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Premonitions: Uncut	By : Hippo_and_Friends_with_Benefits Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 3901 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, and I am not making any money of of this writing.

Chapter List
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Chapter 4: The Fall
Barret, immediately and instinctively, pointed his gun-arm at Bestla; he was not about to suffer poor Denzel's fate. His gun-arm was fast; it would take but a few seconds to finish her off. After what she had done to Denzel, he had almost wanted to fired immediately. He was, however, well aware that the three of them needed to know what was going on before he did so.
"Looking for this?" Bestla taunted. She held a small device in the palm of her hand.
Obviously not the Chronus Wand, Tifa thought.
"No," replied Cloud. "We're looking for what you're looking for."
"This is what I'm looking for," Bestla replied. "Or at least a piece of it."
"I think you better hand it over," warned Barret. His arm was slightly relaxed, but still aimed at Bestla. She had no escape.
"Tell me," continued Bestla, "where are the two other pieces?"
"I said," repeated Barret sternly, "hand over the piece."
"You need to tell me where the other two pieces are," Bestla insisted.
Barret scoffed. "What are you going to do? Gun us down, just like Denzel?"
Bestla was silent.
"He was like a son to me," Tifa said.
"You're outnumbered with a machine gun pointed at you," Barret continued. "That's not a very good place to be. I can pump a hundred bullets into you in thirty seconds flat!"
Again Bestla was silent. And, strangely, she began to smile.
"I don't know what the fuck you're smiling about," said Barret, "but I'm giving you until the count of three to hand that piece over."
Bestla continued to smile.
"One!" Barret began to count.
She still smiled.
"Two!" Barret continued.
And then, Cloud, Tifa, and Barret suddenly heard the sound of another gun cock.
Tifa turned her head slightly to the left. A second gun was pointing at the three of them. And that gun was held by Nara.
"You're with her?!" exclaimed Tifa.
"Surprise!" declared Nara.
"You really thought I would be dumb enough to face the three of you alone?" taunted Bestla. "Allow me to introduce you to my loyal henchwoman, Nara."
"So much for my co-worker," muttered Barret.
"You weren't the first!" Bestla cackled. "She's been pretending to work with all your former friends!"
"What?!" shouted Tifa.
"Pretending to be a co-pilot," Bestla continued. "Another thief. Another fortune teller. First the deceptions, and then the killings!"
Tifa began to fill with rage.
"It was you?!"
"There's going to be another killing within the hour!" Cloud snarled.
"Really," taunted Bestla. "We may be outnumbered, but you're outgunned."
"I'm faster than you think," Barret warned.
"And we can both fire in unison," Bestla retorted.
Barret felt his mouth dry. He hated to admit it, but she was right. The odds were indeed against them.
"You see," Bestla continued, "everyone has their idols. You, Cloud, had one. His name was Zack Fair, I believe?"
"That's right," Cloud replied.
"And you, Barret, there was your old friend Dyne, who jumped to his death off a cliff."
"Mind yo' own business," Barret snapped.
"What's the point of this?!" Tifa demanded.
"I have my idols, too," Bestla announced as she showed everyone her cell phone. A familiar face with long, silver hair appeared on the screen.
"Sephiroth?" Cloud asked. "He wasn't the best role model."
"I even keep his voice in my audio files," Beslta said. "Listen."
She then pushed a button. What followed was what Cloud, Tifa, and Barret could easily verify as Sephiroth's voice.
"The wind's calm now," spoke Sephiroth on the audio file. "It's the curse of the resurrected Satan. Our beloved queen does not awaken. The time is ripe. A legend has been passed on through generations; the sought after Promised Land. One with Blue Eyes and a Great White Sword on his back will not lead to the Promised Land."
Bestla stopped the file from playing.
"This is the person I want to be like the most," Bestla said.
"We don't care about your choice of role models!" Cloud insisted. "You are being brought to justice!"
"Now," continued Bestla, "you have no fight against us, which is a little sad."
"What are you going on about?" demanded Cloud.
"I think I'll give you all a chance to even the odds."
"What's that supposed to mean?" questioned Tifa.
"I'm going to let you all go for now," Bestla explained. "If you're all fast enough."
"Fast enough?" Cloud smelled a rat.
"Each of you," Bestla continued, "must run across the catwalk and out of the room. One by one."
"So it's a game," Tifa said.
"In a way," Bestla replied. "And while each of you are running, I'll fire a shot at you. If I miss, you live to fight me properly."
"We're not playing your stupid game," said Barret.
"Then," retorted Nara, her gun still aimed at the three of them, "welcome to target practice!"
Cloud, Tifa, and Barret all groaned in unison. They realized they had no choice.
"I think the living machine gun should play first," ordered Bestla.
Cautiously, Barret lowered his arm. There was no alternative. He looked at the catwalk. It did not seem far. He was forty-four years old now. He was hoping he still had it.
"What are you waiting for?" taunted Nara. "We don't have all night."
Barret took a deep breath. He positioned himself. And then, he began to run. His eyes were focused on the other end of the catwalk. He heard, and felt, his feet on the metal catwalk. The test of his life had begun.
When he was a third of the way across the catwalk, Bestla fired. This was not the gun she used to kill Denzel with. This one was different; it fired a blue laser. But the beam did not hit Barret. It almost seemed as if Bestla was not even aiming. Instead, the beam hit the catwalk. And then, Barret's life was really in jeopardy. When the beam hit the catwalk, it spread across in both directions.
"Lookout!" cried Tifa.
Barret turned his head to notice the beam catching up with him. When he was halfway across the catwalk, he jumped, slightly backward, over the beam. The beam continued its menacing journey until it reached the end of the catwalk. Then it faded.
"You missed!" shouted Barret in triumph.
"Well," replied Bestla, "that was my shot. I guess this is your lucky day."
Barret turned around to finish his trip across the catwalk. But then, something began to happen. Cracks began to appear in the metal grating. The catwalk's color began to turn from a dark black to a light brown. Within two seconds, the catwalk was dust.
And Barret fell through. Before he realized his peril, Barret fell through. He fell downward, waving his arms around desperately, attempting in vain to grab something.
"Barret!" shrieked Tifa.
Barret hit the ground hard. Cloud and Tifa heard a loud groan from below. Both of them instinctively ran to the edge of the island, trying to see Barret. But they could not.
Cloud turned to confront Bestla, but she was gone. As was Nara.
"Bestla!" demanded Cloud. "Where are you?!"
Cloud only heard his echo.
"Hey Cloud," called Tifa. "There's a ladder on this end of the island."
Both of them quickly climbed down the ladder. When they reached the bottom, they ran to the area under where the catwalk had been. Barret was laying on his back, breathing heavily. Blood was coming from his mouth. Both Cloud and Tifa simultaneously looked at him. He was obviously hurt, and needed help. They could get Bestla later.
"Don't move!" ordered Tifa as she knelt by his side. "We'll get you out of here!"
"Ambulance," Cloud replied as he pulled a phone from his pocket. "I'm on it."
"T-too damn late!" Barret managed to cough out.
"Don't say that!" ordered Tifa.
"I should have kept running," Barret continued through his labored breathing. "Maybe I deserved it."
"Don't try to talk now," ordered Cloud. "We'll get you home. You're a survivor."
"Not this time," Barret groaned. "That bitch killed Corel's greatest!"
Those were his last words. Barret turned his head slightly, and was still forever.
Sobbing bitterly, Tifa closed his eyes.
"No," whispered Cloud.
He could not believe it. Barret seemed as if he was the strongest in the group. He was even willing to admit that he was afraid of him when they first met. Now that he was gone, Cloud felt a terrible emptiness inside. He had not felt that was since the day Tifa got married. He almost wanted to collapse. But now, there was no time to waste. A killer was on the loose, and either himself of Tifa could be next.
"Tifa," he whispered. "We need to get back to the Shera."
"Are you kidding?!" she tearfully exclaimed as she gently touched the body. "We can't just leave him!"
"There's nothing more we can do for him," Cloud gently informed her. "The paramedics will take him. I'll make the arrangements once this is over. Unless, of course, there's next of kin."
Tifa shook her head.
"He said last year that he wanted to get married again," she said sadly. "But he just died alone."
"He wasn't alone," Cloud assured her.
Cloud then felt another emptiness inside. As he watched Tifa tend to Barret's remains, it reminded him of the time he was at the Mideel clinic. Tifa had stayed by his side the entire time. No other friend he had ever had would have done such a thing for him. Tifa was truly one of a kind.
And she was the greatest opportunity he had ever missed.
In any event, he needed to focus on the present.
"But," he continued, "we need to go before Bestla gets the Chronus Wand."
Tifa nodded sadly as she rose to her feet.
"She'll pay for this," she sobbed. "Whatever it takes, she'll pay for this."
The two of them silently made their way out of the facility.
- 3
- 4
- 5
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Premonitions: Uncut