My entry for the writing competition thingy. With no title.
I reeled out of the assault, low to the ground and had to use my free hand to steady myself. Rain fell all about, and it ran down my back. Not that I minded; I’d been in much worse, and the rain was cool on my warm face. I remained crouched for a few moments while I got my bearings and caught my breath. The sound of metal on metal still rang in my ears. He said something, but the ringing in my ears was too loud and I couldn’t make out what he said. I turned my head to look at him, and saw his retreating back. I couldn’t let him leave this. He couldn’t get away alive if he was claiming to live up to his father’s and predecessor’s ideals. I raced after him, my mind fixed on one goal. My feet fell hard on the slabs of the roof and water splashed everywhere. He reached the edge and glanced back at me. He was trapped, and knew it; he had nowhere to go. I began to slow my pace, and readied myself for an attack. But he didn’t stop or slow at all; he kept running at the same pace and barrelled over the edge. What the hell is he doing, I thought to myself as I rushed to the edge. Before I reached the sheer drop, a helicopter rose up from below my line of sight. I skidded to a stop before I followed him over the edge and sheathed my sword; I knew it was futile to try and attack him now. He had escaped, and would carry out his attempts at world domination. He waved a few strands of hair from his face and shouted something to me, but I couldn’t hear over the thunder of the helicopter. Then the helicopter was moving away, and with it, Rufus. I cursed, but didn’t move. I stared after my enemy escaping me, water dripping off my nose. After a few moments, I remembered about the others and turned on my heel. Surely our escape will have been noticed by someone, even if the building appeared to be deserted. I ran through the office, ignoring the corpse of the late President ShinRa. I didn’t register the fact that the sword that had previously protruded from his back was now gone.
I met up with Tifa at the bottom of the stairs. I didn’t bother questioning why she was standing there when I’d ordered everyone to escape. I had to get to the bottom as fast as I could.
“Rufus?” Tifa enquired.
“Gone”, I replied as I hurried towards the lifts with her in tow. But both of the elevators were occupied. I cursed again and sprinted towards the stairs.
“Cloud, why are we rushing? We have plenty of time”, Tifa said, struggling to keep up with me.
“Rufus was better prepared for a fight than I had anticipated. I think the others will be in danger.”
“What kind of danger?”
“The dangerous kind”, I snapped. I wasn’t in the mood for my motives to be questioned. Time was of the essence.
<o
> </o>
About two floors down, I thought I heard faint gunshots from downstairs. I paused in my rush, nearly bundling Tifa over in the process as she ran up behind me. I strained to listen and confirmed what I thought I could hear. I looked at Tifa and judging from the expression on her face, she could hear them too.
“We have to get down there”, I said urgently. “Any ideas?” I began casting about for a quick way downstairs, but found nothing. It seemed that the stairs were the only method of descent.
“The elevators are working, Cloud”, Tifa called from somewhere in on the other side of the room. I rushed over to find her holding the doors open for me.
“You’re fantastic”, I told her as the lift doors slid shut behind me. She didn’t reply, as the gunshots from downstairs started up again. They seemed louder, more ferocious this time. We looked at each, and saw worry in each others eyes. There was no mistaking the regular clang-clang-clang of the firing pin of Barret’s weapon, and the ping-ping-ping as the empty shells fell to the floor. Underlaying all that were the rapid short bursts that no doubt came from the rifles of SOLDIER members. I loosed the sword on my back; I wasn’t going to get caught out again like the last time I took a trip in one of these elevators.
<o> </o>
The lift reached the bottom of the shaft sooner than I expected. There was a ‘ding’ as the doors slid open. The scene that I saw was not what I expected. Aeris and the strange wolf-like creature that we had rescued, Red, were standing well back behind the receptionist’s desk, while Barret simultaneously crouched behind some sort of fuselage and kept the onslaught at bay. The glass from the huge doors at the entrance was shattered all over the floors, presumably from excessive gunfire. Blue clad bodies littered the front steps of the building, none of them moving. I was impressed by the fact that a single assailant hadn’t reached the top step yet.
“Yo, Spikey!” Barret called upon seeing me and Tifa exit the lift. I smiled at the use of the new nickname I had acquired since meeting him. It was starting to grow on me. “Could do with a hand over here.” I dived behind the fuselage alongside Barret while Tifa joined Aeris and Red behind the desk. They both looked relieved to see us alive, and I had to admit that I was relieved to see them alive too. I noticed that we were ducking behind what seemed to be several overturned benches and bins all piled up. “Good of you to join us”, Barret shouted over the gunfire during a brief rest. I poked my head around the side of the makeshift barrier to asses the situation. It was going to be near impossible for us to get out of this alive. There were countless members of SOLDIER surrounding the building. I thought I could see a couple of First Class members too, which was definitely not a good thing. Even though I was formerly one of them, there was no hope of taking on that many people who were of equal skill to me. In the distance I could see a huge machine rolling up behind the ranks. I couldn’t quite make out what it was, but I doubted that I wanted to know.
“We can’t stay here for much longer” I told Barret. “Before long the First Class guys are going to take over and we’re drastically outnumbered by them. There should be a side or back exit somewhere so I-”
“I already looked, and they have us surrounded”, Tifa cut in, rushing over and crouching on my other side. The bottom dropped out of my stomach. If we were surrounded, then we were going to be caught eventually. No one would believe us if we told them that the death of President ShinRa was not caused by our hands.
“Alright we have a few choices” I said. “If we continue to fight here then sooner or later we’re going to be overpowered. We’ll be tried for President ShinRa’s death and most likely executed. We can surrender, but I can’t see the outcome being any better for us.” I paused to allow them both to muse on that. “Or… we try to escape and we run. We’re damned fugitives anyway so all we’d be doing is prolonging our lives a little longer.”
“How do expect to escape this though?” Tifa asked, gesturing to the building. “If you haven’t noticed we’re in a bit of a predicament.”
“At the back over there, there’s a small truck. That will be able to carry the four of you. I’m going to take the motorbike. If we drive out through the window of the floor above we should clear the soldiers outside and land on the main road out of Midgar.”
“It’s our best option”, Tifa agreed somewhat defeatedly.
“Let’s go then”, Barret shouted over the noise. He jumped up from behind the fuselage to provide cover fire while myself and Tifa dashed towards the back of the building. Aeris and Red joined us and I explained the plan to them while we waited for Barret.
“I’ll drive”, Tifa said as Barret began to back away from the main doors. Aeris joined her in the front seat, while Barret and Red jumped in the back. I unsheathed my sword and climbed onto the motorbike and kicked the engine into life. With a splutter, the engine of the truck started next to me.
“Ready?” I asked Tifa. She didn’t reply, but merely nodded. I revved the engine of the bike and spun it around in the direction of the stairs. Tifa followed behind me. The engine of the truck protested loudly at the steep ascent but held out until the flooring evened out. I faced the large plate glass window at the front of the building and sped at it, pell mell. The world seemed to slow as I got closer to it. I was still a little unsure as to whether this plan would work. I knew that my speed would definitely shatter the window, but whether or not my trajectory would clear the crowd of soldiers outside was another matter. It was even more doubtful for the truck, but we had to try. Just as I broke through I heard the footsteps of a dozen soldiers reach the top of the stairs behind me. I glanced back and saw them take careful aim with their weapons. Then I was airborne and soaring over the mass below me. Stunned faces looked up as I cleared them all with a generous distance to spare. The second I landed I looked back to make sure that the truck had been equally as successful. Amazingly it had landed in one piece, and was still managing to keep a good speed behind me, though it hadn’t managed to make it as far as me and I had a suspicion that a few people at the back of the crowd had lost their lives in a gruesome manner. But the main thing was that we were safe, for the time being and had a clear road to freedom ahead of us, for the time being. I wasn’t naïve enough to think they wouldn’t pursue us as far as possible. I slowed a little in order for the truck to get ahead and readied my sword for the inevitable high speed chase that was coming.
It didn’t take long for the Bike Unit of SOLDIER to catch up to us; they had far superior machines that what we were using. Each one of the riders was carrying a thing blade, much like a shorter version of Sephiroth’s masamune. They immediately sped past me and tried to slash the tyres of the truck in order to stop it, but I was ready. As the first bike came up on my left, I merely swung out my own weapon and decapitated the unfortunate man. Another overtook me on the right, but Barret quickly gunned him down. Tifa began to speed up a little, clearly wanting to reduce the risk of anyone being injured by getting to the end of the highway as soon as possible. It was futile, however as another half a dozen riders quickly caught up. I weaved in front of them, swinging my sword in an attempt to keep the truck safe. But I was outnumbered quickly and several more bikes caught the truck, only to be stopped once again by Barret. I swung out at the three bikes behind me, cutting two of the riders on the chest and catching the wheel of the third. I looked ahead to see that we were nearing the end of the highway already, and I had to bring the bike to a sharp stop just behind the truck as Tifa did the same. There was no more road in front of us; the project must have run out of funding and was subsequently abandoned. We couldn’t risk jumping our vehicles off such a height. There was a rumbling behind us and my instinct told me it was the large machine that I saw approaching the ShinRa building.
We all turned to face the final hurdle that stood in the way of our freedom and prepared to fight.
Comments?
I reeled out of the assault, low to the ground and had to use my free hand to steady myself. Rain fell all about, and it ran down my back. Not that I minded; I’d been in much worse, and the rain was cool on my warm face. I remained crouched for a few moments while I got my bearings and caught my breath. The sound of metal on metal still rang in my ears. He said something, but the ringing in my ears was too loud and I couldn’t make out what he said. I turned my head to look at him, and saw his retreating back. I couldn’t let him leave this. He couldn’t get away alive if he was claiming to live up to his father’s and predecessor’s ideals. I raced after him, my mind fixed on one goal. My feet fell hard on the slabs of the roof and water splashed everywhere. He reached the edge and glanced back at me. He was trapped, and knew it; he had nowhere to go. I began to slow my pace, and readied myself for an attack. But he didn’t stop or slow at all; he kept running at the same pace and barrelled over the edge. What the hell is he doing, I thought to myself as I rushed to the edge. Before I reached the sheer drop, a helicopter rose up from below my line of sight. I skidded to a stop before I followed him over the edge and sheathed my sword; I knew it was futile to try and attack him now. He had escaped, and would carry out his attempts at world domination. He waved a few strands of hair from his face and shouted something to me, but I couldn’t hear over the thunder of the helicopter. Then the helicopter was moving away, and with it, Rufus. I cursed, but didn’t move. I stared after my enemy escaping me, water dripping off my nose. After a few moments, I remembered about the others and turned on my heel. Surely our escape will have been noticed by someone, even if the building appeared to be deserted. I ran through the office, ignoring the corpse of the late President ShinRa. I didn’t register the fact that the sword that had previously protruded from his back was now gone.
I met up with Tifa at the bottom of the stairs. I didn’t bother questioning why she was standing there when I’d ordered everyone to escape. I had to get to the bottom as fast as I could.
“Rufus?” Tifa enquired.
“Gone”, I replied as I hurried towards the lifts with her in tow. But both of the elevators were occupied. I cursed again and sprinted towards the stairs.
“Cloud, why are we rushing? We have plenty of time”, Tifa said, struggling to keep up with me.
“Rufus was better prepared for a fight than I had anticipated. I think the others will be in danger.”
“What kind of danger?”
“The dangerous kind”, I snapped. I wasn’t in the mood for my motives to be questioned. Time was of the essence.
<o
> </o>About two floors down, I thought I heard faint gunshots from downstairs. I paused in my rush, nearly bundling Tifa over in the process as she ran up behind me. I strained to listen and confirmed what I thought I could hear. I looked at Tifa and judging from the expression on her face, she could hear them too.
“We have to get down there”, I said urgently. “Any ideas?” I began casting about for a quick way downstairs, but found nothing. It seemed that the stairs were the only method of descent.
“The elevators are working, Cloud”, Tifa called from somewhere in on the other side of the room. I rushed over to find her holding the doors open for me.
“You’re fantastic”, I told her as the lift doors slid shut behind me. She didn’t reply, as the gunshots from downstairs started up again. They seemed louder, more ferocious this time. We looked at each, and saw worry in each others eyes. There was no mistaking the regular clang-clang-clang of the firing pin of Barret’s weapon, and the ping-ping-ping as the empty shells fell to the floor. Underlaying all that were the rapid short bursts that no doubt came from the rifles of SOLDIER members. I loosed the sword on my back; I wasn’t going to get caught out again like the last time I took a trip in one of these elevators.
<o
> </o>The lift reached the bottom of the shaft sooner than I expected. There was a ‘ding’ as the doors slid open. The scene that I saw was not what I expected. Aeris and the strange wolf-like creature that we had rescued, Red, were standing well back behind the receptionist’s desk, while Barret simultaneously crouched behind some sort of fuselage and kept the onslaught at bay. The glass from the huge doors at the entrance was shattered all over the floors, presumably from excessive gunfire. Blue clad bodies littered the front steps of the building, none of them moving. I was impressed by the fact that a single assailant hadn’t reached the top step yet.
“Yo, Spikey!” Barret called upon seeing me and Tifa exit the lift. I smiled at the use of the new nickname I had acquired since meeting him. It was starting to grow on me. “Could do with a hand over here.” I dived behind the fuselage alongside Barret while Tifa joined Aeris and Red behind the desk. They both looked relieved to see us alive, and I had to admit that I was relieved to see them alive too. I noticed that we were ducking behind what seemed to be several overturned benches and bins all piled up. “Good of you to join us”, Barret shouted over the gunfire during a brief rest. I poked my head around the side of the makeshift barrier to asses the situation. It was going to be near impossible for us to get out of this alive. There were countless members of SOLDIER surrounding the building. I thought I could see a couple of First Class members too, which was definitely not a good thing. Even though I was formerly one of them, there was no hope of taking on that many people who were of equal skill to me. In the distance I could see a huge machine rolling up behind the ranks. I couldn’t quite make out what it was, but I doubted that I wanted to know.
“We can’t stay here for much longer” I told Barret. “Before long the First Class guys are going to take over and we’re drastically outnumbered by them. There should be a side or back exit somewhere so I-”
“I already looked, and they have us surrounded”, Tifa cut in, rushing over and crouching on my other side. The bottom dropped out of my stomach. If we were surrounded, then we were going to be caught eventually. No one would believe us if we told them that the death of President ShinRa was not caused by our hands.
“Alright we have a few choices” I said. “If we continue to fight here then sooner or later we’re going to be overpowered. We’ll be tried for President ShinRa’s death and most likely executed. We can surrender, but I can’t see the outcome being any better for us.” I paused to allow them both to muse on that. “Or… we try to escape and we run. We’re damned fugitives anyway so all we’d be doing is prolonging our lives a little longer.”
“How do expect to escape this though?” Tifa asked, gesturing to the building. “If you haven’t noticed we’re in a bit of a predicament.”
“At the back over there, there’s a small truck. That will be able to carry the four of you. I’m going to take the motorbike. If we drive out through the window of the floor above we should clear the soldiers outside and land on the main road out of Midgar.”
“It’s our best option”, Tifa agreed somewhat defeatedly.
“Let’s go then”, Barret shouted over the noise. He jumped up from behind the fuselage to provide cover fire while myself and Tifa dashed towards the back of the building. Aeris and Red joined us and I explained the plan to them while we waited for Barret.
“I’ll drive”, Tifa said as Barret began to back away from the main doors. Aeris joined her in the front seat, while Barret and Red jumped in the back. I unsheathed my sword and climbed onto the motorbike and kicked the engine into life. With a splutter, the engine of the truck started next to me.
“Ready?” I asked Tifa. She didn’t reply, but merely nodded. I revved the engine of the bike and spun it around in the direction of the stairs. Tifa followed behind me. The engine of the truck protested loudly at the steep ascent but held out until the flooring evened out. I faced the large plate glass window at the front of the building and sped at it, pell mell. The world seemed to slow as I got closer to it. I was still a little unsure as to whether this plan would work. I knew that my speed would definitely shatter the window, but whether or not my trajectory would clear the crowd of soldiers outside was another matter. It was even more doubtful for the truck, but we had to try. Just as I broke through I heard the footsteps of a dozen soldiers reach the top of the stairs behind me. I glanced back and saw them take careful aim with their weapons. Then I was airborne and soaring over the mass below me. Stunned faces looked up as I cleared them all with a generous distance to spare. The second I landed I looked back to make sure that the truck had been equally as successful. Amazingly it had landed in one piece, and was still managing to keep a good speed behind me, though it hadn’t managed to make it as far as me and I had a suspicion that a few people at the back of the crowd had lost their lives in a gruesome manner. But the main thing was that we were safe, for the time being and had a clear road to freedom ahead of us, for the time being. I wasn’t naïve enough to think they wouldn’t pursue us as far as possible. I slowed a little in order for the truck to get ahead and readied my sword for the inevitable high speed chase that was coming.
It didn’t take long for the Bike Unit of SOLDIER to catch up to us; they had far superior machines that what we were using. Each one of the riders was carrying a thing blade, much like a shorter version of Sephiroth’s masamune. They immediately sped past me and tried to slash the tyres of the truck in order to stop it, but I was ready. As the first bike came up on my left, I merely swung out my own weapon and decapitated the unfortunate man. Another overtook me on the right, but Barret quickly gunned him down. Tifa began to speed up a little, clearly wanting to reduce the risk of anyone being injured by getting to the end of the highway as soon as possible. It was futile, however as another half a dozen riders quickly caught up. I weaved in front of them, swinging my sword in an attempt to keep the truck safe. But I was outnumbered quickly and several more bikes caught the truck, only to be stopped once again by Barret. I swung out at the three bikes behind me, cutting two of the riders on the chest and catching the wheel of the third. I looked ahead to see that we were nearing the end of the highway already, and I had to bring the bike to a sharp stop just behind the truck as Tifa did the same. There was no more road in front of us; the project must have run out of funding and was subsequently abandoned. We couldn’t risk jumping our vehicles off such a height. There was a rumbling behind us and my instinct told me it was the large machine that I saw approaching the ShinRa building.
We all turned to face the final hurdle that stood in the way of our freedom and prepared to fight.
Comments?
