Chapter 8

     "Come on!  This way!  There's an observation lounge on the 20th floor!" yelled Reno, as
he headed for the main elevators.
     "This time, we take both cars.  Five in each one," warned Jim.  They each filed in, an din
seconds, they were at teh obsercation lounge.  From this floor, you could see the entire city.
     Their worst fears had been confirmed.  The Number Eight was running at full steam. 
Then, another started--Number Two, followed by Number Four, Six, and Seven, the only
operable reactors.
     "My God," said Tifa.  "Don't they ever learn?"
     "Who?  There's no on ehere but us," retorted Reno.  "Those reactors can't be turned on
from anywhere but this building."
     "Didn't Shinra have any kind of backup in case this place was knocked out?" asked
Cloud.
     "None I know of."
     "Then whoever is doing this is here, in Midgar, in this very building..." said Tifa.
     "Watching our every move," added Jim.  He turned around, pulled the staff from his
back, aimed, and launched it at a piece of black glass on the corner.  He hit his mark, and the
glass shattered into pieces.  The equipment behind it fizzled and sparked.  He held out his
magnetic glove, and the staff returned to his grasp with a clang.  "Security camera," he
explained.  "Whoever it is, they're on to us for certain by now.  We'd better keep moving."
     The PHS phone rang in Cloud's pocket, and he answered it.  "Reeve?  Yes, it's Cloud. 
Uh, REeve, I got some bad news.  The--How'd you know?  The Junon reactor is running, too?  I
thought you shut it down.  What do you mean you can't shut it down?  Oh, #^%#!  OK.  What? 
Here?  OK.  64th floor.  Got it."  Cloud hung up, and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. 
"We're going to get Cait Sith.  He's on the 64th floor.  All we gotta do is turn him on."
     "Then what the hell we waiting here for?  Let's go!" yelled Cid, as he mashed the button
to open the elevator doors.  No sooner had they opened, then everyone had rushed in, and they
were off for the 64th floor, with the Turks providing the access codes.
     When they arrived, they ran straight for the locker rooms.  Sure enough, there it was, just
as Reeve had said.
     JIm saw what seemed to be a cat, wearing a crown, and curled up on top of a huge white,
funny-looking thing with tiny little wings and a huge zipper on its back.  "Don't tell me.  That,"
he pointed to Cait," is Cait Sith."
     "Yup," answered Cloud, who walked right up to Cait, and flipped a switch under the
collar on the cat.
     The cat yawned, stretched, and blinked a few times, before standing up on his hind legs. 
The creature also rose.  The cat looked at Cloud.
     "Hey, Spike!  Long time, no see!  Say, how do you get your hair to do that, anyway?"
     Cloud grabbed Cait's megaphone from the still-open locker, and shoved it over the cat's
head.  "Stuff it, Cait."
     "I take it the two of you don't get along well," said Jim, stifling a laugh.
     Cait pulled off his megaphone.  "I should mention to you, that Reeve put in an AI chip,
so he doesn't have to control me anymore."
     "Great.  That means you're going to be this obnoxious all the time," said Cloud.
     The public address system crackled to life, echoing through the locker room.  "So good
of you to drop in.  Why don't you come up to the top and visit?" said the voice, unmistakeably
female.
     "It could be a trap," said Cloud.
     "What do you mean, could be?  OF COURSE it's a trap!" yelled Jim.
     "I'll go up.  Alone," said Cloud.
     "No!  I can't let you do that.  I'll go," said Jim.  "You stay here."
     "Are you crazy?" said Yuffie.  "You just said yourself it was a trap!"
     "So?  I'm the only one here with nothing to lose."
     "Are you sure?" asked Tifa.
     Jim pulled his staff, and it hit the ground with a loud clang.  "There is nothing more
dangerous than a man at the end of his rope, Tifa."
     "Wait!  I'm coming with you!" yelled Yuffie.  "You shouldn't go up alone."
     "I can't let you go."
     "I'm not letting you hog all the glory, kid!"
     "I don't want to see you get hurt."
     "I can take care of myself."
     "Fine...I guess I will need a partner.  Just us two then.  And no buts."  And with that final
comment, Reno handed him a card.  "You'll need it to gain access to the upper levels."
     "Thanks," said Jim.
     "Good luck," said Elena.
     "I'll need it," answered Jim.  Then the two of them walked into the elevator, and the
doors closed.
     They opened again on the 69th floor.
     "Come on, boy.  Up here," said the voice.
     "Ready, Yuffie?" asked Jim.
     Yuffie nodded, and drew her Conformer.  Then they both ran up the last flight of stairs,
arriving together on the 70th floor.  A woman was sitting behind a large desk with several
monitors attached to it.  There were many signs of serious damage to the building here.  Most of
the windows were completely gone, and there were large black marks on the floor and walls,
where explosions had taken place.
     "Scarlet," spat Yuffie.
     The woman stood up at the mention of her name, and walked toward them, joined by a
short man with mostly grey hair, and a thick salt-and-pepper beard.  The woman wore a sleazy
red dress, with a very low neckline, and a slit running up most of her thigh.  She had long
greenish-blonde hair, and a pair of large hoop earrings.  The man was in a green military
uniform.  Jim saw by the stripes on his shoulder bar that he was a general.
     "Ah, so you do remember me, girl," she said, eyeing down Yuffie critically.  "I don't
remember you, though."
     "Yeah.  I'm kind of new around here," answered Jim.
     "Why did you restart the reactors again?  Are you insane?" Yuffie practically screamed.
     "Shinra will become powerful once again!  I will see to that.  And the first thing I plan to
do is get rid of you and your little friends," said Scarlet.  "I will rule the world with an iron fist!"
     "Not if we can help it," retorted Jim, as he drew his staff from his back.  "I can make it
slow and painful, or quick and painful.  Which do you prefer?"
     "Hmm, a little cocky, are we?" said Scarlet.  "You men, always thinking with your
crotches.  Heideggar!  Get over here!"
     The man waddled over to Scarlet's side.  "Gya ha haa!  Now we've got you!"
     "Let me guess, you've got us right where we want us, right?  Can we please cut the
cliches, and get on with it?" complained Jim.  "This is worse than 'Volcano'."
     "Whatever you say," replied Heideggar, who drew a pair of automatic pistols on Yuffie. 
Jim swung his staff, and knocked both weapons from Heideggar's hands, and they clattered to
the floor.  Jim picked them up, and tossed one to Yuffie.  Jim trained his pistol on Scarlet, while
Yuffie pointed at Heideggar.
     "Now who's got who?" asked Jim.  His gun was pointed at the very center of Scarlet's
chest.  "You know, I would shoot you here, but I can plainly see there's nothing there," he said,
poking Scarlet over her heart.
     Scarlet's face turned red.  "You pig!"  She brought her knee up, and landed it squarely in
Jim's groin.  Jim doubled over, and moaned.  Heideggar and Yuffie both winced.  Heideggar
crossed his legs, reflexively.  Then, Jim stood straight up, and smiled.
     "Nice try.  You should have known that I'd cover my bases," he said, grinning.  Then he
swung his staff directly into Scarlet's midsection, and she bent over in pain.  Then he grabbed
her head, and rammed it into his knee.  Yuffie kicked Heideggar in the stomach, and bashed him
in the head with her Conformer.  He wavered on his feet for a moment, then collapsed.
     "That was easy," said Yuffie.
     "Yeah.  Too easy," responded Jim.
     The two of them walked down the stairs to the 69th floor.
     "Of course it was, you two!  Kya ha haa!" said Scarlet's voice on the PA.  Yuffie and Jim
ran back up to the office, and to Scarlet's desk.  Jim read the display, and shook his head.
     "This is bad.  This is very bad.  Yuffie, get out of here.  Get everyone out of the building,
NOW!"
     "Why?"
     "Because the place is going to blow in 10 minutes!  Come on, move!" he urged, as he ran
back downstairs to the elevator.  Yuffie was close behind, and they both ran into the elevator,
stopping at the 64th floor.  Everyone was standing around, oblivious to the situation.
     "Come on!  Get out!  The place is going to go up in 7 minutes!" yelled Jim.  The entire
group ran for the elevators.
     "There isn't enough room for all of us!" yelled Tifa.
     "What about that one?  Does it go all the way down?" asked Jim, pointing to the glass
elevator he and Yuffie had just rode down on.
     "Yes.  It goes straight down," said Cait Sith.
     "Then Yuffie and me will ride down in that one.  You guys go down here, and we'll meet
in the tunnels.  Go!" barked Jim.  He and Yuffie ran to the glass elevator, while the rest filed into
the other two.  As soon as all were in, the doors closed, and they were on the way down.
     Yuffie placed her Conformer on the ground as the elevator started its descent.  "Thank
Da-Chao we're out of that."
     "Thank him when we're back on the Highwind," replied Jim.
     At that moment, a helicopter swooped down, evening its descent with the elevator's. 
Scarlet leaned out the window, brandishing a shotgun.  Jim saw the gun at the last second.
     "Get down!" he yelled, as Scarlet pulled the trigger.  He grabbed Yuffie's arm as the glass
in the elevator shattered all around them.  Then the helicopter flew away as the elevator arrived
at the lobby.  One minute later, the building self-destructed, coming down on top of itself, Yuffie
and Jim both running like hell trying to escape the blast.  As the building settled, all the lights
began to wink out again, as all the reactors in the city shut down.

     Let me know what you think!  Email me at jrebholz@usa.net