Demon Gate Prologue
Final Fantasy 7
By Icy Brian
NOTE: This picks up in the middle of the game's ending. If you haven't beaten the game or don't know how it ends, this could spoil it for you. I'd like to thank Chiba for the transcript of the ending. Now, on with the story!
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Cloud quickly jumped down the crater wall, catching Tifa by her waist as she fell closer to the pool of Mako energy located at the bottom of the Northern Crater. He grabbed ahold of a rock ledge with one hand, and tightly held Tifa with his remaining arm as he dangled from the ledge. ".....I think I'm beginning to understand." He said softly. Tifa looked up at him.
"What?" She held on tighter and leaned her head against Cloud's chest.
"An answer from the Planet... The Promised Land..." His voice was quiet. "I think I can meet her... there." Tifa looked up at him and, after closing her eyes, leaned her head back down against his chest.
"Yeah" She responded. "Let's go meet her." Cloud pulled himself and Tifa up to the ledge, where they sat down. The Mako pool below them began to give off a white glow as it shifted colors. Cloud turned his head to look at Tifa.
"Hey, where is everyone?"
"Heeeey!" Across the crater, Barret was waving at them from another ledge. Sitting beside here were Cid, Nanaki, and Cait Sith. Tifa, with a smile on her face, returned his wave.
"I'm glad you're all safe!"
Barret turned to look at Cid. "They all seem to be safe too." He muttered. "But... now what're we going to do?" As he looked out across the crater, Nanaki rose to his feet.
"Holy should be moving soon." The great beast remarked. "And that means this place will..."
Cid stood and looked up out of the crater. "Oh, Lady Luck don't fail me now..." His mouth gaped open, and his cigarette fell to the ground at his feet. The rest of the party looked up to see the Highwind crashing down towards them nose-first. It smashed into the walls, dislodging the rocks and debris which was now falling towards the team, before coming to an abrupt stop wedged between the stone walls.
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The Mako inside the crater glowed brightly, and suddenly exploded from inside, sending a circle of energy outwards as it blasted skywards in a white column. The force of the explosion propelled the Highwind out of the crater, spinning wildly. Inside the ship, the party was being tossed around as they struggled to hold onto the railing. Cid caught hold of a steel pipe which was bolted to the floor.
"Shit!!" Cid pulled himself up with one arm and reached out with his other to grab a lever marked 'Emergency.' Pulling it down, the Highwind transformed into a sleek craft and rolled out of the Mako explosion, screaming off towards the horizon.
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The Highwind circled Midgar from a safe distance. The party stood on the bridge watching the destruction through the bay window. Holy and Meteor now hovered over Midgar. Holy began to burn bright red and a huge, perfectly round hole opened above Midgar, its diameter exactly the same as that of the city. The air began to burn red and the last framework of Shinra HQ began to explode as Meteor's wrath poured through. Inside the ship, Cloud and Tifa stood near the panel. Barret walked over to stand behind them.
"Wait a damn minute!" He shouted, looking at the rest of the group. "What's going to happen to Midgar?" Barret slammed down his fist. "We can't let that happen!"
"I had everyone take refuge in the slums." Cait Sith informed. He shook his head and looked down at the floor. "But the way things are now..." He wiped away a tear with the back of his glove. Nanaki stepped forward, the fire below further reddening his coat.
"It's too late for Holy." He stated somberly. "Meteor is approaching the Planet. Holy is having the opposite effect." Midgar was being decimated by Meteor and Holy. Nanaki's one good eye glittered in the light. "Forget Midgar, we've gotta worry about the Planet." The Highwind continued to circle the city as Cid frantically worked at the control panel. Cloud sat on the railing, his back to the destruction outside. Tifa watched fearfully. Cloud looked at her as her eyes widened in surprise.
"What's that!?" Everyone looked outside. A tiny pinprick of green light was visible in the mountainous area of the eastern continent. The green light grew as one bright tendril of the Lifestream wormed its way out of the ground. A large hole opened in the ground around the stream, revealing the Lifestream boiling just below the surface. At another location in the mountains a second stream of Lifestream emanated from the ground, curving towards Midgar. Two more strands popped up. They grew. Three more. Then four. Then five. Back on Highwind, Cloud, Tifa, and Barret stood at the front of the bridge gripping the rail. They looked on in a state of wonderment as more strands of Lifestream burrowed out from the ground.
"What the hell IS that.....?" Barret stammered. Cloud looked out the window with a blank expression on his face.
".....Lifestream." It continued to rush from the earth, streaming from nearly every spot on the ground and turning the earth into a massive pool of green. Not far off, Midgar continued to crumble. A tidal wave of green closed in on the city, arms of Lifestream marching ever closer. The air was nearly a solid mass of green. Ever crack and pore of the continent was spewing out Lifestream, closing in on Midgar, Holy, and Meteor. Everyone shut their eyes from the sheer power of the blinding green-white light. The Lifestream surrounded Meteor, adhering to and dissolving it. Cloud opened his eyes and turned around. He staggered backwards as he stared in awe at a bright ring of light hovering in the air several feet away. Slowly, he approached it, a slim light of hope in his eyes. Reaching out his hand, he touched anomalie, sending a ripple throughout it. Nanaki looked up to see Cloud standing in front of the portal. He opened his mouth to say something, but it was too late. Cloud had already stepped forth into the void. The gate began to shrink in size, giving him only a moment for contemplation. Heaving an exasperated sigh, Nanaki charged forward and leapt inside the portal.
* * *
Reno crawled to the surface, pushing aside the rubble and other debris which he had been buried under. Above him, Holy and Meteor still clashed, Midgar being destroyed under their power in the process. Beside him, another rock was shoved to the side as Rude's arm protruded from the hole. He pulled himself up and glanced over at Reno.
"Give me a hand here." He coughed. "Elena's still trapped under some of this mess."
"I'm fine." She shouted at them from below. "Just get this rock off of me." Reno knelt down and grasped his fingers beneath one side of the boulder, while Rude did the same on the opposite end. They lifted it straight up and heaved it onto the rubble beside them. Rude tried to reach out his hand for Elena, but she brushed it away and pulled herself to her feet. Pieces of metal and other building materials were falling all around them, and they could see no way of leaving the disaster area.
"Oh great, this is perfect." Reno snarled. "We're trapped like rats, and to top it all off, my shotgun's buried down there someplace! I'd ask if things could get worse, but I don't doubt that they can." He looked up from the hole to see Rude staring open-mouthed into the distance. Following his gaze, Reno saw a circle of light slowly moving towards them. "What the hell is that?"
"I... I'm not sure." Elena responded. The light was coming closer, and was now within ten feet of where they were. "But it's not exactly giving us much of a choice." It passed over a pile of rocks, leaving behind an empty space where they had been.
"This ain't good." Rude snarled, his upper lip raised in apprehension. Large gusts of wind were blowing around the three as the energy from Holy and Meteor poured down on the city. Rather than back up, Rude held his ground as the object approached him. Reno and Elena did the same. In one swift motion, the portal flashed forward, and the three disappeared simultaneously.