Chapter 78: Raising The Stakes
Weiss and Nero who entered the sewers of Midgar when the weapons attacked were infiltrating Shinra's HQ. They also had a little girl with them that was another one of the Tsviets. (pic)
"Shelke, Nero will guard you when you dive into the worldwide network and hack it. I will find Vincent Valentine's weakness, kekeke~" Weiss smirked.
The little girl nodded, she looked like a normal girl, but she was another one who suffered from experiments. Not being able to grow further and was stuck in her 9 year old self.
Shelke used her powers to easily access the operating systems inside and deactivated the firewalls.
She then delivered a virus to turn off the defenses so they could continue in their endeavors. "Where's the bitch Lucrecia?" Weiss asked Shelke, a massive grin on his face.
"She's on the top floor, second room to the right hallway." Shelke gave out her location, finding out the layout of the building as well.
They separated ways, Weiss going to kidnap Lucrecia. And Nero going with Shelke to the server room in order to use the worldwide network as well as the synaptic dive equipment there for their most important plan.
Due to the warzone outside and the barriers set up. There were barely any people inside and the duo made quick work of any guards in the area quietly. Not wanting to raise a ruckus.
"Do your thing." Nero ordered and Shelke snorted. A bit annoyed by his sense of superiority towards her.
She set up the synaptic dive equipment and took out a helmet-like device with wires that were hooked to the servers. She put it on and began her synaptic dive.
Due to the weapons being biometallic in nature with a hard code on it. They were planning to go further and have someone essentially be Omega.
The servers were now in Shelke's control and Hojo was notified by Nero. He began connecting his mind into the internet and uploaded himself so he will embody Omega when it appears.
And with Weiss getting Lucrecia, it was only a matter of time before they will be able to get the protomateria from Vincent.
Speaking of Lucrecia, she was nervously watching what was happening outside and cheered on Ramiel in her mind.
She then saw Alexandra arrive and was relieved, but she suddenly felt a cold blade on her neck and a chuckling man.
"Lucrecia Crescent... You were able to get away last time, woman. But now? I think your luck has run out." Weiss grabbed her by the nape and Lucrecia was paralyzed in fear.
"W-what are you going to do to me?" She was anxious and Weiss snickered. "All you have to know is you will get your little Vincent in trouble."
She frowned heavily and remembered the protomateria inside of his chest. 'Oh no... I have to use the SOS.'
She reached inside of her pocket and started mashing the SOS device that they all had on them.
Weiss noticed that she was fiddling with something, but he laughed when he took her hand and saw that it was some kind of pager or something.
"You think you can call for help? You dumb bitch, we prepared for that!" He smacked her on the temple, robbing her of her consciousness.
Weiss then took a picture with Lucrecia who was unconscious and sent it right to Vincent.
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Right outside Midgar, Alexandra took care of the summons and she was cleaning up the remaining enemies like harvesting wheat. Every swing of her sword cutting everything in half.
Ramiel looked over her battle and he was trying to recover from his injuries. There was an unsettling feeling below.
"Oh no, the lifestream is converging and it's summoning something." Ramiel furrowed his brows.
With Deepground infecting the planet with Jenova clones. And the weapons being destroyed, it was starting to release the last one, being Omega. Lots of lives were also returning to the lifestream because of the battles.
He tried communing with the planet in order to stop Omega from appearing entirely, but the planet deemed everything lost due to the circumstances.
Alexandra noticed it too and she focused on the ground, squinting her eyes. "This isn't good, something wrong is happening."
She looked at the horizons and saw that Angeal and Genesis were coming back from Junon. Alex quickly went to Ramiel as she nodded at the two to take care of any remaining enemies.
"Ramiel, brother..." She hugged him tightly and he sighed softly, Alex was casting a cure on him and shared her energy with him.
'This is a bad idea, I might fully convert into energy if she shares too much.' Ramiel pried her off gently and nodded at her. "I'm fine now, thanks Alex."
Her eyebrows were still furrowed. "You're not okay, you were in such a bad condition earlier when I saw you."
"We have no time to waste, did you feel that?" Ramiel looked below and she nodded with a frown.
"I think it's Omega, preparing to take all the lifestream... We need to get Vincent here immediately and bet on him that he could control it with the protomateria." Ramiel hoped that they will come faster.
And speak of the devil, Bismarck appeared over the horizon and was travelling at top speed.
Vincent received the message that Lucrecia was in mortal danger and Ifalna noticed that the planet is doing something unusual. So they immediately went back to Midgar.
Vincent and Ifalna disembarked and they immediately went to Ramiel and Alexandra. "This isn't good, Lucrecia is in their possession! We have to save her!" Vincent showed the picture of Lucrecia with Weiss.
Ramiel thought of a plan to save her, but the ground rumbled and a construct appeared from the lifestream itself. (pic)
It had tethers on it and they felt that it was connected to the lifestream. "I-it's Omega." Ifalna muttered and they were quickly losing time.
"Vincent, go with Genesis and Angeal. Try to save Lucrecia. We need to delay Omega as much as possible." Ramiel stood up and they were going to buy as much time as possible.
Vincent nodded and flew to the duo. Ifalna then immediately began communing with the planet to try and deter its use of Omega.
"Alex, try to destroy Omega." He ordered and Alexandra brandished her blade. She flew right at the weapon and slashed Masamune right at it. But a barrier that was powered up by the lifestream itself blocked her.
"Ifalna, do you have any luck in trying to commune with the planet? You have more experience on this than me. I tried earlier, but I couldn't stop it." Ramiel frowned, also trying once again.
"Let me try, I can feel the lifestream responding. But its weak." She started sweating from anxiety.
Bismarck tried firing on Omega and it unloaded a barrage of shells on it. But its barrier was looking impenetrable.
Alexandra tried ripping space in front of it with her other blade, but the planet was protecting the thing with its all.
Aerith, Cloud, and Zack arrived and they were quickly filled in about what's happening by Ramiel.
Aerith went up to them and started helping with their endeavors while Cloud and Zack went to the city in order to try and help with the rescue operation.
At Shinra's HQ. Vincent, Angeal, and Genesis quickly arrived and they went to the roof of the building where Weiss and Nero were.
They saw Weiss holding on to Lucrecia while Nero pointed his gun right at her head. "Move and her head's gone." He warned them and they were out of moves.
If they took out Weiss with an attack, Nero would blow her head off. And if they failed, it would be the same outcome.
"Hehe~ we meet again Vincent Valentine. Now I think you have a little something that is of interest for us." Weiss grinned at him and the trio were hard-pressed.
Vincent was about to dig in to his chest so he could fish out the protomateria, but Genesis stopped his hand.
"Are you mad!? You would sacrifice the whole world? We cannot give in." Genesis squinted his eyes and Vincent was pressured immensely.
"That's right, what would it be? Her life, or the world. Pretty obvious pick no? And you can't stall for time, I will only give you ten seconds." Weiss gripped Lucrecia's neck harder and she winced.
"Fuck!" Vincent swore as he started sweating profusely. He needed to do something and fast.
Weiss held her neck tighter and tighter. Making Genesis and Angeal tense up, preparing to do a double take down.
Vincent closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. Before Angeal and Genesis can move, Vincent plunged his hand in his chest and took out the protomateria.
Weiss smirked and thought their job was done. "Now give it here, make it roll on the ground." He pointed at Lucrecia.
Vincent threw it as he struggled to contain Chaos. He kneeled and Genesis nodded at Angeal. Weiss and Nero presenting a split second opportunity by staring at the protomateria that was in the air.
Angeal disappeared and cut off Weiss' arm with the brothers distracted, Genesis quickly went for Lucrecia and covered themselves with a barrier.
"Fuck!" Weiss shouted out and Nero began firing at them with his Mako infused bullets.
Angeal retrieved the protomateria and squinted his eyes at the enemies. "Your shenanigans ends here." He brandished his buster sword and was about to cut them down.
But the protomateria started vibrating and floated out of Angeal's hand. Weiss and Nero quickly retreated, outnumbered and outgunned.
Genesis tried taking to take back the Materia with telekinesis, but it wasn't responding at all. "Angeal! Take it back!" He shouted out to his stunned friend and he jumped right at it.
But it seemingly dodged and slowly floated to Omega's location. "Fuck, we need to inform the others!" Angeal carried Vincent and Genesis followed him.
Meanwhile, at the server room. With Shelke's help, Hojo implanted himself in one of the Mako reactors that were offline.
Hojo went to one of the huge Materias and facilitated his transfer to Omega. "Yes, finally! I will create a blank slate and rule the world with pure science."
He then waited for the protomateria to merge it with himself and get full control of Omega. The Materia promptly arrived and he sucked up the lifestream.
The mad scientist felt that the Cetras were trying to delay his plans further and he wasn't sure that the twins might be able to do something.
"Kukuku, then I will leave you a gift to take care of." the remaining clones inside the southern base began sacrificing their lives to power up the black materia.
At space, the black materia began consolidating earth. A large meteor the size of the Chixculub formed at low earth orbit and it was powered up with magic.
The people on Gaia saw something bright red in the sky. Tornadoes started to form at Midgar and lightning storms signified the arrival of the strongest black magic.
"R-Ramiel... That's the spell from the black Materia." Ifalna gulped a mouthful of saliva and thought that things couldn't get any worse.
He looked at the sky and the thing was huge. "Alexandra can't take care of that..." He was speechless, wracking his brains on what to do.
"Mom! Holy! We can use holy!" Aerith remembered the counterpart to meteor and it was the white Materia, holy.
"Yes! Come on honey, let's start communing with the planet to use it!" Ifalna and Aerith went to the nearest source that had a vein of the lifestream and it was the previously abandoned church in sector 5.
"Quickly! I'm counting on you guys!" Ramiel went to Bismarck and he started barking orders. His other two ships that were in Wutai also arrived and the fleet was complete.
"All hands on deck! Fire everything you've got at the meteor! We could deal with it much easier if we chunk it as much as we can!" Ramiel went to the atmosphere with his fleet.
Bismarck started firing its strongest shells at it with Roon. Shinano and Le Triomphant unleashed all their hellfire missiles and bunker busters.
Explosions and bright lights were seen at the meteor. But when it died down, he saw that it was basically unscathed.
"Continue firing!" Ramiel supercharged Bismarck and was using the ship to amplify his spell. Due to being drained still, he was only able to prepare a Gigaflare, but he thought that was still better than nothing.
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Back at the surface in Midgar, Aerith and Ifalna prepared to use holy. They quickly began the ritual to protect the planet.
But when they finished, there was resistance from the planet because Omega is starting to suck up Mako.
"It's not working... Why isn't it working!?" Ifalna started panicking with Aerith. "The lifestream is getting disrupted mom!"
They immediately went to Alexandra to let her know. "Alex! Holy isn't working because of Omega! Any luck in trying to cut it off from the planet?"
She went wide eyed and looked right at the meteor that was being bombarded by the fleet with everything they could. "No luck..." Alexandra started hitting its barrier more desperately, but it didn't really work.
Alex quickly gave Ramiel a message with their link and informed him that Holy was not a choice they will have.
"Fuck. Everything is going to shit. What can I do?" Ramiel gritted his teeth, his mind running a mile a second.
"Mein fuhrer..." Ramiel felt a hand hold his shoulder and he looked back. A blonde woman in a military uniform stared right at him. (pic)
"B-Bismarck." He was surprised and tried touching her, but his hand passed through her. He turned his hand ethereal and then he was able to.
"You're made of pure energy. How did you form?" He furrowed his brows and was confused.
She saluted and poked his forehead, giving him her memories. Due to the years of being in contact with Mako, basically drowning in it with his energy. Bismarck started forming an ego from his memories.
"Mein fuhrer, there is only one way to stop it. I have the most amount of huge Materias to power up my turrets. You know what I mean, right?" Her expression, determined.
"Y-you want to crash into the meteor... And make them all critical." He was speechless, Bismarck is basically his lovechild.
"For the motherland." Bismarck nodded and there was no anxiety nor hesitation in her voice.
He gritted his teeth and started teleporting the crew members back to Midgar. "Wait! Mein fuhrer... I will be coming with you. It is my wish."
"Henry... Thank you for your service." Ramiel looked at definitely not Hanz and the engineer saluted. "I am honored. Proud to serve in this noble ship sir!"
Ramiel knew that his mind was made up so he nodded at him and saluted as well. "The honor is mine."
He gave Alexandra a message and they started giving him their energy in order for him to make Bismarck's cores go critical and have a spectacular explosion.
Ramiel went to the engine room and prepared himself. He took out his phone and called Alexandra.
"Honey, you grew up so well. I hope you will continue to protect everyone in my stead. Make sure that Angeal and Genesis do their job okay?" He chuckled and thought they might get lazy after this debacle.
"Learn how to cook, Tifa can't take care of your meals forever. That goes with Scarlet, she holes herself up in the research department. You two shouldn't forget to eat."
"Keep Aerith in line, Zack and Cloud sure can't. And Tifa is too busy in training, as well as taking care of you."
"Nudge Vincent and Ifalna a bit, I bet they'll make some nice Cetra kids. I do hope they won't be a troublemaker like Aerith." He laughed and thought he'd like to see that.
"And... Sorry, it seems I won't be able to come home tonight. A little bit of work came up, so I'm gonna work overtime." Ramiel gave a wry smile.
He would make the cores of Bismarck overdrive while Hanz drives the ship with her right onto the meteor.
And when he returns to the lifestream, he will wrestle control against Omega. He was confident that he can at least take its shields off to make them peel off the protomateria or destroy it entirely.
He then saw that he had a voicemail. Listening to Scarlet's message to him, he was heartbroken. Gritting his teeth, he felt Bismarck move.
"Didn't know you had it in you to be the hero Scarlet. I'll make sure not to forget you." He wiped a tear from his eye and began concentrating the surge of power he received from the gang in Midgar.
Shinano and Roon gave their fragarchs to Bismarck so the ship could pierce through the meteor and make it explode from the inside.
"Let's go Bismarck! Let's sing!" He shouted out and Hanz heard him as well.
"From the mist, a shape, a ship, is taking form.
And the silence of the sea is about to drift into a storm. Sign of power, show of force. Raise the anchor, battleship's plotting its course." They began their last journey.
The fragarchs created a barrier shaped into a spear. Coating the bow of the ship as they crashed right onto the meteor.
Their barrier instantly shattered, but they were able to pierce through. Bismarck's hull began melting and its proud metal body was getting crushed.
"Come and get it!" Ramiel shouted out as he made the cores go supercritical. "It was an honor, sir." Hanz saluted one last time and closed his eyes.
The cores exploded and the meteor shattered into a million pieces. Ramiel's body began disintegrating and he closed his eyes, expecting to be in the lifestream.
But he felt a hand on his face and saw Bismarck in front of him. "Thank you for all the care you've given us. I could feel the love you had when you cleaned my hull. Take care of my sisters Mein fuhrer, your role is not over yet."
She encapsulated him with a barrier and pushed him with immense force, making him spiral back down to Gaia.
His mind went in slow motion and saw her smile before she was engulfed in the massive explosion.
He gritted his teeth and saw Omega from the distance. "Hojo! This ends now!" He crashed right onto the barrier and started absorbing the lifestream.
Ramiel's body went translucent and he could feel himself merge with the lifestream. With him as the container, he began taking it all in so Omega will fail.
He felt Hojo's consciousness inside and he confronted him one last time. "You get in my way again! I am your father! You cannot do this to me! This is all in the name of"
Ramiel crushed his ego with the lifestream. "I don't let villains monologue, you stupid fuck." He felt the taint in the lifestream and began to eliminate Jenova's influence inside of it.
"Omega's starting to turn into stone!" Aerith pointed out as they saw the weapon crumble.
The protomateria flew outside of the weapon and it went back to Vincent. Ramiel sighed and he felt so relaxed.
He stopped absorbing the lifestream as Omega was foiled and crumbling into dirt. He tried recovering his physical body, but only barely.
Alexandra saw that he was falling and she caught him in the air. "Nii-sama! Are you okay?" With furrowed brows, she stared right at him and patted all over his body.
"I will take care of him! Clean up here in Midgar!" Alexandra could feel something was wrong and she ripped space, going to Wutai so they could be alone.
"What's wrong Ramiel? I can feel that your presence is faint..." Alexandra was getting anxious and he chuckled.
"I have been hiding a little... Something from you guys." He raised his hand and it was turning into the lifestream.
"W-what's happening?" She started panicking inside and began patting all over him.
He reformed his hand again, but it was taking all of his effort to not disappear. "Alexandra, care to play a piece for me? I really wanna hear you play."
Ramiel patted her head, but she felt his hand starting to phase through her. "No, no. Tell me what's happening!? What's going on! Tell me!"
With a chuckle, he pinched her cheek. "You won't even grant my request, what an awful sister you are."
"Y-you're going to disappear... Aren't you?" She gasped and he went quiet. Confirming her suspicions.
"No... No, NO! You can't! You promised!" She started breathing heavily and was having a panic attack.
He held on to her face and made her look into his eyes that glowed brighter than ever. "Please..." Ramiel's voice was soft and she lost strength.
In their little secret base, there was already a piano there and she carried him to the seat as she sat beside him. He put his head on her shoulder and she was fighting tears.
"Ahhh, this is quite appropriate isn't it." He listened to her playing and she even went up and beyond, adding other instruments with her telekinesis.
"I was talking to you for so long at the end of summer. After we watched the sunset, we gaze at the stars. I will never forget the teardrops that flowed down your cheeks. I will never forget that you waved you hand with all your strength to the end... So let me be inside this dream like this for eternity..."
She gritted her teeth so hard they started cracking. Her tears flowing freely, not able to contain it anymore. Her voice cracking and trembling as she sang.
"There's nothing I can do about the sudden changes in time. So I'll write letters, I'll call you, so please don't forget about me. Forever, inside the secret base that belonged to us..."
Alexandra couldn't help it and she put her hands on her mouth as she sobbed uncontrollably. He patted her head and gave a smile.
"Continue on, Alexandra... Everyone will look up to you as their leader... I love you, take care of everybody. I believe in you, I'm proud to have taken care of you." His body started disappearing as he closed his eyes.
"NO! NO! YOU PROMISED, YOU LIAR! DON'T LEAVE ME! RAMIEL!" She tried grabbing his body that turned into pure energy, but she grasped at nothing and the only thing left beside her was his clothes.
She dropped into the ground and stared blankly at his clothes. Her eyes lifeless, losing their light.
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Thank you for reading everyone, ciao.