Wolf's Calling (Final Fantasy 7 AU/Reprise)

"Wha'!? Tryin' te' be a tough guy and say it doesn' concern ye'!?" Barrett's right arm lifted and opened fire into the doorway. My left arm rose and fire erupted from it. The eight or so guards inside went down screaming.

"… Must be nice, listening to that wonderful, gentle planet lull you to sleep." I shot back. Far too many memories of something I'd rather forget rose to the surface. A tank, greenish liquid, blue humanoid fish-men, a white wi-

"Lul' me t' sleep!? You li-"

"It tastes like Potion and Banana." I cut Barrett off. "Mako, I mean. Must be nice listening to it. I've only tasted it." Whatever the larger man was about to say died in his throat. His gun stopped spinning at the end of his right arm. Everyone in the room was either riddled with bullets or burned alive.

"Yer' one of them." Barrett muttered. "On' o' Fuhito's-"

"No." I remembered those ones. Ravens, they'd been called. Little more then mako mad beasts made of former men. "I'm not."

"Ye' sound sure. We ca'-"

"I'm one of Hojo's." I retorted. "Sorry. Not one of Avalanche's mistakes." I took a step to the left as I started walking into the room. "Jessie, right?"

"Yeah."

"Stay behind us." I made my way towards the elevator, biting my lip. "Third gen reactor. There should be three entrances to Mako Storage."

"The elevator is the direct one." Jessie noted. "Unless you feel like following the pipes down."

"No. Barrett couldn't climb them anyway."

"Oi!" Barrett sounded indignant as he started sedately following behind me. "Wha's the other?"

"… There's an emergency tunnel between the Sector 0 Train Line and the Reactors." I muttered. "Which means if we are going to fight a SOLDIER, they'll intercept us at Mako Storage. They'll come from below, not above."

"So we'r' on a time limit." Barrett muttered. "Suits me jus' fine."

"It's a generous one. We have…" I paused, checking my phone. "Thirty-fourish minutes left."

"Right, well let's not waste your hard work." Jessie hummed as she took her handgun and aimed at the elevator terminal. "Stand back."

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

I winced as the girl flicked out a knife, ripping the external console away to reveal the internals and cutting wires with the precision of a pro. She knew her way around electronics well. Maybe entirely too well. Barrett just turned, aiming his arm back the way we came. It was a useless gesture, really. If someone was coming from behind us, we'd hear it long before they arrived.

"Hey…" Jessie's voice was a little muffled, given she was nick deep in the internals of the elevator. "You know a girl named Tifa? She comes from Nibel-way too, so-"

"Tifa?" I blinked. That was a name I hadn't heard since-

Fire. Pain. Screaming.

A man with a huge katana and silver hair.

Rage.

A firing rifle.

"You okay?" I winced at Barrett's words. It'd happened again. My arm was clutching my left shoulder, where the Planet Scar Syndrome infected my flesh. I could feel liquid. It must have leaked again.

Damn. I'd have to change the wrappings.

"Fine." I answered. "It's passed."

"Tha' won't happen in a fight, will it, merc?"

"No. It responds to mental stimuli." I answered. "It won't be an issue." Technically, while I was having an attack my magic was enhanced anyway. From Barrett's point of view, it'd probably improve my performance.

"Tifa's stimuli to you?"

"… I knew her as a kid. That's all." I answered softly. "Thought she died in the Nibel Fire."

"Ha. You wish. Girl's tougher then that." Jessie snorted. "Then you aren't close, huh?"

"… I wouldn't say we are…"

"I see." Jessie's tone seemed almost teasing at that point. "Normally the returning hero pines for the-"

*Zap*

"Elevators workin'." Barrett declared as the door opened, patting my shoulder. "W' should prob'bly get a move on."

I could agree with that. Jessie was entirely too close to reopening old wounds. Lik-

A white wing.

A black wing.

Sword met sword.

Apocalypse.

"We're in trouble." I muttered. That attack was entirely too specific.

"Wha', got a SOLIDER sonar or som-"

"Yes, actually. One's within five kilometers. We're about to run out of time." I shot back.

*Ding*

The elevator door opened. The glow of green was almost putrid as it invaded the elevator and the smell ravaged our senses. I wanted to hurl from the smell. I could taste the damn mako. Barrett's gaze didn't leave me as I strode past him, forging all my swords together into one blade.

"Jessie. Stay wit' the elevator." Barrett declared.

"But-"

"I' it moves, break it." He continued. "Yer' ready, merc?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." The Fusion Sword rested on my shoulder as I strode forward. The internal reactor was a mess of pipes, green, and barely operationally compliant platforms. It was never intended that humans got this far down, after all.

"What we expectin' down here?"

"Well, I was expecting a mechanized infantry or six." I admitted. "But they don't seem to be here."

"Di' we catch em' wantin'?"

"Unlikely." This reeked of setup, but for who. "Standard protocol is a single platoon. There isn't a platoons worth of armour here. I can't even see the Mono Drive's that repair the reactor."

"Then somethin's fishy."

"Maybe." It could just be executive power plays. They did happen. "Unless…"

"Wha', yer' thinkin' something else?"

"Nevermind." There was no point in hypothesizing about experiments in the reactor, even if it'd be something Shinra would do. "Let's get a move on." Each step brought us closer to the ground level. Each step brought us closer to the Mako Storage. Pipes that wound around each other were our friends. The ladders barely were compliant at all.

Mako Storage was a combination of a large machine, two platforms on opposite ends of the pool of mako, the bridge connecting them, and the cart rail entrance in the wall. It reminded me of the Modeoheim Mako Facility. The steel had no character to it, all being uniform, unbending and rusting gray.

"Be careful." I noted.

"Wha', somethin' wrong with it?"

"Mako rusts steel in odd ways." I answered. Barrett nodded. It wasn't something he was unaware of. "Don't get cut. I don't have the medicine you'd need."

"We hav' plen'y back at base." Barrett retorted. "We did prepare, merc." I nodded as I slowly made my way towards the main terminal of Mako Storage. Crossing the bridge was slow, but I was sure something was just waiting to pounce. "If we ge' attacked by SOLDIER, they'll en'er through th' cart rail, righ'?"

"It's likely." I nodded, glancing up. "Or maybe they'll slip in through the purifier tunnels."

"The' we bett'r ge' a move on." Barrett grumbled. I just bit my lip.

This was too easy.

Mako Storage was a code name for a very large extraction machine that sat at the heart of every Mako Reactor. The machine before us was not the main unit, but rather the main terminal and pressure release valve. It was, after all, the only part of the machine that might need human interaction. Mono Drives built, maintained and eventually dismantled these machines when they needed moving lower into the reactor.

They were in some ways a work of art. In others, they were terrifying symbols of the future.

For me, it was just an eyesore.

"We blo' this te' kingdom come, and we take on' step te' the planets future." Barrett declared. I heard a clack as he pulled his bomb from a pouch on his hip. "Thin' ye' can handle it?"

"I can." I nodded, reaching out. Barrett just grinned.

"The' do the job. I'll cover." His eyes scanned the walls and the roof. I wasn't sure if he could find anything. After all, if a SOLDIER arrived, they'd be on us before Barrett could meaningfully do anything about it.

I let out a long breath.

"They aren't just reactors."

"You are my living legacy."

"Dreams and Honour."

"Man, the price of freedom is pretty steep."

"Cloud?"

"I'm fine." I muttered, as memories ripped through my head unbidden. Bombs were one of my specialties. This one was quite well made. "We're going to have to bolt for the hills as soon as we arm it." The red wire was always a decoy. It was almost ironic that in this case it was not. That'd definitely have thrown a Turk off for a moment.

"Fin' by me."

It took us about ten minutes to arrive. Even running out, I wasn't going to bet Jessie's life on ten minutes. I felt my eye twitch as I started rigging the countdown timer. It only did increments of ten.

"Did you guys think ten was enough?"

"We' were gonna se' it for twen'y."

"… Twenty it is." I muttered, pressing the nice, big, red button. The timer clicked and started counting down. "Well-"

*Click.* *Clack.*

"Huh?"

"Wha's wrong?"

"I hear something." The click clack was distinctive. I almost recognised it. My hand went to the Fusion Sword as I took several steps back. "Barrett, keep an eye out."

"F'er what?"

"I don't know." I admitted. "It's big." I took another two steps back. "Nevermind. Let's move!"

"Yer' don' need to tell me twi-"

We only made it halfway across the bridge when it arrived, smashing down on the platform opposite us. Big, red, like a giant scorpion. A mechanized weapon with guns for claws and something I couldn't quite see instead of a stinger. It was almost comical in its size.

"Wha' tha' shit!?"

"Huh. They used to be spider shaped." I muttered. "A guard sentinel."

"It' between us and the ladder!"

"I can see that." I muttered, sword pointing at it. Even if it was, it wouldn't be that hard to get around. The bigger problem was that it could move on the walls with impunity.

… A running fight…

Nineteen minutes.

Might actually need that…

A critical battle has begun.

[ ] Flee. There's no need to fight the scorpion.
[ ] Charge in. Barrett can handle the support.
[ ] Engage with magic. The bomb had to be kept safe.
[ ] Write in.
[ ] Summon Fenrir.