Start Date: March 18, 2023

Windwillow

Final Fantasy VII

Shinra's plan to gather the four Huge Materia and ram it into Meteor had hit a snag, as now their enemy has two of the four and they'd only secured one of the remaining two. The Huge Materia at Junon's underwater reactor was the only chip left to fight over, and now that Cloud had finally found himself, the leadership of AVALANCHE has changed once again. Its temporary leader, however, will have to face up to his most deeply held beliefs and deal with the reality of his sixteen year grudge.

Chapter Forty-Seven: Can Meteor Be Stopped?

Scene One

In the immediate aftermath, both Tifa and Cloud remained unconscious for quite some time. Once they'd been properly woken, Tifa smilingly stretched out her knuckles, and Cloud tapped his with hers before they both fell into each other's arms in a tight embrace. The next few hours seemed to glide through, though as everyone reunited in the operations room and Cloud took his place at the head of the table there weren't many dry eyes. As Cloud dropped into his chair with a sigh of relief, he slowly dragged himself forward to lace his fingers and bow his head to his friends. "Everyone... I'm sure there's a lot of ways to say this, but the sum of it is... well... Thank you all for believing in me!" Cloud said proudly, his eyes finally opening without tears dropping from them. "I owe everyone one hell of an apology..."

With Cloud returned, his tattered morale had finally been restored, so as he curled his tail around his paws he did so with unmistakable happiness. "You owe us no such thing, Cloud!" insisted Red XIII. "I'm sure you've got your reasons, but no one here blames you for what happened... Everyone has their demons."

"I beg to differ, Red. There are factors here that even I can't really explain," sighed Cloud as he dragged his head up and hung it over his chair. Finally, with the truth clear in his own mind, actually processing it was still difficult. "The stories I told you in Kalm... They were all lies," he shrugged, to the shock of his friends. "Second hand accounts and jumbled memories..."

"You mean we spent all that time listening to you yak and it turns out none of it was real?!" Barret roared. His anger overtaking him, he angrily slammed his fist onto the conference table. "Then what-"

"His name was Zack," Cloud said plainly, which stopped Barret cold. Although he and Tifa were the only ones who understood the meaning of the name, and they silently shared a glance, Cloud quietly pulled himself up and laid his face in his hands. "There was a SOLDIER named Zack there at Nibelheim... an old friend. After everything happened with Sephiroth and Jenova, Hojo dove into the mix and mucked up the rest... Eventually, I became so susceptible to Sephiroth that I bought his lies and convinced myself I was a construct of Jenova's cells... and then, we all know what ended up happening. I snapped."

"I disagree," Vincent interjected, stopping Cloud in his tracks. The knowledge that Hojo was more responsible than he'd thought was one thing, true. "Sephiroth and Hojo stoked the chaos, but they didn't create it," he said plainly. With a sigh, Vincent looked carefully into Cloud's eyes, and found what he'd expected: regret. "Who was Zack? How does he relate to your story, and what are the two of you not saying about him?" Vincent asked coldly.

"We'll leave it at that," sighed Cloud, the reluctance in his eyes prompting Vincent to back down. Even now, as he remembered the fight outside of Midgar, Cloud had no intention of sharing the full story of how Zack met his end. A quick glance to Tifa confirmed that she knew whose sword he held, and the details ceased to matter as Vincent leaned back in his seat and sighed. He put his face to his hand quietly, and managed a soft smirk despite himself.

I suppose he has the right to keep a couple of secrets...

As he snapped open his lighter and lit his cigarette with a smile, Cid sighed and leaned back in his seat with a two fingered salute to Cloud. "Good riddance to being the boss!" he snapped. After taking in a deep puff, Cid snapped his lighter shut and stashed it in his pocket. "Makes a guy think, though... You made me consider a lot of crap, and it pisses me off. Never do that again."

"Made you think, huh? Must have hurt!" laughed Yuffie, shortly before Cid took her head and slammed it into the table hard. She furiously hoisted herself to her feet, but a strange look from Cid silenced her. The more she stared at him, however, the more evident it became to Yuffie that she knew what he was thinking of. "Was that... was what you thought about-" she stammered.

Cid angrily grabbed Yuffie by the collar and violently shook her. "Is my business, done and over with, and that's the end of it, you little runt!" snarled Cid. The sheer anger he directed at her prompted Yuffie to frightfully plop back down in her seat. After a bit of thought, Cid thought better of saying anything else and dropped into his own chair with a sigh, and as he took a drag of his cigarette he lifted his eyes to the ceiling in deep thought.

Yeah... it's been sixteen years. Am I really as messed up as bad as the little punk's been saying all this time?

"What matters is that Cloud's back in charge, and that's the big story of the day!" Yuffie cheered as she pumped her fist. "Do you have any idea how much I suffered under this son of a bitch?!" she choked. She wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. "Bastard almost knocked out my tooth!" Still, as she leaned back in her chair, Yuffie laid a hand to her face and choked back a sigh. Thinking back, it wasn't anything she'd expected to feel, and her own behavior wasn't only abnormal, it was borderline unthinkable.

Man, have I changed. Back then, I was actually going to fight that sucker to protect... Oh, screw it. Thinking like this makes my head hurt.

Clearing his throat, Cait Sith hopped onto the table and quietly strode towards Cloud, offering his hand in celebration. After Cloud took it and shook, Cait Sith quietly retreated to his moogle and climbed atop it again. "The situation is that there are four Huge Materia, of which we have two, they have one, and the last one up for grabs is in Junon," he explained. "There's an underwater reactor there that they still are working on extracting, so going there is the next step."

Yuffie raised her hand excitedly. "Ooh, me! Me! Pick me! If you're going there, I can get us in!" tittered Yuffie as a sinister smirk crossed her face. "This is going to be fun..." she cackled. Although it took some thinking, Tifa quickly realized what she was talking about and she silently hung her head in shame.

Oh, God... The saga of Lindsey continues...

[Quick refresher: Back in around Chapter 22, Aerith suckered a hooker named Lindsey into getting the party up to Junon. Unsavory as it was it worked, and naturally Yuffie had a hand in it. Turns out that the seed Aerith planted just blossomed... into some sort of weird, twisted... something or other...]

Scene Two

While Aerith had started it, Yuffie's familiarity with Lindsey and her boyfriend, the soldier manning the lift to Upper Junon, allowed her to cash in on it a second time, much to the horror of Cloud and Tifa. Once they'd blackmailed the pair again and were granted access to Upper Junon, the trio rode the elevator up into Junon proper. "I hope you're pleased with yourself!" Tifa snapped as she smacked Yuffie on the cheek for her misdeeds. For her part, Yuffie seemed unrepentant and said nothing, but the blush on her face wasn't from the slap. "Where is this place, anyway?" she sighed. "Do you have someone else to sucker for us to get inside?"

Unable to contain her glee, Yuffie could barely contain herself as she bounced back and forth. "Oh, hell no! I ain't got no contacts there!" Yuffie cackled. The more she wrung her hands, the deeper Tifa's concern became. "We're gonna bust some heads and get in the old fashioned way!" she boomed proudly before breaking into manic laughter. She was having way too much fun with this.

"We... We're going to do what?!" Tifa choked. Though she looked desperately at Cloud for backup, his own experiences dressing in Shinra attire and his desire to never do so again had been enough for him to back up Yuffie. So, quietly hanging her head and trembling with resignation, Tifa angrily folded her arms and gave up. "You two are terrible..." she snarled.

Oddly enough, the location of the reactor was not only common knowledge, but there were no guards assigned to protect it. As the trio traversed Junon from the city itself to the reactor, which was actually on the same route as they'd taken to get to the Cargo Ship, they encountered no resistance whatsoever. At least, before they turned the corner and were confronted by a red clad officer and a group of infantrymen.

"Son of a bitch! There's a crap ton of 'em!" Yuffie screeched in terror, which incidentally alerted the soldiers to their presence. After Cloud whacked her, she hesitantly drew her weapon and prepared to fight. "Okay, fine, whatever... I guess I did pick the fight..." she muttered.

"The enemy is at the gates, soldiers! Show them your mettle!" the officer announced proudly. As he beat his billy club in his hands, the officer smiled darkly and pointed his baton dramatically at the team, indicating that the soldiers charge them. Well, they did charge, but it was in the opposite direction. "Crap! I don't need another reprimand! Get back here, you losers!" Piette shrieked. Slowly turning to the armed and prepared warriors, the coward ran away screaming, which was when Cloud realized who was in charge. Slowly trembling, he put his face in his hand and breathed a sigh of aggravation.

Again?! How many times do I have to run into that doofus?!

There was no resistance from there on out, as the infantrymen had seemingly fled far enough that they wouldn't be relevant for quite some time. At the end of a long path, the team entered a small elevator room that contained two soldiers and an operator. Seemingly recognizing the party, the troopers attempted to draw their guns, but were easily knocked unconscious by Tifa and Yuffie and they dropped flat on their faces.

"Aw, geez... Another two down," the operator sighed, seemingly unconcerned by the fact that two of Shinra's finest had just been downed within two feet of herself. "Never liked those losers anyway... You guys wanna go down, right?" she asked plainly. Cloud could only hang his head and sigh.

Scene Three

It was a long elevator ride, though by the time Cloud and his friends had reached the bottom they'd been regaled by the operator on her distinct preferences in men, a profile which Cloud apparently met, but a stern look from Tifa kept the relationship from proceeding. Once the three party members exited the elevator, they found that the soldiers that they'd chased off had now gathered together for a final stand. Cloud was in no mood to deal with the troopers, so he grimaced and drew back his left arm. From a single point of light a hurricane of fire and lightning burst from his fingers, and he slung the massive whirlwind at the troopers. The result was a huge wave of cataclysmic force that blasted the soldiers into either the walls or the ceiling, causing them to fall unconscious to the ground en masse.

Barely able to contain herself, Tifa immediately began to shake. "That... That was Materia Fusion!" Tifa gasped, her hand going to her mouth. The more she looked at Cloud, however, the distinct lack of steam and burn wounds indicated that there was something different than usual. "You just did it perfectly! What... How did you-"

"Seems Mako poisoning has an upside. My mana reserves took a huge jump," explained Cloud as he dusted off the soot from his pants and carefully examined his arm for damage, of which there was none. "And on top of that, after all that mess I went through, I apparently managed to figure out how it feels to be inside the source of magic... You know, how all the energy works. I guess I finally figured it out... Materia Fusion, that is."

"Oh. My. Gawd! When did you turn all bad ass on us?! And why didn't you tell us you were so powerful?! Would've been nice to know!" Yuffie screeched. Though she was star struck, that only lasted for a moment until Tifa bonked her hard on the head, sending her face first into the floor. She skittered to her feet and attempted to argue at her, but Tifa's expressionless face and Cloud's indifference made her give up. "Gawd! You people are such buzz kills..." she muttered.

Unfortunately, the following rooms were heavily staffed by Shinra operatives, prepared to attack on a moment's notice. Fortunately, Yuffie managed to help her friends evade them for several minutes. Upon discovering an elevator that led even further down, the troopers finally caught on and charged them. An expressionless Yuffie flipped a switch that closed the doors on them, causing them to run head long into the door and crash into the hardened steel. They could hear the clanging of metal and the various curses as the elevator started to descend. Her rather unprofessional celebration ended abruptly when she received Tifa's glare, though, something she secretly stuck out her tongue at her for when Tifa wasn't looking. By the time they'd descended, the fact that the party had finally reached a place under the sea became clear as the Aqua Tube came into view, an aquarium like structure that displayed undersea life as a kind of morale booster for the soldiers forced to live underground.

"Oh... man! They've got one hell of a view down here!" Yuffie swooned, her eyes widening like dinner plates. Seemingly forgetting that they were both on a mission and in enemy territory, she sighed and smilingly laid her face on the glass to watch the creatures peacefully swimming through the complex. It was when a shark rammed the glass directly in front of her face that Yuffie stumbled back in terror, prepared to scream, and was rather roughly whacked by Tifa.

Tifa's fist wasn't hardened, but it felt like it was. "Get a grip!" snarled Tifa. As Yuffie stumbled around in a vain attempt to fight back, her dukes lifted feebly for a counter attack, Tifa finally caught her by the shoulders and drew her up to her face. Rather than glare in anger, however, Yuffie instead found Tifa looking quite apologetic, much to her shock. "Sorry... I overdid it," Tifa sighed, an apology accepted by Yuffie, although she did shoot her an evil glare when she wasn't looking.

Just past the Aqua Tube was yet another elevator, one with a circle of water in the center that seemed to be used to look down into the sea below. As soon as they entered, Yuffie's face immediately dropped and both hands went straight to her mouth to contain the vomit. She found, to her excitement, however, that she wasn't sick at all. A deranged smile etched onto her face and she pumped her fist in joy.

Apparently I don't get motion sickness underwater... Cool beans!

The trio exited the elevator - a word which Yuffie now considered to have four letters - and passed through another series of rooms before entering a long catwalk. Their eyes went wide as they turned and saw the contents of the chamber, two large submarines being attended to by dozens of soldiers that were busy loading cargo into the vessels. "The Huge Materia has to be in one of 'em... The question is, which one?" said Cloud as he strained his neck to work a kink out. The sight beneath him almost certainly indicated stiff resistance was coming, so as he looked back at his friends his hands slowly gripped his blade. "Either way, it'll be tooth and nail to get it," Cloud said plainly, drawing his sword and tapping it to his shoulder.

Scene Four

The underwater reactor's Huge Materia had yet to be extracted because the process had been started later than the others, so security for the reactor was pumped up to the maximum. Just past the catwalk was a new part of the reactor that was identical to the ones in Midgar, where AVALANCHE had fought their way through all those weeks ago. Similarly, this reactor was guarded by several Shinra infantrymen, though with the addition of two large tanks that flanked either end of the chamber.

"Now, folks, let me demonstrate the great Yuffie in her natural habitat!" boasted Yuffie, dashing forward as the soldiers readied their rifles. Rearing back, she hurled her shuriken at the troopers and then slammed her hand to the ground. When the infantrymen opened fire, a large wall of water burst from the ground that dampened their gunpowder, rendering it useless and allowing the shuriken to dig into the chests of several soldiers as it slashed through their bodies like a boomerang. "And that's how you do it!" she laughed as she caught her weapon. Just as she prepared to lift her head in triumph, the sight of a tank aiming its cannon directly at her terrified her enough for her to drop backwards, totally unconscious and foaming at the mouth.

With the infantrymen staggered, Cloud and Tifa lunged forward and engaged the remainder, easily beating them to the ground. Not missing a step, they pushed off against one another's backs and drew back their arms, soaring through the air at the tanks. Each of them slammed their hands into the tanks, pulsing their elemental infusion through their fingers and causing the tanks to explode into bits. As they landed and Tifa adjusted her glove to gather her thoughts, Cloud similarly stretched his neck and strode towards Yuffie, who was out cold.

"Hey, you done sleeping yet? We aren't done," Cloud smirked as he nudged Yuffie's face with his foot. Once she regained consciousness she leapt to her feet, flipped Cloud off, and was promptly bonked by Tifa as punishment. He seemed unconcerned and walked towards the door just ahead. Taking his lithe fingers and tightening it around his sword, he reared back and slashed the door in half, the two pieces of junk dropping to the floor one after another. "We should be close," he said as he sheathed his blade. "Let's hurry before we're too late..."

Leaving behind the dead and dying soldiers, the party hurried through the ruined gateway into what appeared to be another catwalk. As they entered, Yuffie loosed a horrific shriek and directed her friends' attention to what lay ahead: a large structure, from which a relatively large object was lifted from. Given that the structure ceased to function and what was extracted was clearly a materia, they charged into the next room. Unfortunately, the next room happened to be the launching bay for the two submarines.

"Dammit! We're too late!" Yuffie shrieked, holding her head in her hands in horror. Building up the resolve needed, she swiftly lunged forward and straight into the back of a suited man. Before Yuffie could rise to curse him out, she quickly skittered backwards as it became clear that the man was Reno. "Son of a bitch! We don't have time to deal with you right now!" she screeched, her hand reaching for her weapon. Upon locking eyes with Reno, however, she fell back in shock and frantically wiped the sweat from her brow.

He... He ain't playing! He's actually gonna fight us! Crap!

"I never thought we'd meet again like this... But you're going to have to step aside!" Cloud snapped, his fingers reaching towards his weapon. Once he'd touched the grip he swiftly brandished the blade and laid it at Reno's jugular. "We're taking the Huge Materia!" snarled Cloud, his grip tightening. "Don't make us fight you!"

Reno smiled a disturbingly confident smile, something that immediately made Cloud's eye twitch. "Fight you? Where did you come up with that idea?" Reno asked confidently, slowly stretching his leg and working out a kink in his neck. For being held at the point of a sword, he seemed awfully unconcerned, something that irritated Yuffie but alerted Cloud, who finally saw what was behind Reno and quickly retreated.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Yuffie snarled as she lunged forward towards Reno, only to run head long into an immovable object. She was knocked back, hit the ground, and as Yuffie looked up she noticed a huge machine standing in front of her. The machine, the Carry Armor, was easily as big as the Heavy Tank, and before she could say a word, Yuffie was snatched up in one of its claws. "Son of a bitch! Help me, you idiots!" she shrieked, struggling futilely against the claw. As she stared down and watched as Reno walked away calmly, her fury only built, but she had no way of escaping and was forced to stew alone in the grip of the machine. She narrowed her eyes at the suited assassin and stuck out her tongue as he walked past her.

Oh, I will make you pay one day... Meanie.

As soon as he'd seen the Carry Armor, Cloud had sprung forward with his sword extended, only for the machine to catch him in one of its claws and lift him high up into the air. The Buster Sword fell uselessly to the floor and Tifa immediately charged the boss. However, the Carry Armor's eye opened and she was forced to roll to safety when its laser strafed at her. She was unable to get in a hit, as the machine accurately locked on to her with every shot. Tifa tucked and rolled wildly in an attempt to find an opening, but she was thwarted every time. She grit her teeth in anger and muttered an expletive as the Carry Armor's eye locked on to her. This time, she wouldn't have any time to dodge.

While Tifa was in the line of fire, Yuffie flailed frantically, desperate to escape but unable to break free. "Do something, damn it! You-" Even while Yuffie began to curse Tifa out, she noticed idly that her weapon was still in her hand. All she had to do was cut the stupid arm off. With a shrug she swung down and severed the arm gripping onto her, only to land with an unceremonious thud that almost immediately knocked her unconscious. Not before she attempted to get in a dirty word, though, even if she never managed to finish her curse before falling flat on her face. The Carry Armor halted its assault, unbalanced by Yuffie's strike, and as it staggered Tifa snatched up the Buster Sword and hurled it to Cloud. Cloud caught the sword and immediately sliced off the arm holding him. Although the Carry Armor righted itself and fired its laser, Tifa and Cloud nimbly evaded the shots, split up, and blasted the machine from both ends with a fatal dose of elemental energy that ripped two holes in its massive torso and dropped it.

"I'm awake! I'm awake! Just try and come at me, you son of a..." Yuffie screeched. She quickly noticed the ruined Carry Armor limply dropping into pieces, and realized that this was her chance. Gripping her shuriken proudly, she charged forward and found that the red submarine had just begun to go under. As she staggered to a halt, Yuffie's teeth ground, she dropped to her knees and screeched out an expletive as she watched the submarine submerge.

Scene Five

Yuffie's eye twitched uncontrollably as the submarine submerged. With her attempt at looking cool thwarted, she began to fume with anger. "Son of a bitch! Don't run away from me just as I'm right about to triumphantly beat you up!" shrieked Yuffie. Though at first she dropped to her seat, she quickly skittered back to her feet to fight back, and Cloud promptly whacked her back to her seat. "Tifa does that, not you!" Yuffie screeched, although she gave up and petulantly pounded the ground when she locked eyes with Tifa. "Okay, shutting up now..." she growled.

As she adjusted her glove and stretched her leg, Tifa cracked a smile. "We aren't totally screwed... There's another submarine right over there! We'll seize it and follow the other one!" Tifa exclaimed. She hardened her fist and prepared to fight, but her face immediately dropped as she realized that Cloud had already taken out the guards. With a shrug she grabbed Yuffie by the arm and dragged her towards the final submarine kicking and screaming.

The trio piled inside the submarine, and as they dropped to the floor they watched as three infantrymen lifted their rifles at them. One punch from Tifa, a kick to the gut from Yuffie, and a hard backhand from Cloud immediately knocked them out cold and the party threw open the door to the bridge. When they watched and realized that the crew consisted of Piette, Poe, and Finn, Cloud angrily slammed his fist into the wall hard enough to make his fingers ache.

How many times do I have to run into these people?

In a single flourish Yuffie snatched her weapon from her back and brandished it at Poe and Finn. A manic smile crossed her face as they withered back from her, which only encouraged her. "Back off, losers! We're taking this sub now!" she cackled. Poe and Finn did nothing but shake, so Yuffie angrily stomped her foot and placed her weapon at Finn's throat. "Oh, come on! I just said something cool, so get your butts in gear or I'll rearrange your faces!" Yuffie threatened. A trembling Poe and Finn opened their mouths to reveal the several chipped teeth that Yuffie had previously beaten out of them. "O-Oh... right... I kind of already did, didn't I?" Yuffie laughed nervously.

Before he could act, Cloud's thoughts turned back to the parade and the experience he'd had with the trio. Even if they weren't the brightest crayons in the box, they really weren't bad people. His fingers relaxed from the grip of his blade, falling limply to his side as a cheeky grin crossed his face. "Care to pay a guy a favor?" Cloud asked cheekily.

Piette immediately realized what Cloud was saying and quickly assumed his command position. "The red sub is headed to Rocket Town, so we'll have to intercept them quickly!" announced Piette almost instantly. Poe and Finn immediately manned their stations and activated the controls, and within seconds the submarine prepared to submerge. "They're headed northwest, so our intercept course takes us towards the western continent!" Piette said quickly. "We'll need to avoid the mines using sonar!"

"And that means what?! Use words we understand!" screeched Yuffie. Watching the dull stares she got back, Yuffie angrily reared back to punch one of them only to be knocked out cold by a backhand from Tifa. She choked out a sad whimper as she dropped straight onto her back.

Tifa adjusted her glove and stretched her leg as Yuffie fell unconscious. "Okay, now that it's quiet again..." Tifa muttered, working out a kink in her neck as Yuffie dropped to the floor. "Wait, you're really willing to work the sub for us?!" she wondered incredulously. The idea finally hit home that they were actually defecting.

"Poe and Finn have navigation duty... If the guy takes over the torpedoes and you monitor sonar, we ought to be able to fudge our way through this," Piette explained. After rustling around for a bit, he took two books and tossed them at Cloud and Tifa, who caught them. "Those are the operation manuals! Look 'em over quick and prepare to dive!"

Scene Six

With a great quaking and rumbling, the second Shinra submarine sunk deep into the ocean. Once it had reached a certain depth it pivoted, its engines powered, and the vehicle zoomed out of the submarine bay. Tifa and Cloud finished their crash courses in their stations and immediately manned them, while Piette took the captain's seat. "Shinra's got to have laid mines if they think we're going to pursue," Piette explained as he clapped on his helmet. He input a few commands, checked with Poe and Finn, and pulled the lever to engage the engines. "What are their locations?" he asked Tifa. "Location, number, depth... I need all the information you can give me."

"Location... number... depth... Hell if I know!" Tifa shouted angrily. Even though she'd read the manual, the various colors and blips still made little to no sense. All they were to her were lines, circles, and rectangles. "They're all over, different depths... Just give me a minute and I'll figure it out..." Tifa muttered.

Piette input several calculations, careful to ensure that the results would be accurate. As captain, it was his responsibility to make sure the operation went off without a hitch. "Our sub's got enough maneuverability that we ought to manage. Just monitor the blips and tell me when one of them gets close to the center of the circle," said Piette. "Just leave the maneuvering to me and the boys!"

The code of the dots, lines, and blips seemed unbreakable. Slowly, finally, and after careful scanning of the instruction manual, Tifa at last cracked the code. Sort of. "Okay, I think I figured it out... At least I hope so," shrugged Tifa. The controls were still alien, but she was slowly understanding how to work them. She carefully examined the screen, noting where the blips popped up when the line touched them. "There are three of 'em... Three o'clock... seven o'clock... and ten o'clock... I think..." Tifa muttered. The business as a whole was nearly incomprehensible, though the fundamentals had finally kicked in.

After inputting several calculations and typing dozens of keys, Piette's face lit up and he grabbed the wheel. "Ten o'clock might be tight... I've got to adjust a few things before we head out..." Piette sighed. As the others continued to monitor the submarine's systems, Piette turned his head towards Cloud, and began to tremble as he watched him return his gaze. "Okay, we did our part... but what... What are you folks going to do with the three of us?" he asked timidly.

"There's no telling if we'll need to use this thing again, so I'd like to have you guys stay here, as long as you've got enough supplies," Cloud said as he continued to read the manual. As he watched Piette's evident fear, Cloud quietly laid a hand on his shoulder to relieve his terror. "But this means you're betraying Shinra..." he murmured. "Are you three willing to do that? Seriously?"

Piette remained hesitant. Turning traitor would mean they'd be marked for the stockade, if not the death penalty. And what would happen to their families, their livelihoods? The entire business seemed audacious and stupid. "Being spared isn't incentive enough?" said Piette with a smirk. "Shinra's a horrible boss... and if we're going to go out, we'd rather go out fighting with someone we respect and who respects us..." Cloud seemed to take it well, though he did have his doubts as he forced a smile onto his face.

We just hijacked you, and you say we respect you? That's just flat out dumb. Heh... But if you're the same kind of crazy that we are, then welcome aboard, gentlemen. Let's raise some hell together!

As she closely monitored the radar, Tifa paid close attention to the spaces on the clock that were relevant. Three o'clock and seven o'clock wouldn't be hard to evade, but ten o'clock - given that they were on a northwestern course - would be cutting it close. She carefully noted the movements of the submarine on the radar, as well as checking Poe and Finn and their instruments, and after a little maneuvering she detected that they had just made it - an eleven o'clock course, just to the side of the mines.

"We're clear of the mines! That's what you wanted, right? So, what comes next?" asked Tifa.

What came next was the launching of the torpedoes. While Poe and Finn skillfully navigated the seas and Piette manned the bridge, that left Cloud to deal with the torpedoes. The problem being, there were several of them to choose from. "What do I pull?" Cloud asked frantically. The sight of all the switches and levers seemed unbelievable. What if one of them was the self-destruct command?

"Just keep pulling until you get the right one! Maintenance has been trash lately, so only one of 'em works... No need to aim, just pull the lever and launch the sucker!" Piette commanded. With a shrug, Cloud pressed every button he could find and pulled every lever. Eventually, the submarine began to violently shake and he could feel a large pressure leave the vehicle, followed by a series of beeps on Piette's control panel. The entire submarine shook violently all of a sudden as one of the blips on the sonar went dark. "Got 'em!" Piette exclaimed triumphantly. "We're gonna operate the underwater arms now... Prepare to dock and we'll get that Huge Materia for you!"

"Huh? What's that? Holy crap!" Yuffie screeched, rising from her stupor into a frantic state of panic. "We've got it?! Oh, hell yeah!" she shrieked, happily pumping her fist. After a few moments of thought, she slowly looked around the bridge at the blank stares of the others and locked eyes with Cloud, who simply smiled. "You're welcome, guys!" she tittered. "Gawd, do I have to do everything around here?!"

Scene Seven

Retrieving the Huge Materia took more than a submarine and a couple of mechanical arms, unfortunately. The crew put up as much of a fight as they could, but they fared just as well as the goons who were now tied up in a corner of the party's new submarine. Piette and his partners navigated their way to the surface and found a large area near Junon where they could safely dock, and Cloud's team returned to the Highwind with the green Huge Materia.

"Red, yellow, now green... That leaves blue! Now get me off this stupid thing and let's go!" Yuffie cheerfully exclaimed as she pumped her fist, only to be whacked again by Cid. Although she tried to argue back, insulting the Highwind was clearly a bad life choice, so once Cid's glare withered her resolve, Yuffie shrunk back into her chair. "You know what? You're a meanie..." she muttered darkly.

Cloud examined the Huge Materia carefully, it being the first he'd ever held. Like the others he felt the magical energy oozing from the stone, and as he laid the green Huge Materia on the shelf next to its brethren the crystals began to emanate multicolored light in a strange yet beautiful pattern of colors. "Three colors, three Huge Materia! We're three fourths of the way towards our goal!" Red XIII chortled, curling his tail around his paws to keep them warm. "Still, it begs the question of where they were going in the first place..."

"And so we have our objective: Nibelheim's blue Huge Materia," Vincent said plainly as he folded his arms over his chest. Turning his attention to Cait Sith, he menacingly narrowed his eyes and interlaced his fingers as he calmly set his hands on the table. "But that's one thing," he sighed. As Cait Sith continued to stew, Vincent quietly closed his eyes. "What are they going to do with it?" he asked, calmly opening his eyes into slits. "It's time you told us what their plan with the Huge Materia is. I doubt they'd send it to Meteor via Fed Ex."

"Damn! I thought I'd had you in the dark, Vincent. But, yeah... Shinra's got plans to deliver the Huge Materia to Meteor," Cait Sith muttered nervously. He turned a hesitant glance at Cid, and decided to rip off the band aid. "You're right, Vincent..." he sighed. "They're going to ram it into Meteor using Shinra Twenty-Six."

"Oh, you have got to be pulling my leg!" Cid screeched. As he rose he tipped over his chair, and as he slammed his hands onto the table he nearly cracked it open. "I'll be damned if they use my baby for some sort of cockamamie operation like that! I'm heading to Rocket Town!" he snarled. "Get ready to drop me off and I'll bust their heads open!"

Before Cid could turn to leave, he felt a tug on his scarf that resulted in slamming him gut first into the table. Filled with blood lust he lifted his head to find a very dissatisfied Tifa, the one who had snatched him up. Much as he wanted to chew her out, the look in her eyes quickly convinced him to shut up lest he lose a couple of body parts. Even after all this time he couldn't win a staring match with her.

"You aren't going alone and you know it!" snapped Tifa, folding her arms over her chest with a huff. As her lithe fingers loosened her grip she abruptly jabbed her thumb back towards Cloud, a gesture that Cid realized could only mean one thing. Although he attempted to look tough, like at Rocket Town he wasn't able to win a staring contest with Tifa, so he simply slammed his fist onto the table in protest and muttered something nasty under his breath.

They are not launching that rocket. I'd rather lose a leg than let that thing be used like that!

Scene Eight

Shinra's operation at Rocket Town was a mission of utmost importance, and as expected the rocket was heavily guarded. It wasn't heavily guarded once Cid, Cloud, and Tifa ripped through the protection detail, leaving heavy casualties in their wake. Cid fought like a man possessed, and although Cloud and Tifa fought hard, they didn't fight to kill. Eventually Tifa was forced to drag him away from one of his victims to keep him from finishing the trooper off. The path towards the rocket became littered with unconscious infantrymen, though as they approached the rocket itself they encountered a different problem altogether.

Now standing above the unconscious infantrymen he'd been assigned to protect, Rude quietly adjusted his sunglasses and stretched his neck. "Your chaos ends here... You are not entering that rocket," Rude said plainly. Even as his subordinates lay crushed beside him, he remained undaunted and quietly assumed a fighting stance. "Try and get by me and you'll end up with some broken bones..." he hissed menacingly.

"Oh, yeah right! You're gonna end up on the business end of my spear, punk!" Cid snarled. After twirling his spear he prepared to lunge, only to feel a set of fingers on his face that brutally shoved him to the ground. Once he'd recovered, Cid furiously aimed his weapon at his assailant, but she wasn't daunted in the least. "You little..." he rasped, his teeth grinding.

"Stand back, Cid, or I'll break your bones... The only one fighting this guy is me," Tifa snarled angrily. Hardening her fist menacingly, she stood strong but took no action, much to the surprise of all involved. Rude stared at her dumbly, having expected a fist in his face, yet Tifa remained firmly in place. "Don't do this, Rude..." she growled, her teeth gritting. As she closed her eyes and opened them once again, Tifa flexed her digits and cracked her knuckles, the obsidian sheen sparkling in the hot summer sun. "Don't make me do that to you... I don't want to maul you. I still owe you for Wutai when you saved Yuffie. Walk away now and we can talk about this another time."

"Tifa, what the bloody hell are you doing?!" shrieked Cid angrily, eventually gathering his courage enough to clap a hand on Tifa's shoulder. "The man's a thug in a suit with orders to kill us!" he snarled, though as he attempted to wrench Tifa away he found himself unable to do so. "What, you have sympathy for this jackass?!" Cid croaked. Finally, however, he backed down and planted his spear in the ground with a huff. "Fine, whatever. Just be ready to do what you have to, girl, or you'll answer to me."

Rude was unable to hide the shock on his face, even though his eyes were covered by his sunglasses. Despite his crush on her, he'd fully expected to fight Tifa here. He could feel the fire in her fingers, but the fire in her eyes burned hotter. Although he remained ready to fight, Rude nevertheless weighed his options and came to a decision. Reluctantly, he slowly adjusted his sunglasses and sighed. "I can't see anything lately... I need to get some prescriptions for these things..." he muttered, disengaging his fighting stance. After breaking his form, Rude quietly dusted his suit off and stepped towards Tifa slowly, who retained her hardened fist even as he began to pass her.

"Thanks," Tifa said plainly, softly despite the strength in her hardened black fist. Rude immediately blushed, but gathered himself enough to continue walking away. After a few moments she relaxed her fingers, allowing a tiny bit of steam to escape them as her fist softened again.

"What... what just happened?!" Cid screeched, his mind blown by Rude's surrender. Even as Rude had passed him he'd been prepared to strike, but got the feeling that he wasn't in any danger from Rude. But if he'd tried to go after him, he'd certainly regret it. "You... what just..." he rasped dumbly in an attempt to grasp what had just occurred.

"He left," muttered Tifa idly. As she stretched her neck she silently began to walk towards the entrance to the rocket, leaving Cid and Cloud behind to stand in shock. "Now, let's do this," she said coldly. After pausing a moment, she whirled around and flashed a thumbs up and a cheeky grin. Neither Cid nor Cloud decided to force the issue, and quickly joined her in the rocket.

Scene Nine

The inside of Shinra Twenty-Six bustled with more activity than had been seen in sixteen years. Several of Cid's best engineers, most of them the original crew of the first mission, hurriedly darted around the room, turning dials and checking data from various consoles. Although Cloud and Tifa remained devoted to their mission, Cid's heart immediately wavered, and then stopped altogether as he was confronted by one of his technicians.

"Captain Cid! You came!" the technician tittered excitedly. "Did you come to oversee the mission?! The trip into outer space?!" he gasped. Although Cloud attempted to step forward, his progress was impeded as Cid shoved him back hard, resulting in him nearly stumbling out of the rocket. "C-Captain? What are you-"

Cid, trembling, realized that he'd finally reached the moment of decision. No matter what Cloud, Tifa, or anyone else had to say, this was his moment. "I've been ready for this my whole life..." Cid murmured as he continued to tremble. Finally, with his dream in reach, his higher faculties had ceased to function. "Get everything ready and we'll head out!" he said triumphantly.

The technician remained hesitant, unsure if he wanted to share the next bit of information with his Captain. "There's a problem, though, Captain. The auto-pilot system's been damaged..." said the technician nervously. "We can't take off until Shera finishes repairing it. She's working in the engine room right now..."

"If she's fixing it, Meteor'll come down on us before she's done!" snapped Cid angrily. "Evacuate the crew and prepare for launch," he said coldly. With a cocky smirk and a two fingered salute, Cid had decided to cross the line of no return. "You don't need an auto-pilot when you have a pilot," he chuckled. "Now beat it. It's time to get this baby off the ground."

Cloud had seen enough. He brushed past Tifa and gripped Cid by the collar, lifting him up much like Cid had lifted him a few weeks back. As his grip tightened and his teeth grit, Cloud's temper continued to build. "Cid, you idiot!" Cloud snarled. As he lifted him into the air, much like Cid had done to him once before, Cloud's anger continued to build. "What the hell are you doing?! We have a mission, dammit!"

Undaunted, Cid shoved Cloud back, grabbed him by the shoulders, and drew him in close. Through all of Cloud's anger, it quickly simmered when he watched Cid's face make an expression he'd never seen before. While Cloud began to hesitate, Cid continued to stare deep into his soul. "One time. That's all I'm asking," murmured Cid softly, softer than Cloud had ever heard him speak. His grip on Cloud's shoulders tightened until he nearly felt the circulation in them cease. "You can kill me after this, I don't care, so please..." he begged. "My dream is so close..." Cid whispered, nearly tearing up. As Cloud's will began to soften, the rocket began to rumble wildly and Cid charged onto the bridge, where all systems were activated.

Auto-Pilot is back online. Under orders of Director Palmer, Shinra Twenty-Six will now launch.

"Why did Shera pick now of all times to become competent?! And what is that idiot Palmer doing hijacking my rocket?! That God damned imbecile! I'm gonna take his nuts and drag 'em out his throat!" Cid snarled, angrily inputting several commands into the control panel, to no effect. His anger built until he finally slammed his fist on the console hard. "Everything's activated... Ain't nothing I can do to stop it!" he growled furiously. "I'm gonna kill that worthless sack of-"

When Tifa's hand met his cheek, Cid quickly sobered up. Staring deep into his eyes, Tifa's calmness put out Cid's fire almost immediately. "If you panic, we're all screwed..." she sighed. Once Cid had managed to calm down, Tifa laid her hands on his shoulders softly. "What comes next?" Tifa asked calmly. "We need to get the Huge Materia and get the hell out of here..."

Now calm, Cid silently input some commands on his console, which caused a hatch to open up to their right side. "The Huge Materia will be in that chamber. Cloud, you go get it, then we'll use the escape pod to return to Gaia," Cid said plainly. As Cloud quickly moved to do so, Cid quietly grabbed Tifa by the shoulders. "This is my dream. Now, after I finally get to live it out, I might..." He paused and shook his head. "No, I'm still mad at her."

"You jackass!" yelled Tifa as she took her elbow and planted it square in Cid's face. As he stumbled back with a bloody nose, she angrily stormed forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You want this fight now?" she snarled.

As Cloud exited the hatch, holding the blue Huge Materia, Cid quietly shoved Tifa backwards and wiped the blood from his nose before he gruffly readjusted his scarf. "The escape pod is back down there," he said plainly. "I ain't going to push it now, so shut up and get in the damned pod."

Scene Ten

The path to the escape pod lay in the previous room, from which a hatch would take you down into the engine room and into the pod from there. All three members of the party hurriedly descended the stairs and dashed towards the room with the escape pod. Unfortunately, one of the oxygen tanks began to emit steam and broke open, only narrowly missing Cid and dropping him to his back in a state of shock.

He was stunned nearly silent, but that still didn't keep him from saying something nasty under his breath. "That... that's Tank Eight! The tank she said was defective!" Cid choked as he examined the ruined tank that had only narrowly missed pinning him down. From a state of panic a slow realization dawned that chilled him to the bone, and as he staggered to his feet Cid kept his head down and began to tremble in shock.

If I'd tried to escape alone... during the original mission... I'd probably have been pinned by Tank Eight. Well, I'll be damned... She was right.

"There! You satisfied now, you cranky old bat?" taunted Tifa, her hands on her hips. Despite the grim situation, she couldn't help but feel a warm sense of satisfaction that Shera had been proven right. "For sixteen years, you've held a grudge that would've killed you if you hadn't listened to Shera!" she snapped, a smile of satisfaction cracking open her face. "Are you ready to apologize now?"

"Everyone, hurry to the escape pod!" said Shera, passing through the door to the escape hatch, much to everyone's surprise. For the whole mission she'd remained behind, knowing full well what might happen to her, but now she felt only a sense of satisfaction that Cid's dream had been fulfilled. Cloud and Tifa hurried past her, but Shera felt a tug on her coat and whirled around to see a haggard Cid staring back at her. Tilting her head in confusion, all she could manage was a soft gasp.

As he tightened his grip on Shera's coat, Cid's hand began to tremble slightly. Slowly, carefully, he bowed his head to her, an act that amazed her and shocked her to the core. No words were exchanged, but there was a silent understanding that resonated long after everyone had entered the escape pod. Finally, he had absolved both her guilt and his hatred, and as Cid took up position next to Shera, they shared an awkward smile. Even so, he lifted his hand to his face and muttered a few expletives under his breath.

I ain't got no words for it. That's all I can say to her.

The escape hatch on the lower part of Shinra Twenty-Six blasted open, revealing a large circular object containing Shera, Cid, and his friends. As he felt the gravity shift Cid jolted, silently staring out the window at the stars beyond their steel carapace. Even knowing that his dream had come at a cost still filled him with pride, though he turned a careful eye to the others as they trembled from the gravity drawing them down to the planet, and then finally to the marvelous blue sphere beneath them. Mesmerizing as it was, he finally understood something.

It's always been more than a destination. My dream was more than just getting here. I just never knew... until I saw that beautiful world beneath my feet.

From the window of the escape pod, Cloud and Tifa turned their eyes to Meteor, the crimson star that would signal the death of their world. They watched as Shinra Twenty-Six continued on its crash course, and as it struck the titanic explosion that blinded their vision imbued them with a sense of hope. When the debris of the rocket cleared, revealing Meteor damaged but still there, that hope vanished. The gravitational magic that bound Meteor together simply drew its structure back together as if nothing had happened. Though all of them felt despair, Cid's opinion had changed a world away from what he'd thought before, and as he reclined he shut his eyes tight and silently offered a prayer to any higher being that might have been listening.

I ain't done yet. None of us are. We're gonna keep that big blue ball spinning even if it kills us...

Author's Notes

I know zilch about sonar and submarines. I don't think I need to add that here...

Also, next chapter concludes the Tifa/Zangan/Bugenhagen plot. Anyone who hasn't read Bound for Midgar, this is your last chance to figure out the backstory to the plot line. I never anticipated including it in the main fic, but somewhere along the way it sort of happened... Nine tenths of you never read it, but the gist of it is that when Zangan was bringing Tifa to Midgar he stopped in Cosmo Canyon and met with Bugenhagen. Over a cup of tea they agreed to come back together and enjoy some more one day, when Tifa had recovered. Naturally, Zangan never got back to Cosmo Canyon...

Also, to address the Guest review from June 1, it probably wouldn't take much for Tifa to infer what happened with Zack... Cloud shows up dressed like Zack, with Zack's sword, and begins to mimic Zack. I actually mention this in Chapter 50 in a minor capacity. She doesn't know the truth, but it isn't hard to imply the basics of it. For example in Scene One, it isn't that Tifa knows the whole truth; she knows whose sword it is, and guesses that something untoward happened on the way to Midgar. I think that's a natural assumption for her to make.