Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Learning Curve Continuum ❯ Shattered ( Chapter 15 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Definitely not mine; always returned to Square Enix after they’ve been thoroughly mind-fucked.

A/N: I have trouble believing that ShinRa had no clue as to the huge amount of mako percolating inside the Northern Crater, considering that there’s a famous winter resort within sneezing distance and they have access to both helicopters and airships.  I prefer to believe that old man Shinra didn’t see fit to tell his golden-haired boy about the bonanza; maybe Heidegger and Scarlet sucked up to Rufus by spilling the beans.  

I know that in the OG, the player had a choice of either Nanaki or Barret to hold the Black Materia, but wouldn’t Nanaki have noticed that ‘Tifa’ smelled different, at the very least?  Jenova’s mimicry abilities allowed her to assume different forms, but scents are a bit of a stretch, in my humble opinion.  Barret knows Tifa better than any of them, so I doubt he’d be easily hoodwinked, either.

Pinching dialogue from Crisis Core and Advent Children Complete.

Warnings: Coarse language, violence, character misplacement, canon abuse.

Bouquets to my wonderful betas, Kitsune13/TamLin and Ranuel.  Thank you for making this chapter the best it could possibly be!

Learning Curve Continuum
Chapter Fifteen: Shattered
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“Can it get any fucking windier?” Cid grumbled.  “Can’t even light a fucking cigarette!”

“Once we hit a cave, it’ll improve,” Tifa said, again checking the knots of the rope tying her to Yuffie.  Squinting up at the next ledge, marked by a red flag snapping smartly in the icy wind, she told the shivering teen, “It’s a short climb.  No more than a minute, at the very most.”

“Once we hit a fucking cave, bets are that it’ll be fucking infested with fucking monsters,” the pilot peevishly complained.

Biting back a sharp comment, Tifa forced herself to patiently ask, “What makes you think that?”

“Seems to be our fucking luck.”

“At least we’ll be out of the wind,” she shot back before boosting Yuffie up to the first set of handholds and following her up the cliff face as quickly as possible.  Barret struggled after her, the rope between them pulling taut.  At least if he and Yuffie are tied to me, I can make sure they’re all right.  For at least the fifth time since they started their climb that morning, Tifa blessed the unexpected gender change that had given her greater strength.  I’d never be able to pull this off if I were still female.  Well, I could help Yuffie - but Barret at the same time?  Out of the question.

Cloud and Nanaki were at least two ledges above them, while Cid and Vincent were one below.  Tifa had the Fire materia in her pocket, and when they all reached each ledge, she passed it around the circle to keep them warm enough to tackle the next.  Nanaki’s Fire magic will be enough for him and Cloud – and probably to fight off any monster they might encounter.

They’d scrambled up three more sets of ledges before they heard a shrill bark that carried over the sound of the wind.  Craning their necks, they saw Nanaki peering down at them.  “What’s he saying?” Yuffie asked when the leonine creature vigorously yapped a couple more times.

“Don’t know – maybe that they’ve reached a cave?” Tifa surmised.  “Let’s get up there and find out.”

“W-would r-rather f-fight a whole f-fuckin’ herd o’ d-dragons than b-be out in this f-fuckin’ wind one more f-fuckin’ m-minute,” Barret managed through chattering teeth.

Tifa passed him the Fire materia again.  “Your weapon okay?”

“I ‘spect it’s frozen up, cos my stump’s gone numb,” he replied.  

“Then shove that materia down your sleeve and thaw it out.  Keep it until the next ledge.”

“Not another one!” Yuffie faintly protested as the Zolokalter scuttled over the rocks towards them, its stinger-like tail bobbing and its toothy maw rapidly snapping open and shut.

“Stay out of range of the Toxic Barf - again,” Cloud ordered, squaring up to the luridly-coloured monster while Vincent took aim.  Two well-placed bullets blew apart the Zolokalter’s knee joints on one side of its body and it crashed to the icy floor of the cave, then the swordsman beheaded it and put it out of its misery.  Jabbing one of the two previously-dispatched Headbombers with his sword, Cloud said, “We must be getting close to Sephiroth if we’re facing so many enemies, one after the other.”

“At least we haven’t met up with any more o’ those fucking Stilvas,” Cid observed before switching his attention to Yuffie.  “That White Wind spell’s lookin’ good, kid!”

“Thanks,” Yuffie replied, smiling bravely.  “I’ve enough to keep everyone going for a while yet.”

“Yer doin’ fine.”  The pilot patted the teen’s shoulder.  “Well?  When’s tea break?”

“You can drink tea when you’re dead,” Cloud said flatly, slapping his sword on his back and striding off towards the exit.

Barret muttered wearily, “An’ now we gotta climb some more.”

“We are closer to the top,” Vincent laconically observed, after they’d followed Cloud out onto the ledge; the swordsman was already scrambling up the rocky incline to the next flag.  When he reached it, he beckoned impatiently.  However, instead of continuing up the cliff face alone, he waited for each member of the team to catch up.  Nanaki went up first, then was sent to scout the next ledge; Cid took over assisting Barret while Vincent assumed responsibility for Yuffie.  

Tifa thought Cloud looked tired, going by the way his shoulders drooped; his face was mostly hidden by his goggles and shrouded by the hood of his parka.  When was the last time he was Cured?  The wind is strong, but no-one else is wearing eye protection.  When Vincent scooped a vocally startled Yuffie into his arms and effortlessly sprang up the slope, Tifa equipped the materia.  “You look like you could use a shot of this,” she offered, showing him her glowing hand.

“Thanks,” he murmured.  Cid and Barret, fuelled mainly by profanity, began climbing the cliff; Vincent returned and assisted the big gunman up the rough slope, briefly leaving them alone on the ledge.

“Do your eyes hurt?” Tifa asked, stroking the healing energy over Cloud’s slender frame.  In answer, he pushed up the goggles, and she bit back a startled exclamation.

“How bad are they?” he asked quietly.

Cupping his chin in her hand, she carefully inspected the striking two-toned colour of his irises – and the pupil was inclining towards the vertically-slit.  “About half-and-half,” she whispered, moving in for a kiss, but he pulled free.

“That won’t work,” he mumbled, his pale cheeks flushing as he took a step back.  “You’re too much of a guy now.”

“What?  ‘Too much of a guy’?”

Cloud hesitated, then stonily admitted, “Your scent has changed, Tifa.  Being close to you doesn’t soothe the noise the way it used to.”  

Tifa felt ill as the potential ramifications of her inability to bring Cloud back to himself struck home.  Pushing down the shock with an effort, she finally managed to ask, “How are you keeping him at bay?”

“I’m not sure.  Either I’m getting better at fighting him off – or he’s giving me enough rope to hang myself.”

“Is there anything I can do?” she asked desperately.

Cloud reached out and seized her arm.  “Same as always - take me down if I threaten our team.”

That’s not what I meant!  Tifa nodded once, not daring to speak because of the lump in her throat.  Swallowing hard, she managed to rasp out, “I’m so sorry!  I wasn’t thinking....”

His expression was unreadable as he let her go.  “You made the best decision that you could at the time – the extra strength is paying off right now, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but... you need me....”  She trailed off, miserably hanging her head.  I really screwed up by staying male!

“You put the team first,” he murmured.  “I’m part of the team, so you’re helping me out, too.”

“Cloud....”

He let her hug him, but it was very brief; in return, he thumped her shoulder.  Whatever might’ve been said between them after that was lost forever when Nanaki hailed them from the higher ledge.  “Our next opponents include a giant, sentient Icicle,” he shouted down, “escorted by no less than four Evilheads.  Vincent-san and Cid-san have the flapping guardians well in hand, but we think your sword will be most effective against the Icicle itself.”

“Then let’s go crush some ice.”  Cloud pulled his goggles back into place and rapidly scaled the cliff.

Her mind in a mad whirl, Tifa followed; when she reached the ledge, Nanaki was waiting and fell into step beside her.  When he bumped her leg with his shoulder, she looked down; he said, “Cloud-san needs you even more now, so don’t give up, Tifa-san.”

“How?  He doesn’t want me to touch him!” she fairly exploded, startling herself with the blaze of frustrated anger.

Nanaki didn’t turn a hair.  “No, but he still needs all the other ways by which you demonstrate that he is important to you.”

“Other... ways...?” she repeated, baffled, giving him her full attention.

“He prizes your smiles and craves your attentions, Tifa-san.  While you look after all of us, he has eyes only for you – and that remains the truth, even though you have changed genders.”

Her stomach roiling, Tifa groaned quietly.  “I’ve completely let him down.”

“No, you have not, Tifa-san,” Nanaki growled.  “No-one faults you for being preoccupied by your own issues - Cloud-san definitely does not!”

“I was so caught up in trying to deal with the changes to my body...  Aerith... that I didn’t really consider how my decision was going to affect Cloud.”  Rubbing her hand over her face, Tifa asked, “Do I really smell... different?”

“Yes,” he replied.  “It is to be expected, since you have all the physical attributes of a male.”

“We’re screwed.”

“No more than usual,” Nanaki blandly commented.   

“Don’t you get it?  I can’t stop him if he goes ‘green’!”

As they stepped into the relative shelter of the cave and the sounds of battle reached their ears, Nanaki said, “I have a feeling that Cloud-san has been stopping himself.  He has been harshly tested over the past few days, but he has not become Sephiroth’s mindless puppet.”

Several more tiring battles, another gruelling climb, and after a memorable encounter with a Malboro, they took shelter from the incessant wind in the lee of a rock formation to devour the sandwiches and canteens of strong tea that Tifa and Holzoff had prepared that morning.  

Mindful of Nanaki’s advice, Tifa made a point of paying closer attention to Cloud instead of following her first impulse, which was to fuss over Yuffie and Barret.  It feels kinda awkward – which means I have been ignoring him.  Cloud accepted her standing closer than was strictly necessary, and didn’t pull away when she casually rested her hand on his shoulder.  His eyes remained hidden behind his goggles, but he shared her wry smile when Cid cut loose with some particularly choice cussing because the wind had torn an unlit cigarette out of his fingers and whirled it away.

Beckoning the rest of the team into a huddle, Cloud said, “I think it’s obvious that things are gonna get nastier from this point onwards.  Barret, how’s the gun-arm?”

“Still frozen solid,” the big man grumbled.  “Guess the lubricatin’ oil was too fucking light.”

“We didn’t anticipate these temperatures.  You’d better stay in the back with Yuffie.”

“S’okay.  If anythin’ gets too close, I can still bop ‘em with it.”

“Vincent, you and Cid are with Barret.  Yuffie, keep that White Wind spell ready to deploy.”  When the teen nodded, Cloud continued, “Tifa, you’re with me and Nanaki out front.  We need a strong offence, but a stronger defence if we’re gonna get out of this alive.”

“I will reconnoitre the cave and report back, Cloud-san,” Nanaki said.  “Cid-san?  It will undoubtedly be easier to light a match inside.”

“An’ attract all sorts o’ fucking wildlife,” the pilot dolefully replied, but he didn’t turn down Nanaki’s invitation to accompany him into the dark maw.

Tifa handed the Fire materia around the circle; when Cloud, the last in line, was about to give it back, she impulsively cupped her hands around his instead.  “Your hands have to be warm enough to grip your sword hilt,” she murmured.  “You don’t want to have stiff fingers when you’re facing Sephiroth.”

“Hope I get a chance to swing my sword at him,” he muttered.  “Tifa... no matter what happens, I don’t want you to go after Sephiroth.”

“What do you mean?  I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my friends,” she replied, puzzled.

“No, I meant… don’t attack him.  Like you did… after Aerith.”

“Oh.”  She shuffled her boots on the icy snow, recalling the incandescent fury that had propelled her within range of the Masamune.  “Um....”

“You’ve been damn lucky both times that he didn’t skewer you.”  Cloud extracted his hands and pressed the materia into her palm.  “If he’s trying to break me, then killing you in front of me would do it.”

“All right.”  

Cloud lightly biffed her arm as Cid roared, “Hustle yer asses, boys an’ girls!”  When they looked towards the cave entrance, he frantically waved his lance.  “We just wiped out a coupla Cuahls an’ found a Healing spring!”  

As they double-timed it towards the grinning pilot, Nanaki abruptly appeared from the darkness behind him.  “How are our dragon-slaying skills?”

“Crap,” Tifa grunted wearily.

“What colour is it?” Vincent abruptly asked, as if this was important.

Nanaki’s one eye twinkled.  “A very attractive shade of blue, if that helps.”

“We might get a Dragon Armlet out of the effort,” Cloud commented.

“Gotta get somethin’, asides frostbite,” Barret grumbled.

“That was fucking hideous,” Cid declared, poking one of the slack-jawed heads of the dead Schizo with the sharp tip of his lance.  “Hope there ain’t another one like that lurkin’ anywhere - I’d rather fight another fucking dragon!”

“There’ll prob’ly be sumthin’ worse,” Barret bleakly prophesized.  “Jus’ gotta keep an eye out fer those black-cloaked fellers – poor bastards.”

“I cannot decide whether Sephiroth is testing our strength by throwing these varied opponents at us, or hoping to exhaust us so he can strike without fear of retaliation,” Nanaki commented, between bouts of furiously licking his burned paws.

“Probably both,” Tifa said, combing her fingers through her bangs to remove the crisped ends.

Yuffie equipped the Restore materia and went to work on Nanaki. “It would be just like Sephiroth to try an underhanded tactic like that,” she said.  “He’s already forced Cloud into attacking his friends – how are you doing, anyways?”

The swordsman grimaced.  “Gettin’ noisy in here,” he answered, tapping his head, and then as if emphasizing the point, he finally removed his goggles to display the icy green creeping into his irises.

“What the hell, Spiky?  Can ya hold out?” Barret demanded.

“Trying.”

“Well, then let Tifa smooch you until the noise goes away,” Yuffie briskly suggested.  

“Doesn’t work so well now that she’s a guy.”  

The teen frowned thoughtfully.  “D’you want me to try?” she asked in all seriousness; Tifa managed not to choke.

Cloud rapidly shook his head.  “Sorry, brat.  I don’t know you well enough.”

She sniffed.  “What you really mean is, I’m not your type.”

“That, too.”

Vincent had arrived back from recon in time to hear Yuffie’s offer to Cloud; Tifa thought that the gunslinger’s posture was a little more rigid than usual until the swordsman declined.  “Only a short climb remains to the top of the Cliff,” Vincent announced.  “It is quite a spectacle.”

Yuffie finished with Nanaki and then had a look at Barret’s stump.  Sweeping green energy over his arm, she said, “Let me fix your leg, Cid.”

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with my fucking leg!”

Rolling her eyes for the rest of the group’s benefit, she sweetly inquired, “Then why are you limping?”  Grumbling, the pilot submitted; Yuffie efficiently Healed his injury then stood beside Vincent.  

Cloud glanced around the circle.  “Ready?”

“As we’ll ever be, boss.”  Taking a last drag on his cigarette, Cid ground the butt under his heel.  “Let’s get this done an’ get the hell outta this fucking deep freeze.”

“Amazing,” Yuffie whispered, hanging tightly onto Vincent’s gauntleted fingers as they picked their way down the slope behind Tifa.

Vincent murmured an agreement while Tifa nodded, torn between watching where she put her feet and gawking at the strange landscape they were traversing.  In the centre, a giant whirlwind spun around a towering mako fountain that was easily several hundred feet high, reaching above the formidable walls of the crater.  The glimmering liquid seemed to spin off a delicate fog, and Tifa recognized the source of the fine snowflakes dappling their hair and shoulders.

“That musta been one helluva collision,” Barret commented from behind Yuffie and Vincent, “to throw up the crater walls so fucking high.”

“It’s the fact that after so many centuries, this is still in effect an open wound that bothers me,” Tifa said.  “It appears that Jenova was almost too much for the Planet.”

“If Meteor strikes, it’ll make this look like a minor scratch,” Cloud added.  Despite the difficult terrain, he and Nanaki were moving purposefully towards the crater’s floor.

It’s as if he knows exactly where to go - I expect he does, if Sephiroth is leading him.  Struck by an unnerving idea, Tifa halted, bringing their straggling line to an abrupt stop.  “Cloud… can you tell if Sephiroth is making you lead us into a trap?”

The swordsman froze in his tracks.  “I’m being pulled that way,” he said, pointing at the base of the mako fountain.  “But I can’t tell if he’s set up anything along the way.”

“It would be in his best interest to separate us from you,” Vincent pointed out.  “You are more vulnerable when alone.”

“If you’re not with me, then he can’t force me to turn on you, either.”

“Not having this fucking discussion again,” Barret growled.

“We have company,” Nanaki interrupted, pointing further down to where the rocky slope gave way to a cracked and fragmented maze of fragile-looking pathways leading towards the central fountain.  Mako surged and splashed in the deep fissures between the patches of crust.  They watched in hushed silence as the hunched figure in a black cloak attempted to navigate a tricky series of step-like formations and fail, the unfortunate’s abrupt return to the Lifestream announced by a brief column of liquid; Tifa cursed eloquently.

“Tifa-san!” Nanaki exclaimed, looking mildly scandalized.

“Sorry,” she apologized.  “I was just thinking about those kids we found in Nibelheim and really hoping that wasn’t one of them.”

“If the gods were merciful, Tifa-san, they will have already met their end in some place far from here,” Nanaki murmured.

“Incoming!” Cid shouted, and they all reflexively hugged the nearest boulder.

“What is that?” Yuffie asked as the gleaming airship banked overhead and turned away, flying slowly around the perimeter of the crater.

“That’s my fucking ship!” Cid snarled, shaking his fist.  “Fucking ShinRa fucking stole her from me!”

“Do you think Holzoff ratted us out?” Barret suggested.

“Doubt it.  They’d send gunships after us, not an unarmed airship,” Cloud answered; despite that Vincent appeared to be calculating the range.

“Then what’re they doin’?”

“No clue.  Let’s get on with what we came here to do, and only worry about ShinRa if they take an interest in us.”

“This one’s number eleven,” Cid said, covering up the limp body with its tattered black cloak.

“An’ this one’s got a number four on ‘is arm,” Barret added, tucking the corpse’s limb back inside its clothing.

“All those innocent lives - ShinRa’s gonna pay!”  Tifa clenched her jaw so tightly that she was in danger of powdering her teeth as she surveyed the crumpled remains of several more of Hojo’s victims.  If not for Zack breaking them out of the Mansion, Cloud might’ve ended up exactly like these people!  

Cloud, more practical or perhaps more immune, finished checking all of the bodies and held up an Ether and a Hi-Potion.  “Nothing can be done for them,” he said, “except for us to avenge them.”

“If I ever get my hands on Hojo…” Tifa gritted out, her fists clenching.

“Get in line,” he grimly retorted.  

Yuffie and Vincent had gone ahead; the teen returned to report, “There’s a flat path up ahead with gaps in it, and powerful bursts of wind whizz through the breaks at high speed.  If you don’t time your jumps just right, you get ambushed by a Wind Wing.  They’re not too hard to kill, though.”

“Where’s Vincent?”

“Keeping an eye on the airship.  I think he wants to test his distance shooting.”

“She’s called the Highwind,” Cid said heavily.  “The bastards didn’t change ‘er name - supposed t’make me feel honoured, I guess.”  

Cloud nodded absently as if preoccupied, and gestured the rest to follow.

“You have failed in your mission.”  The long, narrow blade flashed, and two more black-cloaked figures tumbled to their deaths.  Yuffie let out a small scream and ducked behind Tifa, while around them, weapons were cocked and materia equipped.

“This is the fucking end, Sephiroth!”  Barret roared, his gun-arm finally back in action.

The former general slowly turned towards them.  “You are correct… it is the end of this body’s usefulness.”

“What the fucking hell?”  Cid spoke for all of them when Sephiroth vanished in a column of evil-looking black smoke, and they were plunged into darkness.

“Nobody move.”  Cloud’s calm voice penetrated the murk; Tifa swallowed her apprehension and stayed put.  Within a few seconds, the darkness lifted, revealing a fundamental change in the colours of their surroundings.  The distinctive green of the Lifestream had turned a sullen grey, and the stony path was stained an eerie purple.  Puffs of blue-tinted gases shot up from before-unnoticed cracks in the rocks, adding to the threatening air.

Vincent looked up.  “The darkness remains.”

Cid glanced at the low-hanging black clouds.  “Means the assholes on the Highwind can’t see us.”

“Thereby preventing ShinRa’s participation in what is to come… as either aggressor or rescuer,” Vincent mused.  “Cloud?  What is wrong?”

The swordsman gripped his head, his eyes tightly closed.  “Voices…!”  

Tifa immediately began rubbing his back and shoulders.  “What are they saying?” she whispered, making sure she was in a position to restrain him if Sephiroth was telling him to attack his friends.  All I need is a few seconds for one of the others to knock him out!

Flinching, he haltingly spoke.  “Our purpose is to deliver the Black Materia to our master…”

“Our master?” Yuffie repeated.

“That’d be Sephiroth – but doesn’t he already have the Black Materia?” Cid asked, puzzled.

Cloud hunched, for a brief moment looking uncannily like the black-cloaked unfortunates that Sephiroth had just dispatched.  “Those who carry Jenova’s cells…” he mumbled.

Vincent peered intently at the sweating swordsman.  “It appears that Cloud is indeed a carrier of Jenova’s DNA - like Sephiroth.”

“Clones of… the master… argh!”

“Look out!” As Vincent whipped out his gun and started blasting away at the hovering figure, Tifa pushed Cloud to the ground; Nanaki crouched protectively before them.  “Fucking sonuvabitch used the boss to fucking distract us!” Cid complained, throwing himself in front of the group, leaving Barret and Vincent to pour round after round into Sephiroth.  Just like at the Forgotten City, Sephiroth didn’t seem concerned by the hail of bullets tearing through his body… and then he abruptly transformed into a huge, hideous, stumpy-limbed creature that squatted untidily on the path, blocking their advance.

“Finally – somethin’ we can kill!” Barret exclaimed, emptying an entire clip into the monster’s chest.  It shook itself and opened its jaws; the team was bathed in a burning, red-toned fog.

“Let’s get the ugly mother!” Cid crowed, and dove into battle.  The accompanying explosion blew off most of one of the creature’s contorted limbs, while Yuffie’s shuriken tore through the other one.  Vincent and Barret continued harrying the monster with unrelenting salvos aimed at its torso; it belched a number of floating fireballs that were easily dodged.

“Let me up,” Cloud growled and pushed upward, forcing Tifa to give way.

“Are you… yourself, Cloud-san?”

“I think so.  The voices are gone.”

“Look at me – crap!”  Tifa backpedalled when she saw his ice-green eyes and dropped into an attack stance.

Cloud scowled, even more intimidating with his otherworldly glare.  “I’m in control,” he insisted.

“Forgive us our scepticism, Cloud-san,” Nanaki rumbled.  His furry brow wrinkled and he deeply inhaled.  “Your scent has changed.”

“We’ll worry about it later,” he said flatly.  “Tifa – stay close.  If I do lose it, you have to be able to clock me fast.”

Dampening down on her nerves, she nodded briefly and followed him into the melee.  When Cid and Yuffie let loose with simultaneous attacks while Barret and Vincent jointly targeted its head with a barrage of bullets, he drew his sword and charged at the violently convulsing creature.  The huge blade whirled, and then he shoved himself and the sword into the air, splitting the monster wide open.  The others whooped and moved in, concentrating their strikes until it was reduced to quivering hunks of flesh.  The colours of the landscape blinked back to normal and the menacing cloud overhead dissipated, allowing the pale sunlight to glint off a Reflect ring… and a darkly gleaming materia.  

“The Black Materia?  We got it back?”  Cloud’s voice was tight; Tifa noticed that he was holding himself very rigidly.  Approaching carefully, ready to react at the slightest sign that he was being controlled, she rested her hands on his shoulders and squeezed.  The tension in his frame eased somewhat, but when he turned, she saw his eyes were still more green than blue.  “He’s either not trying very hard, or I’m holding him off,” Cloud murmured.  “Stay with me.”

“I will.”

As the others cleaned or reloaded their weapons, Nanaki sniffed the sullenly glowing orb and backed away.  “It is indeed the Black Materia,” he said in a low voice.  “The malevolence is positively astonishing.”

Cloud rolled his shoulders before re-seating his sword on his back.  “Just like the ‘Sephiroth’ at the Forgotten City, that was a piece of Jenova mimicking the asshole’s appearance.”

“What?” Cid demanded, echoed by the rest.

“This particular chunk must have been at the Temple of the Ancients.  Lucky for us that we ran into it before it could give Sephiroth the Black Materia.”

“Musta been another piece pretendin’ ta be Sephiroth that was on th’ Cargo Ship, too,” Barret mused.

Tifa touched Cloud’s arm.  “How do you know?”

“Inside information.”  Jerking his head at the huge mako fountain looming overhead, Cloud continued, “The real Sephiroth is very close – just up ahead, deep inside the wound that Jenova inflicted on the Planet.  He’s exerting his will on both Jenova and those poor bastards in the black cloaks to bring him the Black Materia.”

“And on you?” Tifa whispered, pulling back.

“He’s trying.”  Cloud turned to Cid.  “You, Vincent and Yuffie stay here and guard this thing,” he said, indicating the gleaming black orb.  “I don’t dare have it anywhere near me when we face the asshole.  Barret and Nanaki - you’re with Tifa and me.”

“Pressure’s on,” the pilot grumbled, scooping up the materia and shoving it into his pocket; he tossed the Reflect ring to Tifa.

“We won’t give it up without a fight!” Yuffie declared, hefting her weapon.

Cloud’s tone, along with his inhuman eyes, stopped her cold.  “I’m counting on all of you – don’t give it to anyone.”

“Oi, Nanaki – not too far ahead!  Whole place’s prob’ly booby-trapped.”

“I agree, Barret-san.”  Falling back, he sniffed the air several times.  “We are definitely closing in on Sephiroth’s location.  This cavern carries the same scent as Cloud-san, and it is becoming stronger.”

“Don’ know if I like th’ idea o’ Spiky startin’ to stink like Sephiroth.”

“How do you think he feels?” Tifa retorted.  “Crap!”  A thick, white fog enveloped them, completely obscuring their surroundings and each other.  “Cloud?”

“Right here.”  

His cool voice wasn’t particularly reassuring, and she stepped sideways towards Barret’s last location in case the swordsman had lost control of himself.  She was relieved to literally bump into Barret; he gripped her belt.  Nanaki pressed up against her legs a moment later.

“This fucking sucks,” Barret rumbled.  “Really don’ fancy not bein’ able to see what’s comin’.”

Tifa reached down to touch Nanaki’s mane and cut her finger on a Diamond Pin.  “Can you retrace our footsteps?” she asked, sucking on the injury.

“I can try.”

At that moment, the white-out vanished, replaced by an entirely unexpected setting.  “N-Nibelheim?” Tifa exclaimed, staring in disbelief at the wrought iron entrance gate, the giant urns beside it, the cobblestoned square surrounded by sturdy houses.  

“It’s an illusion,” Cloud declared.

“A really, really good one.”  However, when Tifa tried to touch the fence, her hand passed right through it.

“Got company,” Barret said, and they automatically moved aside to allow a familiar, black-clad, silver-haired figure the right of way through the open gate.  “Is that another chunk o’ Jenova?”

“No.  Like our surroundings, it lacks any scent,” Nanaki confirmed.  

Tifa squinted at the two helmeted ShinRa troopers.  One of them must be teenaged Cloud - that one, I’ll bet.  He’s shorter and shuffling his feet, as if nervous about entering the town.  And, oh sweet Shiva, it’s….  

Barret demanded, “Who’s that?”  

“This is stupid,” Cloud scoffed, but there was a note of uncertainty in his voice.  Tifa was so busy gaping at the image of Zack that she didn’t move far enough out of the way when Sephiroth gestured his escorts forward; the illusory ShinRa trooper that she’d identified as Cloud marched right through her.  

The muffling white fog descended once again and then lifted.  They were now inside the burning town, looking down on the square as if watching from the roof of one of the buildings; Tifa let out a small, horrified sound as the nightmares that had haunted her for five years refreshed their fuel.

“Stay strong,” Nanaki soothed.  “It is only an illusion; it cannot harm you.”

“It’s jus’ like Corel,” Barret said grimly.  “Ever’body dead, everythin’ on fire.”

“This is what happened five years ago,” Cloud murmured.  “There’s Master Zangan.  He was checking the bodies when I found him… except it won’t be me who approaches him – right, Sephiroth?”  His fists clenching, Cloud addressed the flame-lit ‘sky’ overhead.  “I know I was in Nibelheim that day, you bastard!  The heat of the fire, the pain in my body and in my heart… I remember everything!”  

A deep, mocking laugh sounded, coming from every direction.  Abruptly, they were on ground level, in the centre of the conflagration.  The barrels of Barret’s gun-arm began whirling and Nanaki’s growl made the hair on the back of Tifa’s neck stand up.  Sephiroth’s voice, full of satisfaction, rumbled, “You are mistaken, Cloud.  A puppet lacks a heart, so you cannot feel pain.”

“Shut up! I’m not anything of yours – not your damn puppet!”

“You think this is an illusion,” Sephiroth purred, blinking into existence before them.  “Unfortunately, Cloud, this is reality.  Your so-called memories are the illusion.”

“You’re fulla shit.”

Sephiroth laughed again, his pale eyes glittering.  “How do you know that the woman calling herself ‘Tifa Lockhart’ is who you believe her to be?  Do you really think that she could have survived my blow?”

“I did,” Cloud sneered.  “And then I threw your skinny ass into the mako chamber.”   

“You have been fooled by Jenova’s mimicry abilities many times before.  How many times have you fought pieces of her that you believed to be me?  Becoming a nonentity like ‘Tifa Lockhart’ – or ‘Cloud Strife’ – is simplicity itself.”

“So... yer sayin’ that Tifa is a piece of Jenova?” Barret rasped, sounding like he was on the verge of bursting out laughing at the suggestion.

“Do you really know her, Cloud?  Where is she now, I wonder?”

Tifa exhaled.  He doesn’t recognize me - what a piece of luck!

“She’s safe... from your stupid insinuations,” Cloud snickered.

“Denying reality is futile,” Sephiroth smugly intoned, not at all put out by their disbelief.  Tifa took two long strides and punched the image in the face; its eyes widened slightly before it dissipated around her fist.

“Speakin’ o’ futile…” Barret commented drily.

“I feel much better,” she curtly retorted.

“Cloud-san?”  Nanaki nudged the swordsman’s hand.

He pinched the bridge of his nose.  “There are gaps in my memory, but only in the last five years.  If Hojo plugged me full of Jenova cells, then that could explain the blank parts… but I’m still me, right?”

“I already told you… there’s only one Cloud Strife,” Tifa replied.  “Don’t listen to him, Cloud.  Jenova tampered with your memories, but you’re still you – and I’m still me.”

Nanaki had enough.  “Tifa-san smells nothing like either Sephiroth or Jenova,” he said bluntly.  “The Jenova cells have only tainted your scent, Cloud-san.”

Cloud rubbed his forehead.  “You recognized me right away at the train station,” he murmured to Tifa.  “You know who I am; your faith in me is what matters.”

Their tormentor rematerialized on the opposite side of the ‘town square’; Tifa distantly noted the ‘flames’ reflecting on his pale hair.  “The ability to change one’s looks, voice and speech patterns – that is the power of Jenova.  Inside of your body, Jenova created ‘Cloud’ out of your companions’ perceptions – the puppet became the leader they followed, trusted, and admired... right up until their doom.”

Barret had recovered his composure enough to ask, “Now what shit are you talkin’?”

“Cloud brought you here... in order to betray you.”

Tifa couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes.  “We thought of that – but we came anyways.”

“He is stronger than all of you... could kill you if I gave him the command.”

“Shut up.”  Cloud’s steely gaze was even more unnerving than Sephiroth’s.  “You tried to make me kill Aerith and I didn’t – what makes you think you’d be any more successful now?”

Sephiroth’s answering smile was truly frightening and Tifa steeled herself.  He’s going to drop a bombshell!

“When we were in Nibelheim, a photograph was taken of the myself, the young Tifa Lockhart and….”

“Don’t waste my time,” Cloud interrupted.  

A colour photograph, startling in its clarity, fluttered into existence.  “Who is that dark-haired SOLDIER, I wonder?” Sephiroth purred.

While Tifa held her breath, Cloud asked, “A better question is… why are you doing this, Sephiroth?  Why go through all this effort?  What do you want?”

“What do I want?  To crush you, of course,” he answered.  “A puny life form like you has no business interfering with the destiny of a god.  Your punishment will be to give me the Black Materia from your own hand, thereby becoming the agent of the Planet’s destruction.”

“Like hell I will!”

“Tell me, Cloud… what do you think happened to that dark-haired SOLDIER?”

“How the hell would I know, since he didn’t exist?”

“But he did exist, Cloud.  You idolized him, wanted to be like him... and then you killed him.”

“W-what?”

“Spiky ain’t the type to stab somebody inna back... unlike you, ya bastard,” Barret said.

“Ah, but he did... because I ordered him to do so.”  While Cloud just numbly stared, Sephiroth smoothly continued, “You’ve always been my puppet, Cloud.  Accept your destiny....”

“I don’t believe you,” Cloud stoutly insisted, but his body language expressed doubts.

There was something in Sephiroth’s smug expression that set more alarm bells ringing in Tifa’s mind, but before she could warn Cloud to be careful, Sephiroth asked, “Tell me... when did you enter SOLDIER?”

Cloud stood very straight.  Defiance tightening every line of his body, he declared, “I first joined the Security Department of ShinRa, and then was accepted into SOLDIER after passing the entrance exam.”

“You must have been very proud.”

“Not as proud as I was to become a First Class.  I was really looking forward to going home to Nibelheim, to show off my new uniform…”  Tifa saw the exact moment that Sephiroth relinquished control over Cloud’s mind, but she was helpless to intervene as his eyes flashed clearest blue and he physically stumbled.  Then he looked to Tifa.  “I was in Nibelheim... right?”  

A vice closing around her heart, she firmly replied, “Yes, Cloud... you were in Nibelheim.”

“But... was I a SOLDIER?”

“Sephiroth... you bastard!” Tifa snarled, abruptly realizing their enemy’s plan.  “I won’t play your game!”

“I do not care if you comply or not,” Sephiroth sneered, “I only needed his doubts about himself to be fanned to succeed.”

Shaking his head, Cloud muttered, “When did I enter SOLDIER?  I kept failing the exam… wanted to be SOLDIER so bad… Zack said not to give up… Zack?”  Tifa raced towards him, but the ground shook and sent her sprawling.  Cloud fell to his knees, staring at the photograph.  “I am your... living legacy... I promised I wouldn’t forget...,” he mumbled, then his head tilted back.  Cloud’s anguished scream was the last thing Tifa heard before they were plunged into darkness.

“So, what’s fucking ShinRa up to?”

“A party of four has disembarked from the airship and disappeared below ground,” Vincent answered from his position a couple of boulders away.

Cid grinned evilly.  “Perfect time to steal ‘er back – who’s with me?”

“Bet there’s tons of awesome loot on board,” Yuffie smirked.

The gunslinger appeared to give the idea serious thought.  “I did not see any crew members exit, which means we could face considerable opposition.”

“I betcha that fucking Hojo’s with ‘em,” Cid commented off-handedly.  “He’d be hot to trot to see somethin’ like this.”

Vincent straightened.  “On the other hand, we undoubtedly have an advantage in firepower – and a more comfortable method of travel is desirable.”  He was almost a third of the way across the considerable distance to the Highwind few seconds later.

“Oi, Vinnie!  Wait up!”  Muttering grumpily, Cid prepared to follow... then nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand clapped onto his shoulder.

“Thank goodness you’re still here!  Quick!  Cloud’s in trouble!  Give me the Black Materia – it’s the only way to defeat Sephiroth!”

“Dammit, Tifa – ya nearly gave me fucking heart failure!”  The pilot fumbled in his pocket and retrieved the orb.  “Glad to get rid o’ the fucking thing,” he said to the young woman as he handed it over.  “You be careful with it.”

“I will,” she replied before leaping back down the pathway, her footsteps oddly soundless.

As Cid lit another cigarette, Yuffie found her voice and yelped, “Cid!  Have you lost your effin’ mind?”

“What the fuck?” the pilot demanded, affronted.

“Our Tifa’s a guy – that was a girl!”

The cigarette dropped out of Cid’s mouth.  “Fuck!” he roared.  “Vincent!  Getcher brass-buckled ass back here!  We’ve been had!”  Grabbing for his lance, he led the mad scramble towards the cavern.

“Fabulous!  The walls are solid materia!” Scarlet gloated, possessively running her hands over the crystalline material.  Her burly, scar-faced companion grunted in agreement as he surveyed the root-like structure spanning the transparent roof of the cavern with a large, green-tinted orb anchoring its centre.  Through the thick, branching supports, mako could be both seen and heard as it rushed upward to create the fountain in the heart of the crater.

“So much mako… this truly must be the Promised Land,” Rufus Shinra murmured.  “I can’t understand why the old man kept this information to himself.”

“The Promised Land doesn’t exist,” Hojo briskly corrected him.  “It’s a fantasy.”

“You deny the proof of your own eyes?  What kind of second-rate scientist are you?”

Before Hojo could reply, an ominous rumble shook the ground and Scarlet let out a shriek.  “There’s something inside the wall!  It’s moving!”  As she scrabbled backwards, they all saw what appeared to be a single, huge, eye blink once before the shaking became worse.

“What the hell is that?” Rufus demanded, his gun appearing in his hand.

Hojo polished his glasses and pushed them back into place with one long finger.  “I didn’t completely trust Faremis’ findings, but apparently the Weapons really do exist.”

The muzzle of Rufus’ weapon was abruptly pointed at Hojo’s forehead.  “I’m getting the feeling that my esteemed father kept a very great deal from me,” he ground out.  “Explain ‘Weapons’… quickly.”

“Giant guardians of the Planet, Mr. President, created by the Cetra.  They appear when the Planet’s existence is threatened.”

“What is threatening the Planet?” Rufus demanded as another tremor sent Scarlet skittering to Heidegger for protection.  The floor heaved again, almost throwing him off his feet and the cavern darkened; when the light returned, Rufus aimed his gun at the green-eyed newcomer who had suddenly appeared in their midst.  “Who are you?” he barked.

“You’d better get out of here as soon as you can.  Leave it to me.”

“Leave what to you?”

The blond SOLDIER, First Class, raised his hand, palm up.  “The Reunion.  Where everything begins and ends.”

Rufus noted the bland expression on Hojo’s face changing to one of almost embarrassing avidity at this confusing pronouncement, but before he could interrogate the SOLDIER – who looked somehow familiar – he was distracted by an attractive young woman approaching from the direction of a crack in the cavern wall.  Admiring her long, slender legs for a split-second, he almost failed to notice what appeared to be an unusually large black materia in her hand – and he instantly coveted it. “Stop right there,” Rufus commanded, cocking his weapon.

At that moment, a mismatched group tumbled through the same crack used by the young woman and in the tumult that accompanied their arrival, the SOLDIER didn’t appear to hear Rufus.  Instead, he haltingly approached the woman, his motions jerky and disjointed.  

In a moment of clarity, they all heard his voice, soft and pleading, as he murmured, “Tifa...?  Stay with me, please,” and reach for the woman.  There was a choked cry from someone within the group of new arrivals, but before Rufus could identify the source, the young woman thrust the materia into the SOLDIER’s outstretched hands... and then darkness surged around them.  A single shaft of light startlingly illuminated her for a split-second – before she was sliced in two by an unseen blade.  Her eyes widened as the halves of her body fell apart without a sound – but the agonized scream ricocheting around the glassy walls didn’t come from her lips.

The darkness lifted, revealing the SOLDIER on his knees, huddled and shuddering, the image of a broken man if Rufus had ever seen one... while the woman’s body dissolved into a puddle of evil-looking black ooze.  “What the ever-loving hell is going on?” he demanded.  There was a flurry, and a dark-haired SOLDIER, Third Class, practically flung himself across the cavern and onto the other man.

“Cloud!  Cloud... it’s me!  I’m all right!  It was an illusion!”  Grasping the blond’s shoulders, the Third Class roughly shook him.

While Rufus pondered the Third Class’ odd choice of words, Hojo began cackling maniacally.  “A failed Clone was the only one to complete the experiment?  Unbelievable!”

Rufus once again trained his gun on the scientist.  “What the hell is a Clone?”

Hojo smirked.  “Cloud Strife is the sole survivor of sub-section of my Project-S research - the Reunion Theory.  I suspected that scattered Jenova cells would attempt to become one again, so after the Nibelheim Incident provided me with numerous test subjects, I injected them with Jenova cells in varying quantities.  Casualty rates were high; most of the survivors’ personalities were destroyed and they became mindless drones…..”  

“Human experimentation?” Rufus demanded, horrified.

“Bah.  How do you think your precious SOLDIERs were first created?  Through exactly the same process, but with lower doses and performed on superior specimens who were able to keep their own personalities in the face of Jenova’s influence.”

“I can see why I was never told about this,” Rufus growled.  Hooking his thumb at the SOLDIER, Third Class, he acidly commented, “Looks like you had another success, Professor.”

Hojo dismissively flapped his hand.  “His presence is probably coincidental, as he is merely a Third Class.  Since the Nibelheim Incident, SOLDIERs only receive mako injections, which in my opinion yield an inferior product.” He was about to continue his dissertation when the blond SOLDIER slowly raised his head to look at the desperate Third Class.

“Zack...,” he whispered dully.  “You died because of me, too... I’m sorry....”

“Cloud!”  Letting out a ragged sob, the Third Class went to throw his arms around the smaller man, but the blond was jerked away and drawn rapidly up into the air as if by invisible strings.

“Dammit, Spiky!  Get a hold o’ yerself!” yelled a huge man with a massive gun-barrel grafted onto his arm; Rufus abruptly focussed, wondering why the man also looked vaguely familiar.  

“Don’t do it, Cloud!  Fight him – I believe in you!” the Third Class hoarsely shouted, his words echoed by a teenage girl hefting a large shuriken.  

Hojo let out a gleeful exclamation, pointing as the egg-shaped orb began descending to meet the SOLDIER, suspended by the twisting roots.  “Can you see him?  It’s Sephiroth!”  It was true; dimly visible through the green haze was an eerily beautiful male, long silver hair flowing around his naked torso.  He seemed asleep, until they noticed that he lacked a body from the waist down, although waving dark tendrils seemed to indicate a form of regeneration.

The Third Class whirled on Hojo.  “You!” he snarled, balling his fists and dove at the scientist.  Red cloak swirling, a tall, saturnine man restrained him, clearly staking a prior claim to the scientist.  A dog-like creature with a flaming tail-tip crouched in front of both of them, baring impressive fangs.  Rufus was intrigued by all this, even more so when Hojo turned even paler and backed away, his gaze trained on the red-cloaked man and his excitement over Sephiroth apparently forgotten.

The teenage girl wasn’t distracted.  “Cloud’s giving him the Black Materia!” she screamed.  “We’re all gonna die!”   Rufus looked up in time to see the blond SOLDIER push the large materia through the gelatinous shell of the orb.

“Let’s get the fuck outta here!”

Recognizing Cid Highwind’s gruff tones, Rufus decided to follow the crusty old pilot’s advice.  “All of you – this way!”  Waving his gun, he urged them towards the rocky tunnel his group had used to access the central cavern.  The doggish animal seized the dark-haired Third Class’ wrist in his teeth, yanking him away as the ceiling began to collapse.  Rufus was startled to hear the creature urging the SOLDIER to run.

“But… Cloud!”  The man sounded beyond desperate.

“He is lost to us,” the beast calmly replied.  “Now, we must do what we can to stop Meteor and save the Planet.”

The tunnel shook violently and they were showered with rocks coming loose from the ceiling; behind them, mako boiled upward, licking at the heels of Tifa’s boots as Nanaki hustled her towards safety.  Bursting out of the tunnel, they swarmed up the gangway of the Highwind; the airship was already straining at her anchors, her propellers whirling.

“Lemme fly this bucket o’ bolts!” Cid roared, shoving aside a bald-headed Turk and agilely swinging down the stairs into what smelled like the engine room.  A few seconds later, his voice boomed over the deck intercom. “Fasten your seatbelts, ladies!  Hope you brought a change of underwear!”

Yuffie shrieked as the airship lurched upwards and spun on its axis, barely avoiding a towering, dragon-like creature rising above the churning mako.  Its massive jaws snapped at the Highwind’s tail assembly and then opened in a deafening bellow.  One threat barely avoided, they almost ran into a second monster climbing over the lip of the crater.  The Highwind desperately clawed for altitude to avoid the steel-grey creature; Tifa thought she felt and heard a minor collision.

At that moment, a massive explosion seized the ship, violently shook it, and then the shock wave blasted it into the sky.  While everyone else held on for dear life as the craft bucked and rolled, the intercom transmitted every single nuance of Cid’s impressive profanity as he fought to stabilize his ship. Tifa managed to spare a thought for Holzoff.  I hope he’s managed to escape!

Tifa thought she heard Yuffie emptying her stomach; raising her head, she looked around for the stricken teen and saw her clinging tightly to a stanchion while retching miserably.  Barret and Vincent had found handholds on the main support column; Nanaki was safely wedged against the metal by Vincent’s knees.

There’s one missing....

“Look out!”

The tears filling her eyes prevented Tifa from heeding Barret’s frantic warning; something cracked against her skull and knocked her out.