The Soldier Amongst The Fairies

1 - A Night To Remember

The battles were long and gruelling, but the power of Cloud Strife's Buster Sword was too great for any enemy he faced. One by one he slashed through the bullets of the Shinra soldiers, each bullet sent sparks flashing past his spiky blonde hair, illuminating his azure-blue eyes, which seemed to glow.

"Cloud, behind ya!" called out a deep voice.

Cloud turned and slashed the soldier's gun in two. The deep voice that had warned Cloud sent bullets flying out of his mechanical arm and into the soldier's chest.

"Nice one Barret!" yelled a much more feminine voice.

The deep voice belonged to a man named Barret Wallace, a tall, dark-skinned individual who had a gun for a hand due to an unfortunate accident. His bulky character made him a force to be reckoned with.

"Tifa, watch your back!" said Barret.

The more feminine voice belonged to a capable woman by the name of Tifa Lockhart. Her frail look is just a rouse to hide her incredible martial art skills. Her tanned skin and brown hair glowed as the gunshots flew past her. Her brown eyes, though they seemed innocent, were the last things the Shinra soldiers saw before her all-powerful fist knocked them out cold. These three friends battled the endless waves on Shinra soldiers until they couldn't stand. After taking care of the last few enemies, the three ran down Sector 5's Mako Reactor in hopes of finding an exit. Their mission to destroy the reactor was proving to be more difficult than they had anticipated. As they ran along the bridge that crossed what seemed like an abyss, they found themselves cornered by more Shinra soldiers.

"Shit! What the hell's goin' on?" exclaimed Barret.

"... a trap..." replied Cloud.

As the three friends stood cornered on the metal bridge, the sounds of footsteps resonated from the very same passageway they had just come from. A short man dressed in a fancy red suit slowly walked towards them. His clean, flat blonde hair complemented his navy eyes.

"Presi... President Shinra?" said Barret.

"Why is the President here?" asked Tifa.

The President stood in front of them and crossed his arms. His foot echoed as he tapped it on the metal. His faint grin was just barely seen by Cloud.

"Hmm... so you must all be that... what was it?" said President Shinra.

"The name's Avalanche! And don't you forget it, President Shinra!" bellowed Barret.

Cloud looked at the President for a while before closing the gap between himself and President Shinra.

"Long time no see, President," said Cloud, monotonically.

"... long time no see? Oh... you," replied President Shinra, "You must be the one who quit Soldier to join up with those fools from Avalanche. I knew you'd been exposed to Mako by that glow in your eyes... tell me, traitor... what was your name?"

"Cloud."

"Right. Forgive me for asking, but I can't be expected to remember each person's name, that is unless you become another Sephiroth."

Cloud didn't respond. He just kept staring.

"Ah yes, Sephiroth... He was brilliant, too brilliant maybe..." The President continued.

Cloud took a few steps back, his eyes widened and his breath quickened.

"Sephiroth...?" he mumbled.

Barret pushed past Cloud and began to shout at President Shinra about how the bomb they had planted would destroy the place, but the President didn't seem phased by it at all.

"Such a waste of fireworks, just to get rid of a few vermin."

"Vermin!? That's all you can say... vermin! Y'all Shinra're the vermin, killing the planet! And that makes you King Vermin, so shut up jackass!" bellowed Barret.

The President just sighed before uncrossing his arms.

"You're beginning to bore me and I'm a very busy man, so if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner I must attend."

Barret ran towards the President and continued his rant. Cloud was still silent, and Tifa tried to comfort him.

As Barret approached President Shinra, he snapped his fingers and a loud buzzing sound began to fill the area.

"What is that?!" exclaimed Tifa.

Just then, a large robot dropped onto the bridge in front of the President. It was a weapon created by the Shinra Army. Its name was Airbuster. However, President Shinra introduced it as a techno-soldier. The robot readied it's guns and pointed them at Barret as a helicopter came and picked up the President.

"Now then, if you'll excuse me." said the President, as he flew away.

"Yo Cloud, we gotta do somethin' 'bout him!" yelled Barret.

"This thing is from Soldier?" asked Tifa.

"No way," replied Cloud, "This is just a machine!"

The three readied themselves for battle and began to fight. Though the beginning of the fight was going their way, the robot's devastating attacks kept them from attacking. Tifa's fists weren't even denting its body. Barret's bullets were bouncing off it, and Cloud's sword wasn't even scratching it. But even so, they refused to give up, and for two long hours, they continued to fight, using lighting spells to try and overload its circuits. After one last bolt, the machine couldn't handle the amount of electricity it had built up and began to vibrate vigorously. The amount it had collected was so great, the machine exploded, destroying a large portion of the bridge. Cloud, who was now hanging onto the last remains of his side of the bridge, needed help being pulled up. Tifa tried to run and help him but Barret grabbed her and pulled her back.

"It's too late, this place is about to blow!"

"Barret, can't you do something?!" cried Tifa.

"Not a damn thing."

"Cloud! Please don't die! You can't die! There's so much I still want to tell you!"

Tears began to stream down Tifa's face, the thought of knowing she couldn't help a friend who was right in front of her was tearing her apart.

"I know, Tifa..." replied Cloud.

"Hey... are you gonna be alright, right?" asked Barret.

"You just worry about yourselves! I'm fine, just get Tifa outta here!"

"Alright, sorry about all this..."

"Stop talking like this is the end!" bellowed Cloud.

"Alright, then, later."

The rumbles of the bomb beginning to explode knocked Cloud's hands off the bar he was holding onto, causing him to fall into the abyss below him. Barret picked up Tifa and ran out the exit to their left.

Cloud, who was still falling, noticed a bright light shining below him. It got brighter and brighter the closer he got to it. It got so bright, Cloud had to close his eyes and once he fell into it, he was on top of a blonde-haired girl in the streets of a countryside town.

"Owie!" yelled the girl.

"Lucy! You alright?" asked a male voice.

"Yeah, but I'm still kinda under this guy."

The male voice began to laugh as the girl shoved Cloud off of her.

Authors Note

Sorry that the first chapter is so short, I'm currently working on the second chapter which is much longer, but it's taking longer than expected. So I decided to just upload this short first chapter whilst I finished of the second one. Still, I hope you enjoyed this and are excited for the next chapter. I'm nearly done, so I hope to release it tomorrow. Thanks for reading and I hope you stick around to see what else I have prepared for ya!

-Kaito