The FF7 Experience: (Chapter 7: Shinra Building. That’s about as original as this title will get.)
Author stuff: Thank Frankto for fixing this chapter up once again. He offers this fic a great service.
As you probably remember from last time, the moment the pillar was safe, I passed out. Me thinks I pushed it too far. I did it though. I helped the other save sector 7! Woo for us. But what happens now? I figure, we’ll have to go to the Shinra building and rescue Aeris. First things first, though. I’d best wake up.
When I awoke, I still felt weak but not to the same extent as before. I blinked a few times before my eyes closed on their own accord. I’d thought of ‘resting my eyes’ for a bit longer, but when the question “how long was I sleeping” wandered around inside my head, the immediate question to follow was; “Is everyone still here?”. For all I know, I’ve been asleep for hours and they left without me.
With that thought in mind, I rolled off the bed and got up off the floor. I took a quick peek at the room I was in and decided that this was probably Aeris’s house. It looked like the room Cloud slept in during the game.
As I went down the stairs, my suspicions were sadly confirmed. There were 3 people here, but none of them were the ones I had hoped for. Aeris’s mom sat at the table drinking tea. She did resemble Aeris to some extent, so I’m sure they could pass as blood related. Her hair was brown and long and she wore a simple green dress. Biggs and Jesse were sitting at the table as well, appearing to be conversing with each other.
I took a few more steps into the living room before my presence was noted. Everyone looked at me.
“Oh, hello!” Aeris’s mother greeted me.
“How do you feel?” Biggs asked.
“Should you be up so soon?” Jesse followed.
They were all talking together, how annoying. I think I was feeling a bit grumpy. Between how my body felt and the fact that the others had left me behind, I think it’s only natural.
“Hi. I could be worse. I’m not going back to sleep. What happened?” I said all at once. This way, I responded to all of them and got out what I wanted to say too.
Biggs turned back to his coffee and took a sip.
“They went to help that Aeris girl.”
As I thought.
“How long ago did they leave?” I asked. From the looks they gave me, I probably should have said that a little more casually.
“Oh no. If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking then no way.” Biggs stated firmly.
I sighed and sat down. “Can you quickly go recent events with me?”
I was planning on leaving regardless of what they said, but I thought I should know everything that’s happened so far. If they wouldn’t tell me how long ago the others left, maybe their explanation of all the events that happened between my passing out and now would allow me to make an estimate.
“Well..” Jesse said, putting her own cup down to drum her fingers on the table. “Cloud said that he had Aeris bring Biggs here since he was hurt. After you passed out, we all came here to talk to Miss. Elmira. We were surprised to find that this was where Marlene was too.”
Jesse took a sip of her coffee and was about to continue when Biggs jumped in.
“Aeris was caught because I slowed her down. Those Shinra assholes got her. So when everyone showed up here, we trades stories and they decided on going to get her from the Shinra building. A bit crazy if you ask me, but I still offered to go with em’.”
“And?”
“They said no. See, we’re moving out of sector 7 so they won’t target it again. They’d also know that we wouldn’t stick around there after their pillar attempt. So, now Jesse and I are in charge of finding us a new base of operations. That’s what we’re trying to do right now.”
Wait, where was Wedge? The other room upstairs was empty. I can see Marlene playing in the flower bed outside through the window, but Wedge isn’t out there. He certainly isn’t here. A man of his size doesn’t go unnoticed.
“…Where is Wedge?” I asked nervously.
Their solemn and downcast looks said enough. I guess the potion I used on Wedge wasn’t enough to save him in the end. I started to delve into thoughts like ‘could I have done something else’ but quickly shut off that line of thinking. I had other priorities and feeling guilty wouldn’t change the fact that I screwed up. Do I still feel awful about it? Yeah, for sure.
“Why didn’t they wake me up?” I said, bringing the conversation in a slightly different direction.
Biggs shrugged. “They probably would have if you weren’t in such miserable shape. They said you needed to rest. They’ll be back, don’t worry. Assuming they pull this off, that is.”
The look Aeris’s mom got on her face made Biggs nearly swallow his tongue. He was quick to sputter an apology and assure her that he has every confidence in them. But, I didn’t have time for this.
“How long ago did they leave?” I asked again.
Jesse rolled her eyes and smacked her forehead. “Wow, still on about that.” She said disapprovingly. “You’ve only been asleep for like 2 hours. I’m surprised you even woke up this soon.”
“I’m fine.” I felt like yelling, but out of respect for Aeris’s mom, I refrained. “Seriously, someone just be helpful.”
If they left like 6 hours ago, there would be no point at all in trying to catch up. They’d probably already have met Red by that time. But, if it isn’t all that long ago, there’s still a chance that I can meet up with them. I don’t want to miss out on this.
“I’d say…45 minutes ago?” Biggs guessed.
Jesse was quick to give him a small smack on the head. “Don’t encourage him!”
“Thanks Biggs. See ya everyone!” I said quickly. I got up from my seat and waked towards the door as quickly as possible, knowing that if I didn’t get out fast, they’d yell ‘stop’ or something.
“Stop!” and there it was, just as I’d expected. Luckily I was already outside when it came.
As I kept walking, my pace picked up. 45 minutes…this was doable. They’d need time to find out how to get to the upper level. Barret was out of ammo before, so he’d need to buy more, plus any other stops they made. Sadly, I needed to stock up on items as well.
I heard the sound of a door being thrown open from behind me. Please, tell me they aren’t going to try and physically restrain me.
“Grant, wait!” I heard Biggs shout.
I stopped and turned around, folding my arms in a most displeased manner.
“What?” I spat testily.
He smirked and tossed something my way. I caught it and looked at my hand. It was the ‘Restore’ materia I gave Biggs.
“Thanks, Grant. That thing saved my ass.”
I looked back up at him and smiled a bit. “No problem. Take care.”
I placed the orb back into my armlet and picked up my pace once again until I was running. The monster population in the construction area near sector 5 had become quite scarce. Another good thing about this world: monsters are not infinite. I saw one Hell House as I ran through the area and it was busy…being a house? It didn’t move to attack me or anything so I left it alone.
It took me less then 10 minutes to get from Aeris’s house to the Wall Market. My first stop would be an item shop and from there, I’d go strait up the wire in this area.
I went into the drug and item store and the guy behind the counter did his usual ‘WOAH!’ whenever someone surprises him. I needed a bit of everything at the moment. I had used every last Ether, Potion, and Painkiller I bought earlier today. I’d probably need the painkillers, just because of the state I was in. Actually, no. What I needed was energy and lots of it.
“Hey.” I said as the shopkeeper was going around grabbing everything I had asked for thus far.
He stopped and turned his head to me. “Yeah?”
I hesitated for a moment and said this next part carefully. “Do you…have something for energy? I’m really tired. I don’t think an energy drink alone would do it.”
The shop keeper peered at the doorway. When he saw no one was there, he stepped a little closer and lowered his head and began to talk in a hushed manner.
“You’re saying, you’re looking for some drugs?”
“I don’t care what it is as long as it does what I need and doesn’t kill me.” I answered simply.
I’m pretty sure that when I look back on this moment later, I’ll be calling myself a dumb ass. I think my judgment is a little clouded right now though. I haven’t had much sleep…not nearly as much as I should have anyways. I had no injuries or anything thanks to healing items and magic, but I was still physically exhausted. That’s why I needed this.
The man narrowed his eyes a bit, mentally deciding weather or not I really wanted whatever it was he had or if I was trying to bust him. After a few more moments he decided. He reached down and unlocked a cupboard, pulling out a bottle of small white pills. He slid the bottle forward along with my painkillers, potions, and ethers.
“That’ll be 5500 gil. The stuff I gave you will take a bit to kick in.” He said with a ‘customer friendly’ smile. “Oh, and I wouldn’t recommend taking the X with the painkillers. Also, if you’ve taken any other substance recently, the X may hurt you at some point during your trip.”
“Right, thanks.” I said, not really paying attention. I gave him his money and took the items then exited his shop.
I ran through the wall market, trying to guess how long I’d taken so far. Probably 15 or
so minutes?
But when I stood at where the wire was SUPPOSED to be, I paled. The wire and the path up to the upper plate existed because sector 7 had been destroyed, and as a result, a combination of wreckage and wires that hung down to this level would allow one to climb up. I had never even taken this into account. But then how would I possibly get to the upper level? How did the others to it? Trains wouldn’t run…Damn, I could really use Walter’s help about now.
I stood there for a minute as if expecting him to pop out of no where and say “I’ll help!”, but he did not come. I guess he was leaving this one up to me.
I turned back around and began walking. If the wire at the Wall Market is a no go, then I need to find another way to get that high. How high does a pillar go? I remember in sector 7, the highest platform went about half way up the actual pillar. If I could somehow climb up there, they have a small opening at the top I could slip through. But the thing is, I don’t know where the opening goes. It could end up taking me no where or could be for one of many things. It might not even lead to the top. Still, it was the only thing I had to go on. I’m sure I could have come up with a better idea, but not with the amount of time I had.
I sheepishly rubbed my eyes. Sooo tired. I stepped into sector 7 and took a look at the towering mass of metal that would lead to the upper plate. It was then I learned how the others made it up.
During the attack, the plate support had been damaged, though not destroyed. This was because of the magic, this one time I missed with a grenade, and gunfire. I watched as a few people stood on a platform that would move up and down the pillar so they could make repairs. This would actually be a lot quicker then if I did have to climb the wire and a lot less annoying.
Smiling, I ran towards the stairs and booked it upwards until I made it to the same level as the repair team.
“I’ll give you 1000 gil to give me a ride to the top!” I shouted. That’s my solution to everything: gil.
The guy had a mighty pissed look on his face at the mere suggestion that he misuse his moving platform, but it quickly changed when he recognized me as being a member of AVALANCHE, the group that saved this sectors ass. Of course…we were also the reason Shinra tried to blow up the plate support. But very few blamed us for that.
“Sure thing! Hop on.” the mechanic smiled.
I did as I was told and stood next to him. I took a quick peek down and shuddered. I really dislike heights.
“Any others ask to go up?” I asked him.
He nodded gruffly. “Yup, some other AVALANCHE guys.”
“Ah. How long ago was that?”
He ‘hmmed’ for a second, moving his head sideways. “I’d say…15 or 20 minutes ago?”
I was making progress, at least. I went from a 45 minute difference to 15 or 20. I’m guessing they took a bit longer to notice this platform than I did. I wonder how they entered the Shinra building? Did they storm though the front like Barret would suggest or did they run up the stairs? I suppose I myself will have to go with the latter. If they DID take the stairs and I try and walk through the front, It would mean all of the security would still be standing and I’d be murdered.
While I’m waiting, I look up. Based on our speed, it looks like we’ll be up there in another few minutes.
“So, what you guys up to?” the mechanic asked me.
“Rescue operation.” I replied.
“Hm. Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
From this point, conversation died and I waited for us to reach the top. The mechanic lifted his hand and started pushing some buttons on a small square panel. A hatch opened up and the platform continued moving upwards until it stopped right on the surface of Sector 7.
“Thanks a bunch.” I said to him as I took off towards the Shinra building.
I think it goes without saying that the actual sector would be a lot different then it’s slum. There were bright lights and flashing signs everywhere. There were actual streets and people wearing classy clothing too. It was so much different from the world down below. No time for sight seeing though.
I continued my tired sprint towards the tall and highly evil looking building in the center of Midgar. Lucky for me, I had been brought quite close to it.
After a few minutes, I was standing right in front of the building. I huffed a bit, but was actually starting to feel that X stuff kick in. My fatigue was disappearing. But…it felt like something was going to happen. It was like I was anticipating something. I can’t really explain the feeling with words.
I nodded towards the door on the side of the building. It was welcoming me in. It would be rude to say no, right? So I entered the stairwell and glanced up. Infinity stairs, that’s how I’d describe it. That, and the walls were WAY too mobile for my liking.
I shrugged off the thoughts and began my awkward journey up the stairs. I was going at an impressive pace and wasn’t even noticing my tiredness. Every now and then, I’d forget to turn in time and go up the next staircase, resulting in contact with the wall. Such a thing was only natural though. These bright lights were hurting my eyes, anyways.
I stopped and looked up again. Yep, it still looked like it was going on forever. I swore rather loudly, listening to it echo again and again throughout the stairwell. I smirked and continued my journey up the stairs. After what I would guess was 10 minutes (I had to stop for a break), I was finally up the stairs. I stood outside the door at the top and leaned against the wall, finally realizing how tiring that was.
I opened the door and spotted two soldiers unconscious on the floor. One was missing his ID card, but I noted that the other had his on him. I pocketed it and went up the stairs to the next floor. I was feeling a bit apprehensive. I was alone in the Shinra building, this worlds ‘Axis of evil’ as a certain retard might call it. There are member of SOLDIER here too. I remember having a random encounter with two third class SOLDIER members on the floor where Hojo has his lab. They had spells like ‘Ice2’ and such. I did manage to steal ‘Hard Edge’ from them though.
From what I remember, this floor was like a kind of ‘recreational area’ or something. That’s what I figured anyways since there was nothing at all work related on this floor. N the game, some dumb ass gave Cloud the next card, so I decided to try my luck. I picked the first random person near me and approached them.
“Excuse me, I’m with Shinra inc repair division. Some of the doors are opening on their own accord. I was wondering if you could give me your card key to the next level?”
The man in the suit blinked a few times. “You don’t have your own?”
I shook my head. “I do, but it’s for this floor.”
“…I thought the repair division came already. My friend loaned then his card.”
“Right.” I agreed. Man, this asshole was being difficult. Why couldn’t he just give me his card without question?
“I have something they need, but their radio must not be working. They aren’t answering any of my calls and so I don’t have anyone to let me up there. In fact, you don’t even have to give me your card, if you could just let me on to the floor with those vending machines, that’s where they’re working.” I said as professionally as I could.
“Yeah, I guess that’s fine.” He finally submitted.
I followed behind as we went up three floors. He held his card out and the door opened up. I gave a nod of thanks and stepped through. Then I smiled as I got an excellent idea.
“Shadow Imitation!” I said as I caught him with my technique.
As my shadow locked onto his, he stared down in pure shock and tried to move his body.
“Scream and I’ll kill you.” I whispered in his ear. I was bluffing but hopefully he wouldn’t risk it.
He nodded and I began walking as he was forced to mimic my actions and come with me. This floor had a few lockers from what I remember, so I choose that room to make this little ‘exchange’.
I turned to him and bowed a bit. “Sorry.” Before he could say anything, I retracted my shadow and punched him in the gut. I quickly threw him down onto the ground and drew my scythe. Question: Would a repairman carry one of these? No, they wouldn’t you dumb ass.
After knocking him out with the shaft of my weapon, I took his card and dragged him towards a tall blue locker where I stuffed him inside. I felt bad, but it was the fastest and best idea I had.
I looked at the card I had taken.
“Level 66, nice.”
That would mean that I wouldn’t have to do that lame Midgar model puzzle thing. I hated doing that in the game. Lamest and most unfun puzzle ever!
I wonder what floor the others are on though? I should probably check this one and then all others above it. I’m not really sure how far ahead they are at this point.
I walked out of the room and squinted a bit. What is it with this place and bright lights? Actually, forget that. More importantly, my jaw is really sore right now. And, from what I can see, no one of importance is on this floor.
I made my way over to the stairs and headed for the next level. The treasure box near the door to this floor would tell me if they were here or not. You see, this is the floor where you have to complete a model of Midgar before you can get a key. The box near the door holds the key and only opens when you finish the model. If it’s open, they’ve taken the key already and are higher up.
Empty. Nothing in the box at all, meaning I must look further.
The next floor is number 66. The conference room is here, and if the group is on this floor, they’d probably be in the crapper, trying to get into the vents.
I enter onto this floor and examine my surroundings. The walls look nice and the carpet seems red and homey. I really hope their on this floor. I miss Tifa…I haven’t seen her in like almost 2 days. She’s awesome, and must be really soft.
I stop on the spot and trace over the last few things I was thinking. Realizing how odd my thoughts had been lately and feeling rather energetic, I have come to the conclusion that I am high. When the guy said ‘drugs’ I was thinking, like, prescription stuff or something. I suppose that’s my fault though. I’m young and know little about drugs. I also do recall saying that I don’t care what he gave me as long as it worked and I didn’t die. So I guess the question is: How worried should I be?
I continue thinking as I walk until I enter the bathrooms on this floor. When I open the door to the first stall and look up at the vent, it appears to be open. Score! That means Cloud and the others are in there right now.
While I’m waiting, I decide I need to throw some cold water on my face. It was starting to get uncomfortably hot around here. I let the tap run for a few seconds before lowering my head and cupping my hands together to slash it in my face. It feels remarkably good. It’s both cold and refreshing, so I splash more and more until my face is pretty much dripping wet. After that was done, I lift my head up and release a satisfied breath. There are paper towels nearby so I use them to dry my face off.
Now that that has been taken care of, all that’s left is to wait. Another few minutes pass and I hear movement coming from above. It sounds like some light shuffling. I watch Cloud come out of the bathroom stall followed by Barret and Tifa. Before they can leave the bathroom, I say something to catch their attention.
“Thanks a lot for leaving me behind, asses.” I said, faking annoyance. Their decision was of course justified. I knew that.
They all turned the moment I had opened my mouth and the words came out. The surprise written all over their faces was fucking priceless. I could tell that they didn’t see this one coming.
Barret’s brows furrowed. “Grant? How in da hell did you get here?”
I smiled proudly and lifted my arms up, resting my hands behind my head. “With my mad skills.”
Cloud had overcome his mild surprise and was now looking rather annoyed.
“We left you behind for a reason. You shouldn’t be up and active so soon.” He said harshly.
I think I felt a bit offended. I made it here, didn’t I? Although what he said did have sense to it. I think the reason I came was to prove I could keep up with them, actually. Part of the reason, at least. I was the only one of us to pass out after all that fighting. I was also the only one that had to be left behind. I wanted to come here on my own to show them and myself that I could keep up. I have all my techniques, which no one else can use, but I wanted to know that those weren’t the only thing keeping me from being totally weak in comparison to them. A surprising moment of clarity I had there. In fact, this wasn’t ever about wanting to help. I knew they would have made do on their own even if I stayed behind. My decision was actually pretty selfish if I think about it. These drugs are really making me think differently…
So, with this new way of thinking in mind, I acknowledged that Cloud was right. I bowed my head and said in a quiet voice, “I’m sorry.”
Cloud sighed and crossed his arms. “Nothing we can do about it now. I guess we’ll have to move on, right?”
I raised my head and nodded with a small smile. “Yeah.”
I had noticed that this whole time, Tifa was looking at me in a concerned kind of way.
“Hm?” I said to her.
“Are you okay? You don’t look well.” She answered. She approached me and removed the glove off one of her hands to place the now bare hand on my forehead. “Grant, you’re sick!” she gasped.
Barret shook his head in distaste while Cloud was already heading towards the door, motioning for us to follow. As we strolled along behind him, I addressed Tifa’s concern as best as I could.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing, really.” Wow, I could feel her concern for me just by looking at her. And I could feel Cloud’s annoyance earlier when he looked at me too. I was feeling their looks? How messed up is that?
“If you say so…but when we get out of here, you’re taking it easy. No buts, either.”
I smirked. We were about to round the corner when Cloud held out his hand for us to stop. We complied, and I took this moment to rub my hands against the wall.
“What are you doing?” Tifa whispered.
I kept my eyes on the wall as I answered. “This wall feels powerful.”
“Come on.” Cloud ordered before Tifa could ask me what I was thinking.
We ran towards the door and slipped through before it closed.
“Hojo…” Cloud murmured to himself.
“Have you met the guy before?” Barret questioned.
Cloud looked up in thought for a moment. He shook his head after deciding he had never seen him in person before.
“No. But I’ve heard a lot about him.”
We were now on floor 67 I believe. This was the floor where Hojo had his lab. We’d be meeting Red XIII soon. I was looking forward to that. I’d have to ask him if I could pet him or something later. Not right away since I’d still be a stranger, of course. But sooner or later I’ll get around to asking. He’d better say yes too, or I’ll be pretty mad.
When we stepped out of the floors stairwell, we followed behind Hojo at a safe distance watching him make his way to his lab.
As we’re sneaking or way closer and closer, I start to feel just a little bit hotter. I think I really am sick. I almost want to throw up, but then Hojo would turn around and yell some stuff at us or run away or something. So, I close my eyes and walk carefully, making sure not to bump into anyone.
When I feel a hand take mine, I open my eyes and find that had I kept going strait, I would have bumped into a wall. I looked and found that Tifa was quietly guiding me in the right direction, still having that same worried look on her face. She obviously knows something is up with me. I need to be more alert though. If it hadn’t been for her, I would have hit the wall, made noise, and blown our cover.
We take cover behind some crates and listen to Hojo tell one of his assistants to prepare for today’s experiment. I didn’t care what they were talking about though. I wanted more water. My throat felt a bit dry and my jaw was feeling a lot of tension. Plus I was just so hot. So, while the white coated freak is talking to his assistant, I pull a potion from my item pouch and start drinking it. I’m not hurt and potion never did taste all that great, but it helped a little bit.
After Hojo left down the elevator to the higher level of his lab, Barret glanced at me and the empty bottle in my hand.
“You hurt or somethin’?” he asked suspiciously.
“No, thirsty.” I answered.
He lifted a brow but Cloud’s sudden freak out acted as a nice conversation turned. The pretend SOLDIER had taken it upon himself to look inside the large tank to our right. At the sight of what was inside, he sprawled backwards on the floor, looking scared shitless. He began rambling too.
“Jenova…Sephiroth…so it’s here?” he stammered.
Tifa held onto Cloud, trying to comfort him while Barret, overcome by curiosity, took a gander inside the tank himself.
“Shit! Da hell is that thing! Where da fuck is it’s head?” he said, stringing out a few curses.
I don’t know why I did this, but I decided to take a look as well. The bright and intense pink light inside the tank, the headless and pale naked body, and how bad I had already been feeling all worked together to make me finally vomit. I moved away from the tank and took my place by the crates, finally letting it all out. I hadn’t eaten in a while, so no food came out, but there was a lot of liquid of various colors. Once it was all out, I breathed in and out a few times, trying to get a grip on myself then stood back up and sighed deeply.
“Sorry.” I said to everyone. “That thing was gross.”
My explanation did not appear to satisfy them, but no one said anything about it. Once Cloud no longer needed Tifa’s support, the young woman had a look inside the large clear tube in the center of the room. There, a large and red lion like creature was resting. He had a number of scars on his body in addition to the tattoo ‘XIII’. His tail was lit as well, having a fiery glow to it.
“Is this one of their experiments? Poor thing…” Tifa said to no one in particular.
“We need to follow Hojo. He’ll know where we can find Aeris.” Cloud stated, already seeming to enter the leadership role. I wonder how Barret felt about that?
The elevator wasn’t far. Soon, we’d have found Aeris and would be able to get out of here. Only, we’d be caught, which totally sucked. I could feel the snakes moving in my arm. I wonder if the drugs were bothering them? It hurt having them get so antsy like this. One thing is for sure, as soon as I can do so without the others being around, I’m going to toss this damn bottle of ‘X’. It did have some benefits. My thinking appeared to be a lot more…deep? My ego didn’t feel nearly as strong either. It gave me a nice energy boost too. On the flip side, my concentration was severely lacking, I felt violently ill, my body was so hot, my jaw hurt like hell, and the snakes in my arm felt like they’d rip out any minute now.
The door dinged and opened up, and we quickly raced out. Aeris was in this glass tube with her back to Hojo. The man was admiring her from outside with a smug expression of fascination.
“Aeris!” Cloud shouted.
The girl in the tube turned to Cloud immediately, her face had lit up and appeared hopeful. She ran to the edge of the tube and pressed her hands against it.
“Cloud!” she shouted back.
Barret, in a rage, lifted his gun arm up ad pointed it at Hojo. “Da hell you think you’re doin’?”
Hojo sighed and calmly glanced at all of us.
“What does it look like? I’m lending a helping hand to dying species. Otherwise, they might go extinct.”
Tifa threw her hands up in disbelief. “How horrible! Aeris is a living person!”
Hojo ignored her, beginning to appear quite bored with the lot of us.
“Begin the experiment.” He said aloud.
A hole opened up in the floor making Aeris stick to the edge of the tube. Slowly, the platform raised upwards bringing Red XIII into view. He immediately dropped down and began growling at Aeris, his body shaking, fur spiking up, and tail rose up. Aeris clung to the wall, noticeably frightened at being trapped with such a creature.
“Barret, can you do something?” Cloud asked in desperation.
In response, he ran forward and threw Hojo back. He lifted his gun arm and began firing shots at each of the four corners of the tube’s door. Rather then break, the area lit up making it impossible to see inside.
“No! What have you done?” Hojo shouted. He stood up from the floor and raced past Barret as the door opened.
When the bright light faded, Red was now directing his attention at the man who had experimented on him for so long. It didn’t take long before the red beast tackled Hojo to the ground. The frail little scientist struggled for dear life. To be honest, I’m surprised Red didn’t completely overpower him and rip him to shreds right that second. But that wasn’t important right now.
We all ran closer to the spectacle, Cloud moving ahead of us a little to meet up with Aeris. We stood watching Red try to kill Hojo for a few seconds, not really feeling the need to do anything about it. Why wasn’t he dead yet! Was Red holding back or something? Or did Hojo have some kind of super science power that made him extra resilient?
Our heads turned when we heard the sound of the elevator moving again. Cloud took a peek at what was coming then slowly backed up.
“What is it Cloud?” Tifa asked.
“There’s something coming up.” He responded.
Red released his grip and backed off of Hojo. The man took this opportunity to sit himself up and laugh.
“It isn’t a normal specimen. This one is special.” He snickered.
Red turned around and took a step forward.
“It’s quite strong. I’ll lend you a hand.” His voice was a lot like I had expected it to be. It was calm and sounded wise beyond its years. He sounded like a monk or sage or something.
The elevator made it to the top and we all saw the creature first hand. It was monstrous and deformed. Its limbs looked like they had been pieced together from separate animals. Its head was a large red ball with no eyes but it had teeth. Its harms were long and nearly touched the floor. They dangled about somewhat limply. Accompanying this monster were four small orange insects. They didn’t even come up to my knee and their legs looked quite stubby.
I felt like throwing up again. I really had no desire to fight this thing. Not in the condition I was in.
Cloud drew his sword and stepped in front of Aeris. “Someone take care of Aeris!” he cocked his head sideways and seemed to notice how little I wanted to be a part of this fight. “Tifa, Grant, take care of her!” he shouted.
Oh, so I need Tifa’s help? I guess he didn’t trust me to look after her on my own. Tifa didn’t look all that pleased with Cloud’s decision either, to be honest. Or maybe I was just imagining that.
We quickly ran to meet up with Aeris as Cloud and his chosen allies engaged the monster. When we got close enough, Tifa grabbed Aeris’s arm and led her away from the battle.
“Come on, we’ll wait by the elevator!”
Only as we made our way towards the said location, there was a ding. I watched the elevator slide open and three people come running out. Two blue uniformed Shinra soldiers with machine guns ready and one 3rd class SOLDIER with a silver mask, red outfit, and long steel blade.
Tifa stopped and paled as she noted the SOLDIER’s presence. She turned her head to us and said in a relatively calm voice, “Leave the SOLDIER to me.”
That left two normal Shinra soldiers for Aeris and I. But if we dealt with them quickly, we’d be able to back Tifa up. Don’t get me wrong, the girl was strong and all, but I questioned how well she would deal a SOLDIER alone at her present level.
“…Right!” Aeris replied uncertainly.
It didn’t take long to figure out why. She had no weapon and no materia. I groaned and stepped in front of her.
“Just find somewhere to hide or something.” I snapped at her. For no reason either. I was getting unusually testy considering this wasn’t at all her fault.
I pulled the scythe from my back and got into stance. Two soldiers would normally be not so bad, but like this…
Tifa charged the SOLDIER and swung quickly with a few fast jabs designed to stun him so she could follow through with something a little stronger. In response, the SOLDIER blocked her fast strikes with the flat of his blade and swung quickly at her. She sprung back and then went forward again, this time with a sweeping kick. He leapt above it and brought his sword down at her. She rolled to the side, but the SOLDIER spun around and kicked her in the side of the face. She recovered quickly. Red energy surrounded her and she shot forth like a rocket.
“Beat Rush!”
The speed of her punches had dramatically increased, each blow landed concisely on the SOLDIER’s body. She followed up with the summersault, sending a strong kick into the SOLDIER’s jaw. It cracked his mask slightly and his head shot back from the force. When Tifa landed back on her feet after the completion of her move, she charged the man once again, going in swinging.
As the Shinra soldiers prepared to fire, I chanted out the name of my spell.
“Bolt!”
While the spell worked, my aim was seriously off. It went flying right by them, and they hadn’t even moved to dodge. They began firing at me with their guns and I ran behind a crate for cover.
“Shit…no good.” I murmured.
“Shadow Replication!”
As the clone was formed, I snuck around the crates while it went out into the open and ran around dodging bullets. With the two soldiers convinced they were fighting me, I managed to worm my way around them until I was behind them both. One of their bullets finally nailed my clone and it disappeared in a poof of smoke. Before they could voice their confusion, I attacked. I slowly swung my scythe at the first one’s back, cutting into his body vertically. I took a swing at the second, but my speed was quite seriously delayed. Before it hit, he shot at me in a panic with a wide spray of bullets.
I fell to the ground as a few had hit me. I watched in almost slow motion as he pointed his gun at me, preparing to finish me off. I felt my limit come up and used it instinctively.
“Spiral cut!” I shouted as I sprung up. I was fortunate in that the normally unnecessary flips I performed before finally finishing the attack had allowed me to avoid being hit by gunfire. I finally brought my scythe down into his shoulder, continuing to move it down until I had severed his entire arm off. He fell to the ground screaming in anguish.
I wanted to help Tifa, but I needed to treat my wounds and this pain before I’d be of any use to her.
“Fire 2!” the SOLDIER shouted at Tifa.
What followed was an impressive blast of fire. It missed Tifa and instead hit the ground, but it exploded upon making contact with it. The blast sent Tifa flying into the elevator door. She struck the metal hard and grunted as she made impact. She fell forward onto her hands and knees and the SOLDIER ran forward with his sword ready.
By this point, I had already applied potions to my injuries. I decided against pain killers since the dude at the shop warned me against mixing drugs. Seeing that the SOLDIER was about to drive his sword into Tifa’s gut, I lifted my arms and winced, realizing this would probably hurt.
But mere moments before I thought I was about to save Tifa’s life, the man had thrust his sword forward and Tifa quickly edged to the side. She caught the man’s sword arm and quickly moved her hands down to his wrist. With a freaky display of force, she snapped it like a dry twig. The SOLDIER yelped in pain, but before he could do anything more, Tifa released her grip and spun around gracefully to deliver a nasty elbow to the man’s face. His mask cracked completely, revealing his pale and battered face. Finally, to finish it off, Tifa stuck her foot on the side of his leg and applied enough force to snap it. He fell to the ground and lost consciousness. Tifa really does kick a lot of ass, wow.
I let out a sigh of relief and started looking around for Aeris. I gave up after a few seconds, mainly because I was starting to experience blurred vision and visual distortions. I turned around to where the others were and noticed that the largest blur of colors was flashing red and then disappeared completely. I believe that means they just killed it.
“You okay?” I hear Tifa’s voice say to me.
I face the general direction it came from and nod. “Yeah. What about Aeris?”
“I’m okay too.” Her voice came from my side.
I saw them moving towards the others, so I followed. I couldn’t make too much out right now, which was seriously troubling. If I ran into just one enemy like this, I’d be killed no doubt.
I stopped and fell back after making contact with someone.
“Sorry.” I said to whoever it was, “Can’t focus so well. Tired maybe.”
I felt a large hand grab my arm and help me up. Ah, so it was Barret.
“Figures, I guess. C’mon, we’re gettin’ outta here.” He said gruffly.
I kind of zoned out for a few seconds, but I think Red just said sorry to Aeris and agreed to help us get out of here. Now Cloud’s saying something I can’t really make out, but from what I remember from the game, he’s probably splitting us up into two groups so we won’t attract too much attention.
I’m starting to consider coming clean to them about just how fucked up I really am…or maybe just one of them so they can lead me to floor 66. Once we get there and are stopped by the Turks, I can just sleep in my cell for a bit.
“Yo, Grant!” Barret said as he shook me.
Suddenly, everything came into focus and I could tell what was happening again. The sudden change in the appearance of things made me get a rush of sickness. I closed my eyes and counter to 3 mentally before opening them again.
“Sorry.” I’d been saying that a lot lately. “Alright, let’s get going. 66th floor, right?”
“Yeah. We’re goin’ there with Red here.” He said.
I looked down at the red beast. He didn’t seem to interested in conversing. His tail was swaying back and forth. I got the impression he was feeling impatient on the inside but just wasn’t saying anything. I could see why though. If I had been in his position, I’d want out of here as quickly as possible.
I felt Barret’s hand on my shoulder. “Hey, kid. When we get outta here you really need some sleep, awright? Direct order from your superior an’ all.”
“That sounds good…so, so good.” I replied.
As we traveled down to the 66th floor, I started to feel better. I think this whole bad experience was starting to pass by. I suspect the others had been caught already. They did go on ahead of us, after all.
When the three of us stepped into the elevator, the clear blue glass provided a nice view of the outside. It looked as though it were early in the evening at this point in time. The sky was nice. I hadn’t seen it in a while on account of being under the plate and all. I didn’t even bother to look at it yesterday when I was fighting all those fangs either.
As Barret goes to hit the button down, the door behind us opens and in walks Reno. I was expecting Rude, but he probably got the others.
“Can you hit up for me, pal?” he said with amusement.
“You!” Barret turned and shouted. He was about to lift his gun and begin shooting when he caught sight of the dozen Shinra soldiers standing just outside the elevator door.
He growled deeply and lowered his gun. Red let out a deep and disappointed sigh. I didn’t really care since I knew we were still getting out. It would just be a big hassle to do so.
----------------------------END OF CHAPTER-------------------------