Start Date: January 27, 2024

Windwillow

Another Calamity: The Andromeda War

Chapter Seventeen: Assault on Fortress Andromeda

Scene One

Everything seemed to have gone to pot. Tifa and Cloud had been horribly wounded and left permanently debilitated, and though the eight Eidolons received their new powers from Hana she herself was now in the hands of POISON. High up above Cosmo Canyon, Andromeda's fortress reposed after having decimated Junon. All hope seemed to have been lost, but to the surprise of all Tifa remained confident.

"Is your arm healed?!" Red XIII gasped.

Tifa shook her head and shrugged. She stretched out her right arm and flexed it, checking to see if it would seize up or burn, but upon seeing that wasn't the case Tifa gleefully clenched her fist and smiled. "Nope, still damaged. But Hana stabilized it, so now I can use it to fight... can't harden it, though," Tifa said with a slim smile. She stretched her neck, worked out a kink in her leg, and quietly massaged the burn wound on her arm. It was still warm, but she knew that she could push through it now. "I can move it now... fight with it... and as long as I have my right arm to balance my style I ought to be able to fight at... well, decent strength," she said with a sigh. "But if we need to go full on, I might be in trouble."

"She helped my injury as well," said Cloud, stepping up and stretching out his knuckles to Tifa, who smilingly bumped them. He lifted his hand to his back, grabbed his weapon, and deftly brandished it. Hana's power had stitched together his innards and made them mostly whole again, and even if he wasn't one hundred percent restored, Cloud now had enough energy and stamina left for one final, climactic battle. "And we'll pay her back by saving her!" he resolved. "We owe her that..." he murmured as he bowed his head.

I owe her that. I acted like a complete jackass and now I need to take it on the chin. Aerith's message will still be there after we whip these punks.

"We Eidolons will help as well," Ramuh said briskly. "We owe that girl a great debt."

Cloud startled at the offer and immediately jumped out of his skin at the idea of fighting with the Eidolons. The only experience he'd had with Eidolons was with Ifrit and Bahamut, both of whom were full of themselves and had... less than stellar personalities. Fighting with an Eidolon that didn't have a stick up its ass certainly had its appeal. With a smirk he returned his sword to his back and gestured towards the Shera, where Cid awaited with a fresh cigarette and a healthy dose of hope. The rescue party, all the present members of AVALANCHE as well as the eight Eidolons, boarded the airship and prepared to head into the biggest fight they'd faced since Deepground's attack. This would end the war, whether for good or bad. They couldn't let Andromeda and the scientists run amok any longer.

Andromeda's fortress reposed silently in the sky as the Shera approached it. There remained a very pertinent question, however: How would they actually enter it? That concern was secondary, though, the need to rescue Hana being the matter of the hour. As the airship approached, however, an even more pressing issue came to light. A large summoning circle consisting of green orbs with black flames inside began to rotate around the shell, and from it a titanic form emerged. It was just as large as the airship, but was shaped like a monstrous, nine-headed dragon with silver scales and a wingspan equal to that of the airship.

Yuffie shrieked out a terrific scream, horribly wetting herself and falling to her back in terror, though Cloud's very different response was to fondle the near-forgotten stone he hadn't touched in five years, the one on his gauntlet that belonged to the most obstinate Eidolon he'd ever encountered. Clutching tight onto the summoning materia and kindling as much hope as he could he gripped it tightly in prayer, and from a similar burst of green fire a similarly shaped creature emerged, also a dragon, but with obsidian scales and only a single head, the Dragon King Bahamut. Whether it was a good idea? That was totally up for debate.

Shaking off the dust from his scales, Bahamut turned his eye to the airship and scowled. "Bastards. I never signed up for this crap!" Bahamut snarled. As he turned his eyes to the monstrosity before him, however, a sinister scowl crossed his face and he flexed his mighty claws. He was well aware of who and what that creature was, and it filled him with enough hatred that he was more than willing to forgive being summoned without permission. "Tiamat!" he hissed, a sharp gasp escaping his lips. "What the hell are you doing here, you rotten old witch?!"

"I was summoned, you moronic jackass!" Tiamat roared, who seemed to be as foul-mouthed and obstinate as her nemesis. She sneered and produced her middle finger to Bahamut, an act that only stoked his hatred. They'd been polar opposites and mortal enemies for millennia, having been born as brother and sister to dragon gods long since passed. Naturally, their childhood was... unpleasant. "It's my responsibility to ensure that those humans meet a horrible, excrutiating death. Interfere if you want... I'd relish ripping you a new asshole."

"Oh, is that so?" chuckled Bahamut. He quietly crackled his knuckles, stretched his neck, and shot a vicious sneer at his most hated nemesis. He had a very different opinion. "Let's just see about that, you colossal asshole."

Bahamut gave a sinister smirk and flexed his fingers, stretched his neck, and assumed a fighting position in front of the Shera. Tiamat was his most hated nemesis, the bane of his existence, and if he had the chance to rip her a new tail hole it made everything worth it. The two massive Eidolons soared towards each other with their fists held back and then clashed with a pair of punches that nearly toppled the airship, throwing its inhabitants side to side from the violent shock waves that threatened to overturn the Shera outright.

"GO SOFTER, YOU IDIOT!" Yuffie screeched from inside the airship. Her knees had buckled a long time earlier and her underwear was ruined, but she had enough pep in her to argue with the titanic dragon it seemed. Not that she intended to actually say anything to his face, of course... She'd learned that lesson five years ago. "It's great you wanna fight now, but don't kill us in the process!" she hissed sharply. "Stupid dragon!"

The massive dragon completely ignored Yuffie's rantings and shoved off from the conflict. Bahamut threw its arms to its sides and became coated in a sizzling black aura, from which four huge orbs of flames formed. He slung both hands and all four fire balls at Tiamat, though she opened her mouths and began to charge what seemed to be Bahamut's signature attack. Tiamat's Giga Flare was just as lethal as Bahamut's Mega Flare, seemingly made much more unstoppable by the fact that she had nine heads to draw from.

When Tiamat released all nine breath blasts they completely engulfed Bahamut's attack and continued on, nearly hitting the airship. The only reason the attacks didn't connect was because Cid turned the wheel hard enough that he thought he might have cracked it. Bahamut, however, was largely unaffected and simply flapped his wings, escaped the cataclysm, and lifted up to confront his foe eye-to-eye. Tiamat's face twisted into a sinister sneer, secure in the belief that she was the more powerful of the two legendary dragons.

"That shell is a hundred times stronger than Mythril!" Tiamat announced proudly. "You'll never pierce it!"

"Oh, is that so...? Challenge accepted, bitch!" Bahamut shouted, a sinister sneer crossing the dragon god's face.

Opening his mouth wide Bahamut began to charge his own breath weapon, the sheer air pressure created again nearly overthrowing the airship. Just as he prepared to fire, however, he flapped his wings and soared straight at Tiamat. The Eidolon gathered strength as he approached and finally blasted Tiamat at point blank range. She dodged, though the attack managed to tear open a massive gash in the fortress's side, ripping open a large hole in the shell that was more than large enough for the airship to enter. Inside the airship Cloud covered his eyes to escape the brilliant cataclysm of light, and when he opened his eyes and saw the ruined fortress his eyes widened. He couldn't believe that the son of a bitch had actually helped them.

"Bahamut! Did you just-" gasped Cloud.

"Get inside! I've got this one!" Bahamut hissed.

Cid wordlessly turned the wheel and barreled straight for the hole Bahamut had opened in the shell. Tiamat moved to stop him but Bahamut intercepted her with a hard gut punch, followed up by a nasty uppercut. Both Eidolons disengaged and reared back before releasing their breath weapons at full strength. Tiamat's nine heads clashed with Bahamut's one, their fiery breath causing such violent shock waves that more pieces of the fortress began to break open. Finally Bahamut won out, incinerated Tiamat, and disappeared in a flash of fire with a toothy thumbs up. He'd won his victory, and by a fortunate coincidence he'd helped those fools again. Even if she would regenerate, now he had bragging rights for life.

Scene Two

The inside of Andromeda's fortress was a huge complex, complete with several laboratories and a completely unique ecosystem. Hana was escorted through the halls of the scientists' lair, led through one final door and entered to find that Tali was waiting for her seated at the far end of the room, her ruined left arm replaced by a segmented red steel prosthetic that shimmered with a sickeningly foul gleam. Tali immediately rose to her feet and nearly dove at her foe, but a stern glare from Kumiko was enough to cause the scientist to fall back in her seat with a huff and the four scientists took up position in the back of the room, where their instruments were.

"Welcome to our humble home, Little Miss Hana!" Doku exclaimed, throwing his arms out theatrically as if he were playing in a performance. He always had been a drama queen. The mad scientist turned to Hana with a twisted grin and flexed his fingers, something that frightened the poor girl scared stiff. "Now transform, you miserable punk."

"Yeah, whatever," Hana shrugged as she shut her eyes tight and began to focus. She bowed her head and took in a deep breath as her entire body began to glow bright green. Slowly her human form receded and the bluish green skin of the spiritual being replaced it. Just as the Esper had begun to take shape, however, the transformation vanished and she dropped to her knees, breathless and shaking wildly as if her body had been strained to the max. "Sorry..." Hana heaved breathlessly. "I can't do it on command."

"DIRTY LIAR!" Tali roared, her fingers flexing wildly and a violent rage coming over her entire being. With a significant amount of force Tali lunged at Hana, but was caught by the scruff of the neck by Kumiko and thrown back into her seat. Although she let out a feral shriek and reached towards her companion Tali was unable to do anything and so she dropped back in her chair with a few parting curses under her breath. Doku frowned and stepped towards Hana, tapped a device on his arm, and opened a program that scanned Hana's body from head to toe. When the scan was finished, he scowled and deactivated the device.

"She is unstable," he muttered. He turned to Dolly and gestured to her. "Prepare to operate..."

"Gladly, sir..." Dolly sneered.

"Um..." Hana stammered. The poor girl was scared stiff.

"Relax, kid. We're just going to stabilize you, restructure your DNA a bit so that you can transform at will, so we can actually do something with you..." Doku muttered. His words certainly didn't give Hana much reassurance, however, and the scientist began to get testy. "Just get on the table and lay down, girl," Doku sighed. "This one won't hurt."

This seemed to relieve Hana somewhat, so when Dolly escorted her over to an operating table she did so relatively calmly. Hana was laid down on the table gently, where Dolly strapped her in and moved towards a control panel. One press of a button slid a metal cocoon over her body and a second set of calculations began the procedure. To Hana's horror, however, she looked down at her body beneath the tube and saw it begin to blink in and out of existence as if it were a candle flickering in the wind.

She wanted to scream but restrained herself and slowly the flesh and bones that composed her morphed into her transformed state, but she could tell something was different. It felt much more natural, more calming, and with a smirk she realized that she'd pulled it off. They'd done exactly what she needed them to do. If they hadn't stabilized her powers, mixed them together into a single cohesive unit, she would have eventually degenerated into an instinct-driven, animalistic beast. Now? Hana could sense the unity of both human and Esper settle into her body. It was time to prepare for her escape.

"So she's stable? Excellent. That means we can begin the procedure," Tali sneered. A deranged smirk crossed her face as she turned towards Hana and flexed her fingers, sinister intentions bubbling to the surface. "We're going to dissect you, you little brat, piece by agonizing piece," she snickered sadistically, "until we find out what makes you tick. Then, you'll be of no more use to us and we'll get to do whatever the hell we want with you. It'll be fun."

Tali's idea of fun was of a stark contrast to Hana's, and it showed in the terror on the teenager's face. Now the idea of using them seemed to be a bit more... stupid. Once they'd figured out her powers... well... it was a chilling concept that filled the girl with dread. Underneath the metal cocoon she began to sweat profusely, and her heartbeat began to quicken. Suddenly, however, the entire room began to quake and roil, sending the scientists stumbling to the floor and making Hana's cocooned body tremble with more than just trepidation - excitement. They'd come for her.

"What the hell?! Dolly!" Doku choked. "Tell me what just happened...!"

Upon lifting herself to her feet Dolly quickly staggered to a console and input a few commands, causing a large view screen to open up in the back of the room. The image chilled the scientists' hearts as they watched the Shera plunge head long into their headquarters, driving through the walls of red steel and finally coming to rest deep inside of the fortress's inner structure.

"We've been had!" Tali shrieked angrily. "The little bitch planned this!"

"How? She's been with us the entire time! It's those idiot friends of hers, coming to rescue her!" Dolly screeched as she hurried to research the issue further and found, to her shock, a visual of Tiamat's monstrous body being decimated and turned to dust, and her face immediately fell lower than her ankles. She'd held back Tiamat for the express purpose of protecting their base, and seeing her being incinerated filled her soul with dread. "They took out Tiamat too?!" she shrieked. "We've gone straight from bad, down to worse, right smack dab into the worst-case scenario! Now they can attack us whenever they want!"

"You three deal with them, and I'll begin work on the girl! The opening procedures shouldn't be too difficult to do alone," Doku snapped. The three scientists nodded and hurried from the room towards their laboratories to prepare their defenses, leaving Doku and Hana alone. Doku walked up to Hana's cocoon and input a command, causing the tube to slide off of her body and expose her Esper form. Now that they were alone, he could focus his attention on researching Hana's abilities for Andromeda. Or, so he thought. "No need to concern yourself, girl. Your friends will be eliminated with extreme prejudice," he chortled. "Now-"

Before he could finish his gloating Doku received a powerful, hardened punch straight to his face that nearly shattered his nose. While he staggered Hana immediately lifted herself to her feet and took off running. Although he moved to restrain her Hana was too fast, so when Doku reached towards her he whiffed and and caught air. Gritting his teeth in fury, he blasted the table to atoms and hurried towards the main console where he activated it and switched on Dolly's program, scanning through the replicas to find the perfect one to retrieve the girl, and he found it in Model-T: Model Turks. A sinister smile etched itself onto his face as he pressed the button and a vacuum tube in a corner of the room began to open...

Scene Three

The world upon which the Shera landed was one of mystery and wonder. The inside of Andromeda's shell was a planet in and of itself, complete with rivers, forests, and even animals and birds. Whether she kept them there to harvest them or the scientists brought them to liven up the place was totally up in the air. Far in the distance were what looked like three large cities, in truth the scientists' laboratories and living quarters. As everyone departed the airship, it was a truly daunting and threatening world to fight through. They had no idea whether the scientists had any more freaks like Model-R, but the general consensus was that they had a lot more.

In the end three parties were decided upon, one each led by Cloud, Tifa, and Vincent. The Eidolons were split up between the parties along with the members of AVALANCHE interspersed, and in the end the final decisions seemed to balance everyone out fairly well in both magic and might. Each group would head towards one of the three laboratories in the distance, where it was assumed Hana had been taken. Which one, though? It could have been any of the three... or an unknown fourth option, potentially. All they could do was hope and pray that there wasn't a Door Number Four that wasn't visible to them.

The first party we'll be looking at was led by Vincent and included Rubicante, Scarmiglione, Ji-Min and Yuffie. They headed for the westernmost laboratory and, after passing through the forests and lakes they arrived in what looked to be the city of the future. There were countless machines and gadgets scattered across the futuristic landscape, large towers and huge skyscrapers that reached high into the artificial sky. The buildings were outfitted with various tubes, gears, and a number of high-tech mechanisms that none of them recognized. Dolly's realm was devoted to scientific advancement, her own personal playground.

As everyone split up to investigate the area Yuffie's attention narrowed in on a large, cube-shaped structure that resembled a gigantic die, the single to a pair of dice. She carefully examined and re-examined the titanic construction, and upon finding something irresistible she reached out and pressed the gigantic red button that no one with any sense would have pushed. When she pushed it the cube broke open and folded out to reveal a small army of mechanical chimeras that ranged in shape from humanoids to cyborg dinosaurs. All of them were at least as large as a human (most were bigger) and each seemed to be programmed with the directive to kill anything that didn't belong in the area.

Yuffie let out a horrific shriek, alerting her friends to the danger, and frantically turned and ran away from the beasts. The chimeras opened fire at her and bullets flew like shrapnel from a shotgun, hitting to her left and to her right as she desperately skittered away from the source of danger that she'd brought down upon herself. As the bullets struck all around Yuffie ran head long into an immovable object and dropped to her back, and what she saw when she looked up was Vincent Valentine, armed and ready to do battle. While Vincent loaded his weapon with ammunition Yuffie desperately dove for cover and Vincent quickly opened fire with a volley of shots from Cerberus that rained torrents of electricity down upon the chimeras, bolts of white lightning striking them from countless directions at once. The smoke began to clear and revealed, to Yuffie's horror, that the beasts were still up and active, seemingly undamaged and seriously pissed off.

"The suckers are immortal! Oh, gawd!" Yuffie yowled.

"Look closer..." Vincent moaned, placing a hand to his face in disgust at Yuffie's typically childish behavior. "They're bleeding."

Upon closer examination Yuffie saw that Vincent was right, that the more organic creatures had begun to bleed and the machines appeared to be leaking oil. So on the plus side they weren't indestructible, but they also seemed to be picking up speed as they hurried towards the rescue party. Yuffie frantically looked up at Vincent, turned her eyes back to the chimeras, and decided to do exactly what the situation seemed to call for: retreat as fast as possible and leave the others to deal with those abominations.

Swiftly drawing her whip, Ji-Min lashed out with her weapon at supersonic speed with a barrier-shattering strike blasting one of the humanoids to bits. The other chimeras continued to approach, however, and the three Eidolons quickly stepped up to meet them. Rubicante deftly lifted his new sword, a single bladed katana, and swung it at a large triceratops-shaped beast, clashing hard with its horns and pushing the Eidolon back several yards. Even so he didn't falter and immediately went about launching his counterattack.

While Ji-Min engaged her own small army of enemies Scarmiglione drew his own sword and thrust it at a humanoid chimera, but it knocked him to the ground and left him prone with his sword just outside of his reach. The axe-wielding beast lifted its mighty weapon and swung down at Scarmiglione's head, but it was repelled and the creature stumbled backwards. Scarmiglione's left arm had become made of solid steel, shaped like a long blade, and as the chimera staggered backwards the Eidolon snatched up his sword and lashed out with both blades, which cut down the mutant instantly. His powers over the element of Earth had expanded into Metal and Wood.

Having dispatched the triceratops, Rubicante now found himself confronted by three chimeras the same size and similar in shape to the Model-R that had attacked Cosmo Canyon. One of the three swung at the ninja and missed and a second's blow was neatly parried by Rubicante's sword, with a third beaten back with a hard roundhouse kick to its nose that shattered its face. Rubicante paused briefly to stabilize himself before slashing the first beast's head off and as the other two charged he vaulted high into the air and avoided their strikes. While in midair he produced a series of shuriken that, when thrown, killed one, stunned the other, and finally a fierce burst of flame ended the third and final chimera's assault.

A group of eight of the chimeras had managed to surround Vincent and were preparing to attack. Undaunted, Vincent calmly narrowed his claws at the nearest and fired a sharp laser beam that pierced its chest, then lashed out in a 360 degree motion. The beam became a wave and cut through the eight beasts that surrounded the gunner, slicing them in half. A ninth one, shaped like a large Tyrannosaurus Rex, approached and nearly swallowed Vincent in its jaws, but Vincent swiftly stepped back just as the fangs were about to strike, lifted his weapon, and fired a volley of shots that pockmarked the beast. He followed up by nuking it with the same flames he'd taken from Rubicante, which finally incinerated the infernal thing.

Yuffie watched as her companions easily dispatched their enemies and wiped the sweat from her brow. At least someone could fight off those freaks, and thankfully that someone wasn't her. This lasted only until she staggered to her feet just in time for her to notice two raptor-like chimeras approaching her from the side. She let out a sharp screech and jumped back as her gauntlet shimmered and Madeen appeared from inside her summoning stone. The Eidolon simply obliterated the two beasts with holy fury and turned back to find her summoner on the ground passed out from sheer terror. Madeen put a hand to her face and groaned, muttered a foul word, and dropped to her seat to rest as she was legitimately starting to regret making the contract after all the cowardice that her "mistress" had displayed.

Ji-Min, who found herself surrounded by a number of humanoid chimeras, calmly returned her whip to her belt, deciding to try out one of Rydia's more complicated spells instead. As the mutants steadily approached she held her hands up in front of her, palms facing forward, charging magical energy through her fingertips that was similar in nature to Cloud's elemental fusion. With a sudden flash of light the Eidolon released her attacks, which peppered her enemies with fire, lightning, and frost all at once and reduced them to their constituent molecules within seconds. When another approached from behind Ji-Min snatched up her weapon and lashed out at it, shattering the chimera's head to bits.

With her battle ended, Ji-Min fell back against a wall to catch her breath. Shortly thereafter the entire building went up in flames and sent her scrambling for cover as the source of the attack became clear when a figure emerged from the flaming wreckage. Unlike its fellow soldiers, the Model-V, or Model Valentine, by and large wore the same clothes that Vincent did, with the same reds and blacks where Vincent's own colors were worn as. This one, however, stood nearly eight feet tall and had long, golden hair contained in a checkerboard bandana. The weapon in its hand was imposing, far more so than Cerberus: its barrel was almost the length of its arm, jet black with red panels lining its frame, and it almost seemed to be alive.

"It's... me?!" Vincent gasped. He shook his head and lifted his weapon to aim at the creature. The resemblance was there, yes, but they'd clearly customized his personal design for their own purposes. "No... They've obviously calibrated it to match me. This one will be a royal nuisance."

"We need to advance, Vincent!" Rubicante shouted as he tapped the gunman on the shoulder to catch his attention. Vincent swiveled around to find that the Eidolon had its weapon drawn and shouldered, and it gestured towards the large structure behind Model-V. Someone had to seek out their target, and since the two of them were the strongest it seemed to fall to them. Vincent nodded and the two jumped high into the air, landing behind the beast and the duo quickly moved forward.

Model-V was on them in a second and lifted its massive weapon at them but before it could narrow a shot Ji-Min's whip lashed around its waist and tied itself tight. She deftly lifted the creature high into the air and then slammed it to the ground, though Model-V easily tucked and rolled before firing off a volley of bullets that struck her hard and pierced her body in several places. Because she'd turned to mist, however, the damage was easily undone and Ji-Min moved to retreat.

Both Madeen and Scarmiglione surrounded the replica from two directions and prepared to attack, but Model-V swiftly fired off two consecutive shots at supersonic speed that sent them running for cover. Model-V continued firing shot after shot at them and, as they dodged, both Eidolons quickly realized that they'd been steered to the same spot, where the beast could wipe them both out at the same time.

Model-V lifted its mighty gun and charged it, then fired off a titanic blast wave that shot forward at the two Eidolons but Madeen and Scarmiglione managed to roll out of the way just in time to avoid being incinerated. When the beast turned to follow it was nailed hard in the back of the head by a mass of white mist and as it turned to counter Ji-Min it found itself in the crosshairs of a certain ninja. A haggard and heavily breathing Yuffie swiftly charged and released an All Creation that obliterated Model-V and burned its metallic skeleton into ashes and as the remains fell to the ground inert left Yuffie to shakily stagger around from the pain inflicted by her near mortally-serious injuries.

"You jerks had better appreciate me putting my horrifically wounded, heavily damaged body in the way of this thing!" Yuffie yowled as she dropped to her knees, exhausted. The damage she'd taken from Kumiko still hadn't healed and the ninja felt every inch of her body shudder in pain as she dropped to her seat with a loud gasp. "All of you together owe me a hundred grand for this! I need to pay off that old fart somehow, and I intend to do whatever it takes!" she shrieked. Yuffie suddenly felt a strange force grab onto her and lift her into the air. Kicking and screaming all the way the ninja watched as her Eidolon placed her onto her still shaking feet and flashed her a toothy grin, and she quickly returned it with a peace sign that signaled her victory.

Scene Four

Vincent and Rubicante ran at top speed through the city and into the largest building there, where they passed through a series of chambers that led into a large laboratory area littered with a number of assorted machines and consoles. They exchanged a brief glance before noticing that they weren't alone. Far in the back, seated on her throne was Dolly, her weapon drawn and aimed at them both. When she fired two shots Vincent returned them and blasted both bullets from the air, sending all three combatants to a safe vantage point where they squared off against one another in a triangle formation.

"Give Hana back!" Vincent ordered coldly.

With a shrug Dolly laid a hand to her hip and smirked. "No idea where she is, love," Dolly cooed. "The brat escaped a while back and she could be anywhere. There are three fortresses inside this shell, and the little whelp could be in any one of them..." Dolly snickered. She lifted her weapon and aimed it at Vincent's head, then gave a naughty wink and a deranged smile crossed her face. "Finding where she is and dissecting her ought to be good fun. Wherever she is, we intend to carve the little bitch into slides for us to examine at our leisure. I get first dibs."

"We cleared a path behind us!" Rubicante snarled as he drew his sword and lifted it to his shoulder as he slid into a ready position. He had the power to fight back against her this time and he had every intention of making the scientist suffer for all the hell that she'd wrought on the innocent citizens of Nibelheim. That, and payback for his own injuries, of course. "Hana will be safe if she follows that road."

"In that case, gentlemen," Dolly sneered sadistically, "I'll hunt her down after I butcher the two of you." Fire in his eyes, Vincent fired off a volley of explosive rounds at Dolly. The scientist easily avoided the salvo and, when she came to a stop, Rubicante's sword swung down at her head. Dolly simply blocked the strike with the back of her arm and nailed the Eidolon hard in the face, sending him crashing into a faraway machine. Vincent quickly reloaded and narrowed in a shot at Dolly's head, but hesitated just long enough for her to slide out of the danger zone. "Getting soft, Valentine?" Dolly chortled. "Remember, this time the girl isn't here for you to protect."

"Shut up!" Vincent snarled as his fingers flexed and he bit his lip, filled with rage. That one tiny memory of Tatiana calling him a monster had given Dolly the opportunity to slip away, something that he vowed wouldn't happen again. "You'll pay in blood for Nibelheim!"

Vincent's finger slid down the trigger and pulled it a dozen times in quick succession, sending thirty six rounds of ammunition at Dolly. The scientist quickly ducked out of the way and rolled to a stop before hurling a huge chunk of ice at Vincent, aimed straight at his heart. He narrowly dodged, loaded up a new bunch of ammo, and narrowed in for a second go of it. Dolly erected the same barrier of ice around herself as she had at Nibelheim, only for Vincent's flaming bullets to incinerate the shield. As she stumbled Vincent closed the gap between them, reared back, and slammed his fist hard into Dolly's face.

Largely unaffected, however, Dolly swiftly somersaulted backwards and fired off a series of rounds at Vincent. He responded by dispatching the bullets with his own, yet when he moved to aim at Dolly he found that she had disappeared. Vincent suddenly felt a sharp sensation in his chest and lowered his eyes to find a large chunk of ice pierce his torso. Even before it had left his body Vincent incinerated it by causing his entire body to explode in flames, the same Inferno that he'd taken from Rubicante not that long ago. The scientist jumped back to avoid being burned and was nailed in the cheek by a shuriken from Rubicante. With a spiteful glare Dolly slung her arm at the Eidolon and encased him in a monstrous mass of black ice and he responded by incinerating that frost, drew another shuriken, and prepared for a second follow up.

As Dolly pivoted to face Rubicante she felt a sudden chill, realized that someone was above her, and lifted her head just in time to face Vincent as he peppered her with bullets that ripped large chunks from her body. The scientist retreated and froze Vincent solid again, sliding to a halt parallel to Rubicante chock full of bullet holes. Dolly had been totally maimed from the assault, with most of her left side having been so riddled with bullets that she wasn't able to feel it as she moved. From inside his icy prison Vincent's body shattered it and was replaced by Chaos, he lifted Death Penalty, and finally fired the finishing shot. The massive bullet pierced Dolly straight through the heart and killed her instantly, forcing her battered body to the ground in a muddled heap of flesh and bone. Vincent quickly followed her on his knees, exhausted and badly bleeding.

Scene Five

Cloud's party - which consisted of Cloud, Barret, Red XIII, Ramuh and Carbuncle - took the eastern road, which led them through the forest and into a new area that resembled a post-apocalyptic wasteland not dissimilar to the area around Midgar. There were several cliffs and the topography was rocky and uneven, much like the place they'd traveled through five years prior to get to Kalm. It was eerily silent, thankfully devoid of mutants and bandits... hopefully. Kumiko kept her area desolate, where she could hunt the mutants she'd sent out to patrol the area on her time off.

"Do I really need to say how creepy it is that this looks like Midgar?" mumbled Barret.

"I can feel the sickness in the earth... The scientists' foul work is to blame," said Carbuncle softly. "This place reeks of death, suffering, and all around bad feelings."

"Everyone just stay on track and keep your eyes-" As Cloud began to speak he sensed what was about to come and frantically whirled around to face the Eidolons. "Form a barrier! Quick!" he screeched. Coming from the north was a massive, burning ray of laser fire that quickly surrounded and engulfed the party. The source of the attack slowly plodded and leapt from a high cliff up above, revealing itself as another twisted tool of Dolly's that looked similar to a friend.

While it was designed after Barret the Model-W, or Model Wallace, was far more imposing than its original design. The huge beast was hulking, over eight feet tall with bulging brown muscles and blonde hair in a crew cut. It wore a thick black leather vest with red trousers, and its large belly was clearly out in the open. It was the Gun-arm, though, that was most disturbing. Instead of resembling an actual hand it looked more like a huge bear's claw that had been laced with black and red wires and steel panels and seemed to have a set of missiles above its knuckles.

The dust and dirt began to clear, revealing what remained of Cloud's team. The Eidolons had fortunately gotten a barrier up in time and restrained the attack, though the monstrous power of the lasers ripped large chunks from the shield and left several pockmarks across the face of the barrier. Inside the party remained safe, though several pieces of the wasteland had been kicked up into their eyes.

"Why the heck am I so ugly?!" Barret choked. Without stopping to consider his own question Barret lifted his right arm and opened the small slot for the air cannon, then charged and released a massive shot of air pressure that soared towards Model-W. Unfortunately the creature hoisted its own Gun-arm and fired off what looked like cannon fire, a burst of artillery that easily negated Barret's own attack. In the aftermath the group stared in shock as the Model-W lowered its arm and let out a menacing growl.

Model-W wordlessly lifted its massive arm and aimed it at Carbuncle before firing off a barrage of machine gun fire. The Eidolon quickly swung its arm across its chest, creating a series of runes that expanded into a barrier that absorbed the bullets. When Model-W switched to its laser weapon and fired it at her Carbuncle quickly retreated into the air to evade, though when the creature fired off a missile from its knuckles her eyes went wide with terror. Fortunately Barret used his own laser to saw the missile in half, sending its two pieces to the side with a pair of deadly explosions that blasted Carbuncle even higher into the air.

As the fight continued to unfold Ramuh tapped Cloud on the shoulder and gestured towards the laboratory up ahead. He quickly got the message and the two broke out into a full-on sprint towards the large building in the distance. Model-W moved to stop them but was met with a head-on blast of Cosmo Memory that burned it severely. Red XIII, who had fully recovered from taking Model-R's assault, was up to full power only a few short hours after being wounded.

It emerged from the flames and fired off a volley of bullets at Red XIII, but Carbuncle quickly dropped down from above and shielded Red XIII with a barrier then launched an offensive of holy energy that knocked the beast prone. With Model-W off balance Red XIII quickly created countless tendrils of light that struck it and bound it to the ground, the Earth Rave holding it fast in place. In unison - Barret's laser, Carbuncle's holy energy, and Red XIII's Cosmo Memory - the trio finally destroyed Model-W utterly before they all dropped to the ground, horribly exhausted.

"Sweet freaking grief... Can we even keep going?!" gasped Barret.

Carbuncle weakly stumbled to her feet and raised her hands, a bright white light forming between her fingers. "As long as I'm awake," she said with a smile, "we can't be killed."

Scene Six

Like Vincent's team Cloud and Ramuh traveled through the large wasteland and into the laboratory area of the sector, where they wandered several rooms filled with assorted machines until they found what appeared to be the armory. A nearly endless amount of weapons, ranging from spears and axes to bazookas, were strewn across the room and displayed on shelves. The room had a chilling darkness to it, as if they were being watched... which was natural given that they were.

Stepping through the museum of arms Ramuh continually tried to sense Hana's presence, his eyes shut tight in concentration, all his senses locked onto finding his target. Unfortunately his senses weren't locked on to the assailant that struck like lightning, a large gash being ripped open from his shoulder. A second blow slashed a hole in Ramuh's chest and, though he managed to get in a lightning bolt on his attacker, the spell did nothing to stop her from kicking him to the ground and turning to deal with Cloud.

"Release Hana!" Cloud roared, drawing his sword at his assailant.

Kumiko shook her head and shouldered her sword. Standing above the now-bloody Eidolon with her heel on his chest she quietly lowered her weapon and folded her arms over her chest with a sigh. "She's gone... escaped," Kumiko said plainly. "When we hunt her down, though, she'll regret toying with us. I'm sure Dolly wants to examine her head first, after she separates it from the girl's shoulders."

Furious, Cloud lashed out with his sword at Kumiko. The resulting cutting wave ripped shreds from the floor as it approached, though Kumiko easily sidestepped it and launched herself at her foe. The two clashed sharply, their swords and bodies quaking from the force put behind their blows, and when they disengaged the two mortal enemies immediately launched into a series of violent strikes that seemed to show that they were equal in skill.

Kumiko shoved Cloud away and ripped off her mask, revealing her gnarled maw, and released a huge wave of flame from her fangs. Cloud responded by clashing at the fire with his elemental fusion, and the two forces collided with tremendous after effects. The floor itself seemed to dissolve in places, the walls caving in from the sheer heat that the attackers were exuding. Finally Cloud was forced to break off and roll out of the way of the massive blast wave and skidded to a halt parallel to Kumiko.

"I'm going to take you out this time!" Cloud vowed as he grabbed his weapon and brandished it. "No more ties, no more losses!"

Seemingly undaunted, Kumiko lashed out with her sword and sent a titanic cutting wave at Cloud. The swordsman immediately took the challenge and slung his blade against the vacuum wave. Although he managed to hold it off for a few moments eventually Cloud was forced to break away and roll to a stop several yards away as the attack carved a massive gash in the walls, ceiling, and floor of the armory, such that the entire room was essentially ruined and ripped in half.

Cloud's senses tightened as he attempted to locate Kumiko, who seemed to have vanished. As his eyes darted side to side in a desperate attempt to grasp the enemy two large gashes carved themselves into his chest and he was then kicked prone into the far wall by Kumiko, who landed across from the damaged swordsman and menacingly lifted her sword to deliver the finishing blow. Coughing up blood, Cloud stumbled from his hole in the wall and weakly lifted his weapon to guard against the coming attack. Kumiko silently raised her sword to her shoulder with a smirk on her twisted face, prepared to finish the fight once and for all.

Kumiko's attacks had caused severe damage to his body, not to mention that Cloud was still suffering from the wounds that she'd inflicted in their first fight. As he staggered backwards and braced against the wall in a desperate attempt to remain standing, Cloud turned his memories back to the reason he was fighting: Hana. She had answers from Aerith that he desperately needed, and even if they had their differences Cloud intended to wring the truth from the girl no matter what. Cloud lowered his sword to his side and put a hand to his heart, closed his eyes tight, and began to pray.

"Aerith's... message..." Cloud breathed haggardly as his body began to shut down. This was his limit, but it couldn't be the end. It wouldn't be. "I... I need to hear it from her mouth, just one more time..."

A tiny pin prick of golden light formed at the center of his chest, a shimmering beacon that quickly engulfed his entire body. The light was blinding, searing almost, as if the fires of the sun had swallowed him whole. When the energy coalesced into a large column of golden light it shattered to reveal a new Cloud. His attire had turned shades of gold and blue, a shimmering silver sheen covering his entire body. Cloud's hair had spiked up even more than it usually had, and now jutted out from his head much like the spire of Shinra's HQ tower. More than anything, his aura could be felt as if it were beating against their bodies with a sledgehammer.

"What in the...?" Cloud gasped as he stared at his new form, felt the aura pour from his body as if he were the sun emitting light. He could sense his mana pulsing, heard his heart beating faster and faster, and he felt like he could take on the entire world. Or, at least, he could take on Kumiko. As he stared down Kumiko, the natural fear that he felt slowly began to melt and was replaced with a new confidence that he never anticipated feeling when confronted with such a monstrous foe. Hana's gift had given him the one, small opening he needed to pushing past his limits and destroying his enemy.

Cloud inhaled a deep breath in, felt the air swell in his lungs, then he jolted forward with his weapon raised. The strike was parried by Kumiko, but only barely, and when they disengaged for the first time Cloud appeared to be in better shape than she was. Cloud lifted his weapon, a fading mirage surrounding it before he lashed out with a massive slashing attack. Several cutting wave attacks were sent towards Kumiko with a single swipe of Cloud's sword and the scientist only narrowly managed to sidestep them. She suddenly realized, however, that Cloud was already high above her with his sword raised.

Though he came down hard and fast Cloud still failed to strike Kumiko but a follow up met blade to blade in a fierce clash of sparks. Kumiko struggled slightly, then forced her way through and cut open a new gash in Cloud's shoulder before she skidded to a halt parallel to the swordsman. For the first time, however, it was Kumiko that seemed to be breathing harder than she should have been. The mad scientist was truly becoming sick of dealing with Cloud, felt the rage fester and boil up, and finally let out a loud, frustrated shriek that threw him off balance.

"Surrender, damn you!" Kumiko hissed.

"Sounds like you're the one who's scared now, huh?" Cloud shot back.

Kumiko said nothing but instead lifted her weapon and swung it down at Cloud. Her cutting wave attack soared through the air as it surged towards the swordsman, but when he raised his weapon and swung his own attack dwarfed Kumiko's own and it seemed to be just as large and potent as the one that she'd used earlier as the room itself seemed to warp around its vacuum effect. Kumiko lashed out with a two-handed slash and met the wave, struggling to fight back, but finally managed to send it flying back at Cloud.

Cloud swiftly rolled out of the way and used the momentum from his movement to launch himself at Kumiko. The scientist angrily raised her sword to meet Cloud's and swung down at the swordsman's head. As her sword slowly descended Cloud's weapon began to glow with multicolored light, a violent heat forming around its blade. In a mixture of materia fusion and a limit-breaking attack, Cloud's nuclear fusion mixed with his sword to become an even sharper weapon. When the two blades clashed Cloud's elementally-infused sword broke through Kumiko's saber and, in a single movement, cut her in half down the middle. As her two halves fell to the ground Cloud quickly joined her, his sword digging deep into the floor to keep himself stable.

The attack had drained Cloud of all the golden energy that he'd gathered, causing his hair to droop and the strength he'd acquired to leave his body. He desperately grabbed his shoulder wound, clutched it tight and felt the blood ooze from between his fingers. He'd taken numerous other wounds as well, and was utterly exhausted. If he had no strength left, how would he be able to continue the fight? It seemed hopeless.

He suddenly felt a soft hand clap on his back and slowly felt his energy return to him, and turned his head to find both Ramuh and Carbuncle staring back at him with Barret and Red XIII standing beside them. Carbuncle had used her white magic to mend the wounds of the others and gave him back his strength. Like she'd told Barret and Red XIII her powers were of the highest order and, indeed, as long as she had the strength there was no limit to the injuries that she could mend.

Cloud smirked and lifted himself up, then returned the blade to his back. He suddenly heard a muffled noise and felt a slight tingling, and realized that the sensation was coming from his cellphone. With new strength he rustled through his pants, withdrew his phone and snapped it open, then put it to his ear.

"It's me," Vincent heaved. "I finally killed that rotten bitch."

"And I killed the one with the sword," Cloud replied proudly. "Did you find her?"

"No... I'm sure that she's headed towards Tifa's team," Vincent said with a sigh. He flinched and grabbed onto one of the wounds he'd taken from Dolly, which still burned. Even after several minutes he could feel the cold seeping into his injuries from the monstrous ice magic that he'd been subjected to. "We need to rendezvous so that we can all heal up. I'm in pretty poor shape."

"We can deal with that problem, no sweat!" Cloud chuckled. "We'll meet back at the airship and head out to join Tifa."

Scene Seven

Tifa's team - Tifa herself, Cagnazzo, Leviathan, Barbariccia, and Cid - moved from their starting point at the Shera and into a huge, tropical jungle area filled with exotic plants and various fauna that you'd expect to find in such a climate. Tali kept her domain ruggedly beautiful, a wild jungle where she could try her hand at fighting any of the mutants that she'd created and sent out into the field. They carefully navigated through the region, cautiously noting that they could be attacked at any time. The plant life was wildly exotic and was beyond anything that any of them had ever witnessed. It was only when that flora came to life and attacked them that wonder turned into a desperate thirst for survival.

One of the plants swelled in size and reached out to Tifa with its poisonous fangs, hoping to swallow her whole. She quickly hardened her right leg and thrust it at the creature, which blew a large hole through its face. When it continued to approach Tifa let out a sharp cry but Cid quickly cut the thing in half from top to bottom with his spear. The two halves dropped though another mutant approached and caught Cid by surprise, forcing him to clash his Venus Gospel with the beast's fangs.

While Cid struggled Tifa briefly paused before vaulting high into the air. High above the creature she held out her heel, hardened it, and used gravity to slam it down hard on the mutant's head. The end result was far from pretty as the creature's entire head and body exploded in a massive gush of black goo that coated both Tifa and Cid, drenching them in its bizarre, blood-like entrails. Disgruntled, they quickly moved to clean themselves of the wretched snot.

Leviathan and Cagnazzo, both swordsmen, found themselves back to back with eight of the twisted beasts all around them, prepared to strike. The duo drew their weapons and lashed out in unison, cutting through half of the mutants, with a follow up totally cutting through the monsters and sending their flowery skins to the winds. A ninth monster loomed high above them, its claw raised, and the two slashed it into quarters before they mixed their powers to shatter it to bits.

Meanwhile, the Holy Dragoon Barbariccia faced off against a huge, Venus Flytrap-like mutant with acid oozing from its fangs, and the monstrosity let out a violent roar that spewed goo on her face. Undaunted, she swept the mess away and lifted her lance, slid her foot back, and then darted forward with a nearly imperceptible level of speed. Barbariccia drew back her bladed lance to her side and lashed out with a single massive slash that cut the mutant in half from the bottom up. When the remains began to cave in and fell towards her she lifted her right hand and blasted it with a burst of wind that completely shattered it to bits.

Using her lance Barbariccia began to carve through a second set of mutants but she was soon confronted by a new enemy and their two weapons clashed before they disengaged and her nemesis came into view. It was a clear caricature of Cid himself, with a few distinct differences. The Model-H, Model Highwind, had dirty blonde hair and wore a pilot's outfit just like Cid did. However, it was over seven feet tall and was dressed with a black jacket with a red scarf, and in its hand was a large pole arm resembling the Venus Gospel. The spear was, however, blood red with a nasty, hooked black blade on its crown.

The Model-H slashed at the Eidolon with its evil lance and was narrowly parried by Barbariccia's own before they both clashed with such force that the jungle area was lit up by the sparks from their steel. As the enemies disengaged Cagnazzo charged and lifted his holy sword, then met Model-H's weapon in close combat. The mutant redirected the blow, however, and cut open a gash in the Eidolon's chest, though Cagnazzo managed to nail it in the head with a kick just as he dropped. Leviathan followed up by swinging Ryu-O at the monster, but Model-H easily countered and sent him flying just as Cid's spear clashed with his replica's demonic blade.

Cid struggled with the clone, and felt the same strength behind its attack that he himself held in his own spear. "You guys had better get going!" Cid growled as he struggled with the spear-to-spear combat. Model-H was just as strong and sturdy as he was, having been modeled after the data from his fight with Ji-Min. "Find Hana!" he rasped.

Tifa nodded and she and Barbariccia hurried away from the fight. Model-H threw Cid back with a monstrous shove and lunged at the pair, but was knocked back and sent flying. The source of the attacks, Leviathan's torrent of water and Cagnazzo's sacred blade, clashed with the machine's spear and held it down long enough for Tifa and Barbariccia to escape. As the three warriors struggled with no clear winner found, Model-H suddenly seized up when a thick object pierced through its chest.

Cid took hold of his spear, which he'd driven deep into Model-H, and lashed out in a 360 degree swing that finally severed the beast in half. Unfortunately, the attacks that the Model-H had been holding back were loosed on Cid and the pilot was thrown back deep into the jungle. Both Leviathan and Cagnazzo watched in horror as Cid dragged himself out of the jungle with a wild look in his eyes, and as he drunkenly staggered towards them they knew that they were in for a tiny bit of payback.

Scene Eight

Hana dashed desperately through the corridors of Tali's laboratory, narrowly dodging a barrage of bullets that nearly struck her on several occasions. Her escape hadn't gone well at all, having been attacked only a few minutes after she'd left Doku's laboratory. One particularly close shot nearly struck her in the leg and Hana was forced to tuck and roll out of the way of a consecutive attack. She frantically righted herself just in time for her pursuer to come into view, its weapon raised and smoking. This was one of the final replicas, the one that Dolly had deemed the most dangerous and unwieldy of all.

All of the other seven models created by Dolly had been designed to resemble a member of AVALANCHE, but it was the eighth that was the oddball out. The creature was slightly less than seven feet tall and dressed in a black suit with red sunglasses, and rather than being muscular it almost appeared female. Its blonde hair was worn long and in a ponytail, resembling Tseng more than any of the other Turks. Strapped to its right hip was a long, retractable rod and in its left hand was a slim sort of firearm that resembled a semi-automatic pistol. The Model-T, Model Turks, incorporated combat data from each of the three Turks and combined them into a single murder machine.

As she turned to run a single well placed shot nailed Hana in the ankle and she was forced to the ground. The Model-T closed the gap within seconds and whacked her with its Electro-Mag Rod. Hana let out a cry as she felt her nervous system revolt against her and was slammed in the face with a hardened punch from the machine that she only narrowly managed to defend against by hardening her teeth. She somersaulted away from the battlefield and skidded to a halt, briefly raising her head just in time to realize that the Model-T was closing in again.

This time Hana hardened her left arm and caught the Electro-Mag Rod and kicked at the beast, but it retaliated by punching her hard in the gut. She recovered quickly and the two exchanged a mutual strike that knocked them both to the floor prone. It was Hana who recovered first, raising her heel high over her head and then slamming it down on the Model-T's skull, creating a man-sized crater that pushed the replica deeper into the floor. The Model-T vaulted up and nailed her with a brutal punch to the face but she nimbly used the momentum from her own movement to spin behind the construct and blast a hole in the beast's back with a hardened kick.

The Model-T lifted its sidearm and began to fire. Thinking quickly, Hana drew her arms up to her chest and created a barrier that deflected the shots. Even before she could relax, however, the Electro-Mag Rod again nearly struck her and she was forced backwards. A swift, brutal kick to her back knocked Hana off kilter again and, when the Model-T closed in for the kill, the teenager tucked and rolled before coming to a halt parallel to the Model-T. Hana angrily bared her teeth at the beast, and like she expected all she received was a stony glare that sent chills down her spine.

Eschewing its sidearm Model-T jolted forward with a powerful, hardened punch that slammed into and tore open a gash in Hana's shoulder. As her blood began to drip down her arm Hana desperately shot back with a punch of her own that the replica met head-on with such incredible force that she was instantly rocketed into a wall. Hana recovered quickly, but was soon under attack again as Model-T resumed its barrage of bullets. She continued to come under fire but managed to put some decent distance between herself and her enemy. Hana quickly raised her hand and tightened her fingers into a claw, then fired off a blast wave at the Model-T.

The creature's gunfire struck the wave and was absorbed, but left Hana enough time to finish off her new technique and force through a double-bladed barrier that soared straight through the air at the beast. The wedge struck the Model-T hard in the center of the chest and literally split it in half down the middle, leaving Hana to fall to her knees, utterly exhausted. Her hands moved to her mouth but she was unable to keep herself from throwing up, though she quickly wiped the filth from her face and stumbled drunkenly to her feet. Although she was both heavily wounded and extremely unstable, Hana somehow managed to turn and continue her escape.

Scene Nine

With Model-H held down Tifa and Barbariccia were able to escape and enter the final laboratory. They frantically ran through the corridors, calling out to Hana, but found nothing and eventually ended up in a large hot springs area that easily dwarfed Wutai's bath house in both size and scope. This was the bath house that Doku had referred to so long ago, Tali's respite from the mad science that she conducted. The duo fell to their knees to rest, exhausted and dispirited from their lack of success in finding their quarry.

"This place is huge!" Barbariccia gasped. "She could be anywhere!"

From the spring behind Barbariccia, Tali burst from the water and slammed her fist into the Eidolon's back. She followed up by taking her boot and shoving it straight up Barbariccia's tailbone, launching her high into the air. The scientist was unable to deliver a finishing blow, however, as Tifa's right leg slammed into her own artificial left arm and tried to push her back. The attempt proved unsuccessful when the crimson colored arm loosed a burst of red energy that blasted Tifa away and into the depths of the hot springs. Tifa didn't remain there long, however. She burst out of the water (albeit soaking wet and red hot with pain from the boiling water) and slid to a stop parallel to the scientist, her breath quickened and her face bloodied.

"Where is she?!" Tifa snarled, brushing the liquid from her face with the back of her hand. Even though her skin felt like it was stinging from being burned by a heated flame, her own heart burned hotter still and she angrily flexed her knuckles wildly as she stared Tali down. The scientist looked back at her with the same hatred, and both of them knew for a fact that their nemesis wasn't going to make it out of this fight alive. "Where's Hana?!" she roared.

Tali responded by flexing her fingers and lashing out at Tifa, which sent a torrent of crimson lightning hurtling towards the martial artist. Tifa narrowly managed to evade the blast but was nailed in the face with a brutal kick that nearly broke her nose. She quickly cartwheeled away from the conflict, however, and slid to a halt as she watched Tali's artificial arm briefly separate into three segments. Each mass contained one of POISON's living red rocks, though the arm quickly came back together and the stones shut their eyes tight.

Tifa brushed the blood from her mouth and cupped her hands at her side. When she finally released the viciously powerful Aura Bolt, Tali caught it with the side of her left arm. The blast gradually petered out in the face of the scientist's mighty strength, though when she lifted her head she watched as Tifa's elbow slammed straight into her face. Tifa had followed the Aura Bolt immediately with her own physical assault. The martial artist took a hardened leg and blasted Tali aside before stumbling to her feet and haggardly lifting her fists into a fighting position.

The scientist caught herself, digging her fingers deep into the rocky terrain beneath her, then she blasted Tifa with another dose of red lightning that zapped and brought the martial artist to her knees. As she slid to a halt Tali was struck by a powerful burst of wind from above that blasted her into the wall. Barbariccia dropped to one knee from where she'd fallen, still wounded from the initial assault but well prepared to continue the fight. Tali forcefully removed herself from where she'd been driven into the wall and flexed her arm to unveil the red stones again before lashing out with a mass of red lightning that knocked Barbariccia to the ground and badly burned her. A follow-up attack hurled an equally large burst of electricity at Tifa, who was still reeling from her own injury.

Tifa managed to evade just in time and cartwheeled out of the way of the crimson lightning and, after bracing briefly to right herself, threw her hardened leg at Tali's head. The scientist retaliated with a hard left hook that struck and overpowered Tifa's attack, sending her soaring through the air and into the far wall. There she barely managed to drag herself from her crater and feebly lifted her fists, facing Tali with only a fraction of her energy remaining. The prognosis seemed to be rather dim, as she wouldn't be able to take another blow without passing out.

"Even with one arm tied behind my back, I could never lose to you!" Tali gloated, a sinister sneer crossing her face as she stared back at her mortal foe. She knew very well that she had the advantage. This battle would be decided with one, final attack... her attack. "And keep in mind, you only have one arm... one that works, anyway."

It was infuriating, but Tali was right. Tifa weakly dropped to one knee, her hand clutched tight to her breast to still her beating heart. There wasn't any chance left for her to counter another of Tali's brutal strikes, which had been enhanced to the point where a single direct hit would have blown her to bits... and even just clashing with it had drained her of a significant amount of stamina. Even so her heart continued to burn hotter and hotter, her emotions overtaking Tifa as she desperately prayed for a way to save Hana, no matter the cost. Shutting her eyes tight and inhaling a deep breath, Tifa placed both hands on her heart and began to pray.

"This hack isn't better than I am," Tifa muttered weakly. Despite the situation the thrill of battle had struck her, though it was only a dim ember to the volcanic hatred inside Tifa's heart. Despite all that, however, there was one overriding thought in her mind: Hana. She'd taught the girl everything she knew, become sparring buddies with her. Despite the fact that she wanted to strangle the little whelp so often, the bond was there and she intended on keeping it intact. "If they want to kill you... then they'll need to put me six feet under first..." heaved Tifa.

From the center of her body a shimmering golden orb began to emit light, radiating all across her body, and in a huge burst of energy she became encased in a titanic column of golden light. The energy began to fade slowly, revealing Tifa as a new being altogether. Her hair had turned as gold as gold itself, her body coated in a sheen of silver light. The right arm that she'd nearly lost was now encased in a sleek, silver gauntlet that stretched from the top of her shoulder to the tips of her fingers, and her spiritual aura had broken through into a new ceiling of power.

Although her body attempted to adjust to the monstrous amount of power coursing through it, Tifa nevertheless wasted no time and charged at full speed towards her nemesis with her left fist extended. The blow struck Tali hard in the gut, winding her, and Tifa swiftly followed up with a right-handed uppercut that blasted the scientist upwards. She didn't go far, though, as Tifa took her left foot, placed it on the back of Tali's neck, and used her leg to literally drag Tali straight onto her face. The scientist had another tooth break open when she landed, but she countered and failed to strike Tifa with her own kick.

Furious, Tali grabbed onto the floor and vaulted high into the air, finally landing with her left arm brandished. She again threw forward the artificial red limb and Tifa met it with her own golden energy. The two blasts clashed, forced their masters back, and then the two mortal enemies quickly jumped back into the fray with their left arms reared back for a finishing blow. This would have to be the finale... Tifa had no strength left to fight with otherwise.

When their fists connected Tifa's elementally charged punch totally shattered Tali's artificial arm and rocketed her into the far wall, where she dropped into a large chasm from her point of impact. Tali weakly dragged herself to her feet, clutched at her now absent arm, and tightened her fist with a loud, frustrated shriek. She coughed up a bit of blood and, after wiping it from her mouth with the back of her hand, Tali stumbled, staggered, and finally fell to one knee with a loud thud. Her battle had ended. She now had no strength left to fight back, not to mention that she again had only her right arm to her name now.

"So, you think you've won?" Tali heaved weakly. Tifa slowly nodded and the scientist again muttered a curse. "You're right..." she spat with bile in her voice, this time falling to both her knees. She caught herself immediately, though, and stumbled to her feet with blood dripping down her face from the blows she'd taken and the tooth that she'd lost to Tifa. "But I'll go out fighting!" Tali snarled. "I won't become Doku's puppet, even if it means I have to die!"

"Doku's... what now?" Tifa gasped.

"That jackass and his mistress want to tame me... turn me into their brainwashed marionette, and I'll be damned if I let them do it!" roared Tali.

Tifa shook her head sadly and rose to her feet, then tightened her fist and created a storm of multicolored energy that blasted tiles from the ground beneath her. "That's horrible... He's just as bad as... no, maybe he's worse than you are..." she mumbled as she bowed her head. When she lifted it her eyes had begun to burn again with an unstoppable heat. Tifa's full fury had been invoked now, and with a wild look in her eye she stared down Tali for the final time. "But you're still a heartless bitch," Tifa snarled, "and I have no qualms with ending your miserable existence here and now!"

"We're both bitches..." Tali hissed slyly, a demented smirk on her face. This was it, her final moment, and she intended to go out guns blazing. Using all the strength she had left Tali launched herself at Tifa, her right arm lifted for one final, desperate attack. Her nemesis returned the blow with her own and the final punch struck hard, literally burning Tali to death and incinerating her remains. Tifa fell to one knee, her transformation disappearing, as Barbariccia carried her quaking comrade to her feet while struggling to breathe. The battle had drained her to the limit.

"I can't stop..." choked Tifa. "Not until I find..."

When Tifa lifted her head she locked eyes with Hana, a haggard and heavily wounded Hana but one that was still alive. Hana smiled sheepishly and stretched out her knuckles to Tifa, who feebly lifted her own and bumped them together. "All we need to do now is head home..." Hana rasped. "After we give Doku a piece of our minds, of course. I'll give that son of a bitch the worst day of his miserable life."

"Dummy... You're too puny to be a bad ass," Tifa muttered dryly. She lifted herself to her feet, reached for her student, and threw her arms around the teenager. Hana returned the embrace tightly and slowly her Esper transformation faded as her body was replaced by her human form. They'd both taken some serious damage, and neither of them knew how they'd be able to keep fighting. "But yeah..." she murmured as she fondly pressed Hana's hair to her chest. "Let's finish this crap and go home."