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Into Darkness	By : MissDirected Category: Final Fantasy VII > Het - Male/Female Views: 1326 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Final Fantasy or their characters. I make absolutely no profit from these writings at all. I also do not own any part of the show Revolution, where the inspiration came from for this story.

Chapter List
- 1-When The Lights Run Out
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A/N: I would not consider this fiction as a crossover but the general idea came from the show “revolution.”

CHAPTER ONE:

when the lights run out

Tifa glanced at the clock hanging above the computer. It read 9.08PM. The sky outside had long since darkened. The only lights outside were the street lamps and the silver glow from the moon. She been sat staring at the old and battered computer for twenty minutes trying to come up with a drinks list. The gang had just bought a rather large place, big enough for them all to live comfortably and for Cid to have his Highwind parked outside. Not to mention the new plane he was working on. It was also the location for Tifa's new bar and Cloud's delivery service. It was a time of peace and once the world had settled down, they'd all had to find something to do with their lives.

Since Tifa had lost Seventh Heaven in the slums when it was destroyed, she'd decided to open a brand new bar. It had been a little slow in coming, the place they'd bought had needed a fair amount of work on it. They'd painted, furnished and had the place tidy in three months. Tifa didn't like to think how long it would have taken her on her own. Right now she was sat in the office, what she called an office anyway. It had one computer, a phone, a bookcase and a punching bag which Barrett was quite happily pounding into. It had a few pictures of the gang too, though the more time that had passed, the less people were in it.

The more recent photographs of them only held Tifa, Barrett, Cid and Cloud, but her favorite one was the one perched on the computer desk. It was a photograph of all them taken at the mountain area around Wutai. They were all smiling, it was one of the rare moments when they had been able to be a family. To just laugh and talk without worrying too much. It was the only photo with Aerith in it. More than once Tifa had caught Cloud staring longingly at it, as though he was afraid he'd forget what she looked like.

The next photograph was one taken just after Meteor hit, once they finally realized it was all over. They all looked a little worse for wear. Yet they all appeared to be relieved and happy. Tifa sometimes found it hard to look at that photo. It served as a reminder of their victory, but it also reminded her or what it had cost them. Even in the photo, it seemed like there was a hole that couldn't be filled. The place where Aerith should have been, but no longer was.

Tifa turned her attention to the computer and began to type a long list of drinks. If she got the drinks menu out of the way she could start on the food. She got halfway through the list when the screen started to flicker. It was almost as though the cord was coming loose from the back of it. She stuck her hand behind the screen and fiddled with the cord to see if that was the problem, yet the cord was in the back of it tightly. “Strange.” She mumbled to herself. Tifa hit the save button before continuing. If the monitor was going to pack up on her, she wanted to have least saved what she'd done so far.

Ten minutes later, the screen flickered again but this time the overhead light accompanied it. Glancing up, she watched the light as it seemed to burn bright, flicker, then come back dimly before lighting up fully again. Barrett had stopped punching the bag to look up at it too. “Damn lights,” He mumbled, wiping his forehead, “Bulb must be goin' I'll have ta get a new one.”

“I don't think it's the bulb, Barrett.” Tifa said, looking at the box on the table. “It was only changed yesterday and the computer's flickering.”

“Mebbe its the fuses?” He questioned, though Barrett knew next to nothing about electricity.

“See if Cid's up then, he can check the fusebox.” Tifa looked back at the computer screen, which was still flickering oddly. Her brows furrowed, this was strange. She'd never experienced anything like this and she knew from experience that when the fuses blew everything just went out at once so she doubted it was that.

As Barrett went to open the door, Cloud walked through it. He had his cell phone in his hand and he was shaking it uncertainly. His blue eyes looked up to the flickering light, to Tifa's computer screen and then back to his phone. “Odd.” He said, before flinging his phone onto the table. “Fenrir stopped working just outside Midgar, the phone's are dying and the street lamps are flickering.” He looked at Barrett who was opening his mouth getting ready to say something, but Cloud cut him up short. “There was enough fuel in Fenrir to get me to Junon and back.”

Tifa picked up the TV remote and switched it on. It was still trying to broadcast but it was acting like something was interfering with it. She quickly shut it off and looked at the two men. If the street lamps were flickering, it couldn't just be the bar, or the fuses or any other excuse Barrett would try to come up with.

“Seems like everything electrical is malfunctioning.” Tifa spoke. “But why...?”

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The ShinRa building was not really in much of a fit state to inhabit. Most of the top half of the building had been blown away and what wasn't in bits certainly looked like it should be. The interior had been somewhat cleaned and the first forty floors were safe enough now. The Turks had spent the better part of a year shifting debris, painting and cleaning. They had been trying to restore as much of the building as they could, but it had been a long laboring job and though the first forty floors were clear of debris and freshly painted. It didn't look as grand as it once had done.

The fortieth floor had been made into living quarters for the few remaining ShinRa employees. In room thirteen, Reno was banging his Electro-Magnetic Rod against a metal plate and cursing at the top of his lungs. The Rod wasn't working right. He'd double checked the battery pack which had been working, he'd checked all the circuits and they seemed to be fine. There was no logical explanation of why his Rod would suddenly have decided to break but there was no electricity flowing through it at all.

Throwing it into the corner of his room, he flopped down lazily on his bed figuring he could figure out the dumb Rod tomorrow. Maybe Reeve or Rude would take a look at it for him. Them being the more technical minded of the lot of them. He was staring at the light over his bed, ranting in his mind about the 'stupid Rod' when it started to flicker. At first he didn't think much of it. It was an old building, one that was falling apart bit by bit and the electrical wiring wasn't all that great. It would be no surprise if a few of the lights were a bit dodgy. He didn't begin to question anything until he opened his cellphone and saw the screen flickering lazily. Putting that together with the fact his EMR wasn't working, it made him question what was happening.

He flung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled back the curtains, taking a look out at the city below him. Midgar had taken quite a smacking during the end of what he called “the war of humankind” and it was finally getting back on its feet. The citizens were coming together to rebuild their beloved city, opening new shops, clearing the streets and fixing the roads. Reno could see the street lamps from here and he noticed they were all flickering wildly too. He heard a light knocking at his door, before it creaked open and Rude appeared beside him, looking out at the city too.

“Power-cut?” Rude asked, looking sidelong at Reno. “It wouldn't be too much of a surprise, we've had about four in the last month.”

“A power-cut wouldn't stop my EMR from working when it was on charge all last night.” Reno simply stated, “If it was a powercut, lights wouldn't be flickering like that, they'd just cut out.”

“True.” Rude nodded, “Everything electrical is on the blink at the minute. Cells, alarm clocks and even my computer.”

Reno heard a sound from the streets of Midgar below him, “Car alarms..?” He pondered. He could hear the distinct sound of car alarms and for a minute they sounded fine, though soon they began to sound like the car batteries were dying. He watched the city below him as each street lamp turned off in quick succession. It looked almost as though someone was walking between them and turning them off by a switch. “This is strange, we'd better go see the bossman. Maybe he knows what's up.”

Reno and Rude made their way to Rufus' office on the Thirty-ninth floor, taking the stairs rather than chancing the elevator. By the time they'd gotten there, Elena, Tseng and Reeve were already in the little room discussing the lights. However, Reno noticed that Rufus' eyes were not on any one of them, though he looked worried, his eyes were focused on a small black device in his hands, in his other hand there was a note. Everyone else seemed to sense Rufus' mood and quickly shut up. His eyes scanned each of them quickly, making sure they were all there, before he spoke.

“I found this earlier on in the wreckage up on the sixty-seventh floor--”

“Sir, that was dangerous!” Elena exclaimed, “You know better than anyone that anything above the fortieth floor is just too unsafe at present.”

“Yes, Elena. I am aware.” He sighed, “Do you remember what was on the sixty-seventh floor?”

“The...Science Department?” She asked almost uncertainly, almost as though she was afraid of the answer. “Sixty-eighth floor too...”

“Yes. I was up there seeing if there was anything in the wreckage we could salvage and use to help us rebuild this building.” Rufus explained, “It was a long shot considering who the scientist who ran the science department was...”

“Professor HoJo, the madman.” Reeve spoke, an acidic edge to his voice.

“Madman yes,” Rufus agreed, “But he was also brilliant in his creations. I found something in his office that managed to survive and goodness knows how, I heard it beeping.”

“Beeping, sir?”

“Yes, Reno. Beeping.” Rufus sighed, “I thought it was a bomb which was why I investigated, that would have been the last thing we needed but as it picked it up it asked for a password.” He placed the black object on the table, the screen on that also flickering oddly, “However, before I could type one the screen started doing this, soon after that all the lights began to flicker. It wasn't until I got back to my office that I noticed the note attached to it.”

Reno looked at the note, which Rufus flattened to desk.

A blackout to span the earth. A blackout to never end. Should my life be forfeit, I'll plunge yours into darkness. Electricity will fade, power will be cut. Batteries shall never work. Into the dark ages you will be.

“He wasn't very good at poetry was he?” Reno pondered aloud. “None of that even rhymes!”

“Does it matter if it rhymes or not, Reno? Don't you understand what this means?” Rufus barked. “Everything that relies on electricity will no longer work. Anything battery operated will no longer work. We'll have no power, no heat, no transport... even your EMR will break. Computers, Helicopters, Planes, Cars. Everything we've ever worked for or towards will all have been for nothing.”

“Can't we reverse it?” Rude asked, “There must be something we can do.”

“Maybe if we had fifteen years to figure out what kind of technology he used,” Reeve spoke, “He planned this well, I'll give him that.”

“He was a mad scientist who acted like a child when he didn't get his own way.” Tseng chimed in, “This is no different. It asked for a password so there must be a fail-safe he installed in case he was still alive when it was due to happen.”

“The problem is, Tseng. We don't know where such a fail-safe would be or what kind of password he would use.” Reeve answered, “And since he's dead I don't see us figuring it out any time soon.”

“What about that pilot who hangs around with Cloud?” Reno piped in, “He's got brains.”

“He's a flight engineer, not a scientist.” Reeve pointed out. “Put that in front of his nose he's likely to stab it with his javelin and we don't want to destroy that.”

“Why not?” Elena asked, “It's done it's job right?”

“It's the only clue we have.” Reeve spoke again.

The little black device gave one final beep, a long one, before the screen went blank completely. Seconds after that, the whole office was plunged into darkness. A darkness that, if the note was correct, would last for a very long time.
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Into Darkness