Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 2: Aftermath

TWENTY

We was halfway down when that giant flyin' metal mosquito from the plate showed up again. Valkyrie. It flew in fast, firin' right at us. We ducked down, an' I covered Aerith best I could as the glass walls of the elevator suddenly shattered to pieces an' flew everywhere. She shrieked an' put her arms over her head while Red hunkered down an' growled, his eye on that flyin' scrap heap circlin' 'round us.

I whipped up my gun-arm. "Knew you'd show your ass again! Not lettin' you get away this time, though!"

"You've encountered it before?" Red asked.

"While climbin' up the plate with Cloud," I nodded. "Nearly had it, too. Ran away before we could finish it off, but it's gonna be a different story now. I guarantee it!"

Aerith stood up, staff ready. "Yeah! Let's trash it!"

While I fired at the Valkyrie with my gun-arm, she an' Red flung a buncha spells at it, fire an' lightnin' slammin' into it one after the other. It tried to dodge, but it was still banged up from last time—lotsa scorch marks across its hull. An' we left even more as we kept poundin' on it. I kept on firin' an' knew it wouldn't be long before I'd be ready to unload another big shot—heat gauge was risin' nice an' steady. Jus' had to keep that flyin' mech busy for another minute or two.

Then it fired two rockets at us, an' I flattened Aerith under me jus' as they passed over us. Red shot back with more lightnin' magic before it could get outta the way, an' it shuddered, sparks flyin' from it. Aerith an' I got back up an' got back to work. Didn't have much room to move around here in the lift, but we still managed to keep from gettin' hit too much as we fought that mech.

It was a skittish little son of a bitch, constantly dartin' all 'round us with its guns blazin', but I knew we was wearin' it down. As we kept on fightin', Aerith used that magic flower shield of hers to deflect some of the Valkyrie's attacks, includin' another missile salvo. The barrier came down after absorbin' all'a that punishment, but it did its job an' kept us all in one piece. I blasted the mech again, drivin' it back, an' jus' as I did that, the heat gauge finally turned red.

"Guys!" I called. "Get down!"

Aerith crouched down beside me. "Get him, Barret!"

While Red got low as well, hurlin' another lightnin' spell as he did, I took aim at the Valkyrie, leadin' my target an' mindin' the way the lift was still descendin'. Almost there... had to wait for the mech to get into range again. Then, jus' a couple seconds later, I had it dead in my sights as the heat from my gun-arm swirled together to form a blazin' orange fireball right in fronta the barrel.

"Ain't no escape this time, asshole," I swore.

With a grin, I let fly, releasin' the fireball, an' it flew straight for the Valkyrie fast as could be, as if I'd fired it from a slingshot, an' slammed square into the middle of its metal body. The mech exploded, flame an' thunder fillin' the air as charred pieces of it flew in all directions an' fell outta the sky, still burnin' as they went.

Aerith cheered. "Bullseye!"

"Got it for ya, Jessie..." I murmured, slowly lowerin' my arm as the others stood back up. "Nailed the bastard."

"She'll be so glad you did," Aerith assured me.

I nodded. "That she will. An' I'm gonna get you back to her. Better get ready, girl. I got a feelin' we ain't done fightin' yet. Shinra's probably got us a welcomin' party downstairs."

"Indeed," Red agreed. "And we're nearly there."

He was right. We was at about the tenth floor now, by my guess, so we hurried up and did what we could, Aerith an' Red replenishin' their energy with a few ethers while I reloaded my ammo. Wasn't much else we could do, so we waited an' rode the lift the resta the way downstairs an' kept well away from the broken glass walls. The breeze was stronger than I'd expected, an' it didn't do my stomach no favors, but we all held onto the control panel an' each other an' didn't fall.