FINAL FANTASY: FATED Chapter 3: The End of the Beginning An ImproFanfic by Anonymous * * * * * The slums were burning. Blocks of tenements and shelters built of scrap were engulfed in flame as the residents of the sector fled. Small knots of slum-dwellers strove to fight back against the blue uniformed Shinra troops who had descended on the sector. Those who stood up to the troops were quickly cut down by the troops' guns, swords, and pikes. Several of the troops bore flamethrowers, the source of the blaze. The wails of the injured were heard everywhere. While this chaos unfolded around, Inno Kinsley ran down the filthy streets of Sector 3, one goal in mind. Her mother, her brother, they were in here, somewhere; she had to reach them. As she ran, the heat of the burning buildings prickled at her skin, and the stink of smoke filled her lungs. Gabriel's footfalls pounded along behind her, and the short sword he had given her slapped against her thigh. The shield felt strange and heavy on her arm, as she increased her pace. She knew that materia would be helpful, but as she had none, its usefulness was moot. Bypassing an intersection where a mob of slum residents were battling Shinra troops, Inno rushed up the next block. She was only a two or three blocks away now. She had to get to her apartment. Mom, Les, she had to help them. Gabriel would help her. They'd be OK, she'd get there in time.... Her thoughts broke off, as a squad of three Shinra troopers stepped out of a side street and spotted her. They opened fire almost immediately. Only luck prevented her from being fatally perforated by the burst of bullets. A random instinct prompted Inno to throw her shield arm up, the shield blocked the bullets in chorus of ricochets. It occurred to Inno that she had no idea how to use a sword. Even as the bullets ricochets from her shield, Inno saw an arrow pierce one soldier's shoulder. The man screamed and staggered back, blood now marring the blue of his uniform. The other two turned their mirrored face-plates toward the archer. It was Gabriel, who had been just behind Inno when the troops had arrived. "Hey kid! You take off and help your mom. I'll take care of these guys," he said, as he notched another arrow. Inno dashed off down an alley that lead between a pair of burning tenements, the heat reddening her arms. Reaching the street, Inno began to sprint the final two blocks to the tenement where her family was lodging. She would save her mother; she would her brother. They'd be all right. Mom and Les will be fine.... Inno's mantra died once she turned the final corner. Where the scrap-built tenement that the Kinsleys had taken rooms in had once stood, a six block section of Sector 3 had been turned into smouldering rubble. Nothing remained. No one could have survived. Her family was dead. Mom. Les. Inno felt something inside her break. It might have been her heart. She stood and wept. Until someone intruded, exclaiming, "Sedition against Shinra Corp is punishable by death!" Startled, Inno whirled, looking for the source of the accuser. Gazing about, she failed to find a nearby source. However, as she gazed across the ashes of the tenement blocks, she found the source. On the far side of the devastation, a large squad of Shinra troops bearing flamethrowers were methodically torching a tenement. They were backed by a trio of sweeper robots. One of the mechs had a video display mounted on it, where a video feed allowed the Head of Shinra Peace Preservation Division, Heideggar, whom Inno recognized from the news, to survey his soldiers handiwork and repeat the condemnation against seditionists (Inno guessed he meant rioters). The whole group seemed to be following the orders of a man in a grey uniform. A SOLDIER 3rd Class. Inno, however, did not know this. She only knew that these men had killed her family. The heat from the burning buildings boiled up around her, as if stoked by her anger. Forgetting that she did not know how to use a sword, Inno drew her's. She charged the Shinra troops, even as they drew a bead on her. A ruddy haze seemed to cloud her vision, and then.... A flash and... ...the first sweeper fell, swallowed by a black orb... ...and flash and... ...dodged the spray of bullets, slamming a shield into someone's head... ...and flash and... ...the lattice of energy dancing across her skin, flexing crystalline fires, webs of green, blue, yellow, purple, and red... ...and flash and... ..."Ice," and the air crystallized around the soldiers... ...and flash and... ...faced the gray-faced SOLDIER and two mechs, Heideggar's face no longer showing on the display, the blade of her sword bloodied... ...and flash and... ...she turned, time disjointed, and she didn't have time for these people, the other was in danger, running, blurring through the slums.... * * * * * Cloud, Tifa and Aeris pounded across the pocked cobble-stones of the trainyard. They were still a handful of blocks from their target, the Sector 7 support pillar, which rose ahead of them. Shrouded in the luminescent green fog of mako waste, the pillar was sparking with gunfire. A swarm of red insects buzzed about the tower, which Cloud identified as Shinra soldiers in helicopter hard-suits. They had to get there quickly. If they didn't, Shinra would destroy the pillar, crushing Sector 6 beneath the plate the pillar supported. As they approached, the pillar revolved itself out of the smog. The main body was a massive square-bodied stone pillar, rising from the slums to the metal plate of the upper city, Midgar itself. Adjacent to the main pillar, a thinner column rise to half the height. Flights of open air stairs spiraled up to a metal platform that extend from the main pillar. In the center of this platform stood Shinra's tool, the control system that would blow up the pillar, causing the Sector 7 plate to fall and crush the slums below. The trio dashed the final distance to the junk-ringed courtyard which lead to the pillar. In the courtyard, a court of gawkers and rubber-neckers pushed up against the chainlink fence that ringed the pillar. They skidded to a halt at the back of the crowd. A staccato rattle echoed around the courtyard, as Tifa elbowed her way forward. "We made it! The pillar's still standing!" she exclaimed, causing the crowd to draw back some. For a moment Tifa looked as if she planned to dash toward the pillar. Cloud cut her off, saying, "Wait!" Tifa paused, hand on the gate's latch. "You hear something up there?" The pop and rattle of gunfire increased in volume. "The gunfire must mean your friends are trying to hold off the Shinra troops who've come to detonate the plate release system." She paused to regard the tower. "Look!" Above, a swarm of helitroopers descended on the upper platform. Bursts of machine gun fire greeted them, followed by a pair of fireballs, these originating from a figure in yellow and blue. A third and fourth fireball followed, these most closer to the edge of the platform. A second or two later, a pair of helitroopers rushed the yellow and blue figure, shoving him over the platform's edge. The figure fell, a full twenty stories, slamming into the pavement just a few yards to their right. It was Wedge, AVALANCHE's youngest member. "Wedge!" Cloud dashed to the fallen boy's side. Wedge had survived the fall, but only barely. The bright splash of blood stained his yellow shirt, and his limbs bent at angles they should never have. Kneeling, Cloud touched Wedge's shoulder. "Are you all right?" he asked, even as he said it realizing how ridiculous the question was. Wedge shuddered, then managed to respond. "Cloud...," came his words, a horrible gurgling undertone to them. He smiled weakly, continuing. "You remembered......my name. Barret's up top." He paused, groaning. "...help him......" Wedge closed his eyes, and fell silent for a long moment. Finally, he whispered, "An' Cloud... sorry I wasn't any help...." Wedge fell silent again. Then there was an exhalation of breath, and Wedge was gone. Tifa reached down closed Wedge's eyes. "I'm going up," said Cloud, determination filling his voice. He stood and drew his buster sword. Tifa stood from where she had knelt beside Wedge. "Aeris, I need you to do me a favor," she asked the flower girl. "I have a bar called the Seventh Heaven in this neighborhood. There's a little girl named Marlene there...." Aeris nodded, saying, "Don't worry. I'll take her to somewhere safe." Tifa smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Aeris." Turning from her friends, she addressed the crowd, who had moved to gawk at the unfolding melodrama. "It's dangerous here! Everyone get away from the pillar, quickly! Everyone get out of Sector 7!" The rubber-necking slum residents ignored her warning. Having done all they could do, Cloud and Tifa opened the gate that lead to the pillar. They began to ascend the stairs, and Aeris watched them go. A few seconds later, she too left going into Sector 7, to the Seventh Heaven. * * * * * In an darkened office in the executive wing of Shinra Tower, a man stared out his window looking at the city below. It was beautiful, the plate, with its hundreds of glowing lines and sparks. It should be. City Planning had designed it that way. Reeve stroked his goatee. He was the head of City Planning, but Midgar had been around a lot longer than he had. He was mostly responsible for maintenance these days, even if in the past he had designed some of Midgar's most famous sites. These days however, Shinra didn't bother with such things. Profit and power mattered, and anything that didn't further those goals was crushed. Like the people of the slums beneath Midgar's plate. Like the demonstrators in Sector 3. Like the people of Sector 7. Crushed by Shinra's industrial machine. He hated it, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. President Shinra had quit listening to him some time ago, favoring the views of Heideggar, Scarlet, and Hojo. The only executive who was less respect was Palmer and Reeve suspected Palmer had difficulty finding his overly generous butt with two hands and a flashlight. Twice he'd tried to move President Shinra from his course. Both times failed miserably. He'd failed the citizens of Midgar. "If I can't help them from within Shinra, I'll just have to try from without," said Reeve. "How's that, boss?" Reeve turn to the speaker, a black and white cat which lay curled on his desk. Oddly, not only was the cat speaking, it was wearing a cat-sized cape, crown, gloves, and shoes. Nearby, an oversized stuffed moogle stood silently, the cat's steed. Reeve walked over and scratched at the cat's ear. "Shinra's condemned fully a fifth of the slums. Thousands will die shortly, and I haven't got the authority or influence to stop it, Cait." He stopped scratching Cait's ear, and began searching through his desk. "So, desperate times call for desperate measures," he said extracting a disk. Reeve faced Cait, and held out a compact disk. As Cait took it, Reeve instructed him, "This disk contains schematics and security protocols for the Science Division. If that crack-pot Hojo knew I had these, I'd be his next test subject. I want you to take this to AVALANCHE. Try to get them to raid Science Division. Get them to free any of Hojo's test subjects that they can. Help them out as much as you can. I'll monitor how things are going and try to join up with you during the raid, alright? I'm counting on you Cait Sith." Cait stood and essayed a mock salute. "Aye, aye, mon capitaine!" he grinned. He leapt onto the nearby moogle and poke its head, urging it forward. Cait and the moogle hopped toward the door and exited into the hall. As Cait left, he shouted back into the office, "Don't worry, boss! I won't let you down!" And then, Cait Sith left to find AVALANCHE. * * * * * She had finally stopped running. Inno had no idea where she was, only that this was not Sector 3. Nearby, a neon sign indicated a bar calling itself the Seventh Heaven. This failed to give Inno any clues to where she was. She felt so confused. One minute, she had seen the Shinra troops who had... had killed Mom and Les, and the next minute she had found herself running through the slums, far from Sector 3. First in that church, and now this. These black-outs worried Inno, and she now wanted to rest quite badly. She noted that she had developed a headache. The bar looked like a passable place to rest for a while, and Inno climbed its steps. As she approached the door, she could hear voices from within. "Aeris, I may have known you for a long time, but if you do not do as I say, I will be forced to hurt the girl." A pause, and then, "Alright, Tseng. I'll go with you, but please, let Marlene go to a safe place." Inno nudged the heavy wooden door open a bit, and peered through the crack. Near the bar, a young woman holding a metal staff stood protectively in front of a little girl. Nearer to the door stood a man with long black hair in a dark blue suit, his back to the door. The man, who Inno hazarded was Tseng, had a gun pointed at the little girl. Inno's headache throbbed StophimthegirlimportanthelphersaveherthegirlAeris, said unknown voices from nowhere. Seemingly of its own volition, Inno's arm drew her sword as the other pushed the door open. Before she could think, the point of her sword was held against Tseng's neck. The was a long moment of silence. Finding that her limbs weren't going to do anything else unexpected, Inno suggested, "Drop the gun." Tseng clicked the safety on and dropped the gun to the floor. Inno's mind raced. Dropping the gun had seemed like a natural course, but what now? She thought for a moment. "Miss?" Inno's attention was bought to the young woman with the staff. She had picked up the gun, and held loosely in one hand. "I think you can let Tseng go now," she said. Inno drew back a few steps, removing her sword from its position on the back of Tseng's neck. Tseng turned to looked at her, a cold expression in his eyes. "Tseng, I never thought you really had sold yourself so completely to Shinra. But, I see I was wrong. Please, just go away and don't hurt these people anymore," Aeris said. She gestured to the door with her staff. "Just go." Tseng passed his gaze between Inno and Aeris. "No one stands in the Turks' way. We'll come for you again." Then, he turned and left, following in a few seconds by the whir of helicopter blades. Inno breathed heavily, and turned to the girl the Turk had called Aeris. "Sorry about that..." Aeris smiled back at her, tucking the Turks dropped weapon into her jacket. "No need to apologize. In fact, we should thank you." She extended a hand. "I'm Aeris Gainsborough, and this is Marlene." The little girl peered shyly out from behind Aeris. "Hi," was all she offered. Inno shook Aeris' hand. "Inno Kinsley. Good to meet you." Aeris' smile suddenly faded. "I have to go. I need to get Marlene to a safe place." Aeris and Marlene moved to leave, heading for the street. WaitingShinragoupthepillarfriendstheresafe, said voices that weren't there. "Wait." Aeris paused. "What if that Shinra guy follows you? You've got friends nearby, right? Wouldn't be safer to go to them?" Inno felt herself form the words without knowing why. Aeris considered for a moment. "Yes, perhaps joining the others would be best. I believe Tseng will have Turks watching both the gate out of this sector and my house." Inno nodded in agreement. "Let's go then," she said, although this time there was no compulsion behind the words. The three girls left the Seventh Heaven, and sprinted the several blocks to the courtyard where the pillar stood. The crowd of gawkers still stared at the besieging Shinra forces. Nearby, given a wide berth, lay the still form of Wedge. Inno spotted the still form.... ...and flash and... ...and she was kneeling, "Life 2"... ...and flash and... Wedge sat up. Even as he did, Marlene latched onto him. "Wedge! We came and you were lying there and you were hurt, weren't you, but you're OK now, aren't you?," she exclaimed. Kneeling to help him up, Aeris looked at Inno. "How did you do that? You don't have any materia," she asked. Inno's confusion showed clearly on her face. What the hell had just happened? Everything since she had entered that church had taken on a dream-like tone. So, she answered Aeris as honestly as she could. "I don't know what I did..." "Miss?," asked Wedge. "Whatever you did, thanks. But, Barret and the others are up top. We need to go." Up above, they could still hear the sounds of gunfire, now underscore by the whir of helicopter blades and electrical sizzling. Wedge produced a flare gun from his belt. "Come on. Let's go help them." The four turned and began to ascend the stairs. The Shinra helitroopers had withdrawn, so the climb was much shorter than it had been. About five floors up, they found something. It was Biggs, and he was dead. And even as Inno's eyes fell on him, the unreal voices clamored... ...and flash and... ...like before, saying "Life 2," then turning, her hands a glassy green... ...and flash and... ...flights of stairs, then a girl, breathing, pulse, so shallow as too not be there... ...and flash and... ...there was crystalline fire in her head, "Cure 2," and she bones of the planet left her... ...and flash and... ...Inno slumped next to the stirring girl, exhausted. It was all she could do to stay awake. It was all she could do to keep her eyes.... Darkness rose to meet her. * * * * * Inno lurched up out of the darkness as someone shook her shoulder. She opened her eye to find a young man in commando gear attempting to wake her. "Hey, are you all right?" Inno clutched her head and tried to stand, meeting relative success. "I think I'm OK. What happened?" she asked. The young man showed a worried look at this, but replied, "It's not important now. Let's get to the top." He paused, then added, "By the way, I'm Biggs, and that's Jessie." The last indicated a sandy haired girl in coveralls. "Now, let's move!" As the began the climb of the last few floors, Inno did a brief head-count. She spotted Aeris and Wedge, who carried Marlene on his back. Ahead, there were Biggs and Jessie. And as she finished her tally, the group reach to pillar's upper platform. Bursting on to the platform from the stairwell, they were greeted by the sight of Cloud, Tifa, and Barret fending off a thin man in a rumpled blue suit, which marked him as a Turk. The Turk, who had scars under each eye and messy red hair, was holding out against the AVALANCHE members, beating them off with an electrified nightstick. "Barret!" shouted Biggs, drawing a taser. As he did, he, Wedge, and Jessie, broke to the sides looking for an opening. They fired, and a bolt of electricity, a burning flare and a crossbow bolt struck the Turk simultaneously. As the blast cleared, the Turk was charred and clutched at the bolt which protruded from his right bicep. He sneered, and waved to the helicopter that circled the tower. Catching the rope that was lowered, he shouted, "I'll get back to you later. If you can escape in time, you'll hear from Reno and the Turks again!" As if on cue, the pillar began rumble, chunks of stone breaking free of the pillar. This signaled that less than a minute remained until the pillar's final explosion. "Once the pillar detonates and the plate starts to come down, it'll be to late. We've got to escape!" exclaimed Tifa. Suddenly, Barret spoke up. He gesture to a cluster of cables that were hooked to the platform's edge and connected far above in the Sector 6 plate. "Yo, we can use these wires to get out. Everybody grab one and we'll swing outta here." The everyone grabbed a wire, although Marlene climb on to Barret's back. As the tempo of the pillar's convulsions increased, the group swung away from the platform. Midway out into their swing, the pillar blossomed into a brilliant fireball. Like the fall of empires, the Sector 7 plate came crashing down. * * * * * Gabriel ran through the scrap-lined streets of Sector 6, trying to find Inno's trail again. He'd lost her back in Sector 3, only catching a glimpse of her as she dashed away from a half-dead troop of Shinra soldiers. He'd managed to track her this far, but due to her insane speed had lost track of her well over an hour ago. He thought his next step should be to head for Wall Market. Perhaps he could find her there, or at least find out some more about the Sector 3 fires. Gabriel's train of thought was cut off as a solid wall of sound exploded over him, knocking him from his feet. Picking himself up, Gabriel look to the source of the explosion. Above, through a haze of dust and mako smog, where the Sector 7 plate should be, he could see stars. The plate was gone. "Oh, shit." There wasn't much else he could say. Gabriel ran full tilt toward the Sector 7 gate. He had already figured out what had happened. The explosion, the missing plate, could only mean that the plate had collapsed. That the Sector 7 slums had been crushed and the residents dead as well. Gabriel skidded to a halt as he entered the ruined playground where the gate to Sector 7 stood. Through the crumpled arch of the gate, he could see the massive slab of twisted metal that had been the upper city plate. The mangled bulk was covered in rubble, and more rubble protruded from beneath the slab. Near the arch, a trickle of blood ran from beneath a massive slab of concrete that must have weighed several tons. Only after taking in the devastation, did Gabriel notice the people who lay sprawled about the playground. They all were alive but unconscious and it was obvious that they had just barely escaped the destruction of Sector 7. Gabriel checked each in turn, seeing if they had injuries that needed attention. The ones nearest to him were a trio of teenagers, two guys and a girl, whose clothes were bloody, but seemed to be uninjured. The next was a little girl, who couldn't have been more than five years old. Slumped against a moogle-shaped slide lay a good-looking girl in a black mini-skirt. She appeared to have struck her head against the slide, but didn't seem to be in any danger. A few feet away a girl in a pink dress lay in the dirt. Save for a few scrapes on her hands and knees, she too was fine. Nearer to the gate, two men, one with unruly spiky blonde hair and a huge sword, the other a massive black man with a gun in place of one forearm, lay. The last person sprawled on the ground was Inno. Like the others, she was unconscious, but she was also very pale. Gabriel checked her pulse. It was weaker than it should be, but it was there and seemed to be steady enough. She'd be fine in a while, Gabriel guessed. Seating himself next to her, Gabriel's mouth quirked in a humorless grin. "Kid, we gotta quit meeting up like this." * * * * * On the 67th floor of Shinra Tower, imprisoned in a lead-lined vault, the darkness that had come down from the stars dreamed. Broken and mutilated, radiating the sickly green light of tainted mako, the alien entity dreamed. In its dreams, it stole trusted faces to betray those around it. In its dreams, it spread the plague that withered the Ancients. In its dreams, it was a god. Soon, in the waking world, this would come to pass. Then, the imprisoned thing called to its favorite son, its emissary in this world. The imprisoned thing call him forth from where he had been cast into the Lifestream, the dream of death, back to the waking world. It called him to free it from this prison, to restore what had been taken away. Thus, once more into the world, Sephiroth, the divine truth, the one-winged angel was born. The Lifestream tugged the threads of fate one way, even as her favored son wove the same threads into her pattern. Fate was set to free this world from her touch. Her favored son would change the course of that destiny and the destinies around it, killing this world's hope of escaping her touch. Her fate would rise, and all others fall. Jenova twitched its tentacles, and was pleased. FIN. ***** Author's Notes: Some clarifications: The weapons Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie are using are, respectively, a taser, a flare gun, and a crossbow. Inno's weapon, as stated in Chapter 2, is a short sword and a shield. For various reasons, I'm making the assumption that Cait Sith is an AI. That is, he is a robot and Reeve can (and does) play puppeteer though him, but Cait is a distinct personality, a sentient mechanical being.