Last Requiem: Final Fantasy VII

Chapter 1: Meteorfall

It was the end, the finale, the last chapter of a saga that had begun long ago.

Sephiroth, the twisted son of Shinra Inc.'s inhumane experiments, had sought to become a god by inflicting a wound of such magnitude upon Gaia that the lifestream would react to the danger by concentrating it's energies in one place in an attempt to heal the world. At that moment, with the power he had gained, Septhiroth would have absorbed all of that energy into himself, reducing the planet into a hollow shell to serve as his vessel through the cosmos. To see this deed done, Sephiroth had called down the ultimate black magic: Meteor, an extraterrestrial planetoid summoned from the stars for one sole purpose: destruction.

To counter Meteor the last scion of the Cetra, the ancient protectors of the planet, gave her life to see to the activation of the ultimate white magic: Holy, the only force capable of saving creation.

But Sephiroth's will had become so strong that he was able to contain Holy within the core of the lifestream.

After weeks of traveling the world, endless fighting, and heart-breaking tragedy; pain, anger, sorrow, despair, hope; Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Barret Wallace, Cid Highwind, Vincent Valentine, Yuffie Kisaraki, Nanaki, and, somewhat indirectly, Reeve Tuesti had found their way to that place and Sephiroth had been defeated, his ambition lain to ruin, and the last conduits of his influence erased. Against all odds, Cloud and his comrades had won.

If only it were that simple.

They had escaped the Northern Crater in Cid's airship, the Highwind, and rode Holy back to Midgar, where Meteor was closing in for impact. They had risked everything to bring about this moment, and now they would bear witness to it's outcome.

For better or for worse.

The energies that held Meteor together crackled across its surface, disrupting the atmosphere. Lightning flashed as fiery tornadoes descended from the great rock on Midgar, devastating the upper city. Houses were ripped up and sent flying through the air. People screamed as they found themselves caught up in the red-tinged air, with only darkness to relieve their terror. The beams supporting the Sister Ray began to collapse, its back end collided with the Shinra building with an explosion that ripped apart huge portions of Sector 8. The top of Shinra tower, already damaged by the Diamond WEAPON's final attack, tore free completely and joined the debris flying over the city as Meteor made its final approach.

But just then, Holy forced it's way in between Meteor and the city, severing the storms that connected them. Meteor was held up, suspended by the swirling mass of white energy, but it's force was too much to bear. It's descent was slowed, but not stopped.

The Highwind hovered high above the crucible. On the relative safety of the flight-deck, Cloud and company could now only watch and pray.

"Wait a damn minute!" Barret shouted in horror, "What's going to happen to Midgar? I thought Holy was supposed to stop this!"

"Vincent and Yuffie left ahead of us to warn everyone," said Cait Sith, relaying Reeve's panicked response in real time,"I told them to get everyone to take refuge in the slums, but the way things are now. . ."

Holy pulsed, and Meteor was pushed away from Midgar. But the backlash sent a shockwave throughout the city with force five times greater than the explosion which had destroyed the Sector 1 Mako Reactor. But Meteor was far from defeated. Slowly, but surely, it began to sink again.

Despite the absence of Sephiroth's will to drive it, the sheer force of gravity was too strong.

"It's too late," Nanaki growled, trying his hardest to stay composed, "Meteor is too close to the planet. Holy is having the opposite effect. Forget Midgar! We've got to worry about all of Gaia!"

"Come on hurry up!", Yuffie called to the fire-squads as they loaded injured into any vehicles that could still move. She glanced up at the gigantic red death ball in the sky, "And try not to drop anyone this time!"

The fire-chief ran up to her, "Report!" She barked at him. He saluted.

"Evac complete. All injured have been moved into the transports!"

"Okay, let's get outta of here!" she yelled to the group, "And be on guard until you're clear of the red zone!"

Yuffie could not help but wonder why they were listening to her of all people. She knew all too well how she came across, and it must have been especially strange for them to have a strangely dressed girl, clearly of Wutain decent, run up to them and start giving orders. Maybe Reeve had managed to get some kind of message to them despite the chaos that gripped the city, or maybe just having someone acting professional enough give orders was enough, if only to distract them from the terror of armageddon.

Yuffie pulled her Personal Head-Set out of her bag, and spoke into it as clearly as she could while shouting over all the wind, "We're all done here, how 'bout you!?"

"Finished." came Vincent's voice through the static, "But Yuffie, I want you to check the Mako cannon."

"What? We already. . ." Yuffie asked as she held the portable scanner towards the cannon. Her voice trailed off as she picked up one, albeit weak, life sign at the top of the structure.

"Just as I thought." Said Vincent, sounding as if his worst suspicions had been confirmed.

"Hold on,"said Yuffie, finding her voice again, "Hold on, this is crazy! There's no way anyone could be up there, no!"

"Yuffie," Vincent cut her off, " Rendezvous with Cloud and the others, it looks like I still have some work to do."

"What? Hey whoa!" Yuffie cried indignantly as the static in her speaker cut out. Vincent had turned off his PHS.

Yuffie threw hers to the ground in frustration.

"Dammit Vincent! Get out of there. . ." She said, giving voice to her fear. She remembered the last time she, with the others, had been to that tower, and who had been waiting for them. Her voice rose with each word until she was literally screaming at the distant cannon, "I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS!"

But Yuffie's voice was lost in the roaring windstorm as Vincent ran back up the steps to the top of cannon. He dreaded what he might find there, but he had to keep going. To see for his own eyes. He couldn't leave Midgar until he knew for sure. . .

When the twisters had first appeared, it seemed that any hope of escape was dashed. They had barely survived by taking shelter within the sturdier buildings of sector five. The twisters had gone, but the wind was still very strong, making it hard for Vincent to keep going the higher he got. A grim silence, broken only by the sound of thunder, had fallen over Midgar as the red and white lights competed above.

Vincent reached the top of the tower. He looked around and saw nothing but grey ash and dust swirling around him. Vincent squinted through the gloom toward the far end of the platform where he remembered the controls for the cannon were. Somehow, the computers seemed to still be active, the glow of their screens just barely visible. Vincent began to walk towards the blinking lights.

As he drew closer, the wind swept the fog away, revealing his quarry.

The computers were definitely damaged but still seemed to be functioning; and that man, the man in the white coat, was still there. He was slumped over the console. Vincent could not see the man's face, but he would never, could never forget it. The man's hands were sluggishly operating the controls. How was it even possible, after what he had done to himself, for him to still be alive? What was he trying to do?

It didn't matter. The only things that mattered in the world right now were that man, Vincent, and his gun.

After everything that had happened, Vincent would make sure it ended here.

Vincent pulled out Death Penalty, the extremely powerful rifle that had been made just for him, from the harness beneath his cloak, loaded a bullet into the chamber and leveled it at the man's back. A red dot marked the path of his trajectory, as Vincent glared at him through his scope.

For a moment, Vincent did not move. Everything the man before him had done flashed through Vincent's mind. This man, more than anyone else was to blame for the situation they were in; even Sephiroth was really just another victim of this one sociopath. Vincent tightened his grip on the weapon. It possessed power enough to turn his target into a fine red mist. Vincent remembered she who had constructed this weapon, her final gift to him so that he might deliver to her the vengeance they both craved. He pulled the trigger.

But at that very moment a bolt of lightning struck the tower they were on. Meteor was breaking through! The computers overloaded and exploded in a ball of fire. Had Vincent not instinctively reacted with his Barrier Materia, he would have been incinerated. Even so, the force of the explosion nearly threw him from the tower. His claw clutching the railing, Vincent looked up. The computer terminal was ablaze, but he could see a single bullet hole in it's metal frame. Vincent's target, however, had vanished. Had he been caught in the explosion? Had he escaped somehow? It was impossible to tell. Vincent put Death Penalty away; were he the more vocal type, he'd have sworn with such color and ferocity it would have made even Cid blush.

Then, with a teeth-grinding shriek, the tower began to fall away from the rest of the cannon. The ground, hundreds of feet below, loomed before Vincent.

As resilient as his body was, he could not survive this fall. He had risked everything to come back here and now, not only did he have nothing to show for it, he would soon have even less. . .

"VIIINCENT!"

One of the helicopters they had "appropriated" flew through the rising pillar of smoke, and there was Yuffie hanging from an open door on it's side.

Vincent made a running leap off the tower as it tore tree completely. He reached for Yuffie with is good hand, she stretched out as far as she could to catch him.

For a moment it seemed as if time stood still with Vincent suspended in midair, Yuffie reaching for him, meteor above, city below, and destruction all around.

He missed her hand by less than a centimeter. He began to fall.

The contest between unstoppable object and immovable force raged on.

Cloud and others stared at the battle, mouths agape.

To their horror Meteor suddenly tore right through Holy and, free of its bonds, plummeted towards the ruined city. A bright all-consuming light blinded them all. Moving on their own, Cloud and Tifa's hands found each other and held on tight. This was it!

But suddenly there was a glimmer of green.

"What's that!?" gasped Tifa.

Down below on the ground outside of Midgar a pillar of dazzling green light had burst from the ground. Soon more appeared, coming from every direction at once, from all over the entire planet, filling the sky. All of the green threads coalesced beneath Meteor.

"The hell is THAT!?" Barret exclaimed.

Cloud answered in awe, knowing without a doubt that he was right, "Lifestream."

Yuffie dived from the helicopter, a line trailing behind her, and caught Vincent's claw. Yuffie's line went taut, and they stopped abruptly in midair. She screamed as his barbed metal fingertips cut into her forearm, but she didn't loosen her grip. Below them, green energy swept through the streets.

Vincent looked up at Yuffie in shock as drops of blood hit his face.

Yuffie grimaced, "GO, GO!" she shouted into her PHS and the transport twenty feet above them started to move. They swung about erratically, causing Vincent's claw to dig deeper into her arm. She hit a button on her belt and a winch began to reel in the rope, raising them slowly back up to the ship. Debris was still flying through the air, pelting them with bits of concrete and powdered glass. Vincent reached up with his good hand, she dropped the PHS and grabbed it, but didn't let go of his claw. Vincent looked below them, just in time to see the PHS disappear into a torrent of life energy as the city was engulfed.

The winch in Yuffie's belt, unable to take the strain, shorted out, leaving them stuck suspended in the air. A huge piece of detritus, part a building, caught Vincent's attention. It was heading right for them! It would crush them into paste if one of them didn't do something.

"Cut the line!" Vincent shouted.

"Are you crazy!?"

"Just do it!" Even through the storm, Yuffie could note an uncharacteristic, though familiar, inflection in Vincent's voice. . .

Yuffie released Vincent's claw and produced a kunai from her sleeve and severed the lifeline. The massive piece of steel and concrete whooshed past them as they plummeted towards the city streets, hundreds of feet below. Vincent closed his eyes and dug deep within himself; He had less control than he would like over what he was trying to do, but he wasn't in a position to worry about it.

A white light, as bright as the Lifestream around them erupted from Vincent's chest. Before Yuffie knew what was happening, they weren't falling. They were flying! Vincent had her under one arm as they rode the winds through the maelstrom.

"Keep your eyes shut!" he shouted to Yuffie.

As Vincent soared over the city he did his best to shield Yuffie from all the shards of broken glass and cement which swirled around thick as hail. His vision was rapidly becoming clouded, not by wind or dust, but by bloodlust. It took every ounce of willpower in him not to tear Yuffie to shreds in his hands. He put on a burst of speed and was able to grab the bottom of the helicopter. His claws sank into the metal like it was butter. Vincent was about to haul them inside when when the chopper abruptly began to lose altitude. From where he was, Vincent could see flames beginning to spread from the vehicle's rotors. The 'copter exploded in a great ball of fire which was lost in the green haze.

The Lifestream had indeed risen from the very core of the planet itself, driven by some unknown force to fight meteor. It gathered it's might beneath Meteor, and it pushed. It pushed with all it's power. Meteor practically bounced off the green barrier and drifted away from the city, back into space. Holy reasserted itself, now able to unleash it's full power.

As the burning shell of the helicopter fell to the streets, Vincent unfurled his wings. At the last second he had let go and cocooned himself and Yuffie to shield them from the blast. Yuffie appeared to be unconscious, but Vincent could sense her burning life force.

Desperate, Vincent made a death-defying dive towards the only shelter he could see: the shell of one of the mako reactors. He dodged huge pieces of wreckage as they approached and, using his body to shield Yuffie once again, flew straight through the reactor's metal superstructure.

As Vincent set Yuffie down on a nearby catwalk a dazzling white light poured into the hole he had left behind them. . .

In a moment that lasted an eternity, the blinding white light of Holy filled the sky across the entire planet as Holy shrouded Meteor and literally threw it off the planet and back into space. The force of this act created a shockwave which rocked the entire planet right to it's core. Meteor had been defeated.

Cloud sighed a breath of relief, but then it caught in his throat. In the Highwind's windows, he could see Aerith's reflection looking back at him. She smiled at him and, just like that, she was gone. Cloud put his hand on the glass where she had been. Had he really seen that?

"Cloud." said a soft voice. Cloud snapped out of his reverie. Tifa was standing there, looking at him, and her tear-filled eyes told him that she had seen their fallen friend too. They all had.

For a long sombre moment, they all bowed their head, now knowing what had brought about their salvation. Aerith, the last Cetra, had saved the world.

Barret was the first to break the silence with a cheer, "It's over! YEEEEEESSSSS! It's FINALLY OVER!" he shouted, pumping his fist.

Everyone, in their own way, followed suit. Nanaki roared triumphantly, Cid was swearing as he tried to get a call through to Shera, while having his hand shaken by Barret, and trying to keep a hold on the ship's wheel at the same time. Cait Sith was twitching erratically as, elsewhere, Reeve slammed his fists against the keyboard in jubilation.

Tifa, abandoning all cares, rushed forward and embraced Cloud, who happily followed suit. The strain of the last several hours finally began to catch up with them, now that they could breathe freely again. Still holding on to Tifa, Cloud practically collapsed on to the deck's railing.

There were whistles and catcalls from the others and they quickly separated. Tifa had her hands on her cheeks, trying to hide an intense blush, and Cloud trying, and failing, to don his usual stoic expression.

It was truly, and finally, over.

If only it were that simple. . .