Blood & Sympathy (FFVII: Vincent x OC)

Ch90 - The Final Showdown Pt. 3: Azul the Cerulean

"The ground squads have not been able to penetrate the Deepground defenses. The Mako Reactors are still operating at full capacity," Hester's voice came from the intercoms.

"So it seems," Vincent said.

"What's Sephiroth's and Yuffie's status?" Jocasta asked.

"I've guided them through an alternative passage into Deepground from the lower floors of the Shinra Tower," Hester said. The fast typing of her fingers against her keyboard was audible from the intercom "You should be able to reach Deepground by the elevator of floor 65. Give me a moment to hack through the main server to figure out the password. Even if I do, floor 65 is a maze, I should probably be- able to- ...and then- ...I'm gonna send- ...the- connection is-"

They were slowly losing the connection and Jocasta wouldn't be surprised. They were a few meters beneath the rubble of a destroyed city. Hester ended the call. She had to find other ways to contact them.

"Which floor are we in now?" Vincent asked.

Jocasta looked around at the familiar place. She had been working in that building with Hojo for three years. She could recognize how it must've been looking like beneath the rubble.

"Looks like floor 67. I hope the stairs at least haven't been ruined," Jocasta hurried over the left side of the room finding the stairs.

Vincent followed her closely behind, cautiously examining the dark building should any threats arise. They reached floor 66, but the rest of the stairs were crashed by debris and the way was blocked by rubbles of cement, metal and bricks.

"Dammit," Jocasta cursed and then she turned at Vincent.

He had been standing over a hole on the floor made by another rubble of debris. It should lead to floor 65, and the hole was large enough for a body to pass through.

"Nice thinking," Jocasta walked towards it and she proceeded to jump through, but Vincent stopped her right away. His hand pushed her back and she shot him a look. "What?"

"I'll go first," Vincent said, before he jumped through the hole and made sure that everything looked safe from below.

When everything looked safe, he signed her to follow and she sighed before jumped through the hole, preparing herself to land on her knees, but instead, Vincent caught her. She landed in his arms, and he caught her bridal style without really putting much effort into it.

Jocasta smiled up at him and cupped his face as he held her for a few more seconds "Vince, I know you're trying to help, but I can land on my own two feet, you know,"

He gave her an unreadable expression before he let her back down "Noted," He knew she was very much capable of taking care of herself, but he couldn't stop himself from wanting to protect her.

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Tifa kept punching and kicking the Deepground soldiers that came her way. Everything that happened around them was indeed a chaos of people crashing against each other. Bombs and arrows, and bullets flew all around the two sides. The WRO soldiers were fighting fiercely the Deepground soldiers who were bigger in numbers. Barret was shooting with the new model of his gun-arm. His shouts were almost audible in the entire place, but she could tell he was very much enjoying this.

Tifa had to admit. She too enjoyed teaming up again and helping fight another threat. She couldn't believe after all these years Shinra was back. Or at least, Shinra's dark secret was back. She couldn't believe Hojo was alive and after everything that had happened, they were still fighting outside Midgar, again. That cursed city should just be destroyed from head to toe.