CHAPTER 5
Reaching the end of the tunnel, they saw beams of green light blocking
the exit. Cloud remembered what they were. "Those are Shinra's
security sensors. We can't go any further," he said over the humming
security lasers. Without a hint of disappointment, Cloud looked around
and spotted a small opening to his left. He let the others know of
his discovery.
"That's one tiny hole," Barret said, comparing its
size to his own. "You tellin' me to squeeze in that thing to get
under the Plate? No way!" Seeing no other options, however,
he left it up to Cloud. "Yo, Cloud, what're we gonna do?"
Cloud decided to take a look inside the duct and
took off the metal plate covering the opening. "There seems to be
nothing that'll get us stuck in there," Tifa remarked as she bent over
to take a look.
"Yeah," agreed Cloud. "But if we go down,
we won't be able to come back up."
Barret went over and glanced at the opening.
"Don't be wastin' time!" he growled restlessly. "Never know when
the Shinra'll find us. Cloud, you jes' gotta go."
Cloud shrugged in his "whatever..." way and slipped
his legs in the duct. Grumbling, Barret reluctantly followed and
squeezed in behind Cloud and Tifa. "But man, this thing gives me
the chills..."
They slid down the narrow duct and landed in a small
metal passage, dimly lit by a glowing bottle of fluid near the center.
"Ether," Cloud remarked as he added it to their inventory and climbed down
a ladder at the end of the tunnel. It brought them onto a large metal
platform, illuminated by numerous light sources along the rails.
The floor was littered with boxes and supplies, but the group ran quickly
across it to meet up with Wedge, who was waiting at the other end.
Half way there, they heard a sudden creaking noise.
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert."
"What the--?" Barret rolled just in time as
several bullets whizzed above him. He gave the before-hidden security
gun a taste of its own medicine and blew it to pieces with one shot.
Cloud took on a second one and severed the wires with a powerful chop.
Tifa quickly punched a third out of its socket, and continued with the
others across the platform.
"This way, guys!" Wedge waved as the group reached
the other end. "The reactor's up this ladder." They wasted
no time and climbed into a small room. Cloud saw Jessie leaning against
the wall with her head hung.
"What's the problem?" he asked, careful not to make
it sound as if he actually cared.
"I--I'm sorry," she replied, on the verge of tears.
"The ID scan problem on the train was all my fault."
"What??"
"I made your ID card special," she confessed.
"That's why it happened. I put my heart into making it, but I failed.
Next time I'll give you something more decent. I'll be back at the
hideout in my research room workin' on it."
Cloud couldn't help but feel sorry for her, but
he didn't want to show any sign of weakness. He turned and saw something
lying on the floor. Another small bottle of liquid. He sniffed
the contents as he picked it up and instantly felt refreshed and more alert.
"Maybe I didn't need to bring so many potions after all." Cloud decided
to save it in case they really needed it later.
The next ladder brought them into a room where Biggs
was waiting. "We're gonna pull out now," he told them. "We'll
meet at the hideout. We're countin' on you guys to blow the reactor!"
As Biggs ran out, Cloud climbed up the ladder next to him and entered the
reactor. Inside, the group slid down a long chute and jumped onto
the floor of a huge, cold room with large metal pipes running along the
walls and ceiling. A large, cylindrical machine stood on a platform
supported by tall metal girders at the center of the room. Cloud
examined the familiar surroundings and quickly led Barret and Tifa through
the confusing building to the heart of the reactor. Cloud was about
to set the bomb when his head started to throb and his ears began to ring;
he crumpled from the excruciating pain. "No...not again," he moaned.
Just when he thought he could take it no longer, the pain vanished.
Still on his knees, he looked up and saw a young girl.
"Papa..." she sniffled, kneeling beside a mortally
wounded man. Cloud could barely hear her above the pounding in his
ears, but he recognized the voice.
"Tifa?" he whispered, bewildered.
"Se--Sephi--Sephiroth..." the dying man wheezed.
"Sephiroth?" Tifa repeated in a choked voice.
"Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he?" She continued, her voice
rising in anger, "Sephiroth...SOLDIER...Mako Reactors...Shinra...everything!"
She lifted her head and shouted with all her might as if she wanted God
Himself to hear her cry.
"I hate them all!!!"
With tears stinging her face and revenge burning
her heart, Tifa picked up the katana Sephiroth had murdered her father
with and ran inside the reactor room. Then everything became black
again.
"Cloud!" he heard Barret shout. "Get a hold
of yourself, man!"
Regaining consciousness, he saw Barret and Tifa
beside him.
"Are you all right, Cloud?" Tifa asked in a worried
tone.
"Tifa..." he said weakly as he looked up, thinking
of his vision.
"Mmm?"
"I--no, forget it..." he sighed, not knowing what
to say. "Come on, let's hurry up."
"Right," agreed Barret.
Cloud quickly set the bomb and hurried out.
They ran up the long ladder leading to the platform and got in the elevator,
taking them up to the control room controlling the locked doors that controlled
the entrance to the reactor. Cloud saw a shabby-looking box on the
floor and found another Ether inside. "That's weird...Ether is supposed
to be rare; how come there's so much in this reactor?" He didn't
have time to think about it; the bomb was set to blow in twenty minutes.
The group quickly found the controls for the locked doors and Tifa recalled,
"Jessie said all we have to do is push these buttons at the same time."
On Barret's signal, Cloud carefully punched the button at the same time
as the others and ran through the unlocked door.
They found themselves on a T-shaped metal bridge,
both branches leading out of the reactor.
"This way!" waved Barret, heading toward the left.
Before he could react, several men burst through the doorway. "Shinra
soldiers!? Shoot, what's goin' on?!"
"A trap..." said Cloud, echoing the obvious.
Stopped dead in their tracks, the party heard slow footsteps coming from
inside the reactor and a short, robust, mustachioed man with golden hair,
and wearing a dark red business suit emerged onto the catwalk.
"Presi--President Shinra?!"
exclaimed Barret, now even more surprised. The only time he'd ever
seen this man was on TV, and he looked even more imposing in person.
"Why is the President here?" asked Tifa, just as
confused.
President Shinra addressed them. "So, you
all must that--ahhh, what was it?"
"AVALANCHE! And don't ya forget it!" Barret
said. "So you're President Shinra, huh?
Cloud remained calm. "Hello, President.
Long time no see."
A confused look appeared on President Shinra's face.
"Long time no-- Oh...you." His expression changed into a despising
frown. "You were the one who quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE.
I knew you'd been exposed to Mako from the look in your eyes. Tell
me, traitor, what was your name?"
"My name is Cloud."
"Forgive me for asking," Shinra said. "I can't
be expected to remember each soldier's name. Unless you become another
Sephiroth." He stopped and reminisced. "Ah yes, Sephiroth...he
was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant..."
Cloud took a step back. "Sephiroth...?"
Barret pushed in front of Cloud and yelled, "Don't
care 'bout all this! This place is goin' with a big *BANG* soon and
you're goin' down with it! Serves ya'll right!"
"Yes, and such a waste of fireworks just to get
rid of vermin like you," Shinra sighed.
"VERMIN?!" Barret exploded. "That's all you
can say!? Vermin! Let me tell you somethin'. Ya'll Shinra're
the vermin around here, killin' the planet! And that makes you KING
vermin. So shu'up, foo'!"
"You are beginning to bore me," Shinra replied calmly,
looking at his extremely expensive watch. "I'm a very busy man, so
if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner I need to attend."
"Dinner?! Don't gimme none o' that!
I ain't even started wit' you yet!"
"Oh, but I've already arranged a playmate for you
all."
President Shinra slowly raised his arm to snap his
fingers, and they heard a loud rumbling sound coming from their left.
Tifa turned. "What's that noise?"
Suddenly, a monstrous machine bristling with weapons
stormed onto the catwalk and hovered a few feet from where they were standing,
awaiting instructions. The hulking, barrel-chested robot towered
over the whole group, and its menacing arms seemed ready to grab someone
at any moment.
Turning to meet the new foe, Barret exclaimed, "What
is this?!"
"Meet Airbuster, a techno-soldier featuring the
latest of Shinra weapons technology. Our own Weapons Department developed
him. I'm sure the data he will extract from your dead bodies will
be of great use to us in the future."
"Techno-soldier?" Cloud wondered out loud.
"Now if you'll excuse me," Shinra said as his personal
helicopter arrived.
"Wait, President!" Cloud called, but his voice was
drowned out by the chopper as the president got on and left.
"Cloud!!!" bellowed Barret, interrupting
Cloud's turbulent thoughts as Airbuster advanced on Barret and Tifa.
"We gotta do somethin' 'bout him!
"Help, Cloud!" Tifa cried. "This is
from SOLDIER?!"
Cloud suddenly remembered about Airbuster and ran
behind it with his sword drawn, ready to help his comrades. "No way!
It's just a machine."
Barret took aim at the robot. "I don't care
what it is. I'm gonna bust it up!"
"Aim for its back; that's where it's most vulnerable!"
Cloud yelled as he ran up behind the massive machine and swept his sword
down its back with all his might. It probably hurt Cloud more than
Airbuster; he had barely cut through its armor. "Man, this thing
is tough!" He also knew Shinra would never be stupid enough to put
all its vital electronics near the outside. This was going to be
tougher than he thought. And longer. And with the clock on
the time bomb ticking, he could not afford a long battle. By this
time, Airbuster had already turned around to face his aggressor.
Barret seized the chance and quickly unloaded six rounds from his newly-equipped
assault gun-arm into the metal menace's back. Tifa followed suit
and slammed her fists into the thick armor. Sizzling and popping
from severed wires and damaged electronics, Airbuster suddenly seemed to
be frozen in place. "Turning function non-operational," reported
a computerized voice. "Yes!" exulted Cloud. "It ain't over
yet, Cloud!" Barret warned. No sooner had the words left his mouth
when he felt a searing pain in his right shoulder; Airbuster had guns even
installed in its back. Enraged, Barret grasped his bleeding shoulder,
channeling all his anger into his gun-arm, and unleashed a huge
fireball at Airbuster that vaporized a large section of its chest armor,
leaving blackened crater at the point of impact. A little surprised
at the damage he had done, Barret was nearly startled out of his wits as
a bolt of electricity struck the huge machine.
"What the--??" gasped Barret.
"You told me to take care of the Materia before
we left!" called Cloud. "Lightning Materia works especially well
against robots!"
"Materia?? Why didn't you tell me earlier,
foo'? I've got a hole in my shoulder! See what you can do about
it!"
"No problem," came the quick reply.
To his amazement, Barret saw the wound close and
heal right before his eyes. "Basic Restore magic," said Cloud.
"Quit jabberin' about yer Materia! We got
a robot to bust!"
"Fine." Another lightning bolt struck Airbuster,
and Barret unleashed another barrage of gunfire into the robot. Tifa
pounded the weakened armor and Cloud gave it another slash. Suddenly,
the robot charged forward and rammed Cloud with so much force that it knocked
him clear across the catwalk. Bruised and bleeding, he could feel
his anger rise and in a fantastic display of rage, he jumped with superhuman
strength to an incredible height and brought his sword down with lethal
force on the mechanical soldier, practically cleaving it in two.
Recovering from his explosion of fury, Cloud saw the robot start moving
and jerking uncontrollably. "Watch out, Cloud, it's gonna blow!!!"
Barret hollered.
Too late. Cloud suddenly heard a loud explosion and felt his body
being flung up into the air, everything happening as if in slow motion.
It was all he could do to reach out his arm on his way down and grab onto
the broken edge of section Airbuster had blown up, and hang there for dear
life. "Come on, Tifa, the reactor's gonna blow!" Barret shouted,
running towards the exit.
"Barret, can't you do something?" cried Tifa.
"Not a thing," Barret replied apologetically.
Tifa turned her frightened gaze from Barret's face
to Cloud's. "Cloud, please don't die! You can't die!
There's still so much I want to tell you!"
"I know, Tifa..." he said, his thoughts mirroring
hers. He had to survive...for Tifa. With renewed motivation,
Cloud tried to grab onto the bridge with his other arm. Not long
enough.
"Hey, you gonna be awright?" Barret asked, even
though he knew what they were both thinking.
"Be strong..." Cloud said, his voice strained as
he tried to swing his body sideways and reach the bridge. Missed.
"You worry about yourselves! I'm all right, but take care of Tifa!"
"Alright, sorry 'bout all this."
"Stop talkin' like this is the end!" Cloud said
fiercely, swinging again with all his strength. Got it!
Holding on tight, he began trying to pull himself up onto the catwalk.
"Alright then," Barret said. "Later."
Just as he finished, the first explosion rocked
the whole reactor. Cloud's precarious grip was released and having
no strength to yell, he fell silently into the abyss below.
"CLOOOOUUUUDDDD!!!" Tifa screamed, reaching
out over the edge for his already disappearing figure. Barret restrained
her to make sure she didn't throw herself after Cloud, and Tifa closed
her eyes, sobbing against Barret's broad shoulder.
"Tifa, come on! We've gotta get outta here,
or else we'll be meeting Cloud real soon!"
Taking one last gaze at the darkness below, Tifa
tore herself away and hurried out of the reactor.
