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Description
Chapter Six:
Parting Ways.

Barret and Tifa stood, mouths gaping, as the elderly man walked slowly toward them. President Shinra looked at the motley gathering before him. His gaze lingered on Cloud, and he cleared his throat.
“So you must be that… what was it again? ‘Ava’-something, I believe. Come now, help an old man remember.”
“Avalanche! Damn, don’t you forget it!” Barret was losing his temper. “And you’re the ‘great’ President Shinra, huh? Well, I ain’t impressed!”
The President ignored him and continued to inspect Cloud.
“Long time no see, Sir,” Cloud said flatly.
Shinra narrowed his eyes at the lanky, spiky-haired youth who stood in his presence. Recognition flashed across his face.
“Ah, yes, the traitor. The one who abandoned us to collaborate with a group of degenerate malcontents who don’t realise that they are interfering with the greatest work man has ever undertaken!” He raised his arms, gesturing to the vast space of the reactor. A thin smile spread on his wrinkled lips and he turned away from the group. Speaking again, the President’s voice took on a menacing quality.
“I could tell that you’d been exposed to Mako from the glint in your eyes. I hope that it is a bitter reminder of your insolence every time you look into a mirror.”
The old man looked back over his shoulder at them.
“Tell me, traitor, what was your name?”
“Cloud. Cloud Strife.”
The President nodded as he if actually remembered.
“Yes… forgive me for asking, but I can’t be expected to remember the name of every man who comes to Shinra. Unless you became another Sephiroth,” the old man chuckled. “Yes, Sephiroth was truly brilliant. A real marvel…”
Cloud noticed Tifa’s hands clench into tight fists.
“Yeah, well none of that shit matters, ‘cause in about fifteen minutes, this place ain’t gonna be nothing but rubble!” Barret yelled.
“What a waste…” Shinra mused, “but I suppose that it will be worth losing this one reactor to be rid of you. Vermin must be eradicated, after all.”
“Vermin?” Barret screamed.
“Silence!” the President boomed. “You are beginning to bore me. Now, I’m a busy man, and I have appointments that can’t wait.”
The old man began to walk away from them. Barret fumed.
“Get back here! We ain’t done with you!”
“However, I’ve arranged a little… ‘playmate’ to keep you occupied.” Shinra stopped walking, and produced a remote control from his pocket. He pressed the button, and a large panel in the gargantuan reactor wall slid up with a grinding noise. A huge, shadowy form emerged from behind the panel. It hovered over the huge drop and moved onto the walkway, between President Shinra and Cloud. At least eleven feet tall, the thing was human shaped, aside from an absence of legs. Instead, it moved over the ground using an enormous thruster to keep it airborne. The box-like body was purple-black in colour. The thick arms ended in huge hands with vice-like fingers. Various missile pods protruded from behind the machine, presumably for counterattacking, and two large guns sat on the wide shoulders. It had a head of sorts that looked ridiculously small on its huge frame. Much like the guard scorpion, a glowing red ‘eye’ stared at the group. The machine began to slowly advance on Cloud and the others; the metal cocoon of the reactors’ interior amplifying the sound of heated air roaring from the huge thruster. As President Shinra clambered back into the helicopter, he shouted at the group.
“Meet ‘Air Buster’, the newest product from our weapon development labs. I’m sure the data it will extract from your corpses will be of great use to us in future experiments. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Cloud stared up with frustration as the helicopter ascended and disappeared from sight. The guards, that were still stood motionless on the walkway, suddenly turned about-face and stomped out of the reactor. Cloud, Tifa and Barret were left alone with Air Buster, which came ever nearer.
“Shit, we gotta do something about him! The bomb’s gonna go off in less than five minutes!” Barret said as the robot accelerated. Air Buster flew forward and stopped short of the railing of the walkway. Barret, Tifa and Cloud all dived out of its path. When they stood, the machine was facing Barret and Tifa. Cloud was positioned behind the robot. He simply stared upward, not seeming to notice the machine. Air Buster’s tiny head swiveled in Tifa’s direction. The shoulder guns tracked her, locked on, and began to fire. Tifa leapt sideways, the bullets missing their target. She jumped up onto the railing, crouched down and pushed off toward the robot with her left leg. Her right leg swung round and her heavy boot made contact with one of the shoulder guns. The impact tore the weapon from its housing, and it sailed over the edge of the walkway into the abyss below. Air Buster made an odd moaning sound, and one of the huge hands reached for the small woman. Barret sidestepped into the path of the hand, raised his chaingun and let rip. The thick fingers shuddered under the shots, white metal flaking off. The mangled hand was pulled back.
“Cloud, move your ass!” Barret yelled over the hum of Air Buster’s thruster. Cloud snapped out of his daze. The robot had its back to him. Cloud didn’t see anything that could potentially be a weak spot, so he shrugged, raised his Buster Sword, and brought it crashing down through the ‘spine’ of the machine. The armour was thick, and nothing but superficial damage was inflicted. Air Buster roared, and spun to face Cloud. Barret ran forward to fire on the techno-soldier’s back, but the remaining shoulder gun flipped over to face him. Barret stumbled as the gun fired, and he barely escaped having his legs shredded. Cloud jumped straight up, his sword held high over his head. The impact of the weapon sliced Air Buster’s right arm clean from its body. The machine bellowed again as Tifa raced forward to try and remove the second gun. Air Buster’s left arm swung back, and she was thrown back onto the metal. She stood, groaning. This enemy could clearly defend itself from both front and rear attacks. Barret fired his arm-gun again. The remaining robotic arm pivoted and deflected the shots.
“Damn, it’s learning our attacks!” Barret shouted.
“Let’s see if it can learn this!” Cloud replied as he ran at full speed toward the machine. He jumped up onto the railing, his fear of heights forced to the back of his mind. Keeping perfect balance, he leapt forward, somersaulting through the air, sword held behind him. The Buster Sword slammed into the second shoulder gun, metal on metal, and screeched downward through the mechanical body. The metal tore with an unholy noise, accompanied by Air Buster’s scream of pain. The entire shoulder, along with the gun and the remaining arm, lay as nothing but warped scrap at the base of the techno-soldier. Sparks blasted from the wound. Cloud stood back from the gyrating monster.
“Is that it?” Barret asked breathlessly.
Air Buster began to rise slowly, the missile pods on the back turning to point straight down. Barret realised what was coming. Air Buster was going to resort to its most deadly attack.
“Tifa, get back! Cloud, move! It’s gonna fire the missiles!”
Time slowed as Cloud thought back to his SOLDIER training. He desperately tried to think of a technique that would bring this enemy down before it killed them all. The armour was too thick to simply hack away at. What could he do? Then it came to him. Climhazzard.
Air Buster was about four feet in the air. It was now or never. Cloud held the Buster Sword tightly in both hands, the blade parallel with ground, the sharp edge facing the heavens. He knelt slightly, and then charged toward the rising machine. His legs were a blur, the lethal tip of the sword gleaming in the light. Cloud roared. He thrust his arms forward. The blade plunged deep into Air Buster’s body, like a knife through butter. The robot spasmed and descended a few feet. Cloud crouched, his hand still gripping the hilt, before leaping high into the air. The sword traveled through the centre of Air Buster’s chest and head, splitting it like a tomato under a chef’s knife. Shrapnel exploded from the savage wound and fluttered down into the depths of the reactor. Cloud’s feet hit the walkway as he watched Air Buster’s death throes. Thins beams of white light shone forth from the ruined innards. The whole massive body shook as a whining sound became ever more apparent. Tifa peered through the sparks and saw a crescent of flashing lights among the tattered circuitry, slowly decreasing in number. A look of terror gripped her face.
“Cloud, I think it’s going to self destruct!”
“What?” screamed Barret. “C’mon, we gotta move!”
He grabbed Tifa and pulled her back, running along the walkway away from the monster.
“Cloud, move!” Tifa could only watch as Cloud struggled to reach a safe distance. Air Buster’s huge form shuddered, and the whine reached a terrible pitch. Suddenly, the noise stopped. Cloud could hear nothing but the sound of his own footsteps and Tifa’s panicked voice, when Air Buster detonated. A deafening roar filled the vast room as a fireball of flame and metal expanded from the centre of the T-junction. The shockwave threw Cloud from his feet and he collided with the railing. The walkway under his feet sunk violently as the blast ruptured the thin steel. Cloud was knocked off balance and he found himself dropping into the depths of the reactor. Like lightning, his hand shot forward and he grabbed the tattered edge of the walkway. The noise subsided as Air Buster’s remains floated downward into the darkness. Cloud’s bicep bulged as he tried to maintain his tenuous grip.
“Cloud, hold on!” Tifa cried. The explosion had ripped the walkway apart. There were now at least eleven feet of open space between her and Cloud. She knelt on the edge, staring at her childhood friend, hanging hopelessly in the cold air.
“Hey, you alright?” Barret called.
“Oh, yeah, having a ball!” Cloud strained.
“Cloud, no… you can’t die! We’ve only just found each other again! I…” Tears streamed down Tifa’s gentle face.
“I know, Tifa. Barret! Get her out of here!” One of Cloud’s fingers slipped from the metal. His arm hummed with pain. It wouldn’t be long now.
“You gonna be alright?” Barret asked.
“Yeah… I’ll figure something out. Just go, now!”
“No, no…” Tifa protested as Barret wrapped his arm around her shoulders and began to lead her to the exit.
“Tifa, we’ll see each other again, I promise!” Cloud didn’t know if this was true but he hoped beyond hope that it would be. The first explosion resonated through the chamber walls. Tifa turned back.
“Cloud!”
“GO!” Cloud screamed. Barret broke into a run, Tifa beside him, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Later, Cloud!” Barret called back. They disappeared from view. Cloud felt the walkway vibrate as the explosive chain reaction reached the T-junction. The wall to his left ruptured, a cataclysmic wave of fire tearing the metal apart.
“Damn it, I didn’t sign up for this…”
Cloud resigned himself to fate. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and released his grip. Plunging downward, he watched as the walkway above him was engulfed in righteous flame. As the reactor collapsed in on itself, Cloud fell silently into the unknown. He felt the air whipping his arms and face, and then, suddenly, felt nothing at all.

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“Are you alright? Can you hear me?”
“Yeah…” Cloud replied.
“Do you remember back then? You could get by with just skinned knees.”
“Back then? What do you mean?”
“Can you move?”
“Wait, who are you…?”
“Don’t worry about me. You just worry about yourself at the moment. Now, try moving your legs.”
“Okay, I’ll try…”
“He’s moving! Hey, can you hear me? Are you okay?” A female voice.
“Hey, who are you?”
“Take it slowly, little by little…”
“Easy, now. Move slowly…” The female voice again.
“Now, open your eyes.”

Cloud’s head throbbed. Pain weaved around his spine and legs, but he knew they weren’t broken. He could feel something soft and slightly cold under his arms. He moved his fingers. Petals. Slowly, his eyes creaked open. A bright light forced him to shut them again.
“How on the Planet did you survive a fall like that?” a woman was saying. Cloud simply groaned, and raised a shaky hand to his forehead. Shielding his eyes from the light, he opened his eyelids. His vision was blurred; he could only make out the vaguest of shapes.
“Where… where am I?” he rasped. He sensed the mysterious woman crouching by his side. She spoke softly, a gentle accompaniment to the fragile flowers he was lying on.
“A church, on the outskirts of Sector Five.”
Cloud tried to sit up, but his battered body wasn’t responding quickly enough.
“Take it easy, don’t move too much.”
“Sector Five? What happened?” Cloud could barely remember anything, the pain in his head obscuring recent events.
“You… fell through the roof. Brought a fair bit of it down with you, too. I guess the roof and the flowerbed broke your fall, otherwise you’d be dead.”
Cloud squinted; the light still hurt his eyes.
“How long was I out?”
“About ten minutes, I think. I’m amazed you survived.”
“Do you have any water?” Cloud asked.
“Yes,” the woman moved something close to him, “here.”
Cloud sat up slowly and felt around, finding the bowl. He submerged his fingers, and then raised them to his eyes. The cool liquid was wonderful. He massaged the moisture gently into his eyelids, before carefully opening them again. He looked to where the woman’s voice had been coming from. As his vision cleared, a face formed. A beautiful young woman with long brown hair tied by a pink ribbon. Cloud smiled weakly, before his eyes opened wide.
“Your flowers!” He tried to move off the crushed flowerbed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” the woman said, raising him to his feet, “I think they saved your life.”
“And look at how I repaid them…” Cloud joked, looking at the flattened mess of yellow and white petals. With the woman’s help, he hobbled off the flowerbed and onto wooden floorboards.
“One moment,” the woman said, “I’ll just fix them up a bit.”
She knelt before the flowerbed and gently raised the drooping flowers.
“I’m so sorry…” Cloud began.
“They’ll be okay. They’ve seen worse, believe it or not.” The woman chuckled lightly. Cloud looked up to take in his new surroundings. It was indeed a church, with a high ceiling at least eighty foot up, and supported by thick stone pillars. Sunlight shone in through a ragged hole. No doubt caused by my spectacular ‘entrance’, thought Cloud. Thin stain-glass windows filled the walls, depicting all manner of religious persons. Cloud couldn’t name a single one. Rows of pews sat neatly behind him, and the flowerbed took up the space between them and the altar. The woman finished tending the orchids, stood and walked to Cloud.
“Anyway, brave warrior, we meet again.”
Cloud looked perplexed. He squinted at the woman. She was utterly gorgeous, radiating beauty like the sun emitted light. Cloud searched his mind.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” the woman said, smiling. Cloud said nothing for a moment. Then it hit him.
“Sector Eight. The slums… you sold me an orchid.”
The young woman beamed a beautiful smile.
“You do remember, I am glad. Did your sweetheart like the flower?”
Cloud scratched at his neck, trying to avoid the question. He noticed his sword lying on the floor next to the flowers and he walked slowly to it.
“Must have come loose when I…‘landed’,” he said to himself as much as the woman. He bent on aching legs to retrieve the weapon.
“So, warrior, what’s your name? You can tell me that, right?”
Cloud smiled uneasily.
“Cloud Strife.”
The woman extended her arm.
“Well, Cloud Strife, I’m Aeris Gainsborough. Nice to meet you.”
Cloud shook her hand. His arm tensed with a dull ache.
“Pleasure’s all mine…” he said, wincing.
“So, Cloud, what do you do?”
“I do a little bit of everything. For the right price.”
Aeris’ eyebrow rose.
“Oh, a jack of all trades, huh?”
“That’s right.” Cloud wasn’t proud of being a mercenary, but a skill for swordplay was the only really profitable talent he possessed. He heard a noise from the front of the church, and turned to see the large wooden doors swing open. In the doorway stood a dark figure. Aeris looked panicked.
“Cloud,” she said hurriedly, “have you ever been a bodyguard?” You do do everything, right?”
“Yeah…” he began.
“Well, then, I’m hiring you. I need you to get me home.”
Cloud was puzzled. Aeris’ gaze was fixed on the man at the doorway, who was now walking slowly toward them.
“Okay, but I’ll have to charge you.” Cloud immediately regretted opening his mouth. Aeris was hardly likely to have much in the way of money, particularly if she had to sell flowers at one gil each to survive.
“Well, let’s see… how about I go out with you one time?”
Cloud hadn’t been expecting that, but he nodded.
“Sure.”
The man who had entered the church had stopped, and now stood between the rows of pews. He was smartly dressed, a dark blue suit over a large-collared white shirt that was open to the chest. The man was young, maybe a few years Cloud’s senior, with a shock of deep red hair that was spiked upward. A pair of flight goggles sat on his hairline, and a crescent shaped scar adorned each cheekbone, just below the eye. Behind him, just inside the doorway, Cloud could see a cadre of soldiers. Shinra soldiers. Cloud approached the man, who smiled in a cocky fashion.
“I don’t know who you are…” he began.
“Yes, you do.”
Cloud shook his head. He did know who this man was, or at least, whom he worked for. He was a member of the Turks. The Turks were right-hand men and women to some of Shinra’s most powerful executives, including President Shinra himself. Their job was basically to ‘deal’ with any problems said executives might have in an efficient and, if possible, secretive manner. Highly trained and skillful warriors, they were not to be taken lightly. The Turk who stood before Cloud was carried a baton, which rested on his right shoulder.
“I do know you… the Turks, right?”
The red-haired man raised an eyebrow.
“Aren’t you a strange one?” he said in a low voice. “I guess that’s…”
“What do you want?” Cloud cut him off. The Turk smiled again.
“Don’t beat about the bush, do you? Don’t you think you should introduce yourself before you start making demands?”
Cloud spoke to Aeris, but never took his eyes off the red-haired man.
“Aeris, is there a back way out of this church?”
“Yes, there is, of sorts…”
“Get to it, and wait for me.”
The Turk looked past Cloud to the flower girl, his eyes sparkling. Cloud snapped his fingers. The Turk offered his hand.
“Name’s Reno,” he said. “Always nice to meet a fellow member of Shinra’s big, happy family.”
Cloud simply held his gaze.
“I’ll say it again. What do you want?”
Reno withdrew his hand, and his voice adopted a sinister tone.
“We want the girl,” he said plainly.
Cloud’s hand moved to the hilt of his sword. He unsheathed it, and started to walk backwards, slowly, his eyes locked with Reno’s. When he’d put some distance between himself and the Turk, Cloud turned and ran through an archway. He found Aeris waiting before a door.
“Cloud, this way!”
They passed through the door and Aeris locked it behind them.

Reno simply watched as the blond-haired man retreated to the church’s rear exit. He wasn’t worried. He had seen the glow in the blond man’s eyes. An ex-SOLDIER may have been a complication, but Reno was a Turk, and nothing would stop him from obtaining the Ancient. He raised a hand and the soldiers marched into the church, lining up behind him.
“Why didn’t you kill him, Sir?” one of the soldiers inquired.
Reno stroked his chin, walking forward a few paces. He ignored the question. Surely, President Shinra would be most pleased if he were to bring back the body of the traitor as well as the Ancient. He smiled, and turned to the soldiers.
“Come on, it’s time to have some fun with Mr. Ex-SOLDIER.”
Reno went to follow the blond man, when he paused.
“Oh, and don’t tread on the flowers.”
One of the soldiers cleared his throat noisily. Reno looked down.
“Damn…” he muttered, before stepping off the flowerbed.

Description
Chapter Six:
Parting Ways.

Barret and Tifa stood, mouths gaping, as the elderly man walked slowly toward them. President Shinra looked at the motley gathering before him. His gaze lingered on Cloud, and he cleared his throat.
“So you must be that… what was it again? ‘Ava’-something, I believe. Come now, help an old man remember.”
“Avalanche! Damn, don’t you forget it!” Barret was losing his temper. “And you’re the ‘great’ President Shinra, huh? Well, I ain’t impressed!”
The President ignored him and continued to inspect Cloud.
“Long time no see, Sir,” Cloud said flatly.
Shinra narrowed his eyes at the lanky, spiky-haired youth who stood in his presence. Recognition flashed across his face.
“Ah, yes, the traitor. The one who abandoned us to collaborate with a group of degenerate malcontents who don’t realise that they are interfering with the greatest work man has ever undertaken!” He raised his arms, gesturing to the vast space of the reactor. A thin smile spread on his wrinkled lips and he turned away from the group. Speaking again, the President’s voice took on a menacing quality.
“I could tell that you’d been exposed to Mako from the glint in your eyes. I hope that it is a bitter reminder of your insolence every time you look into a mirror.”
The old man looked back over his shoulder at them.
“Tell me, traitor, what was your name?”
“Cloud. Cloud Strife.”
The President nodded as he if actually remembered.
“Yes… forgive me for asking, but I can’t be expected to remember the name of every man who comes to Shinra. Unless you became another Sephiroth,” the old man chuckled. “Yes, Sephiroth was truly brilliant. A real marvel…”
Cloud noticed Tifa’s hands clench into tight fists.
“Yeah, well none of that shit matters, ‘cause in about fifteen minutes, this place ain’t gonna be nothing but rubble!” Barret yelled.
“What a waste…” Shinra mused, “but I suppose that it will be worth losing this one reactor to be rid of you. Vermin must be eradicated, after all.”
“Vermin?” Barret screamed.
“Silence!” the President boomed. “You are beginning to bore me. Now, I’m a busy man, and I have appointments that can’t wait.”
The old man began to walk away from them. Barret fumed.
“Get back here! We ain’t done with you!”
“However, I’ve arranged a little… ‘playmate’ to keep you occupied.” Shinra stopped walking, and produced a remote control from his pocket. He pressed the button, and a large panel in the gargantuan reactor wall slid up with a grinding noise. A huge, shadowy form emerged from behind the panel. It hovered over the huge drop and moved onto the walkway, between President Shinra and Cloud. At least eleven feet tall, the thing was human shaped, aside from an absence of legs. Instead, it moved over the ground using an enormous thruster to keep it airborne. The box-like body was purple-black in colour. The thick arms ended in huge hands with vice-like fingers. Various missile pods protruded from behind the machine, presumably for counterattacking, and two large guns sat on the wide shoulders. It had a head of sorts that looked ridiculously small on its huge frame. Much like the guard scorpion, a glowing red ‘eye’ stared at the group. The machine began to slowly advance on Cloud and the others; the metal cocoon of the reactors’ interior amplifying the sound of heated air roaring from the huge thruster. As President Shinra clambered back into the helicopter, he shouted at the group.
“Meet ‘Air Buster’, the newest product from our weapon development labs. I’m sure the data it will extract from your corpses will be of great use to us in future experiments. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Cloud stared up with frustration as the helicopter ascended and disappeared from sight. The guards, that were still stood motionless on the walkway, suddenly turned about-face and stomped out of the reactor. Cloud, Tifa and Barret were left alone with Air Buster, which came ever nearer.
“Shit, we gotta do something about him! The bomb’s gonna go off in less than five minutes!” Barret said as the robot accelerated. Air Buster flew forward and stopped short of the railing of the walkway. Barret, Tifa and Cloud all dived out of its path. When they stood, the machine was facing Barret and Tifa. Cloud was positioned behind the robot. He simply stared upward, not seeming to notice the machine. Air Buster’s tiny head swiveled in Tifa’s direction. The shoulder guns tracked her, locked on, and began to fire. Tifa leapt sideways, the bullets missing their target. She jumped up onto the railing, crouched down and pushed off toward the robot with her left leg. Her right leg swung round and her heavy boot made contact with one of the shoulder guns. The impact tore the weapon from its housing, and it sailed over the edge of the walkway into the abyss below. Air Buster made an odd moaning sound, and one of the huge hands reached for the small woman. Barret sidestepped into the path of the hand, raised his chaingun and let rip. The thick fingers shuddered under the shots, white metal flaking off. The mangled hand was pulled back.
“Cloud, move your ass!” Barret yelled over the hum of Air Buster’s thruster. Cloud snapped out of his daze. The robot had its back to him. Cloud didn’t see anything that could potentially be a weak spot, so he shrugged, raised his Buster Sword, and brought it crashing down through the ‘spine’ of the machine. The armour was thick, and nothing but superficial damage was inflicted. Air Buster roared, and spun to face Cloud. Barret ran forward to fire on the techno-soldier’s back, but the remaining shoulder gun flipped over to face him. Barret stumbled as the gun fired, and he barely escaped having his legs shredded. Cloud jumped straight up, his sword held high over his head. The impact of the weapon sliced Air Buster’s right arm clean from its body. The machine bellowed again as Tifa raced forward to try and remove the second gun. Air Buster’s left arm swung back, and she was thrown back onto the metal. She stood, groaning. This enemy could clearly defend itself from both front and rear attacks. Barret fired his arm-gun again. The remaining robotic arm pivoted and deflected the shots.
“Damn, it’s learning our attacks!” Barret shouted.
“Let’s see if it can learn this!” Cloud replied as he ran at full speed toward the machine. He jumped up onto the railing, his fear of heights forced to the back of his mind. Keeping perfect balance, he leapt forward, somersaulting through the air, sword held behind him. The Buster Sword slammed into the second shoulder gun, metal on metal, and screeched downward through the mechanical body. The metal tore with an unholy noise, accompanied by Air Buster’s scream of pain. The entire shoulder, along with the gun and the remaining arm, lay as nothing but warped scrap at the base of the techno-soldier. Sparks blasted from the wound. Cloud stood back from the gyrating monster.
“Is that it?” Barret asked breathlessly.
Air Buster began to rise slowly, the missile pods on the back turning to point straight down. Barret realised what was coming. Air Buster was going to resort to its most deadly attack.
“Tifa, get back! Cloud, move! It’s gonna fire the missiles!”
Time slowed as Cloud thought back to his SOLDIER training. He desperately tried to think of a technique that would bring this enemy down before it killed them all. The armour was too thick to simply hack away at. What could he do? Then it came to him. Climhazzard.
Air Buster was about four feet in the air. It was now or never. Cloud held the Buster Sword tightly in both hands, the blade parallel with ground, the sharp edge facing the heavens. He knelt slightly, and then charged toward the rising machine. His legs were a blur, the lethal tip of the sword gleaming in the light. Cloud roared. He thrust his arms forward. The blade plunged deep into Air Buster’s body, like a knife through butter. The robot spasmed and descended a few feet. Cloud crouched, his hand still gripping the hilt, before leaping high into the air. The sword traveled through the centre of Air Buster’s chest and head, splitting it like a tomato under a chef’s knife. Shrapnel exploded from the savage wound and fluttered down into the depths of the reactor. Cloud’s feet hit the walkway as he watched Air Buster’s death throes. Thins beams of white light shone forth from the ruined innards. The whole massive body shook as a whining sound became ever more apparent. Tifa peered through the sparks and saw a crescent of flashing lights among the tattered circuitry, slowly decreasing in number. A look of terror gripped her face.
“Cloud, I think it’s going to self destruct!”
“What?” screamed Barret. “C’mon, we gotta move!”
He grabbed Tifa and pulled her back, running along the walkway away from the monster.
“Cloud, move!” Tifa could only watch as Cloud struggled to reach a safe distance. Air Buster’s huge form shuddered, and the whine reached a terrible pitch. Suddenly, the noise stopped. Cloud could hear nothing but the sound of his own footsteps and Tifa’s panicked voice, when Air Buster detonated. A deafening roar filled the vast room as a fireball of flame and metal expanded from the centre of the T-junction. The shockwave threw Cloud from his feet and he collided with the railing. The walkway under his feet sunk violently as the blast ruptured the thin steel. Cloud was knocked off balance and he found himself dropping into the depths of the reactor. Like lightning, his hand shot forward and he grabbed the tattered edge of the walkway. The noise subsided as Air Buster’s remains floated downward into the darkness. Cloud’s bicep bulged as he tried to maintain his tenuous grip.
“Cloud, hold on!” Tifa cried. The explosion had ripped the walkway apart. There were now at least eleven feet of open space between her and Cloud. She knelt on the edge, staring at her childhood friend, hanging hopelessly in the cold air.
“Hey, you alright?” Barret called.
“Oh, yeah, having a ball!” Cloud strained.
“Cloud, no… you can’t die! We’ve only just found each other again! I…” Tears streamed down Tifa’s gentle face.
“I know, Tifa. Barret! Get her out of here!” One of Cloud’s fingers slipped from the metal. His arm hummed with pain. It wouldn’t be long now.
“You gonna be alright?” Barret asked.
“Yeah… I’ll figure something out. Just go, now!”
“No, no…” Tifa protested as Barret wrapped his arm around her shoulders and began to lead her to the exit.
“Tifa, we’ll see each other again, I promise!” Cloud didn’t know if this was true but he hoped beyond hope that it would be. The first explosion resonated through the chamber walls. Tifa turned back.
“Cloud!”
“GO!” Cloud screamed. Barret broke into a run, Tifa beside him, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Later, Cloud!” Barret called back. They disappeared from view. Cloud felt the walkway vibrate as the explosive chain reaction reached the T-junction. The wall to his left ruptured, a cataclysmic wave of fire tearing the metal apart.
“Damn it, I didn’t sign up for this…”
Cloud resigned himself to fate. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and released his grip. Plunging downward, he watched as the walkway above him was engulfed in righteous flame. As the reactor collapsed in on itself, Cloud fell silently into the unknown. He felt the air whipping his arms and face, and then, suddenly, felt nothing at all.

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“Are you alright? Can you hear me?”
“Yeah…” Cloud replied.
“Do you remember back then? You could get by with just skinned knees.”
“Back then? What do you mean?”
“Can you move?”
“Wait, who are you…?”
“Don’t worry about me. You just worry about yourself at the moment. Now, try moving your legs.”
“Okay, I’ll try…”
“He’s moving! Hey, can you hear me? Are you okay?” A female voice.
“Hey, who are you?”
“Take it slowly, little by little…”
“Easy, now. Move slowly…” The female voice again.
“Now, open your eyes.”

Cloud’s head throbbed. Pain weaved around his spine and legs, but he knew they weren’t broken. He could feel something soft and slightly cold under his arms. He moved his fingers. Petals. Slowly, his eyes creaked open. A bright light forced him to shut them again.
“How on the Planet did you survive a fall like that?” a woman was saying. Cloud simply groaned, and raised a shaky hand to his forehead. Shielding his eyes from the light, he opened his eyelids. His vision was blurred; he could only make out the vaguest of shapes.
“Where… where am I?” he rasped. He sensed the mysterious woman crouching by his side. She spoke softly, a gentle accompaniment to the fragile flowers he was lying on.
“A church, on the outskirts of Sector Five.”
Cloud tried to sit up, but his battered body wasn’t responding quickly enough.
“Take it easy, don’t move too much.”
“Sector Five? What happened?” Cloud could barely remember anything, the pain in his head obscuring recent events.
“You… fell through the roof. Brought a fair bit of it down with you, too. I guess the roof and the flowerbed broke your fall, otherwise you’d be dead.”
Cloud squinted; the light still hurt his eyes.
“How long was I out?”
“About ten minutes, I think. I’m amazed you survived.”
“Do you have any water?” Cloud asked.
“Yes,” the woman moved something close to him, “here.”
Cloud sat up slowly and felt around, finding the bowl. He submerged his fingers, and then raised them to his eyes. The cool liquid was wonderful. He massaged the moisture gently into his eyelids, before carefully opening them again. He looked to where the woman’s voice had been coming from. As his vision cleared, a face formed. A beautiful young woman with long brown hair tied by a pink ribbon. Cloud smiled weakly, before his eyes opened wide.
“Your flowers!” He tried to move off the crushed flowerbed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” the woman said, raising him to his feet, “I think they saved your life.”
“And look at how I repaid them…” Cloud joked, looking at the flattened mess of yellow and white petals. With the woman’s help, he hobbled off the flowerbed and onto wooden floorboards.
“One moment,” the woman said, “I’ll just fix them up a bit.”
She knelt before the flowerbed and gently raised the drooping flowers.
“I’m so sorry…” Cloud began.
“They’ll be okay. They’ve seen worse, believe it or not.” The woman chuckled lightly. Cloud looked up to take in his new surroundings. It was indeed a church, with a high ceiling at least eighty foot up, and supported by thick stone pillars. Sunlight shone in through a ragged hole. No doubt caused by my spectacular ‘entrance’, thought Cloud. Thin stain-glass windows filled the walls, depicting all manner of religious persons. Cloud couldn’t name a single one. Rows of pews sat neatly behind him, and the flowerbed took up the space between them and the altar. The woman finished tending the orchids, stood and walked to Cloud.
“Anyway, brave warrior, we meet again.”
Cloud looked perplexed. He squinted at the woman. She was utterly gorgeous, radiating beauty like the sun emitted light. Cloud searched his mind.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” the woman said, smiling. Cloud said nothing for a moment. Then it hit him.
“Sector Eight. The slums… you sold me an orchid.”
The young woman beamed a beautiful smile.
“You do remember, I am glad. Did your sweetheart like the flower?”
Cloud scratched at his neck, trying to avoid the question. He noticed his sword lying on the floor next to the flowers and he walked slowly to it.
“Must have come loose when I…‘landed’,” he said to himself as much as the woman. He bent on aching legs to retrieve the weapon.
“So, warrior, what’s your name? You can tell me that, right?”
Cloud smiled uneasily.
“Cloud Strife.”
The woman extended her arm.
“Well, Cloud Strife, I’m Aeris Gainsborough. Nice to meet you.”
Cloud shook her hand. His arm tensed with a dull ache.
“Pleasure’s all mine…” he said, wincing.
“So, Cloud, what do you do?”
“I do a little bit of everything. For the right price.”
Aeris’ eyebrow rose.
“Oh, a jack of all trades, huh?”
“That’s right.” Cloud wasn’t proud of being a mercenary, but a skill for swordplay was the only really profitable talent he possessed. He heard a noise from the front of the church, and turned to see the large wooden doors swing open. In the doorway stood a dark figure. Aeris looked panicked.
“Cloud,” she said hurriedly, “have you ever been a bodyguard?” You do do everything, right?”
“Yeah…” he began.
“Well, then, I’m hiring you. I need you to get me home.”
Cloud was puzzled. Aeris’ gaze was fixed on the man at the doorway, who was now walking slowly toward them.
“Okay, but I’ll have to charge you.” Cloud immediately regretted opening his mouth. Aeris was hardly likely to have much in the way of money, particularly if she had to sell flowers at one gil each to survive.
“Well, let’s see… how about I go out with you one time?”
Cloud hadn’t been expecting that, but he nodded.
“Sure.”
The man who had entered the church had stopped, and now stood between the rows of pews. He was smartly dressed, a dark blue suit over a large-collared white shirt that was open to the chest. The man was young, maybe a few years Cloud’s senior, with a shock of deep red hair that was spiked upward. A pair of flight goggles sat on his hairline, and a crescent shaped scar adorned each cheekbone, just below the eye. Behind him, just inside the doorway, Cloud could see a cadre of soldiers. Shinra soldiers. Cloud approached the man, who smiled in a cocky fashion.
“I don’t know who you are…” he began.
“Yes, you do.”
Cloud shook his head. He did know who this man was, or at least, whom he worked for. He was a member of the Turks. The Turks were right-hand men and women to some of Shinra’s most powerful executives, including President Shinra himself. Their job was basically to ‘deal’ with any problems said executives might have in an efficient and, if possible, secretive manner. Highly trained and skillful warriors, they were not to be taken lightly. The Turk who stood before Cloud was carried a baton, which rested on his right shoulder.
“I do know you… the Turks, right?”
The red-haired man raised an eyebrow.
“Aren’t you a strange one?” he said in a low voice. “I guess that’s…”
“What do you want?” Cloud cut him off. The Turk smiled again.
“Don’t beat about the bush, do you? Don’t you think you should introduce yourself before you start making demands?”
Cloud spoke to Aeris, but never took his eyes off the red-haired man.
“Aeris, is there a back way out of this church?”
“Yes, there is, of sorts…”
“Get to it, and wait for me.”
The Turk looked past Cloud to the flower girl, his eyes sparkling. Cloud snapped his fingers. The Turk offered his hand.
“Name’s Reno,” he said. “Always nice to meet a fellow member of Shinra’s big, happy family.”
Cloud simply held his gaze.
“I’ll say it again. What do you want?”
Reno withdrew his hand, and his voice adopted a sinister tone.
“We want the girl,” he said plainly.
Cloud’s hand moved to the hilt of his sword. He unsheathed it, and started to walk backwards, slowly, his eyes locked with Reno’s. When he’d put some distance between himself and the Turk, Cloud turned and ran through an archway. He found Aeris waiting before a door.
“Cloud, this way!”
They passed through the door and Aeris locked it behind them.

Reno simply watched as the blond-haired man retreated to the church’s rear exit. He wasn’t worried. He had seen the glow in the blond man’s eyes. An ex-SOLDIER may have been a complication, but Reno was a Turk, and nothing would stop him from obtaining the Ancient. He raised a hand and the soldiers marched into the church, lining up behind him.
“Why didn’t you kill him, Sir?” one of the soldiers inquired.
Reno stroked his chin, walking forward a few paces. He ignored the question. Surely, President Shinra would be most pleased if he were to bring back the body of the traitor as well as the Ancient. He smiled, and turned to the soldiers.
“Come on, it’s time to have some fun with Mr. Ex-SOLDIER.”
Reno went to follow the blond man, when he paused.
“Oh, and don’t tread on the flowers.”
One of the soldiers cleared his throat noisily. Reno looked down.
“Damn…” he muttered, before stepping off the flowerbed.