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Darkened Skies	By : Cynthia Category: Final Fantasy VII > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 949 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all characters are the property of Square Enix. I do not profit from this fanfiction, it’s for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter List
- 24
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- 26
"Darkened Skies"
Chapter twenty-five: Unions
A Final Fantasy 7 AU fanfiction
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*Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all related characters belong to Square-Enix. This fiction piece is strictly a non-profit exercise of creativity and entertainment for people (like me) who can’t get enough of this world and the characters.
~**************************************~

One month after the fall of Omega:
Yuffie Kisaragi was not agreeing to this because she wanted to get married. She wasn't agreeing to it because she wanted to carry on the family bloodline and govern her people in her father's place. She was agreeing to this wedding simply because it was Godo's dying wish. She knelt at his bedside and held his withered hand, staring down at him as his breath rattled in his lungs.
"I'll marry him, Old Goat," she said huskily. "You win. I'll never love him, but I'll marry the turd."
Godo stared blankly up at the ceiling, struggling to draw air into his tortured lungs. It appeared as though he hadn't even heard her, but his eyes flicked to her and he gave her a grimace through his clear oxygen mask that could have passed for a smile in his emaciated state. She brought his hand to her cheek and bit back tears. The doctors had made him as comfortable as possible and it wouldn't be long now. She felt a presence at her back and she turned her head to look up at her fiancé. It wasn't that she found Tseng unattractive. Though he was older by her youthful standards, he was actually pretty hot. He wore his silken, raven hair long and straight past his shoulders, sometimes tying it back into a ponytail. His features were aristocratically sculpted and quite handsome. His lips were sensitive looking and his eyes were like black velvet.
It was his terribly boring, monotone personality that really irked her. The man didn't seem to have any layers—or if he did, he kept them hidden so well that she doubted she'd ever peel them away to find the real Tseng. She supposed it had something to do with his career choice. After all, being the leader of the Turks probably required a tight reign on his emotions. He was just so…boring.
"W-what do you want?" She wiped at her eyes hastily and sniffed, trying to hide her vulnerability behind a tough front. She resented him for coming, even though she knew he had to come to Wutai, so that they could take their vows.
"I want to pay my respects," answered Tseng in his low, soft voice. He knelt beside her and looked down at the once great leader of Wutai. "Godo, Sir. I've come as requested. I will honor our agreement."
Godo nodded weakly, unable to talk. Yuffie eased his hand down and stood up, motioning Tseng to follow her. The Turk director obliged and they exited the room together. Once the sliding, wood and paper door was shut behind them, she took a deep breath and looked up at him. She needed to try and be mature about this, or he'd never take her seriously. Yuffie, however, was still quite young and in her mind, she was about to lose her freedom to this man.
"I agreed to do this so that he could go out proud of me," she explained in a whisper, "and to give him some comfort. I still think the contract you two signed behind my back is stupid and the practice is sexist and outdated."
"I understand." His voice and face were void of emotion or expression.
She compressed her lips in annoyance, spurred by the desire to get some kind of reaction from him, even anger. "I won't love you."
Those sensitive looking lips quirked, ever so briefly. "It's an arranged union, Yuffie. Love was never a requirement for either of us."
She huffed. "And no sex."
That got a reaction from him. Leave it a man to shrug at love, but get upset over being denied a bun for his sausage. "Pardon me?"
"I think I said it clearly enough," she answered, hiding a smug grin of satisfaction. "No sex. I don't know you and I don't like you, so—"
"How can you say whether you like me or not, if you don't know me?" reasoned Tseng with an elegantly arched brow.
Yuffie lost her train of thought and sputtered, before recovering. "I just don't, okay? You've got as much personality as a stick in the mud and besides, you're old."
The Turk's mouth twitched again and he cleared his throat. "Old, am I? I'm haven't earned a wrinkle or a gray hair yet, and I'm in better shape than any of the men your age in this city. You're behaving like a brat."
"Whatever. Those are my terms, so you'd better get used to them." She looked over her shoulder at the door, all too aware that each breath could be Godo's last. "Now if you'll excuse me, I want to be alone with my father. There isn't much time left."
Incredibly, Tseng's impassive expression softened into one of quiet sympathy. "Of course." He gave her a little bow of respect.
She was a little confused by the way the change of expression made her heart flutter, and she deigned to escape his presence quickly. As she started to pull the door open, Tseng murmured one last question that gave her pause.
"Yuffie, if you and I never have marital relations, how do you expect to produce an heir?"
"Maybe I don't expect to 'produce' one at all," she said, not looking back at him. "I'm not worried about that right now."
Tseng didn't argue further.
~**********************************~

Godo Kisaragi passed away the next morning, at dawn. Despite Yuffie's vehement proclamations from the night before concerning her dislike of Tseng, when he knelt beside her at Godo's bed and put a hand on her shoulder, she turned to him and cried against his chest. He put his arms around her and though she still maintained that he was a complete bore, she allowed herself to be comforted by his embrace. It wasn't even a conscious decision on her part; she just wanted something to hide her face against as she cried, until she could compose herself.
"Okay," she said after a while between hitching gasps. "That's…enough. I'll be all right."
She pulled away from him and she blindly took the hanky someone offered her, blowing her nose with an un-ladylike trumpet. She sniffed when she was finished and she wiped her streaming eyes. She looked down at her father's body and she drew a shuddering breath.
"The wedding will happen this weekend," she announced, ignoring the soft weeping of her father's house attendants. "After we've honored my father's spirit and performed ceremonial rites. Start getting his shrine ready, while I prepare his body."
Tseng murmured an offer that surprised her. "Would you like me to assist you?"
Yuffie looked sidelong at him and bit her lip, her wide brown eyes uncertain. It would be a comfort to have someone with her when she did it, but it went against custom. It was up to the family to bathe, anoint, dress and wrap the body of deceased loved ones, and she was all the family left to Godo. So often while he was alive, Yuffie defied customs and argued against her father. These were his death rites, however. He deserved all the respect she could give.
"No. This is my duty as his daughter. I'll see it through."
"Very well." There was a hint of admiration in his dark eyes. "I'll leave you to your task."
~****************************~

As scheduled, there was a week of mourning in Wutai, followed by the celebration of the union between the princess and the groom her father had chosen for her. Rufus Shinra arrived in Wutai with some of the Turks to attend the ceremony. As they gathered in the beautiful garden outside the wedding shrine of Wutai, they marveled over the hanging paper lanterns, the exotic kimonos and hair ornaments worn by participants, and the drone of Wutaian musical instruments being played.
"I've never been to a Wutaian wedding before," whispered Cissnei a tad nervously to her blonde companion. She smoothed the peach satin dress she wore self-consciously. "I feel so out of place!"
Elena smiled at her and took her hand, giving it a little squeeze. She wore an azure blue gown that dipped low in the back, but covered her front up to the neck. Both styles were very different from the current fashion in Wutai, and they were getting curious stares from the native residents.
"Trust me, there's nothing wrong with the way you look," assured Elena in a whisper. The coiled bun was a tasteful and pretty style on Cissnei, and the spiraled ringlets hanging down on either side of her temples complimented it. Elena herself had the sides of her flaxen hair pinned back with blue butterfly ornaments.
"You know what we should do before we leave?" Cissnei whispered back.
Elena guessed where she was going before she had to say it. "Shop."
Cissnei grinned. "Until we drop."
Tseng arrived and as he walked to the center of the gathering to stand with the monk, who would be directing the vows.
"Oh, doesn't he look handsome?" Cissnei openly admired the sight of Tseng in a black kimono with red lotus blossom prints. He wore a ceremonial sword at his belt and his hair was pulled back on the sides and pinned with onyx combs, the rest falling free down his back.
Elena chuckled. "You are the worst lesbian ever."
Cissnei nudged her teasingly. "I haven't been in practice for as long as you. Don't be jealous. You know I love you."
Yuffie arrived in a contrasting Kimono of white and red. Her short-cropped hair was concealed beneath a loose white veil and her delicate face was made up with powder, blush, lipstick and eyeliner. She lifted her kimono as she walked, revealing the tailored wedding sandals on her feet.
"She looks beautiful," enthused Cissnei with a sigh.
"Now you sound properly gay," whispered Elena.
The brunet nudged her again. "Shh…be respectful!"
Maidens clad in red and white kimonos came out of the nearby shrine, carrying trays laden with delicate wooden cups and rounded flasks. Reno winked at one of them as she offered him a cup and filled it with drink, and she blushed through her makeup and lowered her eyes modestly. He watched her go with intrigued blue-green eyes and he sniffed at the cup of sake curiously.
Tseng and Yuffie were both given cups too, as well as the monk presiding over the ceremony. The monk began to sing softly and three other monks carrying swinging incense pendulums walked circles around the couple. Tseng and Yuffie stared into each other eyes as they lifted their cups to their lips and drank. Seeing that the rest of the gathering began to drink when they did, the Turks and their president followed suit.
"Good stuff," approved Reno when he finished his. "Rude, we outta pick some of this up to take home with us."
Rude grunted in agreement and nodded.
The monk said something in the Wutaian tongue that none of the foreign visitors understood, and the newly wedded couple were given what looked like a pair of incense sticks. Tseng and Yuffie approached a statue of Leviathan behind the monk, and they laid the sticks at the base of it. When they finished, the monk said something else and the crowd began to separate. People approached the couple to congratulate them, and Tseng's coworkers and boss were left standing there in confusion.
"Was that it?" Reno asked.
Cissnei began to clap uncertainly, but seeing that nobody else did the same and some people even gave her puzzled looks, she stopped and blushed. She shrugged at her companions helplessly. "I guess they don't applaud or cheer at weddings."
~************************************~

The reception was conducted with a bit more familiarity, and though they couldn't communicate with many of the other guests, the Turks found their way around the buffet table, trying various samples of the catered food.
"What is this?" asked Rufus as he spooned up a glob of green, paste-like substance from a bowl. "Dip, of some sort?"
Reno was more familiar with Wutaian fair, since he used to order takeout regularly from the restaurant near his old apartment in Midgar. "Yeah, that's what it is, boss. Try it, you'll like it."
Rufus picked up a jumbo shrimp on his plate and smeared it through the substance. "Like this?"
Reno saw the amount he'd coated onto the shrimp and he considered it for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, just like that. It's good stuff."
Never suspecting that he was about to bite into something powerfully spicy, Rufus raised the shrimp to his lips. Tseng approached to speak to them at that moment and when he saw what the president was about to eat, he started to warn him.
"President Shinra, you may not want to—"
It was too late. Rufus took a bite out of the shrimp and the minute the potent wasabi kicked in, his eyes widened beneath ash-blond bangs and he started to cough. Tseng quickly began to pat him on the back and Cissnei hurried over with a cup of sake.
"Here, Sir," offered the young woman.
"What is that?" Tseng asked as Rufus grabbed the cup and poured the liquid into his mouth.
"Rice wine."
"No," Tseng snapped, "that won't help."
Indeed, the alcohol seemed to make it worse and the young president's face turned red as his coughing intensified. Tseng went to the buffet table and procured some coconut milk for him. "Here, try sipping this, Sir."
Rufus took the cup and drank from it, somehow managing not to spit out the food in his mouth. His stance visibly relaxed as the drink soothed the bite of the spicy wasabi, and he grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth when he finished drinking the cup. Reno made himself scarce when the president glared steely daggers at him. Rude stood silently at the buffet table, having watched the entire scene. He hastily looked away when Rufus' gaze flashed at him.
"Are you okay, President Shinra?" Elena questioned as she walked over from the dessert table, holding a bowl of fried icecream in one hand.
Rufus nodded and took a moment to compose himself. Tseng offered him more coconut milk and he took it, sipping at it before speaking. "If he pulls another stunt like this, I'll have him thrown into lockup as soon as we return to Junon."
The girls looked at each other and Rude winced.
"Sir," offered Tseng, "I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. Reno eats wasabi regularly and he's become a bit desensitized to it and other spices, over time."
"He knew it was spicy and he gave me no warning. I practically spit out food in front of all these people, and I won't stand for public humiliation."
Tseng sighed and looked at Rude. "Please let your partner know he's on very thin ice, Rude."
The bald man nodded. "I'll go find Red now."
As Rude took off to locate his partner, Rufus settled down and looked at Tseng's new bride curiously. Yuffie was standing beneath a circle of lantern lights, talking to a group of young women around her age. She was a pretty little thing, even if she had a big mouth. Cissnei and Elena left to watch some traditional dancers near the koi pond, so it was just Rufus and Tseng, for the moment.
"I suppose congratulations are in order," Rufus said, regaining his composure. He offered his hand to Tseng, and the Turk shook it. "Your efforts to ensure diplomatic relations with Wutai are appreciated, Tseng."
Tseng gave a gracious nod. "Thank you, President."
Rufus released his hand and looked over at Yuffie again. "Do you think this arrangement will adapt to your satisfaction, eventually?"
Tseng followed his gaze, his dark eyes appraising and quietly admiring on his pretty little wife. "I really don't know, Sir. Only time will tell."
Rufus smirked and took two cups of sake from a serving maiden when she passed by and offered it. He offered one to Tseng and raised his in a toast. "To your health."
Tseng tapped his cup against Rufus' and returned his smirk. "Gods willing, my bride and I won't kill one another."
~*****************************~

While Tseng and Yuffie were forming their reluctant alliance in Wutai, Lazard had already formed one of a different sort in Junon. After the Omega conflict, Barret Wallace and his surviving AVALANCHE operatives returned to their base, at Ft. Condor. Having helped orchestrate his release from the Junon prison, Lazard was privy to this information—as were Captain Highwind, Reeve and the SOLDIER officers. They kept the information quiet because they didn't trust Rufus and the Turks not to go after them, despite Rufus' promise that no further charges would be leveled against AVALANCHE unless they committed further acts of echo-terrorism against ShinRa.
In addition to keeping his knowledge of the whereabouts of AVALANCHE base of operations from his half-sibling, Lazard began to actively work with them. The events of the past year had convinced him that they needed a better emergency contingency plan, in case anything like the Deepground incident ever happened again. Reeve was in full agreement with that, and so were Highwind and Wallace.
They arranged meetings on a secure chat line organized by Reeve, and together, they worked on plans to build underground shelters capable of withstanding heavy attacks and sustaining large populations. Ft. Condor was the first obvious choice, since it already had an underground cave system and was set up for defense. Lazard suggested looking into Modeoheim as a second possible option. The town itself had been abandoned years ago, but the caves were still there and the mountains surrounding the area could provide additional defense.
Cid pointed out that the problem with packing everyone into caves in the event of another catastrophe was the lack of sunshine. "Livestock can't live on rocks and neither can people," he said, "so how would we feed everybody, if shit like Omega happens again and we've got to use this idea?"
"Artificial light," answered Reeve. "And hydroponics. You can grow gardens without direct sunlight, if you can reproduce the properties of it and keep a greenhouse with steady temperatures."
"Sounds mighty pricey," grunted Barret.
Reeve shook his head; though Lazard was the only one in the same room with him to see it. "It doesn't have to be, if we use green energy. Yes, the initial cost of building solar panels with enough energy production to sustain a system like that may be a little hefty, but in the long run it will be more cost effective and efficient for us."
"We would need to test it," Lazard suggested. He looked across the table at Reeve. "How soon do you think you can design this system you're proposing, Reeve?"
The engineer considered it. "I could have a prototype system ready to test out in a couple of months. We should probably keep it hush-hush though, until you think it's the appropriate time to let the president in on what we're doing."
Lazard nodded and looked down at the polished surface of the table. "I'll begin easing him into it soon," he promised. "I just want to be cautious, for now. He has no love for AVALANCHE and his advisor…well…you all know Scarlet."
"Bitch cost me my arm," grunted Barret. "Don’t have to tell me nothin'."
"Let's just find out if this will work, first," Reeve soothed. "We've got plenty of time to build and test."
~******************************~

After the meeting, Reeve went to the containment level of the science department, to spend some quality alone time with his preserved friend. He locked the door to Vincent's stasis room behind him and he approached the amnio tank, looking up at the man/demon floating within it. It was Vincent's face, but it wasn't. Chaos bore a remarkable resemblance to his host, feature-wise, and Reeve often wondered if his original form looked remotely human at all. The bat like wings were relaxed on either side of the floating entity, and the intense yellow eyes were shut peacefully. A breathing mask was secured over the mouth and nose, obscuring some of the pale, comely features of his face from view.
"I have a bad feeling," Reeve began, spreading his hands over the glass as he stared up at the being. "Ever since Omega fell, I can't shake this sense of dread. Maybe I’m paranoid, but if this experience has taught me anything, it's that we weren't prepared to deal with a crisis of that magnitude. It never should have gone that far, Vincent. You could be back home in your moldy coffin right now, if things hadn't gotten so bad."
Reeve sighed and traced the glass with his fingertips. "I'm working on a plan to prepare more extensive shelter for people, if anything like this happens again. It could take a year or more to complete what I have in mind, but if we face a threat like that again, we might not be so lucky. You know, I've read that people who live through disasters can suffer post-traumatic stress, and it could take years for them to let their guard down and relax. Maybe that's what's happening to me, but I don't think I’m alone. I doubt Lazard would agree to help me with this project if he didn't have concerns of his own, and the others aren't exactly the paranoid sort."
He lowered his gaze and rested his forehead against the cool, smooth surface of the bubbling stasis tank. "I just can't shake the feeling that it isn't over."
There was no response from the individual floating inside of the tank, but Reeve felt better just talking to him and being near him, nonetheless.
~*******************************~

Angeal came out of the shower to find Genesis standing quietly at the window, looking out at the setting sun. He kept towel-drying his hair as he approached the redhead, admiring his profile. Gen was wearing a red sleeveless shirt and a pair of gray track pants for comfort. His toned arms were crossed over his chest and his auburn hair feathered over his brow as it dried. He'd made it back to their quarters first this evening, and he'd already cleaned up and changed by the time Angeal made it in.
Angeal draped the towel he was using on his hair around his neck and he approached his companion from behind. He rubbed his shoulders with strong, skilled hands and looked out over the city with him. "Enjoying the sunset?"
Genesis shrugged, his gaze scanning the horizon.
Sensing a strange sort of disquiet in him, Angeal pressed a kiss against his temple and enjoyed the scent of his slightly damp hair. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know."
The bigger man frowned and rested his chin on Genesis' shoulder, embracing him around the waist. "Can you try to guess?"
Genesis turned around and looked at him with troubled eyes. "Don't you feel it too?"
Angeal stared at him. "Feel what?"
"Just listen," urged the redhead, shutting his eyes. "Not with your ears."
Angeal was only growing more confused. What else was he supposed to listen with, if not his ears? "Could you at least tell me what I'm listening for?"
Genesis opened his eyes again, his gaze meeting Angeal's. "It's like a cry. Not a verbal one. You feel it inside."
Angeal frowned again. "Genesis, did they give you any medications when you went in for your physical today?"
His answer was a sigh and an impatient look, which prompted Angeal to at least try to humor him. "Okay. How am I supposed to 'listen' for this?"
"Just shut your eyes and listen to your senses," answered Genesis. "The way you do when you meditate or when you go into a hard fight. Listen with everything, Angeal."
Finally understanding him better with that explanation, Angeal did as he asked. It was easy to slip into a light, meditative trance. He did so every morning after exercise and every afternoon after sparring. After a little while, he felt a strange sort of tension, and though he didn't detect anything with his hearing, he did sense an odd vibration in the air. It was like a sound wave, almost. He felt like something big was pressing down, and he couldn't explain it.
"You feel it, don't you?"
Angeal opened his eyes again. "I feel tension, but that could be coming from you." He was very sensitive to Genesis' moods and when he was upset, Angeal could always sense it. "Did something happen today that you aren't telling me?"
Genesis shook his head and sighed. "Never mind."
"Don't do that," protested Angeal. He brushed Genesis' drying bangs away from his eyes. "Something's bothering you and even if I can't understand it, I want you to talk to me about it anyway. What do you think this 'cry' is that you're talking about?"
"I'm…not sure." Genesis turned around to face the window again.
"Gen."
Genesis heaved a sigh. "All right. I think it's the goddess."
Angeal had a hard time swallowing the idea that either of them could actually hear or feel the planet's cries, but he knew how spiritual Genesis could be on such matters, so he didn't try to refute his theory. "Why would the planet be crying out? We stopped Deepground and Omega. The threat is over."
"We destroyed Minerva's guardian," answered Genesis. "Her final defense against total destruction. What's more than that, Omega was one of her oldest children. Somehow, I don't think our success pleased her."
Angeal had never thought of the planet as a fully cognitive entity before, the way Genesis did. He believed it had a certain level of instinctive awareness and a soul, but his lover thought of Gaia like a sentient, divine presence. He rubbed Genesis' shoulders again, and he thought his words over carefully.
"Maybe the planet is angry, but if that's the case, there isn't much we can do about it. None of us can communicate directly with it to pacify it."
"I suppose," sighed the redhead. He turned to look at him again and his eyes caressed Angeal's half-naked body with intrigue. "I know one way you could take my mind off this." He hooked a finger into the towel wrapped around Angeal's waist and started to tug it off.
Angeal hastily reached out and dropped the blinds, just in time. Genesis smirked at him as the towel dropped to the floor, exposing him completely. "You closed those blinds fast, Angeal. Do you realize how difficult it is to see into that window from outside at this time of day, without our lights turned on?"
"There's an old woman living in the building across the street," excused Angeal, "and I've seen her looking out with a pair of binoculars. Let's not take chances."
Genesis chuckled. "She's probably been counting on an opportunity to see you like this, but I wouldn't want it on your conscience if she caught a glimpse of your…attributes…and suffered a heart attack." He reached down and fondled one particular attribute, making it more pronounced.
"The only person I'm interested in showing my attributes to is you." Angeal's mouth closed in on his companions for a deep kiss.
~************************************~

A few doors down from them, Sephiroth was looking out his window, too. Like Genesis, he'd felt the gathering energy, and he was just as troubled by it. He listened so intently with his senses that his mental barriers dropped, long enough to allow the malevolent entity living inside of him to push forward and try to manipulate him. The general gasped and pressed his gloved hands to his temples as Jenova came screaming into his mind. Images of blood and death reeled through his head and Sephiroth sank to his knees on the floor, gritting his teeth against the intrusion.
"Out," he growled. "Get…out!"
His pupils expanded into wide ovals as the alien intruder forever fused with him tried to influence him. He saw images of gigantic creatures, frozen behind walls of ice. Like Omega, they looked like they were both mechanical and biological in nature, and the ice began to crack as they started to move.
~"This is what awaits you,"~ warned Jenova in his head, ~"But you can stop it. The Promised Land, Sephiroth. Help me take it back."~
"Stop!" Sephiroth forced her out again, shoving her consciousness savagely back into the mental prison and locking it tight. He was on his hands and knees now, with his silver hair falling around him and his eyes wide and blank. He trembled from the effort and sweat beaded his face.
"WEAPONS," he whispered, recognizing the creatures he'd seen in his mind from the many books he'd read. WEAPONS like Omega, but the feeling he got from the vision was that these particular WEAPONS had a different purpose. They existed only to destroy anything that threatened Gaia, not to protect the Lifestream and take it to another world.
"It wasn't real," murmured the general. "It was just one of her tricks."
Still, he couldn't explain the phenomena he'd felt before that had distracted him enough to weaken his barriers in the first place.
~***********************************~

Zack took a fresh beer out of the mini-fridge in his sleeping quarters and he dug his phone out of his pocket, intending to order a pizza.
"Hey Kunsel, do we want anchovies, this time?"
When he didn't get an answer, Zack frowned and turned around. Kunsel was still sitting on the couch at the end of the bed, watching the television. Zack whistled to get his attention. "Dude, anchovies or no anchovies?"
Kunsel twisted around to look over the back of the couch at him. "You pick, Zack. Something freaky's happening on the news, though. Come check it out!"
Forgetting about the pizza order for now, Zack joined him on the couch and turned the television up. He recognized the town in the video as Icicle Inn. He went there on vacation one year with his parents for his annual leave of absence. He smiled at the memory, recalling how his dad had complained about the cold and his mom made everyone hot chocolate. The snowboarding was great, but there wasn't that much for older people to do there. The next year, they went to the Gold Saucer instead.
His thoughts of past holidays with his parents came to a screeching halt when he saw what had Kunsel leaning forward on the couch with that bewildered expression on his face. The camera panned left, wobbling a little as its holder focused on something approaching the village from the north.
"This is the scene being filmed live at Icicle Inn," the reporter said. "A little while ago, villagers reported hearing strange noises coming from the north, and then the tremors started. At first it was thought to be an avalanche, but we now know that isn't the case."
"What in the hell is that?" Zack stared at the screen, trying to make out details.
"It…kind of looks like a big robot," Kunsel murmured, equally mystified.
The thing walked upright on two legs like a human, but it was huge. In some ways, it reminded Zack of Omega, but it wasn't as big and it didn't have wings. It still towered over the buildings of the town it was approaching and Zack estimated it was about forty feet tall. Its body was encased in silver-white, chitin-like armor. There was a big scarlet gem in the center of its chest and what Zack at first thought to be massive shoulder guards turned out to be panels of some sort. As the robot-thing came closer to the town, the panels began to open.
"It's doing something," a male voice said over the communication system. "The town police are mobilizing to approach it. People are speculating that it's some kind of ShinRa robot…maybe lost or malfunctioning."
The camera panned to the town entrance briefly, showing men and women in uniform heading out with guns. They looked tiny, compared to the monstrosity outside the town.
"Holy shit…why is that reporter just standing there filming it?" demanded Kunsel as the grids inside of the panels began to light up. "I don't think that thing's about to give a lightshow!"
Zack was inclined to agree, but reporters and journalists were known to put themselves in danger all the time to get good coverage. "Get out of there," Zack muttered, sharing Kunsel's dread. He sincerely doubted the police could penetrate that body armor with any of the weapons they were issued, and Icicle's law enforcement agency didn't have a lot of manpower behind it. Small towns didn't need many law enforcers to maintain the peace.
White-hot beams of energy fired from the grids on the creature's shoulders, shooting straight for the town. The screams of terror from the residents were partially drowned out by the resulting explosions as the laser beams impacted buildings, vehicles and other structures. The camera shook and the reporter started yelling the obvious.
"It's attacking! We're under attack!"
The law enforcement on the scene started shooting at the aggressor, with no visible effect. The creature tromped closer to the town and continued its assault, decimating everything in its wake. The ground cracked open beneath its metallic, clawed feet and the reporter seemed to be walking backwards, trying to move away from its approach without lowering his camera. An old truck went flying into the air, hurtling end-over-end and on fire. It was heading straight for the camera. There was a scream of terror from the man holding it, and the last thing Zack and Kunsel saw before the picture went blank and dead was the grill of the vehicle.
Zack and Kunsel both winced, and the reporters at the news station tried to contact the cameraman. When they failed to get a response or further images, the picture changed to show a balding man and an attractive blonde woman sitting at the station's anchorman desk.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the woman said, adjusting her communication headset, "we appear to be having some technical difficulties and we've lost communication with our Icicle Inn team."

"We'll be back with more, after these messages," said the man.

Zack and Kunsel looked at each other as the picture faded and a television ad for cough medicine came on. "I don't know what that thing was," Kunsel said, "but it sure as hell wasn't made by ShinRa."

~***********************************~

-To be continued
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Darkened Skies