Premonitions III: Advent Children

by Hippo and Friends

It's mayhem in the alternate timeline! Sephiroth must be caught, and Tifa attempts to land a job nobody had expected her to even consider. Later chapters are based on Advent Children, only starring Zack instead! Zack x Yuffie, Cloud x Tifa, Tobin x Cissnei. Rated M for violence, profanity, and nudity.

32. The Storm

Chapter 32: The Storm

March 28, 0008

Did you think Jack and Sumner Balen were going to give up on the presidential race without a fight? These guys practically didn't know the meaning of no. They literally tried everything in the book in a last ditch effort to save their campaign.

On March 22, Sumner Balen started a rumor that Tifa was having sex with the speaker, which was why he chose her, but even his supporters didn't believe him.

On March 23, he filed a legal complaint, accusing the speaker of having mentally declined.

On March 24, Jack Balen announced the race was not over and that he would be planning the "next steps."

On March 25, Cloud and Tifa officially moved into the Shinra Mansion. Inauguration was April 2, but, since nobody was living in the mansion, an exception was made for her.

A temporary bedroom had been renovated for them in a matter of days; the rest of the house had not been. Cloud and Tifa still preferred the mansion, due to the security.

On March 26, the complaint about the speaker was denied.

On March 27, Jack Balen filed another complaint, this time that Tifa had bribed the speaker.

On March 28, that complaint was denied, citing reasons that there was no evidence.

On March 29, Sumner Balen filed a third complaint, citing voter fraud and demanding a recount.

On March 30, that complaint was shot down for the same reason as the previous one.

On March 31, both Jack and Sumner Balen announced on their social media that there would be a protest rally outside the Shinra Mansion the next day.

"I don't like this," Tobin said as he saw it in his feed.

"It's nothing," I assured him. "An empty threat and nothing more."

"Are you sure?" Tobin asked.

"Positive," I replied.

"I think I want to go down there," he said. "Just to be sure."

I was annoyed at first, and I was about to say something, but I realized he was right. They poisoned Tifa at the third debate. God knows what worse they were planning to do.

"Do you want me to join you?" I asked.

Tobin shook his head.

"I'll be okay," he assured me. "I'll be cloaked. But I'll alert you if anything goes south."

THE NEXT DAY….

Cloud and Tifa were living in the west wing on the second floor. It had been converted into a four-room living quarters with a kitchen, parlor, and bedroom until the mansion was fully renovated. It was the only part of the mansion that had light and modern furnishings; the rest seems like an overground basement.

But the bigger mess was occurring outside, in Nibelheim Town Square.

Jack and Sumner Balen were outside, along with no less than three hundred protesters. The Downing men were there as well.

"Tifa Strife did not win that election fairly!" Jack Balen began.

The protesters roared.

"She stole the presidency!" Sumner added.

The protesters roared again.

"But, even worse, she stole our justice, and she won't give it back!" Sumner continued.

The protesters roared even more loudly.

"If we won't be given justice," Jack Balen shouted, "we'll take it by force!"

"Take it by force!" shouted the crowd.

"Take it by force!"

"Take it by force!"

And then, they began to march north.

North toward the Shinra mansion.

"Take it by force!"

"Take it by force!"

They stopped at the gate.

They waited for the signal.

"Get 'em!" Sumner announced.

They began to shake the gate.

For a while, that was all that happened.

Then, the gate broke off.

They swarmed into the front yard.

"Down with Cloud and Tifa!" shouted a protester.

"We need to capture them!" Dirk Downing shouted.

"Forget that!" shouted Jack Balen. "We need to beat them!"

"Forget that!" shouted Sumner. "We need to hang them!"

"Hang them both!" shouted a protester.

And with that, they broke down the front door, and swarmed inside.

That was when I got the frantic call from Tobin.

"They're storming the Shinra Mansion!" he announced.

I was out the door, wasting no time.

MEANWHILE…

Rioters had knocked down the front door. They stormed into the mansion and flooded the entire downstairs, knocking over the furniture and everything else they could find.

Within minutes, they had swarmed the entire first floor.

Tifa and Cloud were inside, with three hundred people who wanted their asses.

There was no escape.

But that didn't mean there was no defense.

Barret, Jessie, Yuffie, and Red XIII were standing at the top of the stairwell.

"The fuck?" one of the rioters shouted.

"That's right!" Yuffie announced. "We had a feeling you were going to do this!"

"We arrived here an hour before you did," Red XIII informed them.

"Go back!" Barret demanded as he cocked his gun-arm.

"Fuck you!" shouted a rioter.

"Have it your way!" Barret shouted as he pointed his gun-arm and fired it toward the chandelier.

The chandelier came crashing down, landing hard on the ground.

Six rioters were killed.

"This your last warning!" Barret called. "Get the fuck out of here!"

Rioters continued to advance up the stairs.

One of them tried to attack Red XIII.

The quadruped bit him in the throat, severing his jugular.

"It's over!" called someone from an unseen room.

And then, everyone turned around and ran down the stairs and out of the mansion. Everyone on the first floor ran out the door as well.

Curiously, they ran out faster than they ran in.

Barret, Yuffie, Jessie, Tobin, and Red XIII remained alone at the top.

Just then, Cloud and Tifa emerged from their living quarters.

"They left," Barret informed them.

"Thanks, guys," Tifa said.

"We all owe you big," Cloud added.

"It was all too easy," Jessie said.

"Yeah," Red XIII added ominously. "Way too easy."

MEANWHILE….

By the time I got to the mansion, I saw the last several rioters running away.

It was not what I was expecting; Jack Balen's supporters didn't give up that easily. Something must have been up.

"You're going the wrong way!" one of them yelled as I passed them.

Of course, I didn't dignify that with response; I kept on running for the mansion.

"Fine!" he shouted. "It's your funeral!"

That was a big red flag right then and there, and I realized what this all meant.

I ran as fast as I could into the mansion, frantically hoping to find everyone before it was too late.

I found Tobin, Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Jessie, Yuffie, and Red XIII at the top of the stairwell.

"Guys," I said, "we've got a serious problem!"

"Not anymore," Red XIII informed me. "They just left on their own."

"We didn't hit them that hard," added Barret. "They turned and ran. I think they were afraid of my gun-arm!"

I had to tell them.

"Listen and listen carefully!" I commanded. "A bomb is about to go off!"

"A bomb?!" Tifa exclaimed.

"That's why they're all running!" I exclaimed. "I think someone hid it in the mansion somewhere."

"Okay," Cloud began. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Wait!" Tifa commanded. "We need to locate the bomb and find out what kind it is!"

We all picked a a room and spent the next five minutes practically tearing it apart.

Than, a voice came from the kitchen.

"It's in the oven!" Yuffie exclaimed.

We all ran into the kitchen to find Yuffie holding it.

"Just as I feared," Tifa said. "A D-1200. With enough destructive force to level the entire town."

"It was fastened to the grating pretty well," Yuffie added.

"How did you remove it!" Cid asked.

"I just did it," Yuffie replied. "I'm an expert on bombs."

"Can you diffuse it?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not," Yuffie replied. "Any attempt to fiddle with it will cause it to explode."

Then, Barret asked the inevitable question.

"When does the bomb go off?"

"God only knows," Yuffie answered. "There's no timer. Probably sooner rather than later."

"We need to get rid of it," Tifa exclaimed.

"But then, somebody has to take the bomb away," Jessie pointed out. "It's very likely that person won't be coming back. We'll need to draw straws."

There was a nasty silence.

We then all knew that it was somebody's last day.

"Fuck the straws," Tifa announced. "I'll go. Yuffie, give me the bomb."

I immediately so the heartbroken took on Cloud's face.

I quickly put my arm around Tobin for support.

"No!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Your place is the presidency. I'll do it."

And, before anybody could say or do anything, she was out of the kitchen. Seconds later, we heard the front door close.

There had been no time for tearful good-byes; every second counted.

"Godspeed, Yuffie," Tifa said sadly.

We all stood in a sad silence. Of course, none of us could really stop her; that bomb needed to leave.

Seconds seemed like minutes and minutes seems like hours as we stayed in place, grieving for Yuffie, and, oddly at the same time, hoping she would get the bomb as far away from Nibelheim as possible.

And then, the bomb exploded.

The fiery blast could be seen from the Nibelheim town square.

I saw it from the window. I felt like a piece of my heart was ripped out. Though I didn't know Yuffie that well, the realization that she was gone was sickening.

I buried my head in Tobin's chest and started to cry. A sixteen-year-old girl had sacrificed herself for us. She might have been a thief and a swindler, but she was also a friend.

But the explosion was well away from Nibelheim.

That was what truly mattered.

And then, the police stormed into the room; we had been so lost in our grief we didn't even hear them enter the house.