Merging Journeys

This is chapter 7. This is only chapter 7. Remember that as you read this chapter. All the characters in this story (except for a few) belong to Sony of America and Squaresoft, but the plot is my own! If you bite off my story I'm going to get majorly pissed!! Anyway, there's going to be some action in this one! Yay!

Started: July 3, 1998

Finished: July 11, 1998 (OH MY GOD! I can't believe I finished it that fast!)

Barret Wallace mumbled under his breath as he walked through the slums of Sector 4. He had watched the sun go down alone and now he was walking back to Sector 3 with a frown on his face. The first thing he was going to do once they had taken out Shinra was get rid of that "damned pizza" that covered Midgar. He would personally like to see this Veraldei guy taking the plate apart piece by piece by himself. It made him grin at the thought.

"Barret!" came a call from behind. Barret turned around in time to see Red XIII bounding up to him. "I thought I'd find you here."

"Hey, Red," greeted the black man. "Wassup?"

"Reeve just called Cid up a while ago. It turns out that something happened and the guy that tried to kill him was killed," Red reported.

"Good," sighed Barret. "Damn, I thought we be losin' Reeve up there."

"Well, it seems that he's stronger than we give him credit for," Red sighed.

"HEY!"

The two spun around, a curse passing Barret's lips when he saw a large army of armed Shinra SOLDIERs standing behind them. One of them strode in front of them, apparently the leader of the group. "AVALANCHE scum. . .," he hissed. "Your life ends here!" The leader SOLDIER unsheathed his double-bladed sword and waved the others to follow his lead.

"Shit. . ." Barret brought up his Missing Score and started firing at the group of SOLDIERs. Many of them leapt into the air to dodge the attack, but some were able to shield off the bullets with their swords and armor. Shaking his head and waving Red XIII to follow him, Barret ran off.

Red hurried after Barret, turning back to the SOLDIERs one last time and shouting out, "Ice 3!" before taking off. The two ran through the slums, but their pursuers were quickly gaining ground. They ended up stopping when four of the SOLDIERs leapt up and cut them off. Barret and Red looked at each other in despair when. . .

"Judgement Bolt!"

. . . a pillar of dirt erupted from the ground, a man with a long beard appearing on top of the pillar. He waved his arms around and thrust his staff into the air, lightning bursting forth from the staff and frying the four SOLDIERs in their way. With his job done, Ramuh disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared. Smirking, Yuffie Kisaragi leapt out of nowhere, waving her two comrades to follow her. She had her Conformer and Cid's Javelin on her back.

As they ducked into another alley, the trio came face to face with five more SOLDIERs. Yuffie looked at the two. "Either of you have anything that I can throw?" she queried quietly. When both of them shook their heads, Yuffie pulled the Javelin off her back.

"Uh . . are you sure Cid won't mind that you're using that, Yuffie?" asked Red.

"Nah, he won't mind," Yuffie replied before throwing the spear at the SOLDIERs. It struck one of them and it went off into a string of curses.

Red took this to his advantage and jumped the SOLDIER, mauling the man to death. Barret pulled an Earth Materia from his pocket and jammed it into his gun. "Quake 3!" Stone spires stabbed upward from the earth before crashing down on the SOLDIERs. The three ran by their trapped enemies, Yuffie grabbing the Javelin as she ran by. Citizens watched the three run by in confusion, gasping when sword-wielding SOLDIERs ran after them.

Yuffie suddenly faced the SOLDIERs, brandishing a red Materia that she had relieved Barret of. "Mega Flare!!!!" she screamed as she jammed it into her weapon.

"I don't understand it," Aeris Gainsborough sighed, crossing her arms as she approached Tseng. "Mom would never leave the house . . . unless something happened."

"I'm sure she's fine, Aeris," Tseng said, comforting the other Cetra. "Elmyra's probably with AVALANCHE."

"Most likely," Vincent agreed. He no longer felt odd about being around Tseng when he spoke to Aeris. "Let's get moving. The sooner we locate the others, the sooner we can start planning the downfall of Shinra."

"Right." Tseng fingered Holy. When they had finally reached Midgar, he had kept Clucky just outside the gates. He wondered what the chocobo would do if someone tried to hurt him. "Come on, we still have a lot of ground to cover--" Tseng stopped when he saw a large beam of prism-colored energy strike Sector 4. It had apparently come from a summoned monster. ". . . Or maybe not."

"That was Bahamut's attack," Vincent remarked. "If I'm not mistaken, Nanaki was the last one with it."

"Well," Aeris said, materializing as Tseng disappeared, "if it was Red, then we don't have any time to lose! Let's go!" Aeris started running as she took out the Nova Guardian, leaving a surprised Vincent and a disembodied Tseng to catch up with her.

"Damn!!" Yuffie yelled as they continued to run through the Sector 4 slums. "I was *sure* that would finish them off!!"

"Well, I guess you were wrong!" hissed Red, glaring at her through his one eye. He averted his attention back to running, looking up at Barret. "I doubt we'll ever lose them, Barret!"

"Do you have any &%#@* better ideas, Red!?" growled Barret. "We won't beat 'em in a ^&@# one-on-one fight!"

"You're not sure of that!" exclaimed Nanaki. "Their troops have dwindled down to barely a dozen!"

"Why didn't you say so???" Barret stopped in his tracks and spun to face their attackers. The six SOLDIERs continued towards them, but Barret brought up gun and fired at them. Two of the SOLDIERs were unable to block the attack without their equipment and were shot dead. The last four hesitated before turning tail and running. As the four Shinra men disappeared from view, there came the sounds of gunshots and metal meeting metal. The trio of AVALANCHE members got into a battle stance as the sounds died down and were ready to attack when they saw the shooter. "Vincent!?" gasped Barret.

Vincent waved, blowing on the barrel of Death Penalty before putting it away. The caped man was closely followed by another person, and as the two approached, Red's good eye widened in horror. The other person was female, with a pink dress and a red jacket. "Aeris??"

Aeris grinned and waved, holding her Nova Guardian in one hand. Tseng walked in silence to Aeris' right, his hands clasped behind his back as he walked. "How are you guys doing?" Aeris queried as she and Vincent stopped in front of them.

"No way!!" shrieked Yuffie. "You're dead!"

"You're right," Aeris started, "I am dead."

Tseng grinned and laughed. "I'm going to love this," he said to Aeris, rubbing his hands together.

"Then . . . how?" Barret asked.

"Well, I'm bonded with another Cetra," explained Aeris, trying her best to stifle a giggle. She knew what Tseng intended to do. . . "He's alive and I'm able to possess his body when both of us are willing."

"Who's this other Cetra?" Red asked. Tseng took a deep breath and nodded at Aeris. Aeris shut her eyes and everyone (except Vincent) watched in awe as Aeris disappeared and was replaced with Tseng.

"YOU!!!!" roared Barret, reaching over and grabbing Tseng by the lapels, lifting him into the air. "Damn Turk!! Asshole of the Turks!!!"

"Formerly of the Turks," Tseng calmly corrected. He was having a hard time containing his laughter, but he managed to hide in all his emotions. "Now, please, let go of me before Vincent goes ahead and does something rash." Barret averted his eyes from Tseng to Vincent, who was frowning dangerously as he continued to point Death Penalty directly at his head.

"Damn Turk. . ." Barret hissed. Aeris started laughing hard. She knew how annoyed Barret could get when someone acted cool and arrogant around him. She had first witnessed it when she was in the presence of both Cloud and Barret. "Damn ^&*@#$@ Turk. . ."

Yuffie scratched her head. "Uh . . . you're Tseng, right?" she queried.

Tseng nodded. "I'm also a Cetra." The three stared at him in shock. "The collective Cetra chose me to become the last Cetra, as the Planet is in trouble again."

"How can we believe you?" Red asked suspiciously. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Well, Aeris doesn't lie," Tseng replied, "and I'm sure that this should back me up." Tseng brought up his gloved hand and showed them his palm, allowing them to see Holy embedded in the glove. Even Vincent blinked in surprise at the sight.

"We-- We saw that fall into the water, though," Barret sputtered out. "How'd *you* get your hands on it?!"

Tseng sighed in exasperation. "How many times do I have to repeat myself? I'm a Cetra. The Cetra gave me Holy to help protect the Planet!"

"Give them time, Tseng," Aeris said. "They still have to take in the fact that you're not their enemy anymore." Tseng sighed again and nodded. "Let Vincent talk to them."

"Vincent. . ." Tseng gestured Vincent to come to his side and the other man walked to his side, putting away Death Penalty. "Can you talk to them about this?"

"We can talk about it later," Vincent said in reply, "but at the moment. . ." Silently, Vincent turned and pointed back. Everyone's eyes looked his pointing finger, and everyone stumbled backwards when the ground began shaking.

"What the %&$ is that!?!" Barret yelled over the tremors. His question was answered when a large, maroon-colored robot stomped into view, its small green eyes flickering with Mako energy. "%&*@^*#@ !!!!!!!!"

"Gya ha ha ha ha!!!"

"Oh, great," hissed Barret, "not *him*."

"Kya ha ha ha ha!"

"Oh, gawd. . ." Yuffie pulled free her Conformer from her back.

"Heidegger and Scarlet," Tseng whispered, gripping his staff.

"Greetings, AVALANCHE twerps!" came Heidegger's voice. "How do you like Scarlet's newest robot?"

"The Proud Clod Deluxe!" Scarlet cackled. "You're dead, whelps!" With that, the Proud Clod fired out a barrage of missiles.

Tseng cursed and brought up his hands in a spell. The Quadra Magic Materia glittered as he shouted out spells. "Barrier!" Transparent, magical barriers enclosed each of his party. "MBarrier!" More barriers popped up and wrapped themselves around AVALANCHE. "FullCure!" A green aura surrounded Barret before dissipating. "FullCure!" Another green aura came into existence, this time healing Red XIII.

"You've gotten a hang of Materia pretty fast, Tseng," commented Aeris, standing next to him. She was not threatened by Proud Clod's presence.

Tseng threw her a grin before backing off, just in time to dodge one of the missiles. Barret and Vincent were busy firing away at the giant. Red called up Fire 3, but it did nothing against the robot. Yuffie reached into her pocket, pulling out a Right Arm grenade, which she threw at the Proud Clod. It exploded on the robot, delivering some damage to the machine.

"Dammit," Barret growled as he continued to fire. "Scarlet just *had* to make something that worked."

"Hey, Vincent!!" yelled Yuffie. "You have the Knights, don't you?? Use it!"

"I can't!" Vincent shouted back. "I'm low on magic."

"Does anyone have an elixer?" Yuffie shrieked, flipping backwards just in time to dodge an eye laser from the machine. "Wait! Vincent, give your Materia to Barret! He only used one spell!"

Vincent nodded, taking the Materia out of his gun and handing it to Barret. Barret plugged it into his gun and took up a casting stance. "Ultimate End!" the burly black man roared. The ground under the Proud Clod Deluxe caved in, the area around them darkening quickly. Everyone watched as the Knights of the Round pummeled the robot repeatedly, bashing in the metal and breaking off the rocket and missile launchers. As the area filled with light again, the group could hear curses and screams from within the Proud Clod.

"Dammit!" came Heidegger's voice. "Not again!!"

"My beautiful machine. . .!" screeched Scarlet as the Proud Clod Deluxe exploded into a pile of fiery rubble.

"Let's hope those two *stay* dead this time," Yuffie remarked, carefully putting back her weapon. She sneered. "Isn't anyone gonna thank me for my fast thinking!?"

"I'll admit it, brat," Barret snorted, "you did some good today. Now, if only you can just do 'dat more often. . ."

"Hehehehe. . .," giggled Yuffie. "I did my part. That's all I'm gonna be doing."

"You better be kidding, brat. . .," started Barret.

"Things never change," sighed Aeris, shaking her head as she leaned back into Tseng.

"I guess not," Tseng agreed, smiling at Aeris.

Reeve sighed as he rested on his bed, staring out of one of his windows. The stars twinkled merrily in the velvet sky, but it bothered Reeve that he was in the midst of danger as long as he stayed in Shinra. Sighing, the spy got up and headed to the other side of his room, where he had moved his little "guest" to. The bird creature chirped at him as he approached, allowing him to pick it up and stroke its feathers.

"You're the queerest creature I've ever seen," Reeve remarked, looking down at the bird. "What are you supposed to be? One of Hojo's specimens?" The bird chirped harshly at the name of the scientist. "So . . . you *are* a specimen. What for, I wonder?" Reeve continued to pet the specimen, up to the point where the creature carefully put its beak around his index finger. Blinking in surprise, the Shinra executive gently pulled his finger away and stared at the bird. "What was that for?" he queried.

The bird chirped, its green eyes glowing like that of a SOLDIER's. Reeve held his breath as the creature craned its neck, finally opening its beak as well as it could. Reeve's eyes widened in surprise when a small, rainbow-colored marble, a Materia, came up into the bird's mouth. Holding a gasp back, Reeve took the Materia from the creature and looked at it, watching it glow softly in his hands. It was oddly warm; all the other Materia he had held before were cold to the touch unless held for a long time.

"What the hell is this?" Reeve queried, looking down at the blinking bird. The Materia started glowing fiercely as he held it, and a scream rose up through his throat as it flashed in front of his eyes.

Andrew Veraldei walked in silence through the large office that belonged to the president of Shinra Incorporated. There was barely any light in the room; the only light that shone into the room came from the windows behind the lone desk near the back of the office. Once he had reached the desk, Veraldei stopped and looked over at the chair, which was turned to face the windows.

"Mr. President," Veraldei started, "we have an intruder in the building."

The chair turned to face him, and Andrew gritted his teeth when he saw the look on his superior's face. "An intruder?" came the president's voice. "Who?"

"I have reason to believe that it's Specimen A," replied Veraldei, "but I don't think it is. The intruder has great skill with the sword; more than that of Specimen A."

"Strife," hissed the president, standing up. Veraldei's sky blue eyes trailed the president, watching him stand by the windows. The president frowned down at the city of Midgar before allowing his eyes to focus on his reflected face; he saw a stern, slim face and cold, blue eyes. He turned back to his vice president. "Give Mr. Strife a hard time trying to escape the building," he started, "but I want him to be able to escape."

"Why, sir?"

A cold, malicious smile curled up the president's face. "You will see," he replied mysteriously.

He held onto Ultima Weapon as he dashed down the stairs, looking back to see the Shinra troops right on his tail. A growl escaped his lips as he jumped on the railing, diving down off of it to the ground below. He landed on his feet and kept running, cursing that he was too drained to cast magic. Just up ahead, the escapee could see the entrance of the Shinra Building -- his only exit if he planned to escape on foot. More guards jumped in front of him, cutting off his escape route.

Shaking his head, the escapee brought up his sword, a shimmering red aura encasing him as he prepared his limit. "Finishing Touch!" Swinging his sword in front of him, the young man summoned up a funnel of wind that sent his foes flying out of his way. He rammed through the door with his armored shoulder, sending glass flying as he continued to run away from the building.

Reno walked down the front steps as some of the guards started to chase after the intruder. "Leave him," he said, his voice harsh and serious.

"Why, Reno?" one of the guards asked, turning towards him as the leader of the Turks stopped at the bottom of the steps.

"President's orders," Reno replied, fingering his nightstick as he spoke. Actually, he had received the orders from Veraldei, but the vice president had explained that they had come from the president. "Now, back to your posts." As the guards hurried back to their stations, Reno brought a PHS to his lips. "Rude, Elena. Meet me in front of the Shinra Building." Moments later, Elena and Rude entered the lobby from the elevator. When they started to salute, Reno brought his hand up. "Please, don't do that," he sighed.

"New orders, Reno?" queried Rude.

Reno nodded, frowning. "We've been ordered to go and find Cloud Strife," he said, "and, once we find him . . . to kill him."

Professor Hojo snickered evilly as he looked at his newest creation. The being within the glass had been pumped with Mako and the DNA of four different people. Only hours ago, the young man floating in the glass tube before him hadn't existed anywhere except for Hojo's twisted mind. It had been very tough to choose the four that would create the perfect being, but with some help from the president and Veraldei, he had chosen four people that had made up the person he gazed upon now.

The first of the four from which the being would take after had been the head of the elite group, SOLDIER -- from him, the being would receive its skill with the sword and personality, not to mention its hair color. The second was the killer of the first -- from him, the being would receive its instincts and body structure. The third one had been the second's best friend -- from him, Hojo's creation would receive its determination and its eye color. And from the fourth, the being would get its sense of superiority and skill with the gun. Hojo had to sneer as he thought about the fourth.

The last of the four was the president himself.

"It's odd that we haven't heard from the others for a while," Tifa remarked as she and Cloud walked through the slums. They were now in Sector 6, and through a hole in the plate above, Tifa could see the first rays of sunlight.

"I'm sure they're okay," Cloud sighed, fingering Ragnarok's hilt. When he had explained to Tifa that he had lost his other sword in the building, she had dug up the second-most powerful sword that he had used before. Strangely enough, Cloud hadn't been able to remember where he had put all his other swords.

Not too far away, the man that had escaped the Shinra Building sat in rubble, panting. He blinked when heard a familiar female voice, then another familiar voice. The second familiar voice scared him. Being careful to stay hidden from the two, the young man trailed the voices. What he ended up seeing was Tifa . . . and a man that looked exactly like him. His eyes widened with horror and anger when he saw his impostor kiss his childhood friend. What pushed him over the edge was when Tifa kissed his impostor back. With blood on his mind, the Mako-eyed ex-mercenary brandished his Ultima Weapon and ran after the two.

"Tifa, I want to tell you something," Cloud whispered after he and Tifa had finished kissing. The blond-haired man looked troubled.

"What's wrong, Cloud?" queried Tifa.

"Tifa, I-- I'm not--" Cloud was interrupted by a voice from behind them.

"I can't believe you." `Cloud` and Tifa spun around together, gasping in unison at what they saw. "I can't believe that after all I did for you, this is what I get from you in return." The man behind them sneered at `Cloud,` who continued to stare at him in horror. "That's right, be surprised. Because in a moment, you bastard, you won't be anything."

The real Cloud Strife slowly brought up his Ultima Weapon, his eyes never leaving the specimen he had saved in the Shinra Building.

On to Chapter 8.

Back to Merging Journeys.