Chapter 46: An Empire in Ruins
MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE PRESENT...
July 9, 0011
Vincent, Lucrecia, and DiStefano stood at the entrance to the Shinra Building.
"Deepground is in there," Lucrecia began. "We only need to find the president's entrance."
"Easier said than done," DiStefano pointed out. "Considering that place is well-armed."
"Then let's even the odds!" called a familiar voice.
The three turned around to see Yuffie approaching, followed by Zack, Barret, Jessie, and Red XIII.
"Thanks for waiting," Yuffie said sarcastically. "You can't just waltz in there."
"You need to be armed," Barret announced as he cocked his gun-arm.
"And dangerous!" Jessie announced as she clenched her firsts.
"I bite three hundred pounds per square inch!" Red XIII announced.
"The odds will be even," Zack said as he drew his sword.
"You made it," Vincent observed.
"We made it," Yuffie echoed. "Barely. Now comes the hard part."
SECONDS LATER….
Barret stormed into the Shinra lobby and pointed his gun-arm at the receptionist.
"You better not say I need an appointment!" he demanded.
The receptionist put her hands up before slowly leaving the room.
The other seven followed in.
"That was easy," Red XIII observed.
And then, a screen activated on the back wall of the lobby.
"You jinxed it!" Yuffie shouted.
Just then, Rufus appeared on the screen.
"YOU!" Barret called.
"Yes, me," Rufus greeted. "Welcome. I see you're mostly all here. Cloud and Tifa couldn't make it?"
"No time for that," Red XIII said. "The world is in danger."
"Again?" Rufus taunted. "Oh, you mean from Deepground. My dad's little side project he neglected to tell me about."
"You've obviously found out," Yuffie said. "Look, you need to pull the plug on on this. If Omega destroys the world, you know you'll die, too, right?"
"Not if I harness its power," Rufus answered.
"Who said you can harness its power?" Yuffie retorted.
"I guess there's only one way to find out," Rufus said. "But, in the meantime, I suppose you'd like to find the president's enterance. So be it."
"There has to be a catch to this," said Yuffie.
"You bet you're cute little ass," Rufus answered. "You know, in the original timeline, Vincent made it through all by himself. But, to be fair, this building was in ruins. So I'll play a game with you."
Just then, four doors, that were otherwise invivible, slid open on the back wall.
"Each of these doors," Rufus continued, "leads to my dad's secret passage. "But, of course, you're dividing into groups. Vincent and Lucrecia are going through door number one. Zack and Yuffie are going through door number two. Barret and Jessie are going through door number three. And, finally, Red XIII and this new beauty are going through door number four."
"My name is DiStefano!" she retorted.
"We're not playing any games!" Yuffie insisted.
"Very well," Rufus sighed.
With that the doors closed.
"No play," he continued, "no prize."
"Fine!" Yuffie groaned. "But this better be fair play!"
"You know I can't promise that," Rufus said.
The doors slide open again.
RED XIII AND DISTEFANO
A few minutes later, Red XIII and DiStefano found themselves making their way down a rather plain corridor. There were no enemies, and apparently no booby-traps, either, though they both remained alert.
Meanwhile, someone became curious regarding her quadruped companion.
"So your name is Red XIII?" DiStefano asked, finally breaking the silence.
"That's what everyone calls me," the felid replied. "My real name is Nanaki, but I'm called what I'm called."
"I'll admit I've only heard about you once or twice," DiStefano admitted. "Though I know you helped save the world from Meteor."
Red XIII sighed.
"I'm basically just a table decoration," he lamented. "I don't get to do much, and I'm quite underappreciated. Homo sapiens seem to come first."
"I'm sorry," DiStefano said.
"No worries," Red XIII assured her. "I'm used to it. The funny thing is that my species lives seven hundred and thirty-two years. I suppose I'll be getting lots of interviews when everyone else has departed from this world. That is, if I don't outlive all humans."
Just then, three familiarly dressed soldiers came from the right side.
"Shinra troops!" Red XIII exclaimed.
DiStefano shot two of them dead; Red XIII killed the third with a throat bite.
"I'll never judge your bark worse than your bite again," DiStefano said.
"I don't bark," Red XIII said as he licked the blood off his lips.
The two then continued their way down the hall.
"Well," Red XIII began again, "if you don't mind me asking, is DiStefano your first name or last?"
"It's my name," she replied.
"Where are you from, anyway?" he asked.
"Midgar," she replied.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"I'm eighteen," she answered. "Are you hitting on me?"
"Just making conversation," he said.
"I'm sorry," DiStefano said. "I just can't believe…."
"I can talk?" Red XIII finished.
"I guess," she replied, somewhat embarrassed.
Just then, three more Shinra troops emerged from the side.
"Incoming!" Red XIII announced.
He leaped toward one of them and tore his throat open, causing him to stagger back and collapse before dying. DiStefano shot the remaining two.
"You're definitely a valuable ally," DiStefano complimented as they continued.
"Thanks," Red XIII said.
"I heard you were looking for more of your kind," she said. "Any luck?"
"I found more of my kind in a village on the Southern Continent," he answered.
"Wait a minute," DiStefano said. "You went on that expedition to the Southern Continent?"
Red XIII nodded.
"You went through the Storm Belt?"
"We did," Red XIII answered. "Even I thought we weren't going to make it. But we chose a sphere as our mode of transport. It was used by a lady who came from the other side. But what we found on the other side was the reason she fled. The first thing we saw was a town under mass surveillance, with no freedom at all. So we fled into the woods, and we eventually came to a clearing with another village." He paused. "I thought I was the last of my race, but this village had lots of my kind. But we had to leave there, too. We went through a cave, found yet another village, followed by a temple, and then, finally, a teleporter that could take us to any continent we wanted. And that was how we got back."
"Do you ever want to go back to the Southern Continent?" DiStefano asked.
"I wonder what else is down there," Red XIII wondered. "We only explored a small piece of it. But it hasn't been on anyone's list of priorities.
"Curiosity killed the cat," DiStefano pointed out.
She then realized her mistake.
"Sorry," she apologized.
"An understandable error," he said.
"But, seriously, you found a totalitarian society down there," she continued. "What if you find something worse?"
"I suppose that's a possibility," he admitted.
They rounded the corner, and encountered a surprise.
There stood Hojo.
BARRET AND JESSIE
Barret and Jessie started in a similar plain-looking corridor before they rounded a turn and saw, of all things, televisions lined up along the walls.
"What's with all the TVs?" Jessie asked aloud.
"Dunno," Barret replied. "But I don't like it. Rufus set 'em up for a reason."
"I doubt it," Jessie dismissed. "What harm can a TV do? We're not the Downings."
She then noticed what the televisions were displaying.
They were news reports.
They were all reports of Sephiroth murdering someone. Some of them showed the actual murder.
And they were all dated after Christmas of 0008.
Jessie fell to her knees.
She knew right away why the televisions were there.
"This is all my fault," she sobbed. "I freed the bastard!"
"Stay strong," Barret commanded as he helped his wife to her feet. "That son of a bitch put those screens there on purpose. Don't let it get to you."
"I'll try," Jessie sighed as she dried her tears. "If….if it's not too much trouble, could you put your hand over my eyes? I'd be too tempted to open them!"
"No problem," Barret assured her.
He covered her eyes with his hand, and led her down the hall.
Just then, a door in the side of the hall opened, and three Shinra troops ran out.
Barret quickly dispatched of them with his gun-arm.
He then continued to lead her. They went down a flight of stairs, where Jessie nearly tripped. He then led her further and further, until he reached the end of the corridor.
There stood a Black Widow.
ZACK AND YUFFIE
Zack and Yuffie made their way through another seemingly ordinary corridor. Both were quiet, and they both had a lot on their mind.
Zack, in particular, was wondering about Yuffie's fourth regret. He had a feeling of what it might be, and he also had a feeling that she was waiting until their adventure was over to tell him.
He was also thinking of the right time to tell Yuffie what he had discovered.
They turned a corner, and both gasped in unison.
They beheld an underwater glass tunnel. It was a large tunnel, with sea plants growing on the other side. It was quite dark, though lights illuminated the room.
"Is this his personal aquarium?" Yuffie asked rhetorically.
And then, Zack noticed movement. He saw the bell-shaped creatures pulsating to the left, to the right, and above them, slowly approaching the glass, as if to greet them.
"Those are the weirdest looking fish I've ever seen," Zack observed as he continued his way through.
"Didn't you ever pay attention in biology?" Yuffie said. "Those aren't fish. Those are jellyfish."
"Fish," Zack said.
"Cnidarians," Yuffie corrected.
"What's the difference?" he asked.
"For one, fish have skeletons," she replied. "Two, jellyfish don't even have a brain."
And then, Yuffie started to giggle.
"What's so funny?" Zack inquired.
"And a jellyfish's mouth is also its anus!" she laughed.
"These have to be the lamest creatures ever," Zack sighed. "Maybe I could wear one as a hat."
Yuffie turned to Zack, and put her hands on her hips.
"Are you kidding me?" she sighed. "Your face would get stung!"
"Those things sting?!" he exclaimed.
"Of course they sting!" Yuffie replied. "You didn't know that?"
"I didn't go to the beach that often," Zack replied.
Yuffie scanned the jellyfish as they continued on their way through.
"These are all the nasty ones," she observed. "See that big one?"
Zack nodded.
"That's a lion's mane," she informed him. "If you have a weak heart, the poison from that son of a bitch will stop it. And you see those things floating around? At the top?"
He scanned the top of the water, to see blue gas-filled tentacled creatures floating aimlessly.
"Those are men-o-war," Yuffie continued. "They're even deadlier."
"Can we just move along?" Zack requested. "I'm really starting to not like jellyfish."
"It's not a jellyfish," she corrected. "It's a colony of animals."
"Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's a duck," he said.
Meanwhile, a cube-shaped one gracefully swam by.
"And there's the Chironex Fleckeri," Yuffie announced. "The deadliest of them all. One sting and you're dead in thirty seconds."
"Let's go," Zack insisted. "I'm officially scyphophobic."
Yuffie gave him a skeptical look.
"You didn't know that jellyfish sting, but you knew what scyphophobic meant?"
Zack shrugged.
"Okay," she sighed. "Let's go."
Zack and Yuffie continued their way through the glass tunnel. Zack was eager to have it over with, but Yuffie was somewhat awe-struck, and stopped to look in wonder at the creatures.
The level came to an end, and Zack and Yuffie descended the wide flight of stairs. Yuffie remained awe-struck, but Zack hated the stairs, as he felt as if he was walking right into the jellyfish.
They made it to the bottom, and continued through the underwater glass tunnel.
There was a ladder at the end of the room, and both of them, especially Zack, were relived to move forward.
And then, both of them heard a grinding sound.
"I don't like the sound of that," Yuffie said.
Then, the sound of rushing water began.
Normally, water would not bother either of them. But water full of deadly jellyfish most certainly would.
"Run like hell!" Yuffie commended.
They ran as fast as they could.
The water rushed down the stairs.
The ladder grew closer and closer.
But then, the water reached them, and began to rise.
It was an inch deep.
Then it was two inches deep.
Then it was three inches deep.
Then, Zack reached the ladder first.
He turned to face Yuffie.
"No time to argue!" she exclaimed. "Go!"
Zack quickly climbed up the ladder.
The water was now almost up to Yuffie's knees before she could mount the ladder.
She followed closely behind Zack, as the two of them continued to climb until they reached the next floor.
Zack hopped off the ladder and then helped Yuffie off as well.
"Did you get stung?" he asked.
Yuffie shook her head.
"I don't think so," she replied. "I'd be in nasty pain. Or dead."
They then looked at the corridor before them; it was a long corridor with a turn at the end.
"Come on," she said to her man. "Let's go."
They began to make their way down the corridor toward the turn. There were no Shinra troops, and apparently nothing up there.
Yuffie still had a bad feeling.
After several minutes, both of them heard a squishing sound.
Yuffie looked down, and noticed the floor was suddenly becoming soaked. She quickly turned around, and her fears were confirmed; the water was continuing to rise through the hole in the floor.
"Shit!" she exclaimed.
Zack and Yuffie began to run.
The water was an inch deep.
They reached the left turn, and, to their relief, was another ladder.
The water was now three inches deep.
Yuffie reached it first, but she climbed up without hesitating.
Zack turned around, and, to his horror, saw the top of a man-o-war floating towards him.
"Hurry up!" he wailed.
Yuffie climbed as fast as she could.
Zack climbed on the ladder with less than a second to spare.
Both of them continued to climb until they reached the top.
Yuffie looked down on the rising water through the manhole they had climbed through. It reached halfway to the top of the lower level, and failed to rise any further.
"Looks like it's stopping," she said as she caught her breath.
"All the same," Zack said, "I'd like to get as far away from that water as soon as humanly possible."
"Agreed," Yuffie replied.
Zack and Yuffie made their way down the corridor, turned a corner, and stopped in surprise.
There stood Azul.
VINCENT AND LUCRECIA
Vincent and Lucrecia found themselves in a very odd place.
"What the hell is this?" Lucrecia said aloud. "His own personal conservatory?"
"A bio-done," Vincent corrected. "This must have been built in the last year. I had a feeling Rufus had a premonition we would come through here."
"You're saying this wasn't here in the original timeline?" Lucrecia asked.
"Highly unlikely," Vincent replied. "For all I know, I probably wandered alone through a ruined building."
The first room appeared to be a jungle, with the path becoming an un-barred catwalk about a foot from the ground. There were toucans there, along with iguanas roaming free. Artificial mist was spraying.
Up ahead, there was a tree whose leaves were in the way, but Vincent and Lucrecia simply pushed their ways through them.
The other end of the room was just ahead when Vincent turned around to check on his girlfriend.
"Lucrecia," he suddenly called. "Don't move."
On her shoulder sat none other than a phoneutria nigriventer, or a Brazilian wandering spider.
"Is that what I think it is?" Lucrecia asked nervously, remembering that it could give a fatal bite.
Vincent nodded.
"Stay still," he repeated.
He slowly backed away until he was at a reasonable distance.
He then aimed his handgun at the eight-legged monstrosity.
"Vincent…." Lucrecia began, still trembling.
She knew she could not make any sudden movements, as they could warrant a bite from the spider.
She was trembling, both over the fact that there was a deadly spider on her shoulder, and that her boyfriend was aiming a firearm in her direction; she could not determine which was worse.
Vincent began to aim. He knew he needed to do it carefully, as not to hit his love.
And then, the spider moved to attack position.
Vincent realized he had no time; he needed to shoot now.
Without hesitating any longer, Vincent aimed his gun at the spider, and pulled the trigger.
Lucrecia screamed.
A second later, the spider exploded, with legs flying in all directions.
Fluid splashed on Lucrecia's right cheek.
"What's that smell?" she asked.
"Venom," Vincent answered as he approached her and wiped it off.
"Thanks," she said, knowing there had been no other option.
They then climbed a set of three stairs and made their way through a tunnel to the next room.
This room appeared to be a desert. There were cacti everywhere, including a rather tall one two thirds of the way through the room.
Vincent and Lucrecia stepped onto the desert sand.
The latter noticed how the room was only several yards across.
"He doesn't actually think we're going to die in the desert, does he?"
Just then, twenty or so lizards began to crawl out from behind the rocks. They were pink with black splotches.
"Gila monsters," Lucrecia observed. "Their bites won't kill you, but they'll leave you in no condition to continue."
Vincent observed how slow they were.
"It doesn't look like they can come after us," he observed.
"That may be," Lucrecia said, "but they can bite quickly. And look. They're blocking the way through."
Vincent then took a look at the tall cactus.
"How thick are the soles of your shoes?" he asked.
"Pretty thick," Lucrecia replied. "Why?"
"Stand back," he commanded.
"Excuse me?" she asked skeptically.
"Stand back," he repeated.
"Stand back?!"
Vincent fired his gun at the base of the cactus. It came crashing down, causing the Gila monsters to scatter.
"Now!" Vincent shouted.
Vincent and Lucrecia charged through the desert and jumped over the fallen cactus, making it to the steps on the other side before the Gila monsters could regroup.
They climbed up a set of three steps and passed through the next tunnel.
This room appeared to be a forest, with all kinds of deciduous trees growing throughout the room. There were birds in those trees, and well as squirrels and rabbits moving about.
There did not seem to be anything dangerous about this room.
And then, they both spotted a large, brown ursid, checking out a nearby tree, and blocking their path.
"A Kodiak Bear," Lucrecia whispered.
Vincent reached for his gun.
"No, Vincent, don't!" she pleaded. "He's too big. If you shoot him, he'll just get angry."
"Not if I hit him right between the eyes," he assured her.
"Will you listen?!" she demanded. "This is a test from Rufus. He knows your instinct is to kill him. Trust me."
"Well then," Vincent said, "what are we supposed to do?"
"Shimmy behind him," Lucrecia replied.
"Seriously?" Vincent asked skeptically.
Lucrecia sighed.
"I'll do it first," she said.
Before Vincent could object, Lucrecia approached the bear. When she was a mere yard away, she began to shimmy.
Vincent felt his heart racing, knowing a bear that size could kill in one blow.
But, moments later, Lucrecia had climbed the three stairs to the doorway leading to the next room.
"Told you," she mouthed.
Sighing, Vincent approached the bear, but kept his gun aimed at all times.
When he was a yard away, the bear began to growl.
Vincent's heart began to race.
"Put the gun away!" Lucrecia mouthed. "He knows what that's for."
His better judgment, under normal circumstances, would get the best of him. But, this time, having seen Lucrecia's success, he actually did what he was told.
He shimmied behind the bear.
He shimmied all the way to the three steps, and climbed them quickly.
Then he turned around.
The bear was facing them.
And he almost seemed to wink out of respect.
Vincent and Lucrecia walked through the tunnel and into the next room.
This room appeared to be a tundra. There was literally nothing in the room, other than a plain wall and a plain floor.
Lucrecia scanned the room, looking for any kind of booby traps, but could not find any.
"How are you doing?" Vincent asked.
"Freezing my ass," Lucrecia replied. "I should've worn jeans."
"Maybe this is the challenge," Vincent suggested. "Getting through here before we freeze."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Lucrecia agreed. "Let's go."
The two of them made their way through the room.
Then, when they were halfway through, it happened.
The floor collapsed under Lucrecia without warning.
"Shit!" she cried as she fell.
A deep crevice was now below her.
She grabbed onto the ground to break the fall, but her hands were starting to slip.
Vincent leaped over the crevice and pulled his girlfriend to safety.
"Thanks!" she exclaimed before kissing him.
Both of them peered into the crevice; it was as deep as far as the eye could see.
"That has to be bottomless," Vincent observed.
"It can't be bottomless," Lucrecia dismissed.
"I suppose you're going to tell me there's no such thing," Vincent commented.
"You suppose right," Lucrecia replied.
They then made their way through the room, tapping ahead on the ground with their feet to make sure there were no more surprises. Finally, they made it to the end, and climbed up the three steps, taking the tunnel to the next room.
This room appeared to be a wetlands. A rope bridge would carry them over the stagnant, muddy water below. Halfway there, they spotted a giant plant, which appeared to have a giant mouth.
"A Neptune man-trap," Lucrecia observed.
"Don't you mean a Venus fly-trap?" Vincent asked.
Lucrecia shook her head.
"A Venus fly-trap occurs naturally," she replied. "This was grown in a Shinra lab. It closes on the man, and digests him in thirty seconds flat."
"You don't seem worried," Vincent observed.
"Why should I be?" Lucrecia asked. "It's not called a Neptune woman-trap. Besides, just don't be dumb enough to crawl into it."
The two continued on their way, through the swampy foliage. They soon reached the end of the rope bridge, and prepared to climb the three steps that would lead them to another tunnel.
Suddenly, a blue flower opened, and sprayed pollen directly into Vincent's face.
Vincent immediately collapsed motionless to the floor.
"Vincent!" Lucrecia exclaimed. "Vincent!"
There was no response.
"Vincent!" Lucrecia cried as she began to shake him.
There was still no response.
She then checked his neck for signs of life.
She felt a pulse.
She then looked up.
There stood the prime Reno, Rude, Elena, and Tseng.