With Cloud and co.
We're running for our lives.
My boots are pounding against metal flooring, the claustrophobic hallway around us reverberates with every one of my footsteps.
The entire world shakes with a deep, echoing boom as another rocket explodes just behind us, nearly knocking me off my feet.
"That was too close!" I shout, gritting my teeth as shrapnel pings off the walls and my back, several bloodly lines added to the rest. We make another sharp turn, ducking under a half-collapsed beam.
Behind us, lumbering like a juggernaut, comes Azul the Cerulean.
Massive, looming, and smiling like he's having the time of his life. His colossal rocket launcher is cradled casually under one arm, the other arm free to reload faster than I thought a man his size could move.
Boom.
Another rocket screams down the hall.
"Barrier!" Red growls beside me, his voice rumbling with strain as a shimmering dome of protective energy flashes into place just in time. The explosion rocks us back - less than a direct hit, but I still feel the pressure slam into my entire being.
Vincent's cloak blurs beside me as he ducks into the shadows, somehow. I keep pace with Red, who's now weaving elemental earth through the metal flooring - again, somehow - shards of stone and steel rising up to form temporary barricades behind us.
Together with his Barrier materia, they are the only reason we haven't been pulped. Hence the running, we need an open area over these cramped hallways.
Pebbles and sparks rain down on my shoulders as another rocket shatters one of Red's earth walls behind us. I don't have to look to know Azul's gaining ground.
"We need space!" I yell, voice tight, feeling useless. I should have invested in materia…
"Up ahead." Vincent says calmly, running backwards as his triple barreled shotgun fires at Azul.
To no visible effect.
There, just as Vincent said, finally - blessedly - the hallway opens into a vast cavern.
I spot a factory line surrounded by gantries and conveyor belts. Rows of glowing tanks line the far wall, some filled with what looks like glowing blue-green liquid.
I skid to a stop, breathing heavily.
"Some kind of production facility…" I mutter, raising my sword.
Unfortunately, the room isn't empty.
Deepground soldiers turn toward us as one - at least three dozen of them, staring at us behind visored helmets. Half raise rifles. The other half move in closer, weapons drawn.
"We can't fight both!" I hiss, feeling the pressure, beginning to wonder If I'm in over my head here.
"I'll handle them," Red snarls, seemingly as unhappy as me about recent events, wings bursting from his back in a flash of crimson. "You and Vincent keep Azul busy until I return."
Then he takes off - literally.
He launches into the air with a roar, fire gathering in his jaws. A second later, he's arcing over the soldiers like a planet-be-damned dragon, flames spraying down in controlled bursts as the Deepground units scatter and scream.
I blink, watching the spectacle, momentarily stunned.
"…Okay then," I say, not sure what else to add. Can Tifa do that…?
The heavy, earth-rumbling steps behind me snap me back to reality.
"Just you and me then, Vincent." I say, with a heavy breath, looking left.
Then looking right.
Vincent is nowhere to be found.
My shoulders slump, "Figures."
I'll do it myself then. Like everything else.
The only one I can ever count on is me.
Azul stomps into the room, smoke curling from the ruined hallway behind him. His massive shoulders roll as he steps fully into the open, lifting his rocket launcher with a grin that could scare a Behemoth.
"Heh," He chuckles darkly, "By yourself, twink?" He slaps the side of the launcher, aiming it squarely at my chest. "Mighty optimistic of ya!"
"Great," I mutter. "Everyones just insulting me today…"
Then he fires.
I dive left, tucking into a roll as the rocket explodes where I stood. Metal shrapnel rains down, and the floor buckles from the force almost unbalancing me.
Before he can reload, I'm already moving - sprinting low, zig-zagging as I close the distance.
I leap, bringing the Buster Sword around in a wide arc, aiming for the weapon-arm.
The blade hits.
It clangs off his skin, sparks flying off my sword, but the impact knocks the launcher off-balance at least. He grunts, staggering half a step. Not a wound, but I got his attention.
"What the fuck!?" I breathe out, what the hell is he?
I cut monsters in half with this blade...
Then, a blast erupts from behind Azul - Vincent emerging from the shadows like a phantom, his triple-barreled shotgun pressed to the back of Azul's skull.
Bang.
Azul snarls, spinning around with a roar, swinging the entire launcher like a bat. Nothing more than a flesh wound to show for all that.
I duck as it whistles over my head, feeling the wind of it scrape my scalp.
Vincent vanishes again, cloak flaring as he disappears behind machinery, running away to strike from the shadows again.
"Could use a little less vanishing!" I shout, annoyed that I'm the only one risking anything here.
A glance over my shoulder reassures me - Red is ripping through the Deepground units like a dragon possessed. Magic and fire rain down in waves, soldiers either dying or running in a full retreat.
At least I'll have backup from there soon.
Azul recovers quickly, his smirk now a furious snarl.
"Barely a scratch," I mutter, dismayed, as while Vincent at least drew blood, I managed a small scratch at most.
"I'm built different, you twerps!" He roars, slamming a fist into his chest. "You think you can touch me!?"
He fires again.
I slide under the rocket this time, hearing it detonate behind me, shrapnel peppering my back and legs, drawing blood. No time to flinch. I leap up from the slide, angling the Buster Sword - and with all my strength, I bring it down.
Not on Azul.
On the launcher.
The blade shears through the metal with a groan of protest, slicing the massive weapon clean in half.
I land in a crouch, breathing hard. Take that!
Azul stares at the broken remnants of his launcher.
His eye twitches, a vein popping on his forehead.
"You little punk," He growls, voice shaking with rage. "I'm gonna crush you. Slowly. For days. One bone at a time."
I take a cautious step back, not liking the murderous look in his eyes.
Are they really controlled? This guy seems a little too wild for that...
Then Red lands beside me, smoke curling from his mouth. "Good job," He says evenly. "Without his weapon, he won't be nearly as formidable."
"I still can't cut him," I mutter, gripping the sword tighter. "His skin's like metal."
"Hmm. Something you'll change with time, I'm sure." Red says, and Cloud feels a stirring of pride.
Azul bellows and charges.
The ground shakes with every footfall.
I brace to intercept, but something blurs past me - a monster?
A clawed creature with wings and almost purplish skin, slams into Azul's chest, stopping him cold. The impact reverberates through the floor, and for the first time, Azul stumbles back.
"What the hell?" I gasp, stepping back. "That - what is that!?" And where did it come from?
"That," Red says strangely, head cocked, "Appears to be Vincent."
"…Excuse me?" Am I the only one who can't just turn myself into a freak on demand?
And why the hell didn't he do it before this?
"I still don't understand it either," Red admits, his right paw pawing at the ground uneasily. "But it smells like him. That's enough of a reason to believe he is the beast."
Azul and the demon clash again, claws and fists meeting with thunderous cracks. For all his strength, Azul is on the back foot - barely able to match the ferocity of Vincent's monstrous form. Every time he tries to grab or strike, claws slash deep into his arms and legs.
Blood finally flows.
"Hey, uh…" I gesture at the chaos. "Vincent's gonna remember he needs to take him alive, while in that form, right?"
Red is silent for a long moment.
Then he winces.
"Ah. I suppose that's… a good point."
He glances at the brawl.
"I shall assist. Watch our backs, if you wouldn't mind?"
"Gladly," I mutter, stepping back with sword raised, scanning the perimeter.
I may not be able to put a scratch on Azul right now, but I can make sure no one else interrupts. It's the least I can do. And the fact Red trusts me to do it, feels a little nice, I admit.
Behind me, claws and fists clash again, the fight turning feral.
I am so incredibly out of my depth…
With Tifa.
It's like trying to punch smoke in a hurricane.
The bullets scream around me, buzzing past my ears like hornets souped up SOLDIER style. I duck, roll, twist - every second a dance between life and ruin. They're not aiming to hit me, really, I can tell that much from the pattern. They're aiming to hem me in. Limit my movement. Trap me.
Smart.
The voice that's barking orders is behind their change in direction. The first minute of the fight having led to soldiers shooting each other while trying to tag me.
I like dumb enemies better...
"Don't bother trying to tag her directly," Reno calls out with a mix of cocky laziness and tactical decision making. "Just cut off her space. Box her in for the professionals to deal with."
Each burst of gunfire narrows the already cramped battlefield on my side.
I know I can bounce normal bullets, especially now after my reincarnation, but Levi's tougher than I am, so him tanking everything, might not apply to me - and I'm not eager to eat a hundred assault rifle rounds just to see if they bounce. Even in the best case? The bullets don't hurt - but they rip up my outfit until I'm naked.
And I like this outfit.
Not because it's practical necessarily, although it is that too. But because it makes Levi look at me like he wants to commit a sin. Or three.
And I might tease him a little… Okay, a lot.
But that doesn't mean I want to flash a few hundred guys.
I duck behind a crate, breathing a little harsher from my rapid movements. My skin is flushed, from all my acrobatics. I can feel the way the battle's tilting - not in my favor.
They're being too clever.
I really wish I had more time to practice with materia right about now.. This is why Levi keeps harping about versatility.
Sadly, unlike Red or Levi, I can only handle 3 Materia right now. And with my summon taking one slot. Restore and Revive materia limits me from anything offensive to break up this box they're putting me in.
Reno's laughing now, not even trying to hide it. "Come on, cutie! Don't tell me that's all you got!" He taunts, spinning his electro-mag baton in one hand. Rude stands solid and silent next to him, ever the wall. And every time I try to break that wall -
Barrier.
Another wall. A physical shield keeping me back just long enough that everyone can fire and keep me away from taking one of them out.
They're alternating them. One shields the other, forcing me to back off again and again. A game of whack-a-Tifa with the whole battlefield rigged against me.
I sprint left, feint right, and lunge at Reno.
Barrier.
I don't hit it this time, switching tactics - just driving my fist into the floor beneath him, the shockwave enough to throw him off his feet with a satisfying squawk. I twist, push off the ground, drive my heel toward Rude's neck while Reno can't cast - only for another shimmer of hexagon light to flare around him, stopping me cold.
I land on my feet, cursing.
That's when I see them.
Reinforcements.
Four, five - no, six more Turks, moving in with hurried steps. Among them is a redhead with a compact frame and alert, fox-bright eyes. She's beautiful in a way that feels dangerous - quietly confident, lean but lethal.
And this day just got worse. Of course there's more Turks, just because I never see more, doesn't mean they don't exist.
"Cissnei?" Reno's voice drips with sarcasm. "Finally worked off the rust and gonna be useful? Miracles do happen."
The one apparently named Cissnei gives him a flat look, brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear, her uniform tight and immaculate. "We've come out of retirement, not gone invalid, you disrespectful brat." There's a hint of teasing there, despite the dry tone.
Another Turk, tall and broad-shouldered, adds coldly, "Rufus asked for assistance. And if Shinra falls now, the world follows soon after. The boss is still in retirement, but we're not about to let civilization collapse just to make a point."
I try a snap kick on Reno while they're distracted chatting, and he just barely avoids it, wind materia moving him away, avoiding me by inches, before his electro-mag baton slams into my stomach in retaliation.
"Ooohhh!" I let out a surprised noise, as the electricity… felt not half bad actually.
Reno gives me an odd look, as all the Turks stare at me, the Deepground soldiers all holding their fire waiting for orders.
Quickly I snag the electro-mag baton from Reno's fingers, kicking away to avoid Rude who slams down with a fist where I was, moments later.
"I'm keeping this… for reasons." I say, twirling it, a faint blush on my cheeks. It couldn't do any damage apparently… but… Tifa likes.
Even as I tease, and put their minds elsewhere, my fingers twitch at my side. This is bad. This is really, really bad.
I am struggling already with mass gunfire and trained operatives skillful with materia working against me - without adding six more to it to dodge.
But maybe… maybe its not hopeless.
I fiddle with the bracer on my right wrist, feeling the smooth surface of the materia embedded in it.
I can use it.
I'll be wiped after, probably. Levi warned me my reserves were nowhere near strong enough to summon freely like he probably could. But this isn't the time to hold back.
Besides, I have enough restorative on me.
"Retirement, huh?" I call out, stalling for time as I gather mana, pouring it into the summon orb. "Let me guess - Shinra wanted you dead? Think I read about that actually, something to do with Kalms bombing, and now you're just going to trust them after all that?"
Spies, what a weird bunch...
The one called Cissnei, narrows her gaze. "Rufus is in charge now. He's not his father. Even if the difference isn't huge. And no, there's no hit out on us… anymore. Just a job to do. Protect what's left of the world from you anarchists."
Sweat beads on my brow. My mana's draining fast. My legs already feel shaky.
I smirk anyway. "I only have one word for all that."
Cissnei crosses her arms. "And what is it?" She drawls sarcastically. The other Turks under her command spread out in a half circle around her. Ready to move at Tifa.
I raise my right arm skyward.
"Odin."
The word rings out. For a heartbeat, the world holds its breath.
Then everything shatters.
Lightning splits the sky - not that there is one down here. Lightning that's wild and deadly - just lashing down in jagged bolts from nowhere.
The air crackles, heavy with power.
From the light where the lightning coalesce, he emerges.
Seated astride his eight-legged steed, Odin rides forth. The horse's hooves strike sparks with every step, flames coiling around its legs like living smoke. Odin himself is a vision of wrath, his eye glowing with judgment beneath a horned helm.
Gungnir gleams in his hand.
There is no battle cry. Odin does not speak. He does not need to.
He simply raises his spear - and rides.
The spear flashes.
The world splits.
The soldiers scream as Odin surges through them. His path carves a perfect horizontal line through the enemy ranks, cutting men and machines alike in two. Entire buildings are severed, their tops sliding off at an angle before crumbling down in a cloud of dust and fire.
The machine gun nests are among the last to fall. Their operators barely have time to react before Odin's spear cleaves through their perch, sending men and metal tumbling into the depths.
The Deepground and Shinra soldiers break almost instantly, their resolve evaporating in the face of the impossible. They flee, tripping over each other, dying in droves as the god of war rides through their midst like an executioner.
When it's over, there is silence.
Only the crackling of collapsing buildings, the dying groans of the wounded, and the soft shimmer of dissipating light.
Odin vanishes like mist.
And I drop to my knees.
My breath comes in short gasps. My vision swims. The drain on my mana was insane. Everything aches.
But I won.
And they did not.
I smirk, even as I sag forward slightly, bracing myself on my fists.
"Whoo," I pant, "That's a rush."
Reno, crouched behind a toppled concrete barrier with both a Barrier and Shell protecting him, peeks over the edge with wide eyes. "Well, damn."
Ah… Shit. They made it. I pout slightly, "How did you even avoid that?"
Cissnei crawls out from where she'd somehow dug herself into the ground, "Not our first summon, girl." The other Turks popping back up, all having escaped Odin's straightforward attack.
I fall backward, flat on my back, staring up at the dust-filled cavern 'sky'.
"I have you right where I want you, surrender now." I say glibly.
I'll be ready physically again in a minute, or I'll pop an ether or two. No biggie.
"Heh, tits got guts." Reno laughs, sounding a little strained, "I'm still taking my baton back.
I crack my knuckles, sitting back up, "Alright, suddenly I feel just fine." Leave my new toy alone!
Rude smacks Reno to the back of his head.
"Aww, come on man, It's not my fault!"
With Levi.
The moment I square off with Nero the Sable, I know this fight is going to be a problem.
He's fast - too fast for someone with his arms still wrapped tight in binding metal restraints, wings clicking and twitching on his back like some tortured insect. The next moment, he's gone - sucked into a swirling black portal, only to reappear behind me.
Portal users… They suck… Why can't I do this?
I twist, Touki flaring instinctively along my body both to speed me up and to keep me more durable, as the slash of darkness from Nero, slices through the air where my neck was a second ago. The tendrils of void energy ripple past me, slamming into a cavern wall and tearing through rock like it's paper.
I leap backward, summoning an anti-magic circle to deflect a follow-up shot, confirming it is magic of some sort, based on mako, but it's already too late. He's vanished again, slipping through the fabric of space like it's his personal playground.
Rosso laughs behind me. A mad, high-pitched cackle that prickles against my spine.
The Crimson Tsviet lounges across a pile of corpses of her own allies, killed for coming to assist, blood still wet on her twin-bladed weapon. It's a bizarre design - two long swords mounted to either side of a central grip, unwieldy for most I'd imagine.
"Aw, is that little monster dude having trouble with slippery Nero?" She croons, twirling her weapon lazily.
I duck under another slash as Nero pops out of a portal nearby, this one aimed at my legs, and curse under my breath, even as I use Touki to bullrush through grasping shadowy tentacles, crushing them. "You're both really testing my patience."
Rosso lunges in, laughing madly, her blade whirling in a wild flurry that I parry with a touki-enhanced arm. Nero slips out again before I can counterattack - just a whisper of darkness in the corner of my eye.
I've had enough.I catch Rosso's next strike, both hands locking her spinning blades, touki ensuring I don't get a scratch. Her eyes go wide in surprise just before I snap both blades in half with a flick of physical strength.
The clang of broken steel echoes through the cavern.
Rosso stumbles back, panting, still laughing as if I'd told her a joke, looking at her empty hands.
"I'll free you," I say, meaning every word. "Whatever they did to you, I'll break the chains. Just give me a moment to deal with the annoying one first and I'll be right with you."
Her face contorts into something manic and elated, eyes wide with something like pleasure. Then madness.
"NoOoooO," She says cheerfully, and she grins. "I'll see the sun one day, finally. But it will be by my own hands! After I kill every single disgusting human being who let Deepground exist!"
I blink, worried at that statement. "Who do you count as responsible?"
They've been here since they were children, I'm reminded of Vincent's report, disgust welling in me.
She might not be able to be saved. But I have to try.
"Everyone!" She shrieks, arms spread wide, spittle flying from mouth. "Every coward, every bystander, every scientist, every soldier. Every man, woman, and child who lived their life above and let this happen!"
Sheogorath dammit…
I feel pity. And disgust. All tangled up.
She lunges again, and I react fast.
I tap into my Barrier Materia. The wall of force flashes to life in front of me, and I push it - literally push it forward like a battering ram. It slams into Rosso's charge, her feet skidding as she screams and claws at the glowing wall.
Heh, confirmed, I can manipulate the effects of materia to some extent as long as the actual 'ability' called, stays the same.
I shove her all the way back until she's crushed against the far cavern wall, kept out of the way. Her scream becomes ragged, manic giggles spilling from her lips even as her face turns red with the pressure.
Before I can even consider what to do next, pain flashes across my back.
I hiss and twist - Nero's blade of darkness barely scraping off my ribs, managing to pierce my Touki.
A cold golden-blue magical circle pulses into life over my shoulder, even as I reach for and drink a Mega-Potion, the injury slight enough to be immediately healed.
Frost explodes outward, coating Nero's body in crystalline white as it bursts from the circle before he could fully withdraw. He snarls, twisting - but too late. The chill of ice bites into his body, locking one of his wings in place, and for the first time since the fight started, he doesn't vanish into a portal immediately.
For a second, I think I got him.
Then his body flickers, and the ice explodes away as he phases back into the void.
I curse his name, when the entire cavern suddenly shudders. A pulse of mana, oppressive and thick, washes over the area like a pressure wave.
What now? I think irritably.
I spin, instincts screaming, and my eyes lock onto Tifa across the battlefield.
Her arm is raised high. The red orb of the Summon Materia in her bracer glows with searing light.
"Odin," She cries.
Lightning tears down from the heavens and carves through the air. And then he appears - astride Sleipnir, an impossibly large stallion with eight legs. The god of War. The executioner. Odin.
The battlefield erupts. One swipe of the spear cuts the sky itself. Buildings fall. The army practically vanishes in a single stroke. Machine gun nests, soldiers, everything - gone in a flex of power. The cavern shakes violently as shockwaves ripple outward from the impact.
I barely keep my feet.
And moments later, as everyone that survived stares at the aftermath, the earth shakes again, a foul miasma rising up.
Nero screams, popping out of his portals, his voice full of horror. "NO! Weiss!? What have you done, SHINRA!"
I turn in time to see him soaring toward the back of the cavern, darkness trailing behind him like a bleeding wound.
Something is clawing its way through the rock.
And it is… revolting.
It's twenty feet tall, its skin pale and rotten, bloated with boils and pustules that squirm and pulse with infection. Four arms, mismatched and muscular, one missing fingers and leaking ichor. Its mouth is a jagged gash of meat and metal, stretching across too much of its face.
No. Faces.
Multiple faces. Stitched. Grown together. Twisted. Is that fucking Palmer there at the chin?
One face, pale and white-haired, is sunken into its chest. Blank-eyed. Hollow.
Nero shooting straight for it.
That must be Weiss. Another Tsviet then.
Hojo… you sick fuck.
I see Tifa retreating, thankfully moving toward the entrance we came from, having common sense. I see that the Turks flee in another direction, already regrouping.
Always survive, those guys, like rats. I think, a little impressed.
Suddenly, one of the abomination's massive arms stretches like rubber - its joints popping grotesquely as it launches toward me.
I dodge instinctively, nearly retching at the stench of rotting flesh and chemicals as it tears through the air past me. But it wasn't aimed at me.
I spin around just in time to see it smash through my barrier.
Rosso.
The monster grabs her, its fat fingers curling around her body as she laughs and screams all at once.
"No! Dammit!" I roar, slamming a wind-based spell through a circle, blades of air slashing at the arm.
The fat blunts it. The arm jiggles. But it holds.
Rosso is dragged into the thing's chestmouth - and devoured.
I can still hear her laughter. From inside it. Even as I feel her life force begin to drop, rapidly.
Nero lands a second later, raking his claws along the monster's chest, frantically trying to reach Weiss, claw him out.
"He's already gone!" I shout, but he isn't listening.
He doesn't fight it. He lets himself be swallowed. Absorbed, all to get closer to Weiss, trying to cut him loose.
Fucking hell. This is not… I was going to save them…
The beast quivers.
And I take to the air, heart pounding, magic circling around my limbs as I prepare for the worst.
Then the monster uses the portal power.
A dark portal explodes behind me and the thing emerges, slamming two enormous fists down into the space I just vacated. The ground splits like an eggshell under the impact, the entire cavern groaning in pain.
It eats people.
It absorbs their power.
Rosso. Nero. Weiss.
All of them. Inside.
A grotesque prison of flesh, devouring them.
Fucking Hojo… I'll make him die slowly for this.
This thing… It's a damn nightmare.
Author's Note:
Levi - slaves? I'll save them!
Everyone dies immediately.
HOOJoooooOOO! I wanna talk with you!
I mean, at least Azul doesn't seem like he's dead. That's something.
And the Turks really do seem to always survive anything and everything that happens. Look at Vincent even,
Turks just never fucking die.