Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Second Life ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Junon... now there's a place I hadn't been in a long time. I sped up in my rental car as I headed for Junon. I wondered it the base there was turned into something for a better use. I drove into the small town, looking about the place. The water was still dirty and the base was still there... and still active.I got out of the car and looked around. Why wasn't anyone there? Was something going on? Then a memory... A tube, severeal of them. With people inside... I was inside one of them. The one next to me contained... Simon Hojo. Then escape, I escaped from the lab and ran out of the base into a small town near water. Was it here? Was that how he was alive again? No, that scene was too faint. It must've been just a dream. I kept walking until I got to the big steel door of the military base. There had to be a way in...

"Excuse me," A strong female voice said. "What are you doing here? This is a restricted area."

I frowned. Something was going on here.... "Resticted area? This use to be a civilian town."

She glared at me, holding her gun in position. "Not anymore! Now get lost!" She shoved the nuzzle of the gun towards me, threatingly. I backed up, staring at the gun, then looked up to her and shook my head. "Who do you people think you are?"

She still pointed the gun at me, the glare never leaving her eyes. "SOLDIER, asshole, now get out of here!"

I shook my head again. "This isn't SOLDIER... It's just a band of murderers with no respect or honor..." I started to walk away. There had to be another way in.. I walked around a bit, then heard the woman talking into her radio.

"Sir, there's someone here, and he doesn't want to leave. What should I do?" I turned around, and realized that she wanted me to hear the conversation, as if it were to scare me away.

"You're talking to the wrong person," I heard the person on the other side of the coversation say. His voice sounded too familiar.

"Then get me someone who can help!" She growled.

The man laughed... an evil laugh with a little bit of insanity to it. I reckonized it, but I just couldn't figure out where I heard it before. "Well..." he said smoothly. "If I were in that situation, my dear, I'd just shoot him."

She paused for a moment, looking around for me. I quickly hide behind one of the houses. "But he's a civilian--"

"Who has trespassed onto military ground." Said the man, cutting her off. "No mercy, especially if you've already given him a warning. Just shoot the bastard down, and call it good. Good day!" And with that, I guess the conversation ended.

"Ohhhh!! I hate that guy! Stupid geeks think they run the whole show!" She threw the radio down and looked around for me.

I threw a big rock somewhere far from me and watched her look in that direction. She didn't move, she just stood there, waiting. I threw another rock, hoping she'd go exploring, only this time she saw which way the rock had come from. "Don't see me... don't see me...!" I whispered as I started to move away. She came running around the corner and the next thing I knew, the metal tip of the handgun's barrel was up against my temple.

"Gotcha!" She smirked as she got ready to pull the trigger. I felt my heart pound in my chest, and a light sweat break on my forehead. I looked at at the hammar as it pulled back, then at the woman's eyes, the hammar, her finger on the trigger, then her eyes again. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, almost like the final blow that Cloud dilivered to me had been. I closed my eyes, and waiting for the bang, then once I heard it, I jumped a little, my eyes still closed. I heard a voice in the background, several voices, and fighting. What was going on? Wasn't I supposed to be dead?

"You Shin-Ra people was a lotta fuckin' nerve!" Came a booming male's voice right before a machine gun thing was fired. "Let dat teach ya a lesson!" There was a lot of movement, then I heard Cloud's voice.

"C'mon! We have to stop them from bringing Sephiroth and Hojo back! Hurry before we're too late!" The all of them started running. I had a count of at least five different footsteps. I opened my eyes and looked around the corner of the building. Cloud was talking to the young girl about something, and she looked dissapointed. He pointed his finger, and she walked off slowly in that direction. As she was walking, the others got inside.

"Why do I have to go see if he's alright? Why couldn't Nanaki? Or Cid? Ohhh! He always picks on me!" Then she smiled evilly. "That's alright..." She pulled out a little matera orb from her pocket. "At least he lets me use this!" Then she laughed. She put the matera away and walked around the corner. "Hey mister! You here?" She yelled as she looked for me. I shifted a little from my spot, not enough to keep me comfortable, but enough for her to spot me. "Glowey eyes..." She stopped as she stared into my eyes. I hated that glow, I could never really hide in any dark space because of them. "Hey! Are you alright? I won't hurt you..." She said, then spoke quieter. "...Hopefully..."

I came out of my spot and looked to her. I pretended to be shaken about the gun thing, so I nodded slowly and looked around a little bit.

"I was told to come and talk to you... So... Whatcha wanna talk about?"

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Cloud, Barret, Vincent, Cid and Nanaki ran down the emtpy hallways, ready to dart into a hiding place if any guards popped out any one of the many doors to both left and right of them. So far, there was no one around, and that made Cloud and Vincent very uncomfortable. Cloud paused, and motioned for Cid and Nanaki to go scouting for guards, and they nodded, running off in the opposite direction. Vincent stopped running and looked around. Something was waiting for them... Like if that something knew that they'd come.

"I don't think you should be in here..." A voice said with bitter humor.

The man walked out of the doorway and in the light filled hallway, smirking as he looked from one person to the other. Barret growled loudly, almost unable to control the tepmtation to scatter this small man all over the walls with a couple rounds of bullets. The man, sensing this, laughed to try ad urge Barret on. Barret aimed his gun forward, cursing and swearing at the guy as he sprayed several rounds from his gun-arm. Cloud and the others tried to stop him, but it was like trying to stop a bull on rampage.

"Bastard!" He yelled as he fired. "DIE!!" Barret stopped firing, staring into the doorway, waiting for the dust to clear. He couldn't wait to see the bloody corpse of that asshole.

Cloud shook his head. ""Barret! What the hell was that for?! I thought you---"

Vincent stepped out of the shadows, and started to speak, cutting Cloud off. "Cloud, I was ready to fire myself... That man... Cloud, we're too late..."

Cloud stared at Vincent for a moment. "Too late? What to you mean? The guy said that the opperation would take---"

Vincent raised his hand, silencing Cloud. "Cloud... They must've started early... We should get out of here before..."

Footsteps came pounding down the hall. One of a human, other of a four-legged thing. "GUARDS!" Two voiced yelled as a little flame came into sight bouncing down a dark hall, along with a strange, but small, glowing orb. The closer the footsteps, the clearer it got. The flame belonged on the end of Nanaki's tail, the glowy orb was the lit end of Cid's ciggerette. "GUARDS!!!!" They yelled again, in unison. And, as if on cue, several guards came crashing into the hallway from an intersection that the two just passed through.

"Shit! Nanaki... You do have something useful, don't you?!" Cid begged as they ran with all their might.

Nanaki stopped, skidding a full 360 circle and faced the guards. "Keep running... I think I have something!" Cid kept running like he was told, then the whole hallway lit up from a casting of Fire, then the piercing noise of people screaming as the caught fire. Nanaki turned, grinning a doggish grin and ran off. That should hold them for now...

Cloud heard footsteps behind him. More guards... this wasn't going to turn out well... Barret came in closer, facing another direction. Guards coming from that direction, too. Vincent backed in as well, all three of them were back to back. They were surrounded by Shin-Ra guards, no where to run... They were outnumbered... well outnumbered... Cid and Nanaki came over to them, making a circle, all defending each other's backs as guards came running, firing thier guns, or coming close and swinging swords at them.

"Look out!!" Cloud yelled, swinging his heavy sword at a charging guard, charging right for Cid while he was fending off other one of the many Shin-Ra slaves. Nanaki casted another Fire, and another, feeling his magic growing weaker... This was getting bad... Barret and Vincent fired into the crowd of pawns, knocking down some, making room fore more. Where did they all come from?

"Cloud! There's no end to 'em!" Barret's voice boomed loudly.

"Just die you Shin-Ra loser!" Cid cried, shoving the end of his spear into the man's stomach.

"Get off of me!!" Nanaki snarled, bucking a guard around as he tried to pounce on Nanaki.

"Cloud.... They expected us!" Vincent yelled, reloading his gun.

"JUST KEEP FOCUSED!!!" Cloud commanded, trying to concentrate on the guards in front of them. They were going to make it... they were going to make it....

Seconds felt like minutes... minutes like hours. The number of the guards were going down, but so were the numbers of AVALANCHE's members. Three were down, and only two to defend all of them against what felt to be an army. It was growing hopeless... Cloud tried to raise his sword, but his arms ached, his shoulder felt out of place, and his leg was fractured... The sword hardly lifted off the ground... Vincent, the other one that was still fighting, wacked the guards with the butt of his gun, and slashed out at them with his claws. He had ran out of ammo very quickly, a little too quickly.

Cloud looked down at his useless sword, then back up to see a guard lunge at him, sword in the air, ready to slice him in half. Cloud stood there, almost welcoming it... wanting it. He closed his eyes and waited for that final blow, but it never came. Only a battle-like cry from Vincent, and a agonizing yelp from a guard. Cloud opened his eyes and saw Vincent trying to fend off all the guards by himself, but was losing the battle, and very quickly. Cloud charged forward with all his might, tackling some of the guards, pushing them away from Vincent.

"Men! Cease this nonsense!" !A SOLDIER said from down the hall. Cloud looked up. Where did he come from? The guards stopped, and glaring at their enemies. The SOLDIER grinned. "Guns ready!" He commanded, "Aim!" The guards raised their guns to their targets: Cloud and Vincent. "FIRE!" He shouted. The guards gleefully obayed. Guns were fired, bullets peirced skin, both men cried out as the attack came with full force from all sides... no escape...