At the current main base of Deepground, the Tsviets reported their failure and Hojo was of course losing his mind. "Damn it! Do you think? Why tell them our goals!?" Hojo screamed in anger as the twins now know that they are trying to get the protomateria from Vincent.
"Do you know what are the repercussions of your stupid actions!? You will never see Vincent Valentine alone ever again. And you can barely take care of him with one companion and a deadweight alongside them." Hojo massaged his temples and was getting a migraine.
He sat down on his chair and started mumbling to himself. Trying to think of ways on how to salvage the situation. He waited a long time to get to Vincent while he was alone. And that's now a pipe dream, their one chance wasted.
"What will you do now? Imbeciles, you can never be a match to my greatest creations. They will slaughter every single one of you like the pigs you are." The Tsviets winced when they thought of facing them in battle. Even when they were barely teenage kids, the twins would kill them in a heartbeat.
They went silent for a bit as Hojo wracked his brain of solutions. "Umm, boss. Omega is the last resort of the planet right? Why don't we kill tons of people to make it appear?" Azul raised his hand and offered a simple solution.
Hojo was about to dismiss the large man's suggestion as he was a meat head. But it suddenly dawned on him. "You!" Hojo pointed at Azul and he thought he is going to be reprimanded, but Hojo smiled at him.
"You'll lead the operations for getting as many people as possible. We will keep them alive until we need them to bring Omega and the other weapons. It seems you are smarter than your idiot leader that divulged the operations." Hojo cackled and thought that Azul's method will be much easier.
He remembered the messages in the temple of the ancients. That Omega will appear in dire situations that threatens the planet. And one method to trick the planet is to bring a sudden surge of souls back to the lifestream in an instant.
The planet will notice the massive loss of life and bring out Omega. Tricking it into summoning the weapon, feeling the genocide as an apocalyptic event that would threaten the whole planet, thus, evacuating the lifestream.
"And it will be accompanied by a little something as well." Hojo grinned, looking at the tainted Mako. Along with numerous clones of Jenova that he will send to the lifestream.
Hojo cackled like a madman, excited to see the weapons and Omega. And he thought of another surprise for them after Omega sucks the lifestream.
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At Midgar's training facility, Ramiel was training Tifa with a glaive. And being the technical fighter of the team. She quickly learned how to use her new weapon. Along with gaining some new techniques. She also has new gauntlets and greaves that could harness her energy better.
And being the calmest one in their party, she gained another powerful asset in her arsenal which Ramiel called focus. Seeing the similarity with a certain white haired individual. The calmer Tifa was, the more devastating her attacks were.
She looked at a simulation of Vincent's Galian wolf form. As there were many similar opponents from Hojo's band of troops like that. She breathed in and walked calmly at the enemy, looking at it coldly and without emotion, turning into a cold-blooded machine with only one thing in mind, efficiency.
Tifa moved slowly, but surely. But the werewolf wasn't having it. The tall and imposing beast charged like a vicious animal and wanted to tackle her to the ground and rip her apart. Tifa snorted and bent her body. Her torso almost parallel to the ground.
The wolf looked back immediately and was trying to find her form that went missing, but she was nowhere to be seen. It then felt a tap on its back and swung its claws behind. Tifa blocked it with her gauntlets and unleashed a flurry of blows on its body.
Every hit created concentrated shockwaves that pierced right through its body as the werewolf cried out. Its organs exploding from the blows, its bones turning into dust as it lost strength and dropped to the ground on one knee.
"Begone!" She cocked her hand back as it glowed a bright blue. She then released a straight right onto its chest, blowing away half of its body. Tifa dusted herself off and looked at Ramiel, she lost her cold look and smiled with excitement. Letting go of her intense focus.
"Umu, excellent. You'll be a fine soldier against the filthy barrier users and tanks." Ramiel nodded in satisfaction at her display of skill. "Un, thanks for teaching me that! I'll definitely be stronger than Aerith and Cloud!" She can't wait to show her new moves.
"Well, you can't really use it on them. They're squishy and stabbing them with that glaive would ruin their day." Ramiel patted her head and she nodded, they then checked what the others were doing.
Cloud was being trained by Angeal and Zack was at Genesis' side, teaching him magic to imbue onto his sword. 'Oh man, that's quite ironic. Genesis is the one tutoring Zack. Well, it's more absurd that Sephiroth saved Midgar though.'
They observed everyone that were training and Ramiel had an idea. "Hey Tifa, this might be biased. But I think you're better than those three." He smiled viciously at the trainers and trainees.
"Hey! That's not true! We're equals here!" Zack retorted immediately and Aerith nodded. "The puppy is right! Ain't that right?" Aerith patted him on the head and Zack smiled for a bit before realizing that she gave him a nickname.
"I'm not your puppy!" Zack whined at him and Aerith snorted. "You're always energetic, positive, and bounce back like a little puppy with a stupid smile on its face." She bopped him on the nose, with a teasing smile on her face.
"You gonna kiss?" Cloud commented on the side with an annoyed look on his face, but he looked at Ramiel and Tifa. Wondering how much did Tifa learn from him.
"How about a bet? If the three of you win against Tifa, I'll do anything you ask!" Ramiel smirked and knew they would absolutely bite the bait. "But what if they lose though?" Angeal had a bad feeling as he squinted his eyes at him.
"Let's hear it if they agree first." Ramiel gave a soft smile, but he was rubbing his hands behind his back. Thinking of ways to make some blackma- ahem. Good memories just like their little ensigns video.
"Hell yeah we'll beat Tifa! No offense, but the three of us against you won't be in your favor!" Aerith pointed at Tifa and she was confident that they'll beat her.
"How about if I win Ramiel-nii? What do I get?" Tifa raised a brow and questioned her reward. "Of course, I'll do anything you want to, it can even be for the future." He patted her head and whispered at her. 'I want total annihilation, leave no survivors.'
Alexandra heard it and she sighed in relief that she won't be participating in the contest. Genesis and Angeal frowned heavily when the three trainees were pumped to show what they've learned.
"We're still in the training facility, so you can go crazy." Ramiel shooed them away. As he saw in the corner of his eye that one Lucrecia was anxiously waiting on the side, waiting for a chance to talk to him.
"Come on, he saw you already. Go and have a talk with him." Ifalna pushed Lucrecia gently and smiled at her. Vincent then patted her on the back and gave a nod. "He won't chew you out or anything. He already knows everything like Alexandra. He was the one who told us after all."
Lucrecia looked down on the ground with shame, but she sighed and gathered her courage. She walked up to him and he looked at her, waiting for what Lucrecia was going to say. She gulped as she had to crane her neck high in order to look at his face that had the azure slitted eyes with Mako. A testament to her unforgivable deed of partaking in the Jenova project with her as the conduit.
"Mother, this planet is my birthright. Together with my sister, we will rule this world." He looked at her seriously and everyone froze at his words. "I'm sorry?" Lucrecia replied with confusion.
"You heard me, I will merge with the lifestream. I am the chosen one to rule over this planet! Muahahaha!" He acted like a convincing villain and Alexandra teleported right next to him, pinching his side.
"Sorry about that, he's just playing. Ramiel-nii, look at her. She's confused as hell, you know that she barely knows us." Alexandra whispered and pinched him again. "Ahem, let's do that again." He scratched his head sheepishly.
"Forgive me, son. I... I know what I did is wrong." Lucrecia was going to apologize, but he shushed her and patted her on the back. "It's fine really, how about you just forget it eh? And just make some brothers or sisters for us." Ramiel wiggled his eyebrows at Vincent and she choked on her saliva.
Vincent was speechless and Ifalna gave a wry smile. "Don't worry, I don't think they'll make moves on him, unlike a certain someone." Scarlet commented on the side with a smirk and Alexandra couldn't give a response.
"Don't worry about it, it's all in the past. You knew you were stupid, that's enough for me. What can I do anyways?" Ramiel shrugged and just took out a chair, wanting to see how Tifa uses her new skills to the maximum.
"Ohh. I... I don't know what to say, can you... Tell me more about yourself?" Lucrecia sat down beside him as he took out another chair. They then talked while watching the match between the trainees.
Tifa was sitting on a plastic chair and was absolutely confident that she'll win. 'Hmph, nothing will stop me for that favor. It'll definitely come in handy later.'
"Tifa, give up! We will take the win and our wishes will come true!" Aerith smirked at her and prepared debuff spells, planning on playing dirty. Ramiel can do everything after all, and he'll grant any request to them.
"If you want it, then you'll have to earn it." She stood up and the plastic chair disappeared, going back to Ramiel's storage. She was already starting to gain more focus and noticed the magic Aerith was preparing.
"Nice, I am proud of you Tifa!" Ramiel cheered at the peanut gallery and was clapping at her performance. She went giddy and got really motivated at his words.
"Let's do this." Cloud squinted his eyes and had a bad feeling about it if they lose. Cracking his neck and knuckles to prepare for a really difficult fight. He could feel it, they would definitely be fight hard.
"Hmph, let's have some fun." Tifa smirked at them and brandished her glaive. Walking at them menacingly.
"Cloud, Zack, keep her busy once I unleash all the debuffs on her. Then I'll rain down spells on her." Aerith took things seriously and told them the game plan.
Zack smirked and got excited. "Leave it to me, come on Cloud." Zack took out another sword and added a twist to Genesis' style. His relatively simple brain thought that two swords were better than one.
He imbued them with wind magic and crouched on the ground, lunging right at Tifa's location. He spun like a tornado, floating on the ground with his spin. The ground in front of him got cut up and he was in a beeline to Tifa.
"Why's his body parallel to the ground? His blades aren't even in front. You know what, I don't care." Cloud sighed at Zack's new inefficient move that was more for style from the looks of it.
Aerith unleashed a plethora of curses on Tifa, a slow spell, silence, and even trying to polymorph her into a frog. But they fizzled out when the magic hit her skin. A thin film of dense Mako was there as a barrier as she squinted her eyes, figuring out what happened.
"Too slow." Tifa parried Cloud's swing that was still too telegraphed and he went wide eyed, sure that she wasn't paying attention. Tifa jumped lightly on the ground, giving a roundhouse at Cloud and sending him right into Zack's attack.
Aerith quickly saw the disaster waiting to happen and casted an aeroga spell under Cloud to launch him in the air. And before Zack arrived right at Tifa, her glaive glowed with neutral Mako and stabbed at him like a blur.
A grinding noise screeched as Zack flew away from the quick stabs that happened in less than a blink of an eye. He flew away from the backlash and Aerith casted a cure on him. Clicking her tongue in frustration. "You're cheating!"
"Here goes." Tifa ignored her and crouched, she then lunged, thrusting her glaive forward. The tip glowed brightly as her weapon cut through the air with a sonic boom.
Aerith got blindsided by the sudden acceleration and couldn't cast a barrier in time, but Zack went in front of her and used a compound spell of wind and fire on his blade, clashing with the piercing thrust.
Zack gritted his teeth, Aerith freezing for a moment. She then provided support with a barrier. "Try to keep up!" Tifa kicked Zack's swords away and pointed them at the air. She then spun and was about to give a devastating kick right at his head, but Cloud tried slashing at her which made her back off.
"You guys are annoying." Tifa clicked her tongue and the trio started to be more serious. "I don't know what Ramiel-nii fed you, but you're going down!" Cloud glowed with Mako as he reinforced himself.
Aerith puffed her cheeks and spun her staff. Bluish orbs of fire orbited her. "It's time to take this seriously Tifa." She poured immense amounts of magic at her spell and they glowed brightly.
"Come and get it!" Zack remembered Genesis' spell as his swords lengthened. The edges of one crackling with fire and lightning. While the other one with ice and wind.
"You just gonna stand there?" Tifa provoked them and her gauntlets and greaves glowed with neutral magic. Giving them pure and destructive power instead of the elements.
Cloud disappeared and was in front of her for a vertical slash. She crouched on the ground and gave an uppercut right at the edge. The ground cracked as a shockwave resulted in their clash.
Aerith's orbiting magic released beams at Tifa as her focus went to the maximum. With pure senses on magic, she tilted her body just right to dodge all of the attacks. Feeling where they will fire once they pulsed with Mako.
"No way!" Aerith tried pressuring her further in frustration and Cloud tried pinning her down. Zack flanked her and his swords were swung with ferocity. Trying to hit the slippery Tifa who was having a great time.
"Too easy!" She threw her glaive at Aerith who was forced to dodge, sensing the dangerous amount of Mako on its tip that will surely pierce her barrier. Tifa jumped on the air and did a split kick as Zack and Cloud swung their weapons at the same time, trying to hit her with their combined tempo.
The two staggered and Tifa smirked. Her glowing gauntlets found the chin of Cloud who was a bigger threat with his increased speed and strength. She then dropped to the ground and caught Zack's swords between her greaves.
She smirked at Zack and spun like a top, making him lose his grip on his swords. An axe kick then hit him right on the crown of his head as he dropped on the ground, his whole head buried deep on the metal floor.
"Damn, that was nasty." Alexandra nodded in satisfaction at her skills that represented Ramiel's teachings. Aerith rained lightning on her location and used telekinesis to take Cloud who was still stunned.
"We lost Zack, tch. This isn't looking good." Aerith squinted her eyes and thought that Tifa improved too much. "This ain't fair! You got taught by Ramiel-nii! I demand a redo!" Aerith complained, but she was met with a shockwave that was pointed right at her face.
Tifa unleashed blows on the air as she pressurized the air in front of her every attack, sending shockwaves at them. Aerith used heal on Cloud and buffed themselves with haste.
They dodged her attacks and were planning for something to do against her seemingly unstoppable defense and offense. But Cloud noticed that every dodge they did decreased Tifa's potency.
"Keep dodging Aerith, she's weakening with every dodge we do." Cloud whispered as Tifa's focus dropped with every miss. They started learning a pattern, but they didn't knew that with every successful dodge of hers, she would regain focus.
Aerith's orbiting orbs of fire were increased with water and ice elements. Pressurized water and freezing beams of energy got added, but Tifa could still sense them and dodge. Cloud made a decision and went in to end it. Thinking that she must be at her weakest right now.
"Omni-slash!" Cloud's sword glowed with energy as he did incredibly fast slashes with his large broadsword, seemingly teleporting at different angles. But Tifa smirked and kept her cool, learning from the best. She waited for him to finish and just dodged and weaved.
"Good effort, but you lack motivation." Cloud slowed down immensely after his special attack and left a huge opening. Aerith tried saving him by keeping her busy, but Tifa maneuvered herself to get more leverage as she crouched on the ground.
With quick preparation, a jet of Mako roared behind her elbow as she gave a devastating uppercut to Cloud. He flew to the ceiling and crashed right on there, burying his head.
Tifa then disappeared and Aerith saw her in front of her while in midair. Her leg already bent for an axe kick, she kicked her right on the head and she lost consciousness as well. Tifa dropped on the ground, glistening with sweat and panting a bit. Starting to relax more after dropping her focus.
"I... I did it! Yahoo!" Tifa cheered and was back to being cheerful. "Ramiel-nii, did you teach her that? That's dangerous for her psyche you know?" Alexandra asked as she saw her demeanor change. It was reminiscent of Ramiel's expression when the first battalion were killed in action.
A dangerous state of mind that kills every emotion for their goals, but thankfully. Her rampage made him snap out of it. "She developed that on her own, don't worry. You observed it, she can turn it on and off like a switch." He waved his hands nonchalantly and she did notice.
"So? Tifa, what do you want?" He patted her head and she glowed with excitement. But she calmed down and decided to play the waiting game. "I'll just cash it in later. Don't go back on your word now." She smiled brightly and he chuckled.
"Don't worry, let's get them healed up." Ramiel made them float right in front of him and casted a curaga on them, healing them completely from their damage.
He received a call from Lazard and he was using the urgent line. "What's happening?" Ramiel squinted his eyes. "We've been having some reports all over the place. People are being kidnapped by Deepground."
"What? Why though? Any leads on what their purpose is?" Ramiel was confused and that's counterproductive for their stealth. "I don't know, that's the thing." Lazard sighed, having a headache from Hojo's plans.
"Then we send reinforcements to every part of the world. Send shock troopers and monitor all areas that have humans. Ask Wutai for reinforcements as well. They always have a purpose, Vincent just got attacked by them recently." Ramiel massaged his temples.
"They must be kidnapping people for more soldiers and experimental subjects." Alexandra gritted her teeth and was intent on hunting them down.
"No, Deepground has enough people to experiment with. There must be another purpose, they should've did this much earlier if they were lacking subjects." Vincent chimed in.
"Well, whatever they are planning. We have to stop them." Ifalna was determined to stop their evil plans. "Good luck, please stop them. I'll help with whatever I can, this is kind of my fault as well." Lucrecia frowned, thinking of the numerous people who are suffering.
"Then research about the protomateria with Vincent, he needs to control his Chaos form so they won't be able to do him in. And we're counting on him to use it so if they ever do spring Omega on us, we'll be able to control it." Scarlet smiled at her and gave her hand for a handshake, inviting her to the research department.
"Don't count us out now, we'll try to find as many strongholds and bases of theirs." Angeal was intent on saving as many lives as possible.
"Indeed, we cannot let them do whatever they want." Genesis patted Angeal on the back and were going to continue their recon missions.
"Good, everyone. I'll go to Wutai and explain everything to Godo. We need all the help we can get." Ramiel nodded at them and was pleased that they were competent.
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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.