Start Date: March 11, 2023
Windwillow
The bolded segments are Tifa's flashback to when Cloud first came to Midgar.
Final Fantasy VII
Hojo's machinations had finally culminated in the Reunion's activation, and now the world stood on the precipice of utter ruin. With Sephiroth's acquisition of the Black Materia, all hell had broken loose. Even as the disaster unfolded, things would only get worse from there. Inside the Highwind, despite having narrowly escaped the cataclysm, AVALANCHE and Shinra alike have been shaken to their cores. Their troubles, as well, are not so dissimilar... But it's action that dictates right and wrong.
Chapter Forty-Three: Meteor is Coming
Scene One
They'd barely made it out with their lives. As the Highwind lifted up from the North Crater and WEAPON began to awaken, deep within the crater Sephiroth's body began to assimilate the Black Materia. As Sephiroth descended deep underground with his prize the three WEAPONs rose from their two thousand year slumber and began to activate, the Planet now aware of the threat it faced. While WEAPON emerged, inside the bridge of the airship the crew and passengers desperately held on for dear life. They could feel the pressure, both inhaling and exhaling, and when WEAPON shot off into the distance the windows of the Highwind shattered into shards of glass. While everyone was knocked off kilter, Tifa's head struck the wall and almost immediately she fell unconscious, while the rest of the bridge was left in ruin and the remainder left badly shaken.
High in the sky, the air became warped and the heavens were torn apart as a titanic amount of gravity began to swell high into the atmosphere. The pressure lifted off from the Planet and surged high into outer space, and with great force a large amount of space debris began to gravitate towards a central core. Chunks of comets and space dust were drawn together into its core and were built upon to create an unbelievable amount of debris that formed the dreaded Ultimate Magic of Destruction, Meteor. From high above, slowly, Meteor began its descent towards Gaia, and the whole of the sky around it was burned blood red.
The inside of the bridge lay in ruins. Both AVALANCHE members and Shinra personnel lay strewn across the area, only barely conscious even several minutes after the cataclysm. Barret was one of the last to recover, but as he did he lifted his eyes and saw an unconscious Tifa prone on the bridge of the ship. He dashed towards her and turned her over, revealing a large head wound that dripped down her face like a large tear. "Someone... Help!" he insisted desperately.
The air began to clear as Vincent came to, and as his eyes opened they opened wide. "We have more problems than just her, Barret..." he groaned groggily. Barret looked around and found that the entire group was now being held at gunpoint by Shinra infantrymen. As Vincent stumbled to his feet and he himself was targeted, he brushed the blood from his bandana and glared at his captor. Even though they both were wounded, only one of them had had the sense to summon backup. "Even the end of the world won't convince you to stand down, you damned fool?" Vincent growled.
As he held his aching head, Rufus stumbled to his feet and spat up a bit of saliva. He turned to Vincent and the others and narrowed his eyes, fierce despite his despair. "I am standing down. You can't interrogate a corpse, so I need you all alive," he hacked. Rufus wiped the blood from his brow and looked towards a semi-conscious Hojo. "And he will be interrogated as well..." Rufus snarled as he grit his teeth and scowled at Hojo. "That disgusting little freak might have doomed us all..."
Scene Two
Seven agonizing days passed from the start of the cataclysm to the seventh day, which saw AVALANCHE being led into a conference room in the center of Junon. While they were disarmed they'd been given medical attention, though Barret's Gun-arm had been sealed shut to prevent him from fighting back. The conference room was large enough to fit them all, and while they weren't physically detained it was clear that they weren't free to leave. Rufus' immaculate black boots made a clicking sound as he entered the room and took his seat. As he exhaled and laced his fingers together, he gave what could almost be considered a sincere smile. "We're here for a mutual exchange of information..." he said coolly. "Do any of you want tea or coffee?" When he received a stony silence, Rufus sighed and leaned back in his seat and laid a hand to his face. "Fine... I suppose we've had a bad run of it lately. I did have the cook executed a while back..."
As he brushed the messy black hair from his face, Vincent silently glared at Rufus, who seemed wholly unaffected. He sighed and folded his arms over his chest, flashing a grim smile. "Mutual? Quit talking out of your ass," Vincent said coldly. "If we try to leave, you'll put bullets in our heads... So just cut the crap and act like the sociopath you really are. It'll save us all a lot of time and energy."
Though he barely restrained his fury, Rufus nevertheless brushed against the bandage on his head, feeling the dried blood from beneath it and clenched his fist to contain his anger. "Insult me all you like. But I do want to apologize for my part in all this," said Rufus plainly, much to the shock of all involved. He leaned back in his chair and put his face in his hand again. "Unlike my father, I'm not a thug that twists the truth to suit my desires. I'll own up to my involvement if you do to yours."
"How touching," Vincent spat back, although he still believed him to be a thug. He took in a deep breath and surveyed the room, noticing a conspicuous absence. "We're missing someone, aren't we?" he asked softly. "Is it because he's being dealt with differently than us?"
Using his free arm, Barret slammed his fist onto the table, almost climbing on top of it. "Screw all that! I have business with that son of a bitch!" he snarled. "That jackass has my daughter! And I want to see her right-"
"She's in the custody of Elmyra Gainsborough, the Ancient's mother... as negotiated by the man whom you wish to maim," said Rufus flatly. As Barret fell back, stunned, Rufus called for a cup of coffee and turned back to Barret. "That individual has had his privileges temporarily suspended... pending the results of our discussion. He did so under the understanding that she wouldn't be harmed." While the rest of the party was stunned by the news, Vincent could only crack a smile.
So you kept your word after all, Reeve. At least you have some integrity, as opposed to these animals.
When he received his coffee, Rufus quickly sipped it and set it down on the table. "I have news you'll find reassuring... Hojo is also being interrogated, and his interrogation won't be as cordial as yours," he smiled darkly. The way he spoke was far from pleasant and implied a much worse fate for Hojo, as opposed to them. But at least Hojo wasn't immune from prosecution. "There. I've shown my own good faith, and I expect you folks to do the same. Tell me everything you know, and I'll share what I know afterwards."
"Good faith, indeed," Vincent shot back, though he did so more pleasantly than he had been doing. If they could come to an agreement, it was worth trying. With a sigh, he laced his fingers and bowed his head. "Let's start at the beginning... Your reactors are bleeding the world dry, and in a few years the world will end, Meteor or no Meteor..." he said. Seeing Rufus' disinterest, Vincent lifted an eyebrow. "You care to dispute our argument?"
"I'm only responsible for the day to day operations of the company, not its scientific business," said Rufus plainly. Vincent's eye twitched in reply, knowing that he was aware but didn't care. "Besides..." he sighed, brushing the hair from his eyes. "That's your propaganda. We have our own, and I'm not going to argue who's right and who isn't. Tell me about Hojo's Reunion. We haven't squeezed that out of him yet. He's too busy throwing out words no one can understand... In between the fun parts." The way Rufus spoke was both reassuring that Hojo would also be held accountable, and unsettling in the implications of their methods.
Narrowing his eyes, Vincent quietly reclined in his seat and sighed. "It begins with his Jenova Project... using the womb of Lucrecia Crescent to carry that abominable creature," he growled. Even as he said her name, Vincent could barely contain his fury, but he managed to hold himself back for the sake of his friends. "Apparently, Hojo's Reunion theory is that Jenova's cells, when separated, will inevitably reunite at their core, hence the name. Our problem is that Sephiroth hijacked it and used Hojo's toys to retrieve the Black Materia, which he used to summon Meteor. I suggest you determine how long we have before we continue. We need to know every parameter of our situation before we go any further."
After taking a deep breath, Rufus dialed a number on his cell and held it to his ear. "Scarlet, I want you to perform the calculations on Meteor's descent..." he ordered plainly. Clearly he wasn't pleased with what he heard, as he nearly crushed the phone in fury. "Do it, you stupid hag! I don't have the patience for your nonsense!" Rufus snarled. After a few moments, he shut his phone and bowed his head. "Approximately two weeks. I don't know if that reassures you of anything."
Vincent sighed deeply and held his face in his hands. "Then I suggest we work together. If you're talking mutual, then I suppose we have no choice," he sighed. As he leaned back, he almost started to feel hopeful that Rufus would cooperate. "That's the extent of our information. Now, what do you have to offer?"
"Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. We have no information. But your input may prove vital, so I thank you..." Rufus said plainly. He lifted his hand and clicked his fingers, prompting two soldiers to grab hold of Barret and lift him up by the arms. "You're free to go, save Wallace and Lockhart..."
"You conniving... I knew you wouldn't keep your word," snarled Vincent. He slammed his fist on the table as he spoke, hard enough to dent it. As Barret was dragged from the conference room, Vincent just barely managed to contain himself from strangling Rufus. "Why them? What are you planning to do with them?" he asked furiously.
Rufus snatched up his coffee and sipped it again, then laid it down gingerly. "The company needs to reassure the people. We can't, so a scapegoat is needed. They are those scapegoats," he said plainly. Though Cid nearly climbed over the table, Vincent held him back and violently shoved him back into his chair. "They'll be executed tomorrow on live broadcast. The rest of you are free to go. We will, of course, confiscate your weapons and materia so that you don't interfere with our plan."
"You stupid jerk! If you think we're gonna stand by and let you kill our friends," Yuffie screeched, "you're as retarded as you are evil! You guys are gonna-" When several rifles clicked into place, aimed at her head, Yuffie furiously slammed her fist onto the table and plopped down in her seat with a frustrated scream. "You are not getting away with this..." she growled furiously. From across the table, Vincent folded his arms and sighed. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but smile.
Of course they aren't. Leaving us freedom to act proves that they're retarded.
Scene Three
I couldn't act... I couldn't speak. Watching you throw everything away is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I lost you for all this time, and now... Wait... I remember now. You weren't acting right from the start.
The Sector Seven train terminal was just as rundown and derelict as ever, ruined timetables and castaway rubble littering the ground. There was, however, a notable difference in the haggard frame propped up against a lamp post. He wore a tattered SOLDIER uniform, and though his eyes were blank, his grip on his massive blade didn't waver a bit. It was as if all his body was broken except for his fingers, wrapped tight around the grip of the Buster Sword. That was how she found him.
"Hey! You alright?! You look like you went through hell!" Tifa cried out in concern, crouching down next to the catatonic man with her usual kindness. Then it struck her: the spiky golden hair ignited a faint memory in her heart, but the sword in his hand belonged to someone else. "Y-You... are you Cloud?" she asked softly. "Is that you, Cloud?"
All he saw were faded colors and the vision of shattered puzzle pieces. The events he'd gone through had broken his will, yet when he heard her voice something alighted inside him. Remembering the voice he heard, mixing it with all the emotions he'd bottled up, his memories and emotions began to jumble and he started to twitch uncontrollably. Visions of a black haired man and a young girl in a cowboy hat flashed through his eyes, memories melded in a blend of chaos, and by the time he opened his eyes, two men had somehow become one. His memories, and his own memories, jumbled together into a frazzled puzzle whose pieces were scarred and misshapen. Slowly, her name escaped his lips.
"Cloud?! You really... You really are Cloud?! But... that isn't possible... You..." she rasped, holding her hand to her mouth in shock. She wanted ask why he'd never come for her, but the words never came out and her desperate thoughts instead led her only to kneel down in front of the man right in front of her. "Y-You... couldn't be..." Tifa choked. Seeing him in this condition was bad enough, but watching the man who'd broken his promise stagger back into her life was next to unbearable.
"Tifa... Tifa? That's right, you're Tifa... But that... that isn't possible. You..." choked Cloud, his body quaking uncontrollably. The memories of what he'd thought was her death jumbled together with the gentle eyes in front of him, life returned to his eyes, and the transformation became complete when he first smiled at her. "Oh, it's you, Tifa! What are you doing here?" Cloud asked cheerfully. "Then again, I don't even know where here is..."
"You... You're in... Midgar, Cloud... It's been a... long time..." Tifa rasped, unsure of what to say. Cloud had gone from catatonic to casual at a flick of her fingers, and it was a transformation that not only confused her, but frightened her.
"Yeah... It's been five years! I haven't seen you in... five years, right!" Cloud stuttered, his inner voice beating in his ears, desperately attempting to wake him from his stupor. The voice tried to call out to Cloud, but only reached a jumble of memories and lies before finally retreating shamefully into the darkness.
Seven... Seven years. You weren't there when I needed you... Why? What happened? Why are you here with his sword?! This is... This is insane... You...
"Cloud!" she choked, hard enough to make her throat raw. She awoke with a start, sitting straight up on her bed in a cold sweat. As Tifa gathered herself, she turned to find Barret in the corner of the room, hiding his right arm behind his back. "Barret! You..." Tifa stammered. She put a hand to her face and could feel the bandage wrapped around her forehead. Clearly, she'd been given medical attention. Turning to Barret, her vision finally focused. "How long... have I been out?" Tifa wondered quietly. As she stared at his somber face, however, a sense of dread began to form.
I... I don't like the look on your face...
"Seven days... You've been out for seven days... and all the world's gone to hell," Barret said sadly, to Tifa's shock. He didn't want to worry her, but he knew he couldn't keep the truth from her forever. "Sephiroth has some sort of barrier up north, and three screwed up monsters called WEAPON have been raising hell all across the globe. Shinra's been fighting them, and I hate to say it, but they've been doing a decent job. That's Problem A... But we have a Problem B that's even worse... Take a look outside," said Barret reluctantly. He pressed a button and the shutters in the room lifted up to reveal a bloody red sky, with the clouds parted and a titanic asteroid hung in the air like a massive omen of death. "The bastard did it... He summoned Meteor," Barret sighed.
Tifa, who by now had staggered to her feet, stared out at the desolation with quaking apprehension. Her knees trembled, then buckled, and she fell to her hands and knees in grief. Grief quickly turned to anger, however, and out of rage she thrust her knuckle into the floor only to find it unbreakable while bruising her hand in the process. Confused and terrified, Tifa managed to stagger to her feet as Rufus entered, surrounded on either side by infantrymen. Even just seeing him triggered something deep inside, something she didn't like.
It's you... You let that happen to Cloud. Bastard.
"Your friend and that idiot Hojo have doomed us all. If I could punish both of them, I would, but locking Hojo up is the best I can do. Meteor is coming, and there's nothing we can do to stop it..." Rufus said darkly, folding his arms over his chest quietly. "But at least we can offer up two sacrificial lambs to satiate the masses. Guess what you two are."
Enraged, Tifa rose to her feet and attempted to harden her fist, but found that she was unable to because her wrists and ankles had been bound by restraints that prevented her from fighting seriously. Slowly, she turned her head to her right and watched as Barret revealed his own Gun-arm, locked and sealed with chains, and her blood ran cold.
"They've planned for everything... Every chance, every contingency. If we could fight back, we would..." Barret growled, his fist tightening as he turned his rage towards Rufus. The more he stared, the stronger he shook, knowing that his rage was in vain. "And if we could... That piece of crap would be riddled with a thousand bullets!" he hissed.
Tifa's body continued to tremble and, finally reaching her breaking point, she lunged at Rufus with her bound fist but stopped cold when he drew his shotgun and aimed it between her eyes. Now quaking with rage, but unable to do anything, Tifa spitefully stared Rufus down with a look of sheer hatred.
Everything you've done... and now this?! How many lives do you have to ruin before you're satisfied?!
"There isn't any way to save us. Hojo's explained what Meteor is, what it does, and why it can't be stopped. You have my sincerest apologies, but the best we can salvage is executing the people responsible, to regain the public's confidence," Rufus said quietly, menacingly. He sighed and brushed the hair from his face, almost looking apologetic, even if he wasn't. "Now, stand against the wall and put your hands behind your backs."
She clenched her fingers tight, tight enough to wrinkle her gloves and almost tight enough to draw blood. Tifa silently shook with rage, her emotions almost overflowing. But, with no alternative, she rose to her feet, turned around, and placed her wrists together. The guards approached and Barret was carried away, but as she was being shackled, Tifa silently grit her teeth and vowed revenge.
You won't forget what I'm going to do to you, you little punk. No, I take that back... You won't survive it.
Scene Four
If they hadn't already restrained them, the guards would never have gotten a hold of Barret and Tifa. Sealing their abilities when they were vulnerable was the only chance they had, and unfortunately, they'd taken it. Now, the guards had shackled the pair and led them through the halls of Junon's Shinra base to their execution site. "You're getting what you deserve, you maggots! You killed us, now we kill you!" taunted the guard escorting Tifa. Whereas Barret simply closed his eyes and grit his teeth in disgust, the guard behind Tifa lost several of his when she suddenly leaned her head forward and snapped it back, immediately breaking his face open and dropping him to the floor unconscious. As he landed limply and pitifully, dropping to the ground with only half his teeth remaining and a broken nose, the other soldiers immediately lifted their rifles and aimed them at Tifa. With a grim smirk, Tifa turned first to Barret and then looked down at the man she'd maimed. Her smile widened, despite her situation, and she moved forward to continue walking.
Afterwards, the soldiers made sure not to stand ahead of or behind her, always at her side. The procession continued on for several minutes before reaching the press room, where the media had gathered to watch the execution. Several newscasters from various stations were present, one of them being a ridiculously and poorly disguised Cait Sith, whose oversized moogle paws could barely hold a pencil and paper. Also present, notably, was Scarlet, who presided over the event.
"Ladies and gentlemen, behold! These two criminals have brought us to our present situation! And now, justice will be served as they die the deaths they deserve!" cackled Scarlet. As she approached Tifa, her smile widened, but Tifa's defiant smirk led to her smacking Tifa, hard. Tifa, however, remained defiant, and the wild smirk on her face showed that she wasn't ready to give up yet. Even through her anger, Scarlet decided against angering Tifa further. She did shake violently, mutter an expletive, and storm away, though. As Barret and Tifa were being led forward, Barret couldn't help but notice the ridiculously dressed newsman who happened to have the body of a certain moogle, which he could tell quite plainly as he'd spent the last several weeks traveling with him. Through all his anger and rage, Barret couldn't help but crack a grim smile.
Scene Five
While the execution took place, the armory where AVALANCHE's confiscated equipment reposed was guarded by two soldiers. One had a light stubble on his face, while the other was clean shaven with a half-moon birthmark on his cheek. Both of them had been ordered to guard the armory with their lives, so when a lone reporter approached they quickly sprung into action, lifting their rifles and taking aim at the reporter's head.
As she lifted her arms to indicate surrender, Yuffie's eyes widened like dinner plates. "Whoa, hold the phone, folks!" she screeched. She withdrew a notepad and a pen and clicked her pen to prepare it to write. Oddly enough she wore a pair of thick-rimmed glasses in an attempt to disguise herself, which she hesitantly adjusted. "I'm a reporter for Channel Seven, and I need to interview you!"
"You want to interview... us?" gasped Poe. As his finger began to waver, it quickly returned to the trigger of his rifle. Yuffie appropriately flinched and readjusted her glasses. "Cut the crap! There's no way we're important to anything!" he insisted. "Go away, you little rugrat!"
She immediately took offense to the word 'rugrat,' but managed to compose herself enough not to pounce on the pair. "Come on, guys! Please?! You're more important than you think! I'm sure that if those villains tried to break in, you'd stop 'em cold, right?!" Yuffie begged, hesitantly getting onto her hands and knees. In doing so her glasses dropped to the ground, followed by a fake tear. "My boss needs this report, or I'm toast!" she rasped. Unseen to the guards, however, Yuffie's eye began to twitch uncontrollably as her rage began to fester.
Making me beg? Oh, I will make you suffer...
"Well... We are important, right, dude? If those criminals got back this stuff, they'd raise all sorts of hell! We're fulfilling our civic duty, man!" Finn tittered, his excitement almost impossible to mask. He shouldered his rifle and dusted off his uniform, excited to be interviewed. Yuffie cheerfully approached, dropped her notebook, and slammed her fist into Finn's gut, immediately dropping him. When Poe moved to attack, she nailed him with a kick to the groin, an attack which immediately stunned him before she elbowed him unconscious. From behind a crate, her friends darted out towards the armory. They retrieved the key and turned to open the lock, but Vincent's face dropped when he saw Yuffie pounding her foot into the two troopers' faces in an attempt to break their teeth open.
"You two jackasses made me beg?! Oh, the hell you didn't! I'm going to give your dentist a bill so big you have to cancel your appointments!" Yuffie snarled, lifting her foot once again before Vincent caught it, tightened his grip, and threw her to the ground face first. "Hey! I was just giving these two the justice they deserve, man!" shrieked Yuffie as she staggered to her feet. A quick glare from Vincent, however, quickly quieted her. "Okay, fine, whatever! Gawd, just having some fun..." she grumbled. Upon retrieving her equipment, she gleefully clicked her materia into place and twirled her weapon around dramatically. "Weapon? Check! Materia? Double check! Now, let's go raise some hell!"
"Calm down. You have one shuriken and three materia, they have five hundred rifles. Do the math," Vincent said plainly. Though Yuffie seethed, Vincent ignored her completely and returned his revolver to the holster on his hip. Like her, however, he felt more complete with his weapon at his side. "But numbers aren't everything if your strategy is superior," he smirked. He tilted his head to Cid, who happily examined his weapon. It was handmade, and retrieving it was almost like recovering a limb. "You're sure that this will work? They've been working for Shinra for a decade and a half."
Cid put a hand to his face and chuckled, which erupted into full blown laughter as he adjusted his scarf and gave a two-fingered salute. "They've been waiting for a decade and a half for their Captain to give them an order!" Cid cackled. He walked away confidently, swinging his spear and attaching to his back with a flourish. "It's time to take my baby back..." he snarled, walking away with a nasty smile on his face. "If they don't listen, well... They know me well enough not to listen."
Scene Six
"Keith Kate here from Shinra Channel Number Seven! I want to ask you a few questions, Miss Scarlet!" tittered a particularly oversized reporter, who stepped up to the podium with an awkward hobbling. The fact that it was Cait Sith in disguise should have been obvious to everyone present, but none of them were geniuses, so he'd slipped in unnoticed. "I would like an official statement!"
"Channel Seven? I thought we only had six channels... Well, whatever. I'll be more than happy to answer, Mr. Kate!" Scarlet beamed as she brushed the hair from her eyes with a flourish. She loved being the center of attention, and this was her prime opportunity. "The conduct of these two criminals is so egregious that punishment has to be swift and severe!" she cackled. "In fact, I would say that-"
"And that ends the statement. Thank you for your... enlightening words!" Cait Sith said cheerfully, secretly taking great pleasure in shutting Scarlet down. Though Scarlet began to seethe, back in Midgar, Reeve's smile was wider than it had been in years. That had been a long time in coming...
My statement to you: Kiss my ass.
Scarlet only barely disguised her fury, and her twitching eye told more than her fake smile did. "Well... That was... Quite concise... Channel Seven. I'm glad that our fine reporters emphasize brevity over quality!" snapped Scarlet nastily, secretly cursing the reporter for interrupting her. If she'd known who really said it, she would have already been storming Reeve's office. "The first execution will be that vile woman!" she cackled.
Barret viciously struggled against his bonds, using all the strength he had to charge towards Scarlet. "You wanna kill someone?!" he shouted. He struggled against his bonds, prompting another rifle to be placed to his head. Seemingly, he didn't care. "Kill me! Don't take her first, you cowardly old hag!"
"What did you just call me?! I haven't the time nor the inclination to take insults from global class criminals!" Scarlet snapped, charging towards Barret with a wicked sneer on her face. The sneer widened, displaying her clean, white teeth poking from her ruby red lipstick like vampire fangs. "I'll execute whomever I want, whenever I want!" she declared.
What began as a smile broke out into laughter, much to Scarlet's surprise. "Wow, you're as dumb a blonde as you look!" Barret snorted. He reared back and shot a fresh batch of spit in Scarlet's face. "You thought I wouldn't do it? Loser!" he snarled, a grin flashing on his face. Trembling with rage, Scarlet swept the saliva from her mouth and glared at Barret. True enough, she probably should have expected it...
"That... is... Enough! You criminals have no right to treat me like that!" snarled Scarlet. By now her anger had nearly reached its peak, and if she trembled any harder, she'd shatter into soiled glass. She angrily swept her hand towards the execution chamber, and at her order Tifa was forcefully dragged towards the gas chamber. Without a word, Tifa was escorted into the gas chamber, where the sentence would be carried out. The guard removed her bonds and thrust her into the execution seat, where he buckled up a new set of restraints. As he did so, a livid Scarlet stomped into the room and glared down at Tifa with unbridled hate. "It's bad enough you punks brought Meteor down on us. It's even worse that you insulted me!" Scarlet growled, her teeth gnashing and her eye twitching. The fire in Tifa's eyes never went out, however, and so Scarlet reared back and slapped her one final time before turning to leave.
As Scarlet left, Tifa did a quick assessment of the room. There were several gas tubes, designed to exact Scarlet's vengeance, but more importantly, Tifa had been bound with new restraints. In a slight experiment, she hardened her wrist slightly and flexed it, causing the bonds to begin to crack, a crack soon joined by her own smile.
Heh... These jokers are as dumb as they look.
Scene Seven
Very rarely had her anger been stoked so severely. Even after she'd had the last few employees who had called her a hag tortured, Scarlet hadn't felt this much rage in quite some time. As Scarlet stormed into the press room, her face beet red with fury, she had no time to speak before a series of alarms sounded throughout the room. The spectators took notice, although she seemed to be more annoyed than alarmed. She had her objective and she intended to achieve it.
Alert! WEAPON has begun an attack on Junon! All personnel, prepare for battle! All civilians, prepare to calmly exit the facilities!
"Calmly" was probably the most inaccurate word to describe the situation as the pressmen and reporters skittered out of the press room. It took all of four seconds for the room to empty except for Barret, Scarlet, her two soldiers, and the poorly disguised reporter. As they rushed past her in disarray, brushing past her and ruffling her immaculate red dress, the anger she felt towards Tifa quickly broadened to include the paparazzi as well.
"Y-You wretched cowards! One tiny little apocalyptic announcement and you scatter like rats! Wimps!" Scarlet spat, her fists clenching in anger. Still, she noticed one reporter hadn't fled. As he approached her, Scarlet stood in mute amazement before a can of sleeping gas spewed straight into her face, some of it landing inside her mouth. Desperate and furious, she angrily reached out to claw at the reporter but only managed to rip open Cait Sith's disguise before falling flat on the floor, unconscious.
"I've been waiting decades to do that! In your face, bitch!" Cait Sith cackled, mockingly flipping off Scarlet with his furry finger. As he celebrated, however, the two remaining soldiers took aim at him. One was kicked in the nuts by Barret and knocked unconscious by a head butt, and the other had his nose broken by the mutant moogle's fist. Cait Sith quickly hopped from his steed and ran towards Barret, swiftly unlocked his restraints and flashed him a cocky smirk. He was quickly and unceremoniously frozen solid when Barret lifted his Gun-arm and placed it flat on the cat's chest.
Quaking with anger, Barret quietly opened the hatches on his weapon. "You think I'm going to trust you?! Once a Shinra, always a Shinra!" Barret snapped furiously, rearing back and narrowing his Gun-arm at Cait Sith's quaking face. Even though his body was a doll, Reeve was still attached to the cat, and the moogle had been his own personal design. "You bastard! You kidnapped my daughter and you still expect me to trust you?! Give me one good reason to do it, and I'll apologize!"
"Besides the fact I just saved you, let me give you some special intel: Aerith's mother, Elmyra Gainsborough, who formerly resided in Midgar's slums, now has custody of her and they've settled in Kalm under my order!" snapped Cait Sith. As Barret's will began to waver, Reeve's own only strengthened. "The address? The color of the house? I can give you all the info you need! I know I don't deserve your trust, but I'll let my actions speak for themselves! I intend to go all in with you folks from here on out, plus give you all the intel I can! Can you agree to work with me, Mr. Wallace?"
"Tch! You got the audacity to use my last name and expect me to let that slide?!" Barret snarled, his Gun-arm trembling. With a smile he lowered it and extended his knuckles to Cait Sith. "Well, you know what, you're right! Welcome to AVALANCHE, jackass! And while I'm at it... Sorry!" he laughed as Cait Sith bumped his fist. "Now, we gotta save Tifa!"
As he dashed towards the gas chamber's entrance, Barret finally began to let go of his blind hatred for Shinra, and as he narrowed his air cannon at the door he cracked an unusually honest smile. He shot a full-force air bullet at the door, but only succeeded in denting it. Subsequent shots had the same result. That having failed, he resorted to battering on the door with his bare fist, his anger and grief overtaking him as he believed he'd failed Tifa. Through his grief Barret felt a tiny, furry hand grasp his shoulder, and he turned in shock to see Cait Sith smiling. Barret was offered Cait Sith's hand, which he took. "You really think it ends here?" Cait Sith chortled, a Cheshire grin crossing his face. "Rescue operations never only have one operative!"
Scene Eight
The same alarm that scattered the newsmen now resounded throughout the halls of Shinra's Junon military installation. In the command room, where all operations were planned, a very displeased Rufus now stared out into the sea below him, as Heidegger desperately hurried to catch up. "Sir, I came as quickly as I could!" heaved Heidegger, feeling the weight of the air he'd forced from his lungs. His lack of exercise had come back to bite him, badly.
The President remained silent and stone-faced. He turned back to Heidegger with a glare that nearly made him wet himself, and Rufus quietly folded his arms over his chest. "If the Sister Ray is ready," he snapped, "then fire the damn thing. I don't know why I even ask, but stupid as you are I figured I ought to." When Heidegger nodded, a slight smirk crossed Rufus' face, a sinister smile that unnerved even Heidegger. "Then... bust a hole in the sucker's face," he sneered.
All across the city of Junon, the civilian population retreated into their homes as steel, blast proof shutters rose to provide cover. All across the side of Junon that faced the sea, artillery batteries lifted up from beneath the streets and bazooka-wielding soldiers hustled into position. Shinra's primary weapon, the titanic cannon called the Sister Ray, lifted up into position and launched a monstrous shell into the sea, creating a wave that threatened to strike Junon with a tsunami. The after effects were tremendous, a huge shock wave bursting from the point of impact and peppering the side of the town with pellets of water until everything finally fell silent again.
"Was the attack successful?" Rufus asked quietly. As the alarms continued to blare, he angrily clenched his fist and swiveled around to face Heidegger. "Fire another shot. Now!" he ordered. As he watched Heidegger hesitate, Rufus drew his shotgun and narrowed it between Heidegger's eyes. "Did you, or did you not, hear my order?!" he roared. "Fire the stupid cannon! Now!"
"S-Sir! I'm sorry to inform you, but the Sister Ray needs to reload between shots! It'll take five minutes before it's ready to fire again!" yelled a trembling Heidegger. As he dropped to his seat in terror, he broke out into a profuse sweat. Clearly that wasn't what Rufus had wanted to hear. "We'll need to use conventional artillery until then!"
The disdain and disgust on his face apparent, Rufus angrily waved Heidegger away. As Heidegger ambled off furiously, Rufus sighed and folded his arms over his chest. His conduct, characteristic as it was, left a bad taste in his mouth. The more he stared out into the dead waters beneath him, the deeper his doubts became. "Threats and insults... How different am I from my father?" he murmured.
Scene Nine
Of the three WEAPONs, Sapphire WEAPON was the only one that was almost solely aquatic. It lacked legs and feet, but was supported with a massive, undulating tail that allowed it to slither through the water with unfathomable speed. This it did, steadily approaching Junon despite the massive amount of firepower being hurled at it. Closer and closer it came, until finally it slammed into the side of Junon's military base, shattering windows, breaking steel, and inadvertently activating Tifa's gas chamber. As the gas began to flow from the tubes, Tifa swiftly hardened her limbs and snapped her restraints. Still, the gas had propagated enough that she was forced to hold her breath while she destroyed the gas tubes. In the meantime, Barret and Cait Sith charged through the press room door, only for it to lock behind them.
"Just try and save the bitch now! The gas will kill her within three minutes!" cackled Scarlet, who had regained consciousness and swiftly sealed the door shut. Though she was woozy, Scarlet had managed to recover enough to quicken the pace of the gas with her own equipment. There was a deranged, almost demented smirk on her face, though her make-up was smudged and smeared.
That bitch is dead! I guarantee it!
Furious, Barret hoisted his weapon towards the door and prepared to break it down, but Cait Sith grabbed him by the shoulder and shook his head. Without saying a word, Cait Sith jabbed his finger towards another exit, and cracked a wide smile. Though he was uncertain, Barret followed Cait Sith and charged out through the tunnels and onto the tarmac of the Shinra airport. He was prepared to break through the troopers, but smirked as he watched that they'd already been dispatched by Yuffie and Red XIII. Vincent briefly tapped Barret on the shoulder as he zoomed past, holstering his gun at the same time. "We don't have much time! Hurry to the airship!" Vincent grinned. He'd dealt with another group of soldiers, the unfortunate ones who'd caught up to him. "Cid has everything ready for us!" he snapped. "Tifa's the only one we haven't secured!"
As he ran, Barret's morale began to heighten. At least there was a smidge of hope. "He does?! Great! Wait... airship? We have a freaking airship?!" Barret screeched. The closer they approached toward the Highwind, the more amazed he became. "That thing?! We get to ride on that-"
Barret felt a hard thump against his rear and turned to find a furious Yuffie glaring at him. "Shut your stupid trap and move, dummy! We don't have time for you to fawn over the stupid thing!" Yuffie snarled. "Now get your butt onboard and we're gonna get the hell out of dodge!" she growled, her anger building by the minute, which was returned by Barret's middle finger. Yuffie didn't seem to mind much, but she did return the favor. "Do that again and I'll stab you in the ass!"
Scene Ten
Tifa fought to hold her breath, straining until her lungs felt as if they would burst, but she finally managed to maim the gas tubes enough to stop the poisonous fog. Still, affected by the gas, her knees buckled and she took in a deep, heaving breath of fresh air before dropping to her hands and knees with a loud thud. She'd only barely managed to survive the last three minutes and the sweat on her face showed it. Outside, Sapphire WEAPON's breath attack had struck the Junon base, ripping through much of it and fortunately tearing a hole in the ceiling of the gas chamber. From behind the door, however, Tifa heard a frantic banging, as if it were being beaten against with hammers (or the butts of rifles, more likely).
"Open the door! If you can't gas her, shoot her!" Scarlet screeched, behind the door to the execution chamber. Tifa wasted no time in crouching, stretching, and bounding up through the hole in the ceiling to the sweet, fresh air above. As the first whiff filled her lungs, she gave a soft, satisfied smile. Scarlet and her soldiers finally broke through the door, and after finding Tifa had escaped, Scarlet angrily shot one of her soldiers in the chest in rage. "Intercept her, fools! She will not leave Junon alive!" she snarled.
Given that she had no intention of waiting for an execution squad, Tifa quickly scrambled up onto the top of the still-smoking Sister Ray, charging towards the end of the barrel before reaching the horrifying realization that there was nowhere left to go. As she grit her teeth, Tifa watched as Scarlet approached with her gun drawn. Scarlet's face remained twisted in a sinister sneer, but as she drew her hand back, Tifa slapped her first and Scarlet angrily returned the favor. "Bitch! There isn't anywhere to go for you, you idiot! And even you can't survive a bullet to the brain!" Scarlet spat, wiping the blood from her ruby red lips with clear contempt. "I don't care how far you run, this is the end of the line!" she sneered, her deranged face further sullied by her smudged make-up.
Quickly realizing that she was out of options, she'd almost begun to give up hope, but Tifa was shocked as she heard her cell phone ring. She clicked it open and held it to her ear, and after listening for a moment, she smilingly snapped it close and dashed towards the sea as Scarlet continued to fire at her. Finally, with a single vault Tifa dove off the end of the Sister Ray and into the sea. For a brief moment Scarlet gave a deranged, victorious smile, but the smile quickly faded into empty horror as she watched the airship Highwind soar up from beneath the Sister Ray, with Tifa gripping onto a rope with one hand and giving her the middle finger with the other. As the airship soared away and the other soldiers finally caught up, her rage overtook her and she fired a series of shots into the nearest soldier's head. "Fire, fools! I want that bitch... and all of them... dead! Use everything you have, just shoot the smile off her face!" Scarlet screeched, blowing the smoke from her pistol with a quick whiff.
"But, Scarlet, Ma'am... We don't have any artillery capable of firing at an airborne target!" explained one of the soldiers she hadn't shot. As Scarlet finally realized that she'd lost her target, she reared back and smacked the soldier before screeching an expletive and petulantly tossed her pistol off the end of the Sister Ray. Quaking with rage, Scarlet's only recourse was to stand there, stew, and watch as the Highwind soared off into the distance. Meanwhile, the Highwind flew far towards the horizon, away from Junon, Shinra, and everyone the party wanted to escape from. They'd done it, escaped, and left a welt on Scarlet's cheek.
It was their victory.
Scene Eleven
Once she'd returned her second hand to the rope, Tifa wasted no time in dragging herself onboard, where she watched as Barret extended his fist. Smiling, she triumphantly tapped hers against her friend's. She had a brief hacking episode, but wiped the saliva from her face and smilingly headed with Barret to the inside of the airship. Once inside, she was greeted by a green-faced friend of hers who hadn't enjoyed the escape as much as she had.
"Gawd! The things I do for you people! I thought my lunch tasted good, but not on the second time out! Motion sickness freaking sucks!" Yuffie shrieked. She was leaning against one of the windows, clearly sickened, and continued to spew out curses that can't be printed. "And you!" she snarled at Tifa. "You'd better be grateful, you jerk!" she screeched, which lasted only until she returned to the window and hurled once again. "You people are going to kill me! Dammit!"
Once they'd passed Yuffie and fled her ocean of profanity, Tifa and Barret entered the Highwind's bridge for only the second time. This time, however, Shinra's emblems had been ripped off and the crew seemed to be noticeably happier. Tifa turned her attention to the front of the Command Center, where Cid greeted her with a two-fingered salute and a cocky grin. "Welcome to the best damn thing I've ever built... well, besides Shinra Twenty-Six! And this one is actually working! God damn, am I a genius or what?!" Cid cackled. He held his stomach and laughed heartily, and once he noticed that the others weren't laughing as well, Cid flicked the flint on his lighter and lit a new cigarette. "The finest wings in the world belong to us now!" he smirked, exhaling the smoke with a triumphant huff. He looked around at his flight crew, the people who'd been waiting for sixteen years to serve him again, and an even wider smile crept across his face.
I'm the Captain again, bitches!
Tifa adjusted her gloves and stretched her legs before offering her fist to Cid. When he balked, she shrugged and walked further into the bridge. As she stared down into the cloudy abyss beneath her, Tifa sharply jumped when she felt Vincent's hand grip her shoulder. "We might have a clue on how to find him..." he smirked, much to Tifa's ecstasy. "Emphasis on the word might." said Vincent flatly. "I won't say it's a one hundred percent chance... but it's possible."
"Back at the North Crater, Cloud fell into the Lifestream with Sephiroth... and not only has no one seen him since, Sephiroth has a barrier around the crater that makes it impossible for us to search for him there..." sighed Red XIII sadly. Although Tifa started to tremble, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder and whirled about to see Cid.
"Rumor is that there are places the Lifestream breaks open from the Planet for time to time... and looking there is our best shot," Cid explained. "All we need to do is find a rabbit hole and hope he pops out of it. There's a small island to the southeast that's called Mideel. It's famous for its connection to Lifestream, one of the rare places Shinra hasn't placed a reactor. If we want to find a way into the Lifestream, that's the place to look!"
With a smile wide enough to contain the airship, Tifa whirled around to the pilot and excitedly clenched her fists. "Well, what are we waiting for?!" she laughed. "Mr. Pilot, take us to Mideel... We're taking Cloud back!" Tifa said as she pumped her fist hard. Finally, for the first time in a long time, she felt a tiny bit of hope. She stared down at the onrushing clouds beneath her feet, and as she grit her teeth her face twisted into a fragile smile.
We're coming for you, Cloud... Wait for us...
"Agh! The winds are strong! The wheel doesn't seem like it's responding! All I see are dials and levers that could do damn near anything! I don't know how to do this, Captain Cid!" the pilot shrieked, his entire body shaking. Even though he'd been trained to use the controls, he'd never gotten used to actually using them. "Please, you have to take over!"
Cid reared back and sharply rapped the pilot on the head. "Toughen up, you little turd!" Cid snapped. He grabbed the pilot by the back of the neck and swirled him around to see a very dissatisfied Captain, whose angry glare nearly made him wet himself. "You flew this thing just fine for those Shinra creeps, and you can do it for us! Pull your head out of your ass, take the wheel, and get us to where we need to go!"
Author's Notes
A good portion of this chapter had already been written, actually. My first finished chapter made up a lot of what ended up here; I had enough of a base to work with that I decided not to force the issue, since I was satisfied enough to call the original chapter finished. I did clean some things up, though. There are a couple of missing scenes that were originally in the chapter that I cut because they weren't important, and Vincent is more of a badass and not as... angry. Also, Rufus is less of a thug and more of an asshole here than in the original chapter. I figure that him questioning his likeness to President Shinra is something to bring up, given that the bastard does eventually (sort of) redeem himself...
Also noteworthy: as of this writing, the fic's finished! It's 51 chapters total, and I'm planning on releasing two chapters a month so it doesn't take until next year to finish the fic off. Chapter 44 will come next month, and Chapter 45 will follow it soon after. I hope I've given you guys some enjoyment with this fic, 'cause it's been great for me, too! I always want to get better as a writer, so pushing myself with this has gone a long way towards doing that.
For literally up to the end of this chapter's development to the final moment of posting, Tifa spits in Scarlet's face before she gets slapped. But after some more thought, that's the kind of thing that my early depictions of Tifa would do, not... y'know... Tifa. Barret always spit in Scarlet's face either way, incidentally.
One final note. I got an anonymous review asking when I'm "putting the Lifestream into." To answer that question, Cloud's big moment in the Lifestream is in Chapter 46 and the big finale at the North Crater is in Chapter 51, which is the final chapter. No idea who it is, but I wanted to address it. If I knew who they were I'd PM them, but it's a Guest, so... Guess everyone's gonna know now. I want to address everyone if I can.