Ramiel, Aerith, and Tifa were riding their chocobos while Cloud and Zack were on the side car of Nyantetsu's motorcycle. "Hey dude, where are you from by the way?" Cloud was a bit more social now due to Aerith's cheerfulness rubbing off on him a bit.
"Me? Gongaga." Cloud chuckled a bit, thinking that his village sounded a bit ridiculous. "Hey what are you chuckling about? You know Gongaga? Where did you come from?" Zack was a bit miffed. "Me and Tifa came from Nibelheim."
"That's pretty far away from Midgar, a bit farther than Gongaga. What made you enter SOLDIER with Tifa?" Zack was curious and Cloud reminisced their younger days in Nibelheim. "Well, it's because of Alex-nee and Ramiel-nii."
He looked at Ramiel who was having a race with Aerith and Tifa. "They were just cool at the beginning. But they inspired us to try and be heroes I guess." Cloud still couldn't quite believe that they were in SOLDIER and was going on an adventure with one of the heroes of Midgar.
"Ahhh, I know that feel. I just thought it was cool to be a SOLDIER too when I was younger. But when I kept on hearing about the news of what they were doing, then I wanted to be just like them." Zack gave a smile.
"Hey, we've got some hostiles in front." Tifa shouted out and the team prepared to take it out. Brandishing their weapons. Cloud took his buster sword, Zack prepared his sword, Aerith twirled her staff, and Tifa tightened her gauntlets and greaves.
"Its a zolom. Be careful of its fangs, it has some nasty poison." Tifa informed them as she was the most well read. They were head to head against a giant snake. It looked like arbok and Tifa sure was right that it looked dangerous.
A couple of muscular dogs also accompanied it, having some weird ass tentacles on the top of its back. It was jacked as hell and even the strongest normal dogs can't compare to it. They had a standoff with the monsters and Cloud went to the front as their vanguard.
"Leave it to me!" He charged at the enemy with his large sword. With Tifa facepalming at his sudden charge. "Cloud's too excited, let's just watch what he'll do." Even the jumpy Aerith knew that charging like that is risky.
He took a swipe at the dogs and was successful in killing some of it. Due to the surprise of his speed and sudden lunge. Though they quickly showed him their agility and was jumping all around the place.
The arbok looking snake then tried taking a bite at Cloud while he was being pestered by the dogs. Though he was able to block its large maw with his sword. The metal grinded against its fangs that were leaking a dangerous looking liquid.
"A little help over here!" Cloud didn't expect the snake to be strong and was being held down by it. Snakes were pure muscle after all. Monsters and animals are also capable of outputting much more strength because of their different muscles.
"Hah, now he needs some help." Tifa rolled her eyes. Aerith then looked at Zack and gestured for him to go in as well. "Let's see how you do Zack." She egged him on and the black haired boy was all too happy to show off.
"Come and get it you ugly monsters!" Zack charged ferociously and brandished his sword against the snake. It slithered quickly on the ground to dodge and hissed at them. Cloud then took care of the dogs that were harassing him.
"Aren't these things a bit too strong?" Tifa noticed that something was wrong and Ramiel nodded. "Shinra isn't draining the lifestream anymore, so the monsters in the area are having a lot more Mako. Those things are definitely a lot stronger than normal." Ramiel noticed that the monsters were brimming with Mako.
"Gravira." Aerith thought they were spending a bit too much time on the monsters and made it a bit easier for the vanguards. "I'll make an opening, you strike it down." Zack made a plan with Cloud and he casted a blizzaga spell.
The snake was still a snake though and froze up due to the cold being a poikilotherm. Cloud then jumped and slashed at the monster, splitting it in two. "Hehe~ how was that?" Everybody looked at Ramiel, expecting some kind of comment.
"In one word, you guys absolutely suck ass." Ramiel knew that they mostly only did one on ones with Alexandra or the others. and they don't have any experience in fighting real monsters besides virtual ones. But they don't take fighting seriously enough.
The four of them froze and was pretty sure they took care of the monsters well enough. "You don't take things seriously. What if that arbok looking snake could spit venom at its fangs?" Ramiel looked at Cloud that was held down by the harassment of the dogs and had a deadlock with the strongest enemy.
"B-but it didn't right?" Cloud answered and Ramiel made the corpse float up to him. He saw it already and there were holes on its fangs. "See this? It can squirt some venom into your eyes and make you blind. Zack just went in for support and helped you."
Cloud winced when he heard that and Tifa was looking a bit smug. Thinking that Cloud was being chided because he was too reckless. "Don't look so smug Tifa, you should've told him that information. And when you see one of your party members do stupid crap, you stop them immediately. Or you will get yourselves killed instantly against strong enemies."
Tifa winced and felt bad now that she thought about it. What if Cloud was alone and he got blinded? He might turn into snake food right now. "I've decided, the stakes aren't high enough. You could easily deal with these guys, but you aren't taking them seriously. This isn't a game you know?" Ramiel chided them all and sighed.
"Sorry." They apologized and Ramiel stomped on the ground, he released a seismic wave and tried to feel if there were any strong enemies nearby. After focusing for a minute, he opened his eyes and smirked.
"I found a nice little enemy for you." He gestured for them to get on their vehicles and mounts. After travelling for a bit, they saw something huge in the distance. "Hey... Isn't that a behemoth?" Zack saw the towering monster and gulped nervously.
It looked like an absolute unit, at least two stories tall. With super jacked legs the size of massive logs. Its body was built like a boulder, the tail on it could definitely take down buildings with its size and thickness. Its paws were massive, they could already imagine the thing swiping them with it and they will not have a good time.
"Those things can use magic right?" Aerith was nervous, she might be super strong. But one look on its legs. She was sure it will snap her like a twig with one hit. And she could feel it brimming with Mako. Along with a functioning magic core that uses its horns as a conduit. Meaning the thing could use magic.
"Yes, yes it can. And you're going to take it down." Ramiel was pretty excited to see them struggle with it. A trial by fire, he could kill the monster with Alexandra when they were 6. He doesn't see why they couldn't when they have plenty more training than them. They just lacked that killer instinct.
Tifa gulped, seeing it bare its fangs that she was sure was a meter long. It was like a tusk of an elephant. "Ummm, Ramiel-nii. Do you hate us or something?" Tifa broke into a cold sweat and was sure that he hated them.
"No, I quite like you guys. You're pretty much one of the only friends me and Alex have. But you're a bit too soft for my liking, you need to be stronger." Ramiel can already imagine Hojo marching to Midgar with an army of super soldiers. And having them be this weak even though they have amazing specs will be a crime.
"W-we can do it. Right?" Cloud looked at his party members and they nodded. "Y-yeah! We can definitely kick that thing's ass!" Zack tried raising the morale, but his stutter made them even more nervous.
"Come on then, no time like the present. You need to strategize on the fly." Ramiel threw a weak fireball at the behemoth and it craned its neck at them immediately. They could feel its rage and ferocity even at a distance.
"Shit." Aerith swore and was starting to cast spells on them immediately. "Have fun you guys!" Ramiel ran away with the chocobos and Nyantetsu, looking over them some distance away from them.
"Cloud! Zack! I hate to break it to you, but you would need to stop it in its tracks!" Tifa shouted out urgently, casting a physical and magic barrier on them all. They needed to take its attention off Aerith and herself who would be the win condition.
The ground shook as the hulking mass of muscle ran at them like they killed its family. Aerith finished with her spells and gave them a speed boost. "Gravija!" She also put her strongest gravity spell on it which slowed it down a bit.
It shook its head and narrowed its eyes at Aerith, the behemoth was definitely intelligent and knew that Aerith was the one who did that. It snorted steam from its nostrils and its muscles started bulging. Being fed Mako from its magic core as its hide gained a reddish hue.
The behemoth locked on to her like an apex predator and ran at Aerith's direction with a warpath, cracking the ground at its every step. "Cloud!" Tifa kicked his butt who was a bit dazed. Seeing the monster run at them.
"On it!" Cloud regained his sense and moved to intercept the monster as he did the same as the behemoth. Putting Mako in his muscles to strengthen himself to the limit. Because God and everybody knew he would need it.
Zack followed suit and casted a barrage of fire spells on its face which only made it angrier. Cloud then arrived right in front of its face and swung his sword on its face. But with its size, a slight movement of its head was enough to dodge and Cloud's sword hit it on its forearm.
"Y-you're kidding me!?" Cloud felt like he hit a solid piece of steel and his arms went numb. The behemoth turned around and was about to swipe him with its tail, but Aerith casted a thundara on its face and made it miss due to flinching.
Tifa frowned heavily when she saw Cloud's broadsword bounce on its hide. It was using reinforcement on its body. And it doesn't help that its super thick muscles were like natural armor. The thing wasn't an apex predator for nothing.
While it was shaking its head from the lightning that hit it on the face which wasn't effective as well due to its magic resistance. Tifa charged and thought that blunt damage might do more damage. She jumped in the air and gathered momentum by spinning.
"Lunar Phase!" She released all her momentum for an axe kick and it hit its horn. Tifa missed because it shook its head. But the behemoth's head crashed on the ground and a shockwave exploded due to the force of her blow.
"Now!" Tifa looked at Aerith that was preparing a flare spell and released it on the stunned behemoth. Cloud, Tifa, and Zack ran away immediately and the fire spell exploded on the form of the monster. Fire enveloping its titanic body as the trio who were near flew away from the shockwave.
"I-is it done?" Zack mused and Ramiel facepalmed at his words. "You shouldn't raise flags like that." Ramiel shook his head and Nyantetsu also gave his disapproval. After the dust settled, one of the behemoth's horns were damaged by Tifa's blow and Aerith's black spell.
But it was still definitely alive, its now lone horn glowed blue. "Brace yourselves, it's casting magic!" Aerith strengthened their magic barrier and the monster roared to the heavens. It successfully casted maelstrom and tornadoes appeared on the battlefield.
The winds picked up and started wreaking havoc, trees were uprooted and the earth got sundered. "Holy shit! How are we gonna beat that thing!?" Zack was apprehensive, thinking that a behemoth was definitely out of their weight classs.
"Believe! Aerith, we'll leave you to deal with the maelstrom! We'll distract it." Cloud squinted his eyes and entered the fray of battle once again, believing the strength of Aerith's magic barrier. Zack nodded and soon followed.
"Oh, dear. It's starting to use its magic. They're gonna have to beat it quick." Ramiel was eating some popcorn and thought they were doing pretty good. But maelstrom wasn't just the only thing in its arsenal and they don't want to find out what the others are.
"I'll open up a path! Uooogh!" Cloud imbued his weapon with magic and it glowed. He then slashed vertically at the raging tornado and a sword beam sliced through the raging wind. Zack patted him on the back, running through the new path.
"Come and get it!" Zack released a battle cry and used his brute force in attacking its paws to bring down its head. The softer paw got cuts and the behemoth cried out in pain. Its horn then glowed red and Zack was right in front of the explosion it was about to cast.
But Tifa appeared right under its chin with a crouching position. "Rising dragon!" The energy she concentrated in her legs exploded like a spring and she gave an uppercut to it. Cancelling the spell it was about to cast.
"Watch out!" Cloud warned them about the tornado that was about to get close to them and rip them to shreds. But Aerith finished her preparations and the comet she summoned arrived. She tapped her staff on the ground and gave them a barrier.
The meteorite crashed onto the maelstrom and their magical energies cancelled each other out. The resulting explosion and shockwave made her party members fly, but the behemoth got stunned by it as well.
"Finish it now!" Aerith casted berserk on them and they felt their lust for battle heighten. Cloud roared, quickly recovering due to the buff and he ran to the behemoth's head. He gave a myriad of slashes on its head. A stray slash hit its eye, the behemoth then began thrashing around. A swipe of its thick arm hit Cloud, he skipped on the ground like a pebble and was taken out of the fight.
"Aerith! Heal Cloud!" Tifa went underneath the Behemoth and latched on to its head. She gave an elbow right at its crown and wrestled its thick neck to the ground. Zack quickly saw the opportunity and stabbed it right on its other eye.
The monster struggled violently and Tifa got thrown away, while Zack got hit by its tail as it rampaged. "This ends now!" Aerith's staff started spinning in front of her, seeing that she's got a clear shot.
"Final spark!" An obscene amount of magic concentrated on the middle of her staff and a beam tore through the side of the behemoth as it stopped its rampage. The monster panted and was on its last stand.
"Ohhh, it's gonna use that." Ramiel prepared himself as the behemoth stood on its hind legs and roared. Giving all of its magic as it summoned a sizeable meteor from the sky. The party looked at the burning red meteor and immediately huddled up.
Tifa casted a shield because that was the fastest she could make. Zack created walls of ice and Aerith controlled the earth to make as many walls of stone as she could. "Brace for impact!" Cloud stood in front of them and stabbed his sword on the ground as their last wall.
The meteor hit the ground and a bright light shone. A shockwave tore down multiple stone walls immediately and the heat started pouring in. Their ice wall was getting melted quickly and the winds tore through their remaining cover.
"Hold on! Uooogh!" Cloud held on to his sword as the party tried anchoring themselves to the ground. Aerith and Tifa created a last second barrier again that got battered by all the shrapnel and bits of stones that hit it violently.
But it held true and they all dropped down to the ground, exhausted. Tifa looked at the behemoth after the dust settled and it was definitely dead. "Hah, hah. That was crazy." Zack commented, he was on his back and looked at the skies. He had a smile on his face and felt his adrenaline still pumping.
Aerith chuckled and was smiling too, her daredevil tendencies thought that was definitely exciting. "Are you insane? We almost died!" Tifa chided them and they winced at her shouting. "At least we're alive." Cloud closed his eyes and wanted to drop down on a bed.
"Well, well, well. You had it in you, I knew you did!" Ramiel clapped and he smiled at their battered forms. "Ramiel-nii... I don't want to do that again. We'll take every enemy seriously, we promise." Tifa looked at her team and they all agreed wholeheartedly.
"I can't make any promises~ Good job though, even Genesis and Angeal can't handle that behemoth when they were your age." He cheered them up. "As if anyone our age could handle something like that!" Tifa retorted.
"Well, Alexandra and I beat a behemoth when we were about 10. Though it was a simulation, I'm confident we could kill one when we were 6 though." Ramiel shrugged and Aerith tried to be cheeky.
"I bet you have your amazing weapons though!" She reasoned and Ramiel snorted. "It was with mass produced weapons, and I killed it with my bare hands. Job well done still, I'll give you some milkshakes." He handed them out some milkshakes, it was good to have after a hard job after all.
"Come on, let's explore the world and try to find ourselves some villains." Ramiel helped them up and they groaned, thinking they would have to fight more things like that.
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Thanks for reading everyone, just a chapter to of course see what they're capable of now. And so they will also take every battle seriously, they are just teens after all. Anyways, ciao.