Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

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 55: Lighting After the Woman in Leather
7:30 p.m.
Down at where the subway tunnel curved, Red XIII, Cait Sith, and Vincent began to appear.
"There you are!" Red XIII announced.
"We thought you were going to ditch us back there," Cait Sith added. "We had to take the long way because of my size."
"Which way did that girl go?" asked Vincent.
"That way!" Cloud replied as he pointed in the opposite direction.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Vincent asked.
Without replying, Cloud continued to lead the way down the tracks. Tifa followed closely behind him.
After several yards, the woman in leather came into view again. Her back was still turned.
"Aerith?" called Cloud for a second time.
The woman predictably began to run again.
The six of them followed down the tunnel, hoping to catch up with her.
Eventually, the tunnel came to an end. The woman climbed the ladder at the end wall and vanished above. Cloud and Tifa soon followed.
When they reached the top of the ladder, they realized that they were outside and on the surface again. They could see the woman in leather, still with her back turned to them, a few yards away. Beyond her was an entrance both Cloud and Tifa would recognize, And they would also recognize that they were at the Shinra Building.
"Aerith!" Cloud called again.
The woman in leather didn't respond. Instead, she climbed the front steps, and disappeared inside.
Cloud and Tifa quickly followed her into the building. They entered the main reception room-the same one where Barret had infamously declared he didn't need an appointment weeks before-only to see the woman in leather, with her back still turned to Cloud and Tifa, disappear into the closing elevator on the right.
"Where is she going?" asked Tifa.
"Let's go!" Cloud insisted as he prepared to press the button.
"Wait!" pleaded Tifa as she gently stayed his hand. "Let's see what floor she gets off on!"
And then, the numbers stopped counting.
"Floor sixty-four!" Tifa shouted. "Let's go!"
But before they could do that, a voice sounded from behind.
"Espera! Espera!"
Cloud and Tifa turned around to see Cait Sith, Cid, Vincent, and Red XIII approaching them.
"The tower's not this way!" Cait Sith protested.
"We've got some side business," Cloud replied. "We need to get to floor sixty-four."
"Okay, okay," Cait Sith conceded. "Floor sixty-four it is."
"What's up there?" asked Vincent.
"The grappling hook," Cait Sith replied. "An easy way to the top of the tower."
Cloud and Tifa were surprised. The cat thought they were after a device upstairs, completely naïve to the fact that they were straying from the rescue mission.
They decided to go along with it.
"We'll be going up to get it," Cloud announced. "We'll be down shortly. This should buy us more time. I need the three of you to make sure nobody follows us."
"Can do!" Cid announced.
Cloud then pressed the button. The elevator arrived soon afterward, and he, Tifa, and Cait Sith hopped on. The door closed, and the elevator began to quickly ascend.
Cait Sith turned to face his companions. "The tower elevator's designed to carry heavy cargo, so it's slow as hell. I must say you're doing the right thing by getting the grappling hook."
"Thanks," said Tifa, trying to hide the deceit.
And then, the elevator stopped on the sixty-fourth floor. The three of them disembarked with Cait Sith oblivious to what they were really pursuing.
Feeling deja vu from his previous trip to the facility, Cloud quickly peeked in the large room with all the treadmills and bench equipment. There was no sign of the woman in leather.
"Not there!" Cait Sith insisted. "Though I suppose you can use it for some kind of workout."
Cloud then checked the room with all the beds. She wasn't there, either.
"It's toward the back, remember?" Cait Sith reminded him.
Moving on, Tifa stuck her nose in the third room. This was the bathroom. Every stall was wide open and empty. There was no leather-clad girl in here, either.
"Shouldn't you have taken care of that before we parachuted in?" Cait Sith asked.
Ignoring him, Cloud and Tifa went into the next room, which was the shower room. They began inspecting the shower stalls.
"Whoa!" Cait Sith exclaimed. "If you two want to shower together, do it on your own time! Didn't you come here for another reason?"
"You bet your ass," Cloud replied.
"Then let's go!" Cait Sith insisted. "The locker room's next door!"
Realizing that the woman in leather wasn't in this room either, Cloud and Tifa complied.
The locker room was walled with lockers, each with a label of its contents. The three of them began to scan the lockers for the "grappling hook" label. Every few moments or so, Cloud would scan the area around him, hoping for a glimpse of the woman in leather. But he never saw her. Had it not been for his companions acknowledging her, he might have figured it had been his imagination.
And then, Cloud found the locker labelled "grappling hook."
"Here it is!" he announced as he quickly opened the locker.
He, along with Tifa and Cait Sith, took a peek. It was empty inside.
"The grappling hook's missing!" Cait Sith protested as he stomped his foot. "Somebody stole the grappling hook!"
No need to ask who, Cloud thought. That's what she was doing in here.
"We'll have to settle for the HP Shout," Cait Sith said reluctantly as he opened another locker and took out what appeared to be a giant megaphone. "It's not the grappling hook, but wait 'til you see what it does."
Tifa and Cloud gave each other a skeptical look.
"We did the best we could," Cait Sith said. "Now lets get the hell outta here!"
Cloud nodded.
Tifa gave him an alarmed look.
"But what about...?" she began.
"There's only one way out of this building," Cloud replied quietly. "If she leaves, we'll notice." He paused. "She's not on this floor, anyway. Besides, Yuffie's running out of time.
Tifa nodded. "You're right," she said.
They returned to the elevator and began to descend.
"So what does that do?" Cloud asked, checking out the HP Shout.
"You'll find out when the time is right," Cait Sith assured him.
Cloud and Tifa looked at each other uneasily. There was something suspicious about the whole thing.
In any case, the elevator reached the bottom, opening and releasing the three back into the lobby.
8:00 p.m.
"What the hell is that?" Cid demanded as all six of them began to walk through the lobby and towards the exit.
"The HP Shout," Tifa replied. "And you won't get any farther that this."
The six of them exited the building and returned to where the left the underground.
"So, cat," Cid began, "where's the elevator to the top of the tower?"
"Two blocks down that way," Cait Sith replied, pointing to the street in front of them. "Then turn right, and it'll be two more blocks."
"And you're not shitting us?" warned Cid. "Because curiosity didn't kill the cat, but bullshit did."
"It's there," Cait Sith insisted. "I swear to it."
They crossed one block without any incident, other than suspicion.
"Just one more block," Cait Sith assured them all, "and you'll see it." He then sighed. "You know, I don't get why you're willing to save someone else who betrayed you, but you're still treating me like shit."
"Yuffie's been honest about who she is from the start," Red XIII answered.
They then began to cross the second block.
"Hold it right there!" shouted a familiar voice.
The six turned around to see Palmer bearing his Mako gun, ready to fire.
"Did you guys think you'd get past me?"
Cloud drew his sword.
Tifa raised her fists.
Cait Sith pointed his HP Shout.
Cid armed his spear.
Vincent cocked his gun.
Red XIII bared his teeth.
"Six against one," Cloud warned. "Shoot one of us and the other five attack. Or you can puss out again run back to your safe, secure office. What's it gonna be?"
"You're really pushing your luck," Palmer taunted. "Just because I look stupid doesn't mean that I am! Only one of you has a long-range weapon. Speaking of which-"
Without finishing, Palmer fired his Mako gun at Vincent, hitting his revolver and knocking it to the ground.
"Try to pick it up and you'll be twice as dead," Palmer warned. "Now then, which one of you wants to go first?"
The six of them stood in silence. Nobody dared to utter a word.
And then, Red XIII began to charge.
"Fine," sighed Palmer as he pointed his gun. "I'm a dog person, anyway." With that, he fired.
But Red XIII was fast. He dodged the beam and continued to advance.
Palmer fired again.
Red XIII dodged again and continued to his target.
Palmer fired a third time.
Red XIII dodged the beam once more.
Palmer pulled the trigger a fourth time. Nothing happened; the gun was out of energy. Resigned, Palmer turned and began to run, but it was of little use. He could feel his pursuer gaining on him.
He began to cross the street as Red XIII stopped, and Cloud, Tifa, Cid, Cait Sith, and Vincent looked on. Suddenly, their ears were greeted by a screeching sound. A moment later, Palmer was struck by a tractor-trailer with a giant Shinra logo on it. Despite his weight, it sent him flying several yards, landing in the middle of the street.
Palmer lay on his side, dead as a doornail.
"I really need to put a stoplight here," Cait Sith muttered.
Tifa turned to face Cait Sith. "Wait a minute," she said.
"Aw, shit!" he groaned.
"You're Reeve, aren't you?"
The feline sighed. "How could you tell?"
"Because he's the only one I haven't seen you in the same room with," Tifa answered.
"Fair enough," Cait Sith said. "Fair enough." He paused. "Listen, everyone, there's something else I think I need to address."
Everyone directed their attention to him. Now that his identity was exposed, they somehow found him more trustworthy.
"We've been pursuing that woman in leather," he continued. "And I know you're under the impression that it might be Aerith. But we all watched her die."
"I recognized her scent," Red XIII insisted. "It was Aerith's!"
"I do have a theory," Cait Sith began. "After the initial discussion about breeding her with Red XIII, Hojo realized any kind of breeding would ruin her genetic integrity. So he began a cloning program. One where she could keep her genes as they were, and, hopefully, one day, Hojo would be able to isolate her alien genes, thus creating a full Cetra."
"And you're saying this girl in leather is actually a clone of Aerith?" Tifa asked.
"I don't know for sure," Cait Sith replied. "But it's where I place my bet. No cloning experiments went on record, but he's Hojo. He could have done stuff under the table, like he's doing now. What I do know is that Yuffie is alive. But she won't be for long if we don't hurry."
Everyone nodded in unison. They then turned and retraced their steps, heading for Purvis Street, with Vincent retrieving his revolver along the way.
"So it wasn't Aerith, then," Cloud said.
Tifa squeezed her love's hand and kissed him. "We had to be sure, right?" she said.
What she didn't say was that she was still not completely sure. But, at this point, she had a hard time knowing what to believe.
8:15 p.m.
And then, the ground began to rumble.
"What the hell is that?" muttered Vincent.
A moment later, the eight of them beheld a giant humanoid contraption. It was red with yellow claws coming from its hands. It stood thirty feet tall, and its armor seemed like it was impossible to penetrate.
"This doesn't look good," Red XIII said.
And then, a hatch opened up top, revealing the two familiar faces controlling the monster.
"Gya ha ha!" cackled Heidegger. "Here they come!" He then turned his attention toward Cloud. "So you really showed up! You sure did treat us like dogs up to now!"
"You killed off a lot of my precious soldiers!" Scarlet added. "And an expendable executive or two."
"But let's see how you do against anti-Weapon artillery!" Heidegger announced.
"You guys are worthless, but my proud creation is a sure thing," Scarlet gloated. "I'll show you the destructive power of the Proud Clod!"
With that, both of them disappeared into the hatch.
Wasting no time, the Prod Clod began to fire rings of all colors at the party, causing them to disperse in all directions.
"Perfect!" cackled Scarlet. "Now we can wip 'em out one by one!"
"Who first?" asked Heidegger.
"Let's start with Tifa!" Scarlet replied. "Fry her ass with the laser!"
"Can do!" Heidegger said.
The Prod Clod's left hand fired a laser at Tifa.
She jumped to a safe distance with less than a second to spare.
"Fucking cunt," Scarlet muttered.
"Maybe a good meal will cheer you up," Heidegger suggested. "How would you like your cat cooked?"
"Well done!" Scarlet gleefully replied.
The Prod Clod's knees opened, and a blue flame emerged from them.
Red XIII had to roll quickly to avoid it.
"Enough of this bullshit," Heidegger declared. "We'll do this the old fashioned way and use to chest cannons to pump a shitload of bullets in 'em!"
"Good-bye!" Scarlet shouted with glee as the cannons began to charge.
Cid, with less than a second to ponder, hurled his spear into the right cannon. It lodged itself in its position tightly.
A hideous noise began to emanate from the Prod Clod. Static and electric sparks began to engulf the vehicle. It began to jerk.
There was jerking inside the cockpit as well. Sparks began to fly from the controls. Bolts and nails were beginning to pop out of the walls and fly dangerously through the small room.
"Not that!" Scarlet exclaimed. "This is the fucking Prod Clod?!"
Those turned out to be her last words. A nail on the console shot loose, striking Scarlet in the forehead. Blood trickled down to her nose as she slumped into Heidegger's lap, dead as a doornail.
"Guys," shouted Cid, "I think we need to get the fuck outta here!"
With nobody arguing, everyone fled the block.
Smoke began to rise from the rear of the Prod Clod, quickly morphing into a flame.
"Whoa!" shouted Heidegger, though it was little use.
The Prod Clod exploded, with debris flying in all directions.
The six of them, meanwhile, had reached a safe distance ten yards away. Slowly, they turned around to assess the damage.
Cloud could see, in the cockpit, the two charred corpses that had once been Heidegger and Scarlet.
"So this was it," he said sadly. He looked at Tifa uneasily, and then once again at the wreckage. "This was where we killed them."
Tifa squeezed his hand and looked at Cloud solemnly.
"I had to do it," Cid defended. "Or we'd all be fucked."
"I know," Tifa replied.
Everyone then turned away from the pitiful sight.
"Guys," Cait Sith began, "there's something you should know. Scarlet did a rush job getting the Prod Clod built. There was fluid leakage and faulty wiring." He turned to Cid. "It wasn't the spear." He then turned to Cloud and Tifa. "It wasn't your fault."
"Bestla will still blame us," Red XIII said.
"We can still be ready for her," Cloud assured. "We have a decade. Hell, we can ambush her in the alley right before she kills Denzel."
And then, they all began to hear footsteps approaching the wreck. Everyone turned, and multiple hearts began to break.
The teenaged Bestla had approached the wreck and began to examine it.
"Mom?" she called out in a shaky voice.
Tifa felt a lump in her throat.
"Dad?" the teen called out, in an even shakier voice.
Cloud almost lost his balance.
And then, everyone saw the teenaged Bestla collapse to her knees and bury her face in her hands.
"Mommy!" She tearfully whispered.
Tifa closed her eyes. She could see her mother's car disappearing over the edge. And she could see her father laying lifeless on the ground.
Cloud closed his eyes as well. He could see his mother's charred corpse in his house.
Vincent, meanwhile, began to ponder. But what came out of his mouth next was completely unexpected.
"I can do her," he announced.
"What?" asked Tifa skeptically.
"Back of the head," he clarified as he cocked his gun and pointed it at the grieving Bestla. "Quick and painless."
"No!" Tifa exclaimed.
"There might be a better way," Cloud insisted.
"Like what?" Vincent somewhat demanded.
Neither Cloud nor Tifa could come up with an answer.
"I thought not," Vincent said.
"Guys!" Cait Sith suddenly announced. "Yuffie?"
Vincent sighed as he lowered his revolver.
"We'll deal with this sooner, rather than later," Cait Sith announced. "Somebody's running out of time."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
MEANWHILE….
Unknown to anyone else, the adult Bestla monitored the whole thing from the Urchin. She was silently watching her younger self crying beside the wreckage. With tears streaming down her face, she placed her hand on the screen and began to stroke the spot that displayed the teenage Bestla.
"When this is all over," Bestla said softly, "I'll be there for you. I promise."
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Premonitions: Uncut