Another chapter is here!
Riemann Hypothesis : Thank you for the comment!
Enjoy!
Yuffie felt agony as her eyelids fluttered open, marking her waking from the void of unconsciousness. Pain spiked in her jaw upon taking a deep breath, courtesy of the blow that sent her skirting along the ground. It was painful enough that it nearly made her want to fall unconscious again, but the sight of Vincent on the ground and the Tsviet standing over him with a beautiful materia in her hand was enough to push the pain behind a veil of anger instead.
Then there was a pulse of something tenebrous that billowed out from Vincent's frame as it became warped by darkness. He changed, sprouting pinions and breathing with a guttural rasp. A chaotic and malevolent pressure rolled off of him, thick and heavy. It felt wrong, like it was the anathema to life itself… death.
"Now!" she heard Crimson call out before the woman in red abruptly hopped away, deftly avoiding the heavy sword that belonged to Cloud swung single-handedly. His other hand was bracing his head until the pale light of a Haste spell encased him. Tifa, also shrouded in the same light, rushed after their foe, side-by-side with Cloud.
Hurried footfalls reached Yuffie's ears before a soothing sensation swaddled her. The Cure 2 spell numbed the pain and fixed her jaw back into place, putting her back into fighting form. She rose up and turned to Crimson with the question on her tongue being, "What happened to Vincent?"
"She shoved her hand into his chest and pulled that materia out of it after she knocked you out," Crimson said as she watched the exchange between Cloud, Rosso, and Tifa. It wasn't going well. They could keep up with her, but the woman wasn't struggling as much as she should have been for two fighters of their caliber. "It's obviously important, but at this rate…."
Yuffie clenched her fist beneath her arm-guard to the point of being painful. A searing heat bubbled up in her chest, filling her with resolve as the muscles in her legs tensed—she was ready to explode into motion. Defiance tinged her voice as she declared, "I'm getting it back!"
Crimson didn't stop her as Yuffie had expected. Instead, she applied the same spell to her that she did to the others, hastening her mind and body. "She's a bit faster than before and her current state also increases her brute strength, but she's not used to attacks from odd angles and you're good at those… uhhh…"
The former Turk brought her hand to her head, the strain of using so many spells in such a short time taking its toll. "Just… help them get her in a position where we can set up a decent hit to take her out. But don't let her hit you with her weapon."
"Got it!" Unfurling her Magic Shuriken, Yuffie darted into the fray of combat from the side and then the back. Bringing her weapon around towards Tsviet's unprotected neck while she was distracted by the other two, the six blades moved to sever her head from her body.
Clash! A flash of steel intercepted her weapon with a metallic sound.
The kunoichi stifled a surprised gasp at the force of the blow being nearly enough to forcibly tear her weapon from her grasp. Then the blood-tinged blade came around again, snaking around like a stricken serpent lashing back for her head.
She ducked down to avoid it as another flash of steel came around to crash into it. The dual-bladed weapon was locked into place by the Buster Sword as Cloud braced it. Then Tifa brought her fist around for Rosso's face with enough force that it could shatter concrete.
Rosso's foot lashed out like a lance to catch Tifa in the abdomen, knocking the blow short before she angled her weapon so that she could get a point-blank shot against Cloud. It couldn't break his mako-tempered skin, but the stopping power of the round was enough that it made him take a step back. Then the Tsviet leaned back to avoid the swipe Yuffie took in an attempt to Steal the Protomateria, bringing the heel of her shoes towards Yuffie's head.
The kunoichi raised her arm-guard in time. The impact was like being hit by a sledgehammer, caving in the metal and breaking the bone in her forearm before sending her flying backwards into a tumble onto the ground. Pulling herself up to her feet and biting back a pained snarl, Yuffie noticed the madwoman was laughing as she swung the dual-bladed weapon and released a crimson disk of energy towards Tifa and Cloud.
It forced them to dodge before it mowed through the trees along its path. Then, in a crimson flicker, Rosso then vanished from Yuffie's line-of-sight. Her intuition screamed that death was closing in and Yuffie dived forward in response.
The blade scything for her neck from behind cut through air instead. An amused smile at seeing the younger girl on the ground painted Rosso's face briefly, before she twisted around to avoid being impaled as Cid dove from above with his weapon. A sharp kick followed, heels digging in as the strike hit hard and snapped the haft of his weapon, brought up in defense, in half before kicking him aside.
"Move girl!" Barret yelled as the fiery energy of his Limit Break gathered around the tip of his gun in the form of a swirling ball of explosive energy. At the same time, Nanaki was readying a Fire 3 spell as well. Combined, they looked like they could pack a punch, but there was no way such slow attacks would hit her and Rosso knew it.
That was, not unless she couldn't move. Yuffie used a borrowed Gravity Materia and the Demi 2 spell's gravity-well brought the Tsviet down to a knee. Pinned in place so that she couldn't evade, Yuffie moved as the two launched their fireballs.
The feeling of the scorching heat was second to the bone-rattling force that caught her just past what would be considered a safe-distance. It had rupture with a thunderous explosion that severed Yuffie's concentration and canceled out the gravity-well. The resulting smoke veil cleared to show that the woman was scorched from the attack, the crimson aura shrouding her thinned drastically as she panted for breath.
Her smile was gone, replaced with a frown that bared teeth as she glared at Yuffie with murderous rage. "You—" Her rage seemed to make the crimson around her flare once more as swung for Yuffie again, releasing a crimson disk of death. "—Wutai-flea!"
Cloud intercepted with his own Limit Break, rushing to her defense and firing a Blade Beam to meet the attack head-on. The crescent wave of power blasted through her attack and proceeded to carve out the ground on its way to Rosso. Forced to dodge, the Tsviet clicked her tongue only for a serpentine Bolt 2 spell to snake through the air and nail her again from an angle.
Crimson was panting, eyes slightly glazed over. She had been working herself too hard with too many spells. There was no telling if she had it in her to fire off another one.
Smoking from the attack and her blood-tinged aura barely visible, the woman in red shot them a spiteful glance and then released a final shockwave through the ground that sprayed dirt and force to cover her escape into the jungle. She was running away because they had pushed her to the edge. However, any joy that might have been derived from that was crushed by the fact that Yuffie hadn't gotten back the materia she stole from Vincent.
The thought lodged a wedge of rage in her chest and made her blood pound at her ears. She couldn't let her escape! Her legs moved to give chase, but a firm hand grabbed her arm before she could. A lance of pain reminded her of her broken forearm, and she turned to find Cid holding onto her with one hand.
The other was holding onto the side where the kick had landed. "Calm down, kid!" he said. "You go after that crazy broad alone she'll end you."
"But she's got Vincent's materia!" Yuffie tried tugging herself free. But it was no use due to how strong his grip was. She was only hurting herself, made even worse when she felt the Haste spell wear off. "I have to get it back!"
"I don't like it either, but look at what we've got to work with." He tilted his head to the group and Yuffie turned to see them. The strain of the fighting for the others and Crimson healing their injuries left them mentally and physically fatigued, while Vincent was unconscious entirely as his form had at some point reverted back to human. "We can always get it back later if we're alive."
Yuffie couldn't accept that. On impulse and out of options, Yuffie did the only thing she could think of. She summoned her patron deity as a last-ditch effort to reclaim the stolen materia. "Stop her, Leviathan!"
The colossal jolt to her mind left it scrambled as the summoning emerged, aware of what needed to be done, and let loose a massive deluge from thin air. It surged out with enough force behind it that everything in the path of the rushing waters was uprooted and smashed to pieces. An entire section of the jungle was demolished, overturned flora and drowned wildlife littering the mud.
"Oww…" The strain of unleashing the summoning for the first time left Yuffie huddled over and holding her head as it dissipated. Minutes passed as instructions were given and carried out while she sat there, nursing a broken forearm and the mother of all headaches. It felt like her skull was being split open. It wasn't as bad as with the Sense Materia, but it made thinking hard until she felt a healing sensation covering her and numbing the pain.
She looked up as her broken forearm was being mended to find Crimson there. "Did you get it back?"
"Nanaki spotted an aircraft taking-off in the direction she went," Crimson explained. Rosso had gotten away after all. "You, Barret, and Cid take Vincent back to the Tiny Bronco and get further out to sea. I don't want to risk losing it due to anymore surprises, so we'll call when we get Aerith back for pick-up."
Yuffie wanted to argue, but she was worried about Vincent and summoning Leviathan had taken a lot out of her. "Okay, I'm going…" She got to her feet before she noticed something amiss. "What happened to that spy we tied up?"
[-oOo-]
Elena was breathless by the time that she had stopped running. The fighting had given her a chance to escape and she took it, grabbing a knife from one of the fallen attackers and fleeing from the chaos as their attention was focused on the woman in red. The massive summoning and the sudden flood were unexpected, but the fact that they were fired off in the opposite direction was what ultimately allowed her to cover enough ground to where she could rest against a tree.
As she worked to get free of her bindings with the knife, Elena couldn't help but think on everything she'd learned. Though it pained her to admit it, the traitor had made several deductions that spelled trouble for the company if true. If Heidegger had been hiding assets like those troops they just encountered, it made him as much of a traitor as the former Turk.
I need to get this information to Tseng as quickly as possible. Of course, no sooner than she came to that conclusion did the sound of hungry chittering reach her ears. That was the only warning Elena got and all that saved her from being pounced upon by a Kelzmelzer that descended from above.
In the wake of an enemy seeking to make her prey, she cut herself in the process of hastily getting free of the ropes around her wrist so that she wouldn't be completely helpless. Hot blood ran free from the wound as she ran to try to get away. She would really rather not fight if she didn't have to while armed with only a knife.
The jungle was uneven and discomforting to run across. The dense brush obscured the path ahead of her for more than a few feet, leaving her unsure if her next steps would leave her running into a dead-end or ambush. Nevertheless, her feet pounded at the ground as she ran as far as she could from the enemy she knew of.
The large insectoid monster gave chase in response with an aggravated chittering. The multiple legs were efficient for navigating through the jungle, allowing it to easily chase after her. It would run her down and then poison her with the potent venom within the sacs in its maw.
Elena quickly realized that escape wasn't an option as she kept moving. In a contest of stamina, she couldn't beat that thing. Being devoured was the only thing she could look forward to in the face of an apex predator if she continued to run.
If only they hadn't taken my explosives. She could only lament that the traitor had so thoroughly disarmed her for a moment before she steeled herself for what would happen next. Then going from flight-to-fight, Elena switched her grasp on the knife into a reverse grip and then reversed her sprint towards it.
The sudden reversal of the hunt caught it by surprise. The inhuman hunting instinct of the Kelmelzer realized that the carefully planned pounce it had been preparing would send it flying over her. Thus it opted to instead skewer her with its stingers as it came to an abrupt stop, sending the left one spearing for her head.
The Turk kicked off the ground at an angle and was grazed in the arm by a sharpened point that would have run her through if she had been a half-second slower. She swallowed the pain akin to a hot-brand running over her flesh and then raised her right hand that held the knife to intercept the second stinger that came for her. The blade deflected it and then cut it off as she dragged it forward, breaking through the opening.
She twisted her body and carried the momentum through her rising foot into its elongated body. The force transferred, leaving it screeching in agony as the internal fluids and systems within it were ruptured as a result. She then drove the knife into its head, wedging it in deep after piercing through its exoskeleton, and then dragged the knife out the side, tearing a messy furrow out of it.
The insectoid monster twitched after it fell on the ground for a few moments. Then it went still. Pale visceral fluids leaking from the corpse slowly pooled beneath it.
Elena took deep and steady breaths to calm her racing heart. Then the pain in her arm made itself known, blood cascading from the torn skin. She tore off fabric from her former workplace's uniform and then used them as makeshift bandages. She had barely had them tied around the wounds on her arm and wrist when she heard something that made her skin crawl, and turned her head towards it.
A second Kelmelzer attacked from the distance. Had it heard the noise and came to investigate? Or had the second one always been there, stealthily setting up an ambush meant to pincer her from the beginning? Either way, it opened its maw and let loose a sickly green spray that arched across the distance.
Liquid Poison, the distilled form of the venom it used to hunt, crossed the gap between them and doused Elena. Agony ran through her body as she fell to the ground and began crying out in pain. The potent poison was one meant to cripple its prey, attacking the pain receptor as it invaded the pores, stirring nausea and rousing fever, raising her pulse to the point of nearly having a heart attack.
Her flesh felt like it was burning as the bane-liquid soaked her clothes. Yet Elena tried desperately to stand as it closed the distance with its maw opened. With the world spinning and up becoming down, she wobbled on her feet with the knife in hand as it lunged.
"GET DOWN!" The familiar voice spurred her body into reacting as ordered. Elena fell onto the ground as gunfire thundered. The exoskeleton of the second Kelmelzer burst with a wet splash as it was punctured by a metal slug.
Lying on the ground, Elena's ears rang as the sound of a shotgun being pumped preceded another round of thunder and another pained burst of insect noise. Her eyes closed to bear with the stinging from the pain as a third round of thunder followed. A fourth, final round to finish the monster off left the scent of gunpowder hanging in the air near her.
"Si—" The words she wanted to say choked her on the way out. The pained cough turned into a wheezing rasp as gloved fingers turned her head. Then what felt like the rim of a glass bottle was pressed against her lips.
"Drink now," ordered her superior as the bottle was tilted back.
She did so as the bitter medicine poured down her throat. A shuddering breath forced itself out of Elena's throat when the last of it was gone. Another bottle found its way to her lips and she drank it down as well, the pain began ebbing away with every gulp of honeyed liquid. She opened her eyes and found Tseng there, kneeling over her with an expended bottle of Elixir in his hand.
"S-Sir… you… came… for me?" She couldn't help but shed tears of happiness. If the lingering aches didn't make moving less painful, she'd hug him.
"Rude found blood at the Extraction Team's location and is en route to this location," he said, his voice betraying nothing as he began to remove her clothing. "If you can speak then give me a report while I get you out of these poisoned-soaked clothes. I don't have another Antidote or Elixir if you get poisoned again from it."
His gloves will stop it from getting on him, Elena rationalized to suppress her embarrassment at requiring his assistance while the medicines did their work. She then began to tell him everything she learned since she had been taken from the Gold Saucer. She told him how Heidegger had ascertained confidential information about the Black Materia within two hours of her sending word and the suspicions of the traitor's group. She told Tseng about how he had his own private military force and how he working with Professor Hojo.
Last, she told him about how Heidegger kidnapped the Ancient. That last one earned a slight change in his expression. A barely visible frown on the face of a man who could pull the trigger on someone he worked with for years without flinching.
"Heidegger's actions are treason and without consent. That much is clear." He tossed his gloves onto the ground before taking off his suit jacket. The latter he handed to her while looking away. "Tie that around your waist."
Elena did so using the buttons to close it up part-way and tying the sleeves into a bow to form a makeshift skirt since only her undergarments and undershirt remained dry enough to be worn without the risk of being poisoned again. "What do we do now, sir?"
"Use the tracker to get where Rude is going to land and then tell him everything." He picked up the shotgun and what looked to be a tracker, handing both over to her. "He has a way of contacting Reno and Rufus to inform them of Heidegger's treachery that will bypass whatever means he's using to monitor calls."
"Okay, but what will you be doing?"
"I'm going to retrieve the Ancient." He pulled out a larger firearm and checked the scope before slinging the strap of the bag over his shoulder again. "Then I'll fly back in my own aircraft with her."
Uncertainty weighed in her chest at that. He was going into enemy territory without support. Even Tseng would be outmatched if the Tsviet or the traitor's group found him alone. Surely he knew that as well, right? "Then I'll go too!"
"Get to Rude. Tell him everything." Tseng's voice was firmer this time. "That's your job as a member of the Turks."
"But…" Her plea for him to take her with him died in her throat as he gave her a hard stare that wouldn't allow for anymore argument. He wouldn't budge. "Then please be safe, sir. I… the company needs you."
He nodded and then started towards the ziggurat. No goodbyes. No farewells. Only silence as his back grew distant, fading into the brush between them as he went forward with no regrets.
All that stopped Elena from following after him onto the battlefield was the fact that she had been given an order. Disobeying it would be going against the very spirit of being a Turk by putting her own feelings above the well-being of the company. It would be treason, and the one thing she wasn't was a traitor.
Her resolve solidified, Elena held the gun close to her chest as she turned away from him and made for the extraction point.