world, but Genesis Rhapsodos – who was supposed to be dead – could hardly stand. He certainly couldn't dodge the black pits of magic that swirled over the floor or the sludge that dripped from the unseen roof.
Tifa had never heard of any magic like it. She'd never heard of any creature that could do the things this creature was doing. Except for maybe summons. Summons could create a space outside of reality. It's how she'd tamed her Odin materia – by fighting it in a pocket of unreality – but this wasn't a summon.
Fuck. She hoped this wasn't a summon.
She'd heard the lion-guy saying it was an illusion, but she'd also heard Aerith say it was Jenova. Even before that, Zack had mumbled something about it being Sephiroth, though all Tifa had seen was a figure that looked like Marco. Marco, the weird guy who had a room in Marle's apartment building.
She shook her head to stop the circling thoughts. It didn't matter who or what it was, it was trying to kill them.
Well, it wasn't actively trying to kill the three who'd been at the back of the elevator lobby when the fight had started. The thing never targeted her, Aerith or Rhapsodos with its spells. All they had to do was dodge the dripping acid and the swirling spells.
Which Rhapsodos couldn't do because he was still recovering from being restrained in a tube full of mako for gods-knew how many months.
She had an arm around the former SOLDIER First and shifted the both of them when one of those swirling pools came their way. She cast the occasional Aero spell, but her magic was a pebble next the strength of Rhapsodos' Fira or what Aerith cast. And even they weren't doing much damage to that thing.
It meant all she could do was watch as Cloud, Zack, the lion-man thing, and a Turk fought in her place.
Tseng's gunfire didn't seem to be doing anything but pissing it off. Tifa would enjoy that a lot more if the situation hadn't been so infuriatingly terrifying.
Zack was doing the most damage, of course. Tifa expected nothing less from a SOLDIER First Class – ex- or otherwise.
Cloud wasn't as powerful as Zack, but he was quick and smart. Where Fair would take a hit if it meant getting in a good blow, Cloud would just move out of range and shift his target. Though for speed, neither of them could compare to the lion-man who moved like a blur.
A dark circle appeared in the air above the thing's head.
"Watch out!" Tifa called to Zack who was up there, cutting lines of white energy into the thing's front. But the ball didn't do anything to the SOLDIER. Instead, a beam of black energy shot out at Cloud. It pierced him, pinning him upright. He shuddered and jerked, like a fish caught on a hook.
That was enough of that.
Tifa turned to Rhapsodos. "Can you move on your own?" she asked, demanding a positive answer.
He blinked at her, unsteady on his feet. "Lean me up 'gainst th' pillar," he said. "Gimme support materia since fire isn't havin' much effect.
Tifa grabbed the extra Heal out of the bag, but that was all she had time to dig for. She also gave him her leather bracer with the Lightning materia – he could decide what he wanted to use. Then she took off at a run, already pissed and ready to hit something really hard.
She ran at the nearest tentacle and dive-kicked it.
Zack had cut it enough that the force of her blow tore it in two. The separated end coiled through the air like a thrown snake. Then it disappeared. Just like an illusion.
"This one is off!" Zack shouted as if he'd done it, but Tifa was too angry to care.
This whole thing was fake. A lie.
"Nearly there," the lion-man replied from the other side.
The monster was a lie, just like Shinra's promises of safety.
They made ads that said they cared, but then they let their "great warrior" kill innocent people….
She could hear her blood pounding. Every muscle felt full, ready for battle.
Tifa couldn't wait for Cloud and the lion-man to take care of their side. A short run and a high jump, and she dive-kicked the second tentacle. Unlike the first one it didn't come off right away.
Well, fuck that, too, she thought.
Another breath, a deeper focus and she spun into an uppercut that had the appendage drooping and falling limp on the ground. A powerful downward slice by Cloud and the tentacle was off.
"It's off." He said it loudly enough for everyone to hear, but he was nodding at her. She nodded back and spun to face the monster's main body. It was punch-punch-spin and kick, and then punch some more. Focus her chi and hit it harder and harder – hard as she could.
Every punch landed with a wet, dull thud, and every hit made the odd flesh ripple and wobble.
Every bit of damage made Tifa feel better. She'd forgotten how exhilarating it was to hit something with all the power she could command. Especially something that deserved it!
It was better than exhilarating – it was freeing.
There was so much in her life she could do nothing about – so many things she had no control over – but here, now, she had all the control.
She was hurting the monster in front of them, the one who had dragged them to this weird dream space.
Zack's voice was dim when he called her name. Unimportant when she had this chance to protect the people she held dear and get some payback for all the suffering–
Suddenly, she couldn't move.
She could breathe. She could see and think and feel, but she couldn't move.
She tried to get her arm to lift. Nothing.
She tried to wiggle her toes. Nothing.
It was the most frightening thing she'd ever felt.
She couldn't even blink, so when a new tentacle curled high in the air, she saw it coming down towards her. Moving hard enough, and fast enough, to crush her.
Cloud lifted her and swung her away even as Zack jumped up, Hardedge swinging, and forced the tentacle to the side.
And she could move again.
"You okay?" Cloud asked her, one hand out in case she needed help.
"I'm okay." She gulped and swallowed until it was true. Mostly.
"It seems to be casting," Tseng announced. "Back away." The Turk suited action to words, still shooting at it. Rhapsodos cast Fira - two casts, so Tifa figured Aerith had set up her Arcane Ward close to him.
Too bad it didn't work on healing spells, Tifa thought even as she backed around a pillar.
She cast a Blizzara at the thing, hoping it would do more damage than Rhapsodos' fire spells.
It didn't, but it did make the thing shriek in either outrage or pain. It whipped its head around, screaming, and fluttered its… wings, (for lack of a better description). Energy gathered around it; first streaks and then a massive ball that shrunk smaller and smaller….
"Brace yourselves!" Zack called. Tifa saw and felt Barrier going up around all of them.
The energy flashed – a dark, acidic heat – that expanded out into infinity, and changed the whole dream space as it went. Now, the floor seemed like a dark sky cut through with angry red lava instead of the plain grey it had been.
A tentacle pushed through the floor beside her as if it were liquid instead of metal.
Instinctually, Tifa lashed out with a roundhouse kick. "What the hells?!"
"Same tactics as before," Tseng said calmly. "We need to eliminate the tentacles before we can affect the body."
"Great," she muttered. Then she added "Scaley dragon tits," just to prove they had this under control. Just to prove that she was under control.
This time she didn't lose track of what was under her feet. When a dark pool swirled in her direction, she hopped away, using the time to focus herself so she could bring more power to the fight.
"Two down!" Zack yelled.
"One," Cloud responded.
Tifa gritted her teeth – like hell she was losing to Fair. A final kick, and the tentacle in front of her shivered and disappeared. She ran to the next closest one and used the overpowering punch she'd learned from the ex-SOLDIER.
"Two," she announced, trying (and probably failing) not to sound smug.
It went on like that for some time – longer than Tifa had thought any fight could last. Every time she thought they finally had the monster beat it would cast some huge spell. Either more tentacles would appear, or it would heal up.
Several times, it cast a burning red wind that circled around it. It didn't hurt much, but it hurt steadily, eating away at her energy. And when wind finally cleared, the Jenova thing had moved and more tentacles came up from the floor, and the fight would start again.
Over, and over, and over…
Aerith's Barrier helped but it didn't block everything. The sticky black goo that dripped from the ceiling, for one. Some landed on Tifa's leg as she was kicking, and it burned. It also felt like something was trying to crawl into her skin. She used her Chakra, and that blocked the worst of it.
Tifa tried to be more careful after that, but there was a lot to keep track of: tentacles, floor whirls, drips, and the creature itself.
By the time the thing screeched its last, Tifa wasn't angry anymore. Instead, she was too tired to be anything other than relieved.
She dripped with sweat and she couldn't draw enough breath to cheer because there was a stitch in her side. One ankle was not quite twisted, but not quite right either. And her hands ached, like they hadn't since her first year of training with Master Zangan.
The creature left as dramatically as it had arrived: with swirls of black cloud and sparks of molten red. When it disappeared they were back in the elevator lobby with its ugly rubber flooring and stark metal walls.
"Boss!" a deep voice called from behind her. She didn't bother to face the newcomer. Instead, she wobbled toward the body that slumped to the floor where the monster had been.
The robed figure didn't move, not even to breathe.
"By th'Goddess, what'm I wearing?" The voice was soft and scratchy from disuse.
"Be grateful you're not still naked," Cloud replied as he knelt beside the body.
"Only because I don' look my best," Rhapsodos said back. "Maybe in a month or two…"
Everybody ignored him and gathered around the fallen figure. Zack was careful not to get too close even though Aerith had reached out a hand to check for Jenova taint. She held it: one second, two…. before shrugging.
Cloud felt for a pulse. After a moment, he shook his head.
"Is that Marco?" she asked.
With a shrug, Cloud pulled back the hood. Tifa took a closer look, but she'd never seen Marco's face. Never spoken to him, really. She only called him Marco because that's what Marle had called him.
"Who's Marco?" Tseng asked. He had an arm around Rhapsodos' waist, but it was obvious the SOLDIER barely needed it anymore.
"Just a guy. Has a room at the motel just up from the bar," Tifa said. "Doesn't say much."
"Actually, he looks like this guy who walked out in front of me the first night I arrived in Sector 7," Zack said, looking down at the body. "But he died – and dissolved."
"So, this isn't Marco?" Tseng asked.
"Does Marco have a tattoo?" Zack asked her.
Tseng interrupted. "Is that significant?"
"Wymer – head of the Neighbourhood Watch," Zack said to Tseng who nodded in recognition. "He said that they'd had a couple of these robed figures collapse in the sector. They all had tattoos."
"Forty-Nine," Cloud said. He'd pulled open a hole in the arm of the robe to reveal the number tattooed in a simple black text.
"That's Marco," Tifa said, stunned. Harmless, crazy Marco had been that thing.
Both the Turks made considering sounds. "That's not local work," the bald Turk said. "Even under the plate, they don't do ink so plain."
"How many of these … people have the Neighbourhood Watch spotted?" Tseng asked Zack.
"One more since mine. But that could've been this guy." He nodded at poor Marco. "And two before, so four total, maybe?" Zack's voice was grim.
"There was one in Sector 5. They said he used to be SOLDIER, but that was just a rumour.," Aerith said softly. "For the longest time he did nothing except mutter about reunion."
Zack's head jerked up when Aerith spoke. "He sa– Uh… He said he was SOLDIER?" For some reason, Tifa thought Zack was covering up something, and from the slight narrowing of Tseng's eyes, so did the Turk.
"It was the rumour, but nobody knew for sure." Aerith shrugged. "He used to chase the kids, saying he had to protect them."
"When was the last time you saw him?" Tseng asked. He flicked his eyes to the new Turk who gave a tiny head shake in return.
"Not for a long time, but my mother talked about him a couple weeks ago?" Aerith said uncertainly. "I wasn't paying a lot of attention." She gave Zack a quick look, and Tifa figured her mind had been on her boyfriend. "They chased him out of the sector, because he'd grabbed a couple kids and stranded them in the river."
"Weird way to protect them," Tifa muttered.
Aerith looked at her. "A smogger had activated, so he saved them from that, but then the kids were stranded."
"What's a smogger?" Tifa asked, at the same time Cloud said, "Are those the kids I saved?"
"Scrap parts come back to life," Zack said in a fake-spooky voice, as Aerith nodded confirmation at Cloud.
"Does that really happen?" Tifa looked to Cloud, who nodded.
He looked back at Aerith. "Do we need to burn the body?" His matter-of-fact question drew all eyes to him.
"We need to get it in stasis," the new Turk protested. He already had his PHS out, taking pictures, but Cloud ignored him, waiting for Aerith's guidance.
She drew her hands up under her chin and looked worried. "I don't know," she said softly. "Before that creature showed up, the taint was very strong, but now?" She shrugged. "There's hardly anything."
"Maybe turning into that thing burned it out of him." Cloud stood up, again ignoring all the people staring at him.
"You think that creature was this man?" Tseng asked.
"Think he's the only dead thing here."
"The place in which we fought wasn't real," Rhapsodos added. "It was similar to the space Minerva created for our battle, Zack," he said with a nod.
After a moment, Zack nodded back. "Okay, yeah. But oppressive and unclean."
"Still the same–" the redhead waved a hand "–disconnect from the familiar, though."
"Your theory is that this man took us to a pocket dimension and transformed into a creature 5‑metres tall, and when we killed it, we killed him. Is that your theory?" Tseng's voice was almost completely devoid of expression, but Tifa could tell that he really wanted to mock the whole idea.
Zack stared at him. "It's no more ridiculous than Sephiroth appearing in two places nearly at once and making his 2‑metre‑long sword just fucking appear from out of nowhere."
"Yah, that," Tifa said in support.
Rhapsodos took a step forward. "Wait, Sephiroth is alive?"
Zack turned to his fellow First. "Apparently, he killed President Shinra last night."
"That was confidential," Tseng said. Both the SOLDIERs ignored him.
"You don't think it was him." Rhapsodos hadn't looked away from Zack.
Zack shot a look at the Turks. It made Tseng's eyes narrow. "You thought you saw Sephiroth at the start of this fight," Tseng said. "You said his name."
"And a bunch of other stuff," Zack admitted. "You guys didn't see him?"
They all looked at each other. "I only saw a robed figure," Cloud said and everybody nodded except for the new Turk.
"When the doors opened, it was like a ball of black glass," he said. " Opaque. Only saw the occasionally flash of light." Since the bald Turk hadn't been there at the start of the fight, that made sense.
"Why would one of these tattooed men turn into Sephiroth?" the lion-man asked.
"Hojo injected cells from Jenova into Sephiroth to make him what he was, right? World's greatest warrior. He was always trying to duplicate it," Zack said grimly. "Maybe all these guys are more of Hojo's attempts. Maybe it's the Jenova cells that let them warp reality."
Tifa couldn't help but look at Aerith when Zack said that. She knew, thanks to the information they'd shared in the bar before it had collapsed, that Zack had also been injected with Sephiroth's cells. Considering Aerith's reaction to Jenova's taint, they had to be worried what this could mean for them.
"But you said one of them was a SOLDIER," the lion-man said. "Why would Shinra allow their greatest weapons to be used in such a way?" Tifa snorted - along with everyone else who'd escaped Deepground with her.
"Because they don't care about their people," Rhapsodos said bitterly.
"Careful there," Zack growled. "You turned a bunch of men under your command into copies of yourself."
Tifa backed away from the redhead. "What?"
"Also, confidential," Tseng said with a resigned sigh.
"It was wrong of me," Rhapsodos said wearily. "It was arrogant and selfish, and without honour."
Zack stared at the former commander. "Yes, it was."
Maybe he'd looked up to Genesis at one point, the same way he'd looked up to Sephiroth. If Zack had felt hero-worship at one point, there was no remnant of it in his gaze.
"Still say we should burn him," Cloud said. For a moment, Tifa thought he was talking about Genesis. Then her friend nodded down at poor Marco. "He's starting to dissolve and he's leaking purple goo."
Again, the Turks protested, but Aerith gave a small nod.
"Allow me," Rhapsodos said, with a superior smirk. He sent a streak of fire at the body that vaporized it. Both Cloud and the Turk jumped back.
Tseng closed his eyes in a long, pained blink. "I really wish you hadn't done that."
The smile Rhapsodos aimed at the Turk was practically evil. "My friend, the fates are cruel. There are no dreams, no honor remains."
"Aw shit." This time Zack pinched his nose. "That stupid fucking poem."
Rhapsodos sniffed. "You never were the literary type."
"And yet, I somehow managed to refrain from going crazy, killing my subordinates, and betraying my friends," Zack snapped back.
The redhead's smile softened. "Indeed, you did. Lazard was a fool. For of all of us, only you obtained your dream: you truly became a hero."
For some reason that made Zack shuffle and blush.
"Why was it important to burn the body?" the lion-guy asked.
"We have a theory–" Zack started.
"It poisons the planet," Aerith said, hands clasped under her chin.
Zack rubbed his hair – obviously that wasn't how he would've presented it. He waved his hands at Tseng's skeptical look. "Hear us out," he said. "You've fought Hojo's experiments?" Both Turks nodded. "You ever notice ones that bleed purple-black–"
"It's more like it oozes," Aerith corrected. "Very thick."
"We've noticed it," Tseng said. Neither his face nor his voice gave anything away.
"That's the Jenova cells," Zack continued. "And it's like that stuff that was dripping on us during this battle."
"It burns, like poison," Tifa said. "And you can heal it with Esuna." She'd actually used her Chakra, but she wasn't going to tell the Turks about her rare materia.
"Right," Zack nodded. "But unlike poison, when the creature dies, you can see the purple-black stuff dissolving along with the usual green sparkles."
"If it poisons us," Tifa said. "What's it doing to the Lifestream?"
"The Lifestream is a myth," the bald-headed Turk said.
"It is most definitely real," the lion-man said, tail swishing as if dismissing the Turk's ignorance. He looked up at her "If your theory is correct then the planet could be in grave danger."
"It is only a small amount that dissolves?" Tseng asked.
"The effect could be cumulative," the lion-man said. "Layer upon layer building up to a disastrous concentration."
Zack pointed at the lion-man. "What he said!"
For a moment, the group was silent.
There were still howls from the escaped experiments (hopefully fighting each other and not coming their way) but they all stood in the lobby while Tseng evaluated what he'd been told.
Zack practically vibrated with nervous energy, splitting his anxious gaze between the Turk and the hallway. Rhapsodos walked slowly around the lobby keeping one hand on the wall. He did small stretches and bends that he probably hoped nobody noticed. Cloud watched the corridor while he used a piece of Marco's cloak to remove some of the accumulated mess from his sword. Other than that, nobody moved.
"All that awaits you is a somber morrow; No matter where the winds may blow," Genesis declaimed.
Zack sighed. "Please don't do that."
Finally, Tseng dipped his head. "This discussion is too important to have in an elevator lobby," he said. He lifted his chin at the bald-headed Turk who immediately took out his PHS. "Partner? Roof in ten minutes. Transport."
Tseng went to the call buttons and waved his ID in front of the panel. Once again, the small indicator lit up.
Zack widened his stance and swung his huge sword onto his shoulder. "So, we get a free ride out, and you get…?"
"Information," Tseng smirked. "What else."
"We already told you about the Jenova taint," Aerith said.
Tseng's smiled became more natural when he turned to her. "There is still Deepground," he said. "We are aware that it is a lab under Midgar, of course, but access to it is severely limited. Scientists and workers were recruited permanently. They moved below and were never seen again."
"That's creepy," Zack said.
"Fits though," Cloud didn't sound happy. "Found crates and crates of used military uniforms. They volunteer too?" He twisted his wrist, and the red Ifrit summon flared briefly.
"Deepground started out as a specialized medical unit during the Wutai War," Tseng said.
Zack snapped his fingers. "That's where I recognize it from! It was for injured SOLDIERs."
Tseng nodded. "SOLDIERs were new during the war. No one was sure how injuries would affect them or if standard medical treatments would work."
The elevator pinged its arrival and the Turk held the elevator door. He nodded Aerith forward and she strolled in as if this was any other day under the plate. Tifa shot the Turk a deeply suspicious look before following. Zack went next while Cloud finally sheathed his sword.
Cloud turned to face the being they'd met. "Your choice. Easier getting out with more fighters on your side, though." The lion-man gave an agreeable hum and ambled into the elevator car. Cloud followed favouring his right leg slightly.
It was probably mean of her, but Tifa was secretly relieved that someone else was limping. It meant she wasn't the only one who overextended themselves during the fight – like an amateur.
As the elevator doors slid closed on the crowded car, it creaked unhappily.
"We also need to talk about evacuating Midgar," Zack said with another wide, wide smile.
Tseng, hands folded neatly in front of him, merely blinked. "Lovely."
.o0|0o.
Shelke the Transparent looked the broken body of Azul the Cerulean. He was dead, pierced by falling pipe, and then crushed by the building that was slowly falling apart.
Shelke thought she should be saddened by his death. He had been a colleague, after all, one of only a handful of Tsviets, but had he been a friend? They'd never referred to each other as such.
Besides, it was well known in Deepground that friendship made one vulnerable and weak. Azul had despised weakness. It was possible he had despised her. She was, indisputably, the weakest physically of all the Tsviets.
However, he was dead, and she was not.
Shelke decided that it was okay to feel nothing for Azul's death. She would instead feel concern for her own possible demise.
Shelke should have negative feelings about worrying for herself, because Tsviets shouldn't fear death and she was Tsviet. She recognized the training she had received in order to dedicate her live and death to the mission. She felt the pounding need to FINISH.
But Shelke also knew the mission was irretrievable. She could no longer sense Weiss, whose presence had had been the lodestone of her life, and who was the only Tsviet who's presence would be required at the end of the mission. Without him, life as a Tsviet had no purpose.
There was a voice inside Shelke, telling her that Deepground wasn't her life and shouldn't be her death. It said she wasn't a Tsviet. She almost recognized her voice – no, his voice – deep voice, masculine.
Shelke wanted to be closer to her, even though she knew she shouldn't.
If Shelke left to find that voice, that man, what would happen to Shelke the Transparent?
Probably nothing, Shelke decided. After all, there was essentially no one left to rebuke her or punish her. Most of the attendants and scientists had run when the explosion happened, and the Restrictors who were left had more pressing concerns than one small Tsviet leaving her room.
Shelke decided that finding the person whose voice she heard encouraging her was a better use of her skills than waiting down here to die. She could picture him – no, her – in her mind very clearly. Tall, dark-hair, eyes of deep rose. If Shelke could find her way out of the training facility, she could maybe find her – no, him.
It was confusing, but he'd help. She always wanted to help Shelke – to protect her.
Shelke kept to the edges of the platforms and hallways as she walked. Thankful, for once, that Shelke the Transparent was small and light. Her footsteps didn't jar anything loose, and the floor didn't fall away beneath her feet.
Shelke referred to the architectural drawings she had accessed in one of her synaptic net dives. They hadn't been the target, and she would have been punished if her handlers had found out, but Shelke hadn't cared. At the time, it had been a small rebellion, one of many before she'd earned her place as Shelke the Transparent.
Shelke couldn't remember why she'd resisted being made a Tsviet, but it was in her memory so it might've been true. She did remember that she'd wanted to escape so she could find her – him. No, her, the ginger-haired girl with the glasses and the kind smile, and now, thanks to the reactor explosion, Shelke could go look for him.
Aerial units tried to stop her – they obviously didn't want Shelke the Transparent to leave.
It did not go well for them. Small she might have been, but she was still Tsviet enough to dispatch the weaker units with ease. Shelke replaced her shock spears in their holsters, glad they were always with her.
Thankfully, the Restrictors didn't come. Maybe they, like Azul, had been broken by falling structure? She couldn't rely on that. Shelke was fast, and a Tsviet, but she was still only one and the DG army was hundreds.
Shelke considered her options. There were ramps and stairs, but they looped and turned in odd ways to make Deepground a labyrinth. It would be hard to navigate them undetected. There were the elevators, but she couldn't trust they'd be operating when so much of the facility was without power. However, she could climb the shafts. Not many unenhanced would consider climbing the over 3,000 metres it would take to reach the ground floor.
Decision made, Shelke ran to the nearest elevator. It was the freight one. She almost cut the doors open with her spears, but that would leave too much evidence of her route. She looked for the access panel instead.
It required a screwdriver to remove.
Shelke carried screwdrivers, claiming they were tools, but somehow feeling safer with them in hand when certain scientists were in the room with her.
It took Shelke very little time to remove the panel and hide it.
Inside the shaft, the only light was from her – the blue light emanating from her suit. If a trooper put their head in the hole left by the missing cover, then Shelke would be easily visible.
Unless she was high enough. Then they would need to have scanners and special goggles.
Decision made, Shelke climbed the service ladder quickly. Her rubberized boots made little sound on the metal bars, and her breathing didn't change.
Soon, Shelke thought. Soon she would be free of this place and could find her way back to her – him…. The one she had lost.
End Note: My apologies for the delay. Wasn't feeling great the last couple weeks (not COVID; just a cold and work pressure) so instead of sitting down and writing, I watched some British plant sculpture show on Netflix. They made huge insects and sea creatures, and even wearable dresses, all with flowers and grass. I know nothing about flowers, but it was fun. Weird, but fun.