Chapter 6: The Enemy Triangle
After our usual morning preparations, I met up with Kadaj and Loz near the black pool in the Forgotten City. Mother was waiting there for us like normal, and I asked “Mother, whats the brief for today?” Mother shook her head and answered “Up to you, my son. Do whatever you think is best. But I ask that you be wary and consider the incidents during the reactor mission before you decide… don’t forget that even Hojo was at a loss on what happened there.” I nodded “Don’t worry, we’ll be careful. But, if we just stormed Midgar again this soon, it would be too predictable. Its probably best we wait and throw them off guard at a later time…” Kadaj agreed “Good point… even with Hojo tracking us, its too risky after we destroyed so many reactors there. Any other ideas?” I stopped to think, then suggested “I guess… we should try to find a new Black Materia so we can save Sephiroth. He’s trapped and cant rest… he wont return to the Planet if we don’t finish what he started. I don’t want him to suffer like this.” Loz asked “But didn’t Shinra beat us to it the other time when that huge monster sent us backwards like that?” Kadaj sighed “Urk… he’s actually right. Remember, Yazoo…?” I sighed and knew what they were talking about “That doesn’t change anything. We cant give up like that. Whether they got it before us or only waited there to trick us and throw us in jail doesn’t change our goals. And remember Sephiroth is counting on us. We cant let him down, or Mother.” Kadaj added “Youre right… he’s still out there, clinging to life… barely. If we don’t finish the mission, he’ll fall into darkness at this rate. Sephiroth does need our help, but… are we strong enough to do this? I mean, the Weapon that sent us back in time is still out there someplace… doing whatever, or might even be waiting for us to pull the same stunt again. Im not sure we’re strong enough to defeat or even repel it.” I shook my head “We wont find out if we sit around and wait for it to get us. We’ll just stop it if it tries to use the same power another time.” Kadaj and Loz nodded, and we left driving our motorbikes like usual, with me leading the way. Loz asked “So where do we start looking for the…. black thing Mother wants?” I sighed “You already forgot what it is? Its Black Materia. Get it straight.” Loz groaned but didn’t respond. Kadaj suggested “Maybe we should look for hordes of materia and do it the old fashioned way… don’t forget it couldve avoided Shinra and gone someplace else seeing how desperately Sephiroth is hanging on… even if barely.” I agreed “Sounds like a plan. And I think I know where I wanna start…” Loz asked “Where?” I suggested “Back to Midgar, you two. And when we get there, stay quiet so we can slip through without the enemy discovering us.” Loz hesitated “Uhh, ok… but where are we going?” I hardened my expression gazing at the city ahead “Someplace where we’ll pay our respects to an old Brother.” I managed to smile, and by the time we arrived just outside Midgar, I slammed the breaks and so did my two siblings who rided behind me the entire way. Kadaj said “Well, here goes nothing…” Loz complained “Don’t tell me you were talking about the guy who tried to kill us when we were small…” I said “Who else would I be talking about?” Loz added “ok, fine… but this time, im winning the game. Im not gonna let him have all the fun since im strong now.” Kadaj sputtered “Ummm… this really doesn’t seem like much of a game.” I added “I know, but just let it go… this is never gonna change.” We got off our motorbikes and went into the city, with me leading the way. We managed to slip through the external security thanks to my hacking expertise, and I signalled for Kadaj and Loz to follow me as I slipped through the sector 4 plate into the slums underneath with them behind me. We landed inside the church, and fortunately nobody was in sight. Kadaj worried “A bit too clean if you ask me… don’t go arguing, you two. We cant make too much noise.” I sighed but kept silent and Loz grumbled “Hey, don’t blame me! He’s the one who’s always pointing at everything I do wrong instead of being simple!” Kadaj slapped him angrily “I said be quiet…!” Loz groaned under his breath but didn’t protest any further. I decided to check the house outside the church and carefully peeked through a window on the ground level. As expected, I saw two familiar faces inside talking to each other. The same two who tried to kill us when we were little. I slipped away from the window and signalled for Loz and Kadaj to hide somewhere else in the church on the other side. I decided to go in the house on my own this time, and I fired at the lock on the door and it broke. I then opened the door and went inside. Cloud saw me first and hardened his expression like normal “Oh, great… him again.” I asked “Im sorry, did you say something?” Cloud sighed and got out of his seat “What do you want, Yazoo?” I laughed a tad, then said “While I would love to chat, I don’t have enough to get into explanations. I’m going to be blunt: where’s your materia stash?” Cloud said “Like id tell you.” I shrugged “Well, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Hand it over to me and I’ll spare you. Or, youre going to get a special surprise from me. Here’s a hint: you don’t want me to make the choice for you. Its that simple.” Tifa got up and went to his side “We’re not going to give you what you want. You can threaten all you like.” Cloud asked “What do you want it for anyway?” I answered “That’s for me to know, and you to helplessly wait for. Last chance to do as I say before you both take the punishment.” Tifa realized “There’s no reasoning with him. We have no choice but to beat him.” Cloud nodded “Yeah… not that I should be surprised. Its his way or no way at all. No different than Sephiroth was.” I shook my head “You’ve got a lot of nerve comparing me to my older Brother. I might be related to him, but that has little of anything to do with what im asking for. And just because im much younger than he is doesn’t mean im going to be outdone by him and not be chosen by Mother.” Cloud protested “Would you just forget about your stupid Reunion and get a hold of yourself?” That set me off. I wasn’t going to take that without making him pay brutally for it. I drew my revolver and fired at him numerous times. He deflected my bullets, but before long passed Kadaj and Loz busted their ways in and attacked them both from either side. Kadaj hit Cloud with her souba, and Loz got a direct hit on Tifa with his dual hound. Caught off guard, they were both injured from the hasty attack. Cloud tried to get up, but couldn’t because of the wound from Kadaj’s attack. I fired at him and landed a perfect headshot, leaving him unconscious. Tifa, too injured to realize what we’d done, was trying to get up despite injury. I said “Alright, my brethren… take the materia horde from upstairs.” Loz nodded and went upstairs to get it, and Kadaj followed to help him. I shrugged “This couldve been so much easier for both of us… if only. I warned you two, but you refused to listen. What a shame.” Tifa held her wound and cried “Youre not going to get away with this…” I didn’t answer, instead waited for Kadaj and Loz to come downstairs with the materia horde. They both came down, with Loz carrying the big box, and I signalled for them to follow me. Tifa tried to get up and stop us, but she went unconscious before she could. We left the house and hurried our way back up the plate, then got on our motorbikes and decided to drive back to our home, the Forgotten City.
Sometime later…
Cloud woke up and moaned “Ungh… they were just too fast… I didn’t see that coming at all. Sneaky bunch…” Cloud managed to stand and saw Tifa lying motionless on the floor of the house. He panicked and tried to shake her awake “Tifa! Come on, get up… please get up…” Tifa moaned and opened her eyes “They took it, the entire box… they got the materia chest…!” Cloud asked “Are you alright?” Tifa nodded and managed to sit “I’ll be fine… but we need to go after them. Who knows what they plan on doing with all of that materia? It could put the whole world in danger…” Cloud agreed “I couldn’t agree more. The only thing Sephiroth would do with all of that is create another disaster for everyone but himself. But the question is how… and then we have my sister to worry about as well.” Tifa asked “You don’t think she’s going to help them, do you?” Cloud sighed “I hope not…” A high pitched female voice cackled “Don’t be ridiculous. Im no pawn.” Cloud cried “Stratos…!” Stratos appeared from a thick black and purple mist flying in front of Cloud and Tifa. They both quickly grew wary, prepared to attack her. Stratos shrugged “My, my… so much confusion. So many ideas, and thoughts… but only a single truth.” Cloud demanded “Why are you doing this? What are you after?!” Stratos giggled and answered “Ohh, id be so glad to tell you… but if I did, whats the fun in that? Don’t you like surprises, Cloud?” Cloud lowered his buster sword and said “Shut up…” Tifa saw Cloud was upset and worried “Cloud…” Stratos smiled and explained “So trio of pawns just showed up and gave you both a beating, huh? And you say they took a whole box full of materia?! Ooh, that sounds like fun! And really really useful, too. Now, which way did they go again?” Cloud refused to speak, and Stratos sarcastically cooed to him “Aww, whats the matter? Don’t wanna give your sister a hand, hm?” Cloud grumbled and turned away from her without speaking. Tifa said “They knocked us both out with an ambush. We wouldn’t be able to tell you where they went if we tried. But why did you betray Cloud? Cant you see how hurt he is?!” Stratos sneered “Hmph… betray? Ive been working for this position the entire time. I never was loyal or true to him. Sorry to break it to you, dummy, but that’s some really old news. Like, major. Now if you’ll excuse me ive got some materia to snag for myself. I’ll play with you insects later, though, don’t worry. You’ll both be free from this struggle very soon, I promise that.” Stratos cackled and vanished through more purple-black mist and went somewhere else. Tifa shook her head sadly “What got into her? There’s no way she was always like this.” Cloud realized he was crying under his breath when Tifa put her hand on his shoulder “Cloud, are you alright?” Cloud said “Its just that… before the fire, before she disappeared… she promised me she would come home and give me a warm welcome. And now this…?” Tifa asked “Is she being manipulated?” Cloud shook his head and his tears stopped “I don’t know… I don’t know who she is anymore. But she’s not the Stratos I used to know… not even close.” Tifa suggested “Maybe there’s a way we can save her.” Cloud turned to her and nodded “Youre right… if something else is pulling the strings, we definitely can. Even if it is Sephiroth…” Tifa replied “I don’t think Sephiroth is in control of her… remember she said she was going after Yazoo’s gang to take the materia horde from them?” Cloud realized what Tifa was saying “Youre right… but if its not Sephiroth using her, then who…?” Tifa suggested “Let’s go after them too. We need to follow Stratos and find out what her plans are. That’s how we’ll get the truth behind whatever she’s trying to do.” Cloud agreed “And if someone else is manipulating her too…” Tifa replied “Right. If she’s trying to stop Yazoo’s gang too, that means whoever is ordering her around has problems with them as well. Most likely, its something really bad… maybe even worse than Sephiroth, or less threatening than him. We wont know if we don’t chase her and investigate.” Cloud nodded, and they both left the house to give chase to Stratos, and get the materia horde from Yazoo and his siblings. On the way, Cloud muttered “I’ll save you, Stratos… I promise.”
To Be Continued…
After our usual morning preparations, I met up with Kadaj and Loz near the black pool in the Forgotten City. Mother was waiting there for us like normal, and I asked “Mother, whats the brief for today?” Mother shook her head and answered “Up to you, my son. Do whatever you think is best. But I ask that you be wary and consider the incidents during the reactor mission before you decide… don’t forget that even Hojo was at a loss on what happened there.” I nodded “Don’t worry, we’ll be careful. But, if we just stormed Midgar again this soon, it would be too predictable. Its probably best we wait and throw them off guard at a later time…” Kadaj agreed “Good point… even with Hojo tracking us, its too risky after we destroyed so many reactors there. Any other ideas?” I stopped to think, then suggested “I guess… we should try to find a new Black Materia so we can save Sephiroth. He’s trapped and cant rest… he wont return to the Planet if we don’t finish what he started. I don’t want him to suffer like this.” Loz asked “But didn’t Shinra beat us to it the other time when that huge monster sent us backwards like that?” Kadaj sighed “Urk… he’s actually right. Remember, Yazoo…?” I sighed and knew what they were talking about “That doesn’t change anything. We cant give up like that. Whether they got it before us or only waited there to trick us and throw us in jail doesn’t change our goals. And remember Sephiroth is counting on us. We cant let him down, or Mother.” Kadaj added “Youre right… he’s still out there, clinging to life… barely. If we don’t finish the mission, he’ll fall into darkness at this rate. Sephiroth does need our help, but… are we strong enough to do this? I mean, the Weapon that sent us back in time is still out there someplace… doing whatever, or might even be waiting for us to pull the same stunt again. Im not sure we’re strong enough to defeat or even repel it.” I shook my head “We wont find out if we sit around and wait for it to get us. We’ll just stop it if it tries to use the same power another time.” Kadaj and Loz nodded, and we left driving our motorbikes like usual, with me leading the way. Loz asked “So where do we start looking for the…. black thing Mother wants?” I sighed “You already forgot what it is? Its Black Materia. Get it straight.” Loz groaned but didn’t respond. Kadaj suggested “Maybe we should look for hordes of materia and do it the old fashioned way… don’t forget it couldve avoided Shinra and gone someplace else seeing how desperately Sephiroth is hanging on… even if barely.” I agreed “Sounds like a plan. And I think I know where I wanna start…” Loz asked “Where?” I suggested “Back to Midgar, you two. And when we get there, stay quiet so we can slip through without the enemy discovering us.” Loz hesitated “Uhh, ok… but where are we going?” I hardened my expression gazing at the city ahead “Someplace where we’ll pay our respects to an old Brother.” I managed to smile, and by the time we arrived just outside Midgar, I slammed the breaks and so did my two siblings who rided behind me the entire way. Kadaj said “Well, here goes nothing…” Loz complained “Don’t tell me you were talking about the guy who tried to kill us when we were small…” I said “Who else would I be talking about?” Loz added “ok, fine… but this time, im winning the game. Im not gonna let him have all the fun since im strong now.” Kadaj sputtered “Ummm… this really doesn’t seem like much of a game.” I added “I know, but just let it go… this is never gonna change.” We got off our motorbikes and went into the city, with me leading the way. We managed to slip through the external security thanks to my hacking expertise, and I signalled for Kadaj and Loz to follow me as I slipped through the sector 4 plate into the slums underneath with them behind me. We landed inside the church, and fortunately nobody was in sight. Kadaj worried “A bit too clean if you ask me… don’t go arguing, you two. We cant make too much noise.” I sighed but kept silent and Loz grumbled “Hey, don’t blame me! He’s the one who’s always pointing at everything I do wrong instead of being simple!” Kadaj slapped him angrily “I said be quiet…!” Loz groaned under his breath but didn’t protest any further. I decided to check the house outside the church and carefully peeked through a window on the ground level. As expected, I saw two familiar faces inside talking to each other. The same two who tried to kill us when we were little. I slipped away from the window and signalled for Loz and Kadaj to hide somewhere else in the church on the other side. I decided to go in the house on my own this time, and I fired at the lock on the door and it broke. I then opened the door and went inside. Cloud saw me first and hardened his expression like normal “Oh, great… him again.” I asked “Im sorry, did you say something?” Cloud sighed and got out of his seat “What do you want, Yazoo?” I laughed a tad, then said “While I would love to chat, I don’t have enough to get into explanations. I’m going to be blunt: where’s your materia stash?” Cloud said “Like id tell you.” I shrugged “Well, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Hand it over to me and I’ll spare you. Or, youre going to get a special surprise from me. Here’s a hint: you don’t want me to make the choice for you. Its that simple.” Tifa got up and went to his side “We’re not going to give you what you want. You can threaten all you like.” Cloud asked “What do you want it for anyway?” I answered “That’s for me to know, and you to helplessly wait for. Last chance to do as I say before you both take the punishment.” Tifa realized “There’s no reasoning with him. We have no choice but to beat him.” Cloud nodded “Yeah… not that I should be surprised. Its his way or no way at all. No different than Sephiroth was.” I shook my head “You’ve got a lot of nerve comparing me to my older Brother. I might be related to him, but that has little of anything to do with what im asking for. And just because im much younger than he is doesn’t mean im going to be outdone by him and not be chosen by Mother.” Cloud protested “Would you just forget about your stupid Reunion and get a hold of yourself?” That set me off. I wasn’t going to take that without making him pay brutally for it. I drew my revolver and fired at him numerous times. He deflected my bullets, but before long passed Kadaj and Loz busted their ways in and attacked them both from either side. Kadaj hit Cloud with her souba, and Loz got a direct hit on Tifa with his dual hound. Caught off guard, they were both injured from the hasty attack. Cloud tried to get up, but couldn’t because of the wound from Kadaj’s attack. I fired at him and landed a perfect headshot, leaving him unconscious. Tifa, too injured to realize what we’d done, was trying to get up despite injury. I said “Alright, my brethren… take the materia horde from upstairs.” Loz nodded and went upstairs to get it, and Kadaj followed to help him. I shrugged “This couldve been so much easier for both of us… if only. I warned you two, but you refused to listen. What a shame.” Tifa held her wound and cried “Youre not going to get away with this…” I didn’t answer, instead waited for Kadaj and Loz to come downstairs with the materia horde. They both came down, with Loz carrying the big box, and I signalled for them to follow me. Tifa tried to get up and stop us, but she went unconscious before she could. We left the house and hurried our way back up the plate, then got on our motorbikes and decided to drive back to our home, the Forgotten City.
Sometime later…
Cloud woke up and moaned “Ungh… they were just too fast… I didn’t see that coming at all. Sneaky bunch…” Cloud managed to stand and saw Tifa lying motionless on the floor of the house. He panicked and tried to shake her awake “Tifa! Come on, get up… please get up…” Tifa moaned and opened her eyes “They took it, the entire box… they got the materia chest…!” Cloud asked “Are you alright?” Tifa nodded and managed to sit “I’ll be fine… but we need to go after them. Who knows what they plan on doing with all of that materia? It could put the whole world in danger…” Cloud agreed “I couldn’t agree more. The only thing Sephiroth would do with all of that is create another disaster for everyone but himself. But the question is how… and then we have my sister to worry about as well.” Tifa asked “You don’t think she’s going to help them, do you?” Cloud sighed “I hope not…” A high pitched female voice cackled “Don’t be ridiculous. Im no pawn.” Cloud cried “Stratos…!” Stratos appeared from a thick black and purple mist flying in front of Cloud and Tifa. They both quickly grew wary, prepared to attack her. Stratos shrugged “My, my… so much confusion. So many ideas, and thoughts… but only a single truth.” Cloud demanded “Why are you doing this? What are you after?!” Stratos giggled and answered “Ohh, id be so glad to tell you… but if I did, whats the fun in that? Don’t you like surprises, Cloud?” Cloud lowered his buster sword and said “Shut up…” Tifa saw Cloud was upset and worried “Cloud…” Stratos smiled and explained “So trio of pawns just showed up and gave you both a beating, huh? And you say they took a whole box full of materia?! Ooh, that sounds like fun! And really really useful, too. Now, which way did they go again?” Cloud refused to speak, and Stratos sarcastically cooed to him “Aww, whats the matter? Don’t wanna give your sister a hand, hm?” Cloud grumbled and turned away from her without speaking. Tifa said “They knocked us both out with an ambush. We wouldn’t be able to tell you where they went if we tried. But why did you betray Cloud? Cant you see how hurt he is?!” Stratos sneered “Hmph… betray? Ive been working for this position the entire time. I never was loyal or true to him. Sorry to break it to you, dummy, but that’s some really old news. Like, major. Now if you’ll excuse me ive got some materia to snag for myself. I’ll play with you insects later, though, don’t worry. You’ll both be free from this struggle very soon, I promise that.” Stratos cackled and vanished through more purple-black mist and went somewhere else. Tifa shook her head sadly “What got into her? There’s no way she was always like this.” Cloud realized he was crying under his breath when Tifa put her hand on his shoulder “Cloud, are you alright?” Cloud said “Its just that… before the fire, before she disappeared… she promised me she would come home and give me a warm welcome. And now this…?” Tifa asked “Is she being manipulated?” Cloud shook his head and his tears stopped “I don’t know… I don’t know who she is anymore. But she’s not the Stratos I used to know… not even close.” Tifa suggested “Maybe there’s a way we can save her.” Cloud turned to her and nodded “Youre right… if something else is pulling the strings, we definitely can. Even if it is Sephiroth…” Tifa replied “I don’t think Sephiroth is in control of her… remember she said she was going after Yazoo’s gang to take the materia horde from them?” Cloud realized what Tifa was saying “Youre right… but if its not Sephiroth using her, then who…?” Tifa suggested “Let’s go after them too. We need to follow Stratos and find out what her plans are. That’s how we’ll get the truth behind whatever she’s trying to do.” Cloud agreed “And if someone else is manipulating her too…” Tifa replied “Right. If she’s trying to stop Yazoo’s gang too, that means whoever is ordering her around has problems with them as well. Most likely, its something really bad… maybe even worse than Sephiroth, or less threatening than him. We wont know if we don’t chase her and investigate.” Cloud nodded, and they both left the house to give chase to Stratos, and get the materia horde from Yazoo and his siblings. On the way, Cloud muttered “I’ll save you, Stratos… I promise.”
To Be Continued…
