The Stop For FF7 Freaks - C and Z Part 5 (the end) - Video Games - http://maxpages.com/theff7stop/C_and_Z

Final Fantasy 7: C and Z part 5

Despite his grievous wounds, Cloud Strife stalked the laughing Sephiroth with a wild, insane look in his eyes. His battered leg couldn't support too much weight, so he used his Buster Sword to help him along, using it as a crutch when he needed the support.
"Damn you, Sephiroth," Cloud whispered, wiping the blood from his broken lips, "You will die for killing my friends...."
Sephiroth finally stopped laughing, turned to face the battered Cloud, then lifted his Masamune, intent on killing this little upstart. Cloud paid his movements no heed, concentrating on the task at hand: kill Sephiroth.
Zack followed him, sword in hand. He wanted to kill Sephiroth as well. According to what Cloud had said, this madman was the one who killed Aeris. He was going to kill him. It was no longer a mere swordmatch. It was now an all out war between three battle-hardened warriors.
Cloud pumped his good leg, propelling him toward his nemesis. Zack took a running charge at Sephiroth instead. The two men would have hit the white haired man if he wasn't so fast. Sephiroth swung his Masamune up and over, the defensive slash deflecting both Cloud's and Zack's attacks easily. Sephiroth spun on his heels, sword trailing. When he completed his circle, Sephiroth's trailing sword had made a serious gash in Zack's abdomen, while Cloud had a deep cut near his collarbone. The two men went down instantly, bleeding and exhausted. Sephiroth stood tall over their battered and prone forms, Masamune poised to finish them off.

Tifa was the first to recover from the assault. The smoke stung her eyes, and chips of rock had caused several tiny wounds all over her body. She found Barret, also wounded but alive, next to her, coughing up blood.
"You all right?" she asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'll be okay," Barret replied.
"So will we...." Vincent stood up, and did Cid, who was carrying a battered Yuffie. Nanaki was on all fours, a large gash running the length of his left flank.
"Cait Sith up and running <.bzzzzt.> Reeve <.bzzt.> is also okay!!" the giant robot said, Reeve sitting on its shoulder. Reeve had only a few scratches on his face, and his expensive suit was ripped, but he was alive. Caith Sith wasn't as lucky: the Mog's left arm had been torn off, its wings were tattered, and there was a large part of its back missing. The cat itself was missing its tail and left arm.
"Is that machine of yours still strong enough to fight?" Barret asked.
"Cait Sith fully operational. System backups activated. " the robot answered.
"Oh my God..." Vincent whispered, looking up. Everyone looked up as well, and they all gasped in horror: WEAPON was still alive.

"Uhhh....I can't die now," Cloud burbled. He had finally fallen off of that dangerous precarious line between sanity and insanity. He had snapped, gone insane, crazed. There was almost no hope of ever coming back. The sense of peace and hope fled from him after he saw that explosion, the death of everyone he knew, cared for. He finally broke, and, even if Cloud and Zack could kill Sephiroth, Cloud knew that Sephiroth would still win: he finally broke Cloud.
"Cloud! Roll out of the way! NOW!!" Zack yelled at him, rolling to the side. Cloud didn't even hear him; he just reacted. Cloud quickly rolled to the side, Sephiroth's blade ripping into the ground, chips of rock flying.
Cloud attacked Sephiroth with a vengeance, hacking and slashing, giving no room for defense. He was using an all out offensive. Cloud managed to cut Sephiroth several times, but recived many more wounds in process. He didn't even feel the pain, only kept up his attack. He never stopped, didn't even slow down, he just kept attacking.

"That's it! I've had it!" Barret was now very angry, "That thing is going to rot in HELL!!!!!!!!" Barret brought up his gun-arm, and unleashed his ultimate attack: Catastophe. Barret jumped up into the air, aimed his gun-arm at the WEAPON's many eye sockets, and fired repeated blasts of super-hot plasma lasers. The searing beams ripped into the WEAPON, eating through its armor, frying its internal computer mechanisms, destroying it from the inside. The WEAPON began to shake violently, out of control, then, in a flash of light, the thing exploded, heat, dust, and sea water splashing over the battered heroes. When the light faded, nothing was left of the WEAPON except for fried scrap metal that was floating around in the water.

Cloud, Zack, and Sephiroth all heard the ensuing explosion, and were then flung through the air as the shock of the exploding WEAPON lifted them off their feet. They crashed, face first into the ground. Getting up, Cloud look to where the explosion came form. His hopes returned: he saw his friends, battered but alive! The sight of his friends helped him regain some of his sanity, but he was still far from returning to the delicate line of sanity. Cloud whipped his sword right and left, wide arcs moving too fast for Sephiroth's eyes to register. The older man closed his eyes, then, seeing with his mind's eye, sending out mind waves. He blocked every attack Cloud made against him. Zack joined his compainion in attacks Sephiroth. Again, Sephiroth blocked each attack, even though he was outnumbered. The attacks seemed to slow for the older man, the two younger warriors' movements seemed sluggish and clumsy, his mind's eye seeing things in super slow motion.
Zack went down first, a hole in his abdomen. Sephiroth quickly pulled his sword out of Zack's abdomen and turned his attention to Cloud. The two warriors clashed blades, sending sparks flying. Cloud finally reached his limit, his anger at its peak. Cloud let his rage lead him, multiple slashes too fast for even Sephiroth's mind to see. The older man took each hit, weakening after every blow. Then Cloud leaped into the air, blade cocked to send the final, killing blow at Sephiroth. He brought the blade down, hard. Sephiroth also attacked, trying to block the final attack of the Omnislash technique. The two swords clashed, a flash of light illuminating the cavern for a brief instant. When the light faded, a battered and dying Cloud was lying on the ground, face first, his Buster Sword next to him, its blade shattered into a thousand little pieces. Sephiroth's own blade had been damaged as well: it had a large crack running along the blade's length.
"Cloud..." Tifa said softly, seeing her lover lying on the ground, still as death.
"Get up, Cloud, get up..." Barret whispered.
"Damn it you $@^@ kid, wake up!" Cid added.
"C'mon Cloud, get up so we can end this whole thing!" said Yuffie.

Cloud was losing conciousness, he knew he was. He could only hear the faint beating of his heart, the quiet footfalls of Sephiroth as he walked up to his battered body. He could feel the life slipping from him, he could feel all that blood around him. He had lost everything: the battle, his sanity, and his life. He just wanted to give up, but he heard those voices; they weren't Sephiroth's or Zack's they were.....

*Get up, Cloud, get up...*
Barret.
*Damn it you $@^@ kid, wake up!*
Cid.
*C'mon Cloud, get up so we can end this whole thing!*
Yuffie.
*Cloud.....*
Tifa.
His friends needed him, needed him to save them, to protect them. He was the only one who could defeat Sephiroth. Somehow, somewhere, a bit of life energy seeped back into his battered body, forcing him to stand up, surprising everyone, especially Sephiroth. Cloud grabbed the stunned Sephiroth's sword arm, twisted it, causing the older man to drop his weapon. Cloud, with his free hand, picked up the Masamune, cocked his arm back.....
"DO IT, CLOUD!!!!!!" Zack yelled at him, encouraging him to finish it.
......and swung.
The Masamune cut through Sephiroth's neck like butter, cleanly slicing right through the older man's slender neck. Sephiroth's head fell to the ground with a soft thunk, as did his body, blood spraying from the decapitated body, spilling onto the ground.
Tifa turned her head, not wanting to see the dead man in two pieces again. She promptly released the contents of her stomach all over Cait Sith.
Cloud spat on Sephiroth's head, the life in those green Mako eyes flickering and then dying out altogether. Cloud couldn't help but feel horrified as he considered Sephiroth's face when he look at it: Sephiroth was smiling.

After the group bandaged up their wounds and introductions were made, Zack finally explained what really happened to him long ago:

After being shot down, Cloud ahd left with Zack's sword. Zack, dying, had crawled to Kalm town, got patched up, and set off looking for a job in the south, figuring that Midgar would be too dangerous for him to return to. The Shinra obviously wanted him dead. He got a new Buster Sword in Fort Condor, fought in a few battles there, and then started his journey back to Gongaga Village, his home. Before he could get there, however, Sephiroth attacked him, beat him, and took him to this underwater cavern. Sephiroth changed his memories, and through Cloud's help, Zack had regained his ture memories.
According to what Zack could remember before Sephiroth changed his memories, Sephiroth created a clone of himself: the Sephiroth Cloud and his friends killed was that clone. The real Sephiroth was here, in this cave, creating his own WEAPONs for the past year. Sephiroth wanted to use his new WEAPONs to threaten the Planet again, to cause Lifestream to reappear. He planned on joining with Lifesteam, to make himself a god. He wanted Zack and Cloud to join him in the Lifestream, to merge with him so that they would become a super-being of sorts. But Sephiroth knew Cloud would refuse, so he sent Zack, in WEAPON form, to eliminate Cloud.

With the story told, the battered friends started for the subamrine, the escape pod was hooked up to the sub via a cord of rope. Tifa, Zack, and Cloud were the only ones on the peninsula now, everyone else in the sub, and Tifa was already moving toward the sub's entrance hatch.
Zack stopped Cloud before he could follow.
"What's up?" Cloud asked him.
"I was going to marry Aeris after the mission to the Nibelhiem Reactor," he said.
"I-I'm sorry, Zack..." Cloud said sympathetically.
"Where is her body?"
"The City of the Ancients,"
"After this is done, I want to go there..." Zack said, holding back his tears, "I want to put this with her....." Zack pulled something from his pocket: a ring. It was gold with a small diamond in the middle. Simple, yet beautiful.
Zack had to swallow before continuing, "I was going to propose to her, Cloud. After the mission. I can't believe she's gone...."
"C'mon. I'll take you to her," Cloud put a comforting hand on Zack's shoulder, leading him to the submarine.....and to freedom.

-*The End*-

By SenshiB@aol.com

Sign Guestbook

View Guestbook

Visitors: 02344

Page Updated Tue Apr 10, 2001 3:30pm EDT