This is going to be intense. What happened now...
Kaze: Thank you. Getting rid of Corneo by the hand of his pet is quick and painless.
Enjoy the Chapter!
Crimson and Aerith, having sent Cloud ahead to guard the support pillar while they changed, had just exited the entrance to the Wall Market from the Sector 6 Playground when they found the entrance to Sector 7 blocked by an imposing figure.
He stood taller than the both of them, with a broad build and a shaved head. His suit was orderly and the gloves on his hands were thicker than the usual set, with a pair of knuckle-dusters adorning them. He didn't say anything, instead adopting a fighting pose, fists raised and feet tensed to rush forward.
Crimson came to a stop, hands raised in a placating manner, with Aerith behind her. "Rude!" she said. "You have to stop Reno and the others! If you drop the plate, you'll—"
Rude crossed the space between them in the span of a blink, fist chambered. The punch was fired like a shotgun as she raised her arms in time to defend herself. It still knocked her back like a rocket, sending her flying into the slide of the park hard enough to dent the rusted metal and force a pained cry out of her mouth.
"Crimson!" Aerith cried out, pulling out her staff and swinging it, only for Rude to catch it and hold fast to it. He brought his other elbow down on it to force it out of her hands and then tossed the staff away, leaving her defenseless. Aerith took several steps back, her heart racing in fear as he reached for her, only for a spinning blur of steel to make him pull back or risk losing the arm.
Rude jumped back as the giant shuriken whirled back at the tug of a steel wire attached to it. It cleaved through the air like a saw before slapping its shaft into the hand of the thrower. He turned towards the downed former Turk, slowly rising back onto her feet.
"I guess… we're not talking… this out then," she wheezed, cradling her side as she held her Rekka in front of her like a blade. Even breathing hurt for her, and her legs wanted to buckle under her own weight after that attack. "You still… hit like a truck."
He took his fighting stance again and then ran forward again like a silent train.
Crimson had her Sense activated and could see the path he was traveling this time, so she wasn't taken off-guard like before. It let her roll out of the way as his shoulder tackle plowed through the rusted slide. She brought her hand up and called forth a serpentine bolt of lightning to strike him in the back.
Rude grunted as tongues of electricity slinked over his body, bringing him to his knees before they slithered into the ground and faded. His muscles contracted for a moment, slowing him down as he stood up, but it faded. He looked up to see that Crimson was back on her feet, swaddled in a pale green light.
Aerith had retrieved her staff and was casting the Cure spell, taking away Crimson's pain and allowing her to fight again.
"Rude," Crimson said again. "We don't have time for this. Are you really going to help Heidegger kill everyone in the slums?"
"…That the job," he finally said. There was no reasoning with him, it seemed. He would do his job, even if that meant allowing thousands to die.
Crimson raised her hand with the materia on the bangle and prepared to fire another bolt when a metal canister landed between Aerith and Crimson, drawing their attention. It exploded in a plume of lavender smoke, the sickening sweet scent making her lethargic. Before it could knock her out, Crimson used a low-powered Bolt from her Thunder Materia to keep her alert.
It was all that saved her as a blonde-haired Turk broke through the veil of smoke obscuring her vision. She had her leg thrust out, trying to land a jump kick. Crimson caught her leg and added to her momentum, sending her flying into a junk pile, before looking for her companion. "Aerith, are you okay?"
There was no response, and when the smoke thinned Aerith was nowhere in sight. Neither was Rude. The realization dawned on her that Rude had taken her away and she swore under breath, turning her attention back to the newcomer.
"Where did you take her?" Crimson demanded as she watched the new girl pull herself out.
"I'd be more worried about myself than the Ancient, if I were you," the blonde said. "Tseng wanted her unharmed, but you're going to die here—AGGHHH!"
Crimson hit her with a Bolt spell to cut her off, not wanting to waste anymore time. Once she was sure that paralysis had set in, she made her way towards the entrance to the Sector 7 slums. There was nothing she could do for Aerith, but she probably wouldn't be harmed and they could look into her later.
Right now she had to focus on what she could do, and get to the pillar in hopes of delaying the fall.
[-oOo-]
Cloud couldn't help but think that Crimson had underestimated the force that would be sent out to destroy the support pillar as he cut down another of the drones that their science department had built.
Still, he felt a bit guilty as he smashed the backside of his sword into one of the propeller-driven robots and sent it crashing into the pillar. If he had known that Shinra would go this far to get rid of AVALANCHE after he had joined, maybe he wouldn't have been so eager to help them in bombing the reactors. At the very least, he would have thought more about the consequences.
He had memories of some of their operations as a part of SOLDIER, like the Wutai and Genesis Wars. He knew they could be outright ruthless in accomplishing their goal and dealing with their enemies. Yet, he was so assured of himself and revenge-driven that he didn't consider the people who would be caught up in the crossfire.
Cloud finished climbing the winding stairway up to the top of the pillar and caught sight of three in-bound helicopters. They were equipped with machine guns that were trained on where he stood, preparing for a strafing run. He guessed he caused enough chaos to warrant them.
Mako energy wreathed him in its hue as he tapped into the power for his newest Limit Break. He condensed it on his sword, until it shone with radiance. Then he unleashed it with a mighty swing. "BLADE BEAM!"
The wave of power flew in the shape of a crescent, cleaving through the stale air and towards the helicopters. It smashed through the one in the center, rupturing the fuel tank and leading to the entire thing exploding. The shockwave of the explosion caused the other two to tremble and shake, forcing their pilots to readjust before firing at him.
Cloud blocked them with his Buster Sword in front of him like a shield, luring them in closer. Once they were in range, he broke off and ran to the rear side of the platform. He bounced off the rail, back towards the pillar, and then sprung out towards the helicopter that approached from the right.
The pilot didn't have time to scream for more than a second before the Buster Sword pierced the windshield and straight through him, staining it with more blood. The copter began to spin out of control as the SOLDIER withdrew the blade and leapt off the front of it. It crashed to the ground below in a fiery explosion that sent debris flying around, the corpse left in the burning wreck slowly turning to ashes.
Cloud landed back onto the platform with a roll and blocked the incoming gunfire from the remaining helicopter's strafe. It broke off the assault as it passed by over his head, and the red-haired Turk from Aerith's Church landed with a package in his hand as the helicopter flew away. Cloud readied his sword as the Turk set aside the package and drew a baton.
"Is this any way to thank us for picking you up out of the wasteland?" he asked, tapping the baton's edge against his shoulder. "Really now, I just wanted to take it easy and then you show up and cause such a mess…."
Cloud rushed in and swung his blade with his enhanced strength. Each slash could cut through steel with ease, shearing it apart from the weight and power. But they couldn't hit the Turk, who dodged steadily with as boring a look as one could manage.
He's dodging just like Crimson did, Cloud realized. So it seemed that he was as skilled as her, if not even more. But, unlike her, he allowed himself to be backed into the railing, creating an opening that Cloud planned to take advantage of by thrusting his blade out.
Reno dodged his thrust by shifting his right leg out at a forty-five degree angle and using it as a pivot point, leaving him time to bring his Electro-Mag Rod around. The tip crackled with lightning and nailed Cloud at the base of his skull. Electricity surged through it and forced a pained groan from him as his body began to spasm.
"Meat-heads, all brawn and no brains," he heard Reno say before he lazily kicked the SOLDIER over the edge of the railing.
Cloud fell down until he hit the ground with a thunderous crash. If he had been a lesser man, he wouldn't have survived. But, between the impact and the paralysis, he wasn't going to be moving for a bit. And then he saw the helicopter that got away coming back around for a final strafing run while he couldn't move.
The barrel of its gun whirled and bullets began to draw a path towards him, smashing into the ground in a straight line. It came to an abrupt end when a bolt of serpentine lightning snaked from the stairs above and sent the entire helicopter into a right spiral, causing it to crash out of sight.
"Get to the exit once the paralysis wears off!" he heard Crimson yell from above, but he couldn't turn his head to see. "I'll take care of the rest!"
He wanted to say that he wouldn't run away, but the paralysis was messing with his breathing and his voice. With no other choice, he waited with gritted teeth for it to wear off as he heard the sound of battle coming from above.
[-oOo-]
Crimson panted as she swung her Rekka like a blade, only for it to be intercepted by Reno's baton at the neck.
She didn't want to fight Reno. Out of all the Turks, she didn't want to deal with him the most. Behind that lazy and carefree attitude was a very efficient and very professional assassin.
"It was stupid of you to come here," Reno said, shaking his head. "You had a chance to be free, yet you wasted it by working with AVALANCHE."
She actually took more offense to that than anything else. "Don't you dare put me into the same group with them! You think I would have gone along with them bombing a reactor and hurting so many people? You know me better than that."
"Then what are you doing here?" He punctuated the question by thrusting his foot out and catching her in the ribs, forcing her to stagger backwards. "Why did you come back?"
"Shinra attacked us at Gongaga and then ordered a missile strike that destroyed the village!" Crimson said as she avoided another hit and swept his legs from beneath him. She moved to stab him in the thigh, crippling his movements.
Reno curled up into a back-roll and sprung back up on his feet before she could land it. "Must've been Heidegger acting on his own! You know what he's like!"
"And here you are, about to kill thousands following his orders!" She swung her leg around to kick him in the head this time, leaving him to dodge with a crouch and counter thrust. She leapt over him, landing in a crouch herself, and then raised her blade to catch the baton as it went for her skull at a downwards arc. "The very same people we should be protecting!"
"It's our job!" Reno claimed. "Turks work for the company's interests. Nothing more!"
He shifted the baton down so her blade was touching the head and pressed a button on his insulated handle with his thumb. Electricity surged through it, jumping to her Rekka and then her body. The voltage wasn't enough to knock her out like that, but it staggered her long enough for him to close in and slam the bottom of it into her shoulder, dislocating it.
Without her dominant hand, Crimson was at too much of a disadvantage. She leapt back and fired a Bolt spell. It snaked through the air towards Reno, who used his Electro-Mag Rod like a lightning rod to catch it.
"Return to sender!" Then he actually sent it back toward her, slamming her with her own spell. It sent her flying into the pillar at the center of the platform, adding to the damage she had suffered, and crippling her with pain. Reno finished it by casting a final spell, courtesy of an exclusive materia he could use.
A prism of light engulfed Crimson, sealing her inside before she could rise to her feet. She slammed her good hand against it, but there was no give on her side. The Pyramid spell could only be broken from the outside. She was trapped, unable to do anything else. "No!"
"You should have known one way or another, this support was coming down," Reno said, putting his weapon away. "Even if it wasn't me, the President and Heidegger weren't going to stop."
"I had to try," she said, panting. "I couldn't sit by and do nothing. If I bought enough time for even one more person than if it went unhindered, then it was worth it."
"You were always too soft for the job," Reno mused, before looking at his watch. He pulled out a signal flare and pulled the trigger, casting a bright light in the air. At that, a smaller aircraft emerged from nearby and closed in on them. Inside of it was the blonde-haired Turk that Crimson had knocked out before.
"At least you'll die with your convictions intact, I suppose," Reno said as the aircraft dropped a rope ladder for him to cling to. He climbed onto it and gave her a two-finger wave. "Good-bye, Cissnei."
She watched him leave and felt despair, despite telling him that it would be worth it. Death wasn't something she was looking forward to experiencing, and she could only hope that Cloud managed to get away. That way, she could at least know she had protected Zack's legacy.
"Crimson!" she heard, and her head snapped up to see that Cloud had stupidly climbed back up the winding stairway. There was no way he would be able to get out now.
"I told you to get out of here!" she yelled, her eyes starting to tear up. She had failed Zack. "You weren't supposed to die with me!"
"Neither of us is dying here," Cloud said as he brought his sword around to cut through the Pyramid spell. He slung the sword onto his back and then helped her to her feet. "And a SOLDIER doesn't leave someone behind."
Crimson still felt pain, so she could barely stand even with his help. But she still had to try and stop the bomb before it was too late. However, to her dismay, it was a bomb that couldn't be moved once activated or disarmed without the President's code. "I can't stop it."
"We've done all we've can then," Cloud said. He eyed her condition and noted she wasn't in any shape to run. With only seconds on the clock, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder before leaping onto the railing.
He grasped tightly one of the cables and then slammed his foot down on the section of the railing where it was hooked. With his enhanced strength, he broke where the hook was attached and freed the cable to move. He leapt with it in hand and they went swinging forward.
They weren't even halfway across when the explosion went off. The flaring orange and thunderous roar of force and heat shook the line as they swung for dear life. The death kneel of the support pillar giving out was followed by the sound of metal grating against metal as the plate above was torn free of its perch and began to descend upon the slums below. The shadow it cast grew steadily, eclipsing everything beneath it.
The line snapped with a jerk, sending them both towards the ground in a slope towards the exit. Cloud shifted and wrapped her in his arms as tightly as possible, landing in a roll and soaking up as much of the impact as he could while they narrowly managed to get past the giant doors separating Sector 7 from Sector 6. There was a massive dust cloud that followed them as the plate finished its descent, and then there was nothing but silence.
Crimson tried to rise, but her body was in so much pain that she couldn't move. Even staying awake was too hard. She barely took notice of the people around her and Cloud as her vision tunneled and her consciousness finally gave out.
[-oOo-]
Reeve Tuesti stood at the window, along with several other employees at the Shinra Headquarters, staring out at the smoke wafting from where the plate had fallen down.
"They really did it," he murmured to himself, low enough that no one else could hear him over their confused ramblings. He had been there when the President and Heidegger came up with this insane plan, but… but to go this far?
There wouldn't be anyone left alive in what was once Sector 7. Not if they were crushed beneath that plate or on it. Even if a few managed to get out, their homes and friends and families would be gone.
Heidegger and the President had gone too far this time. They had to pay.