Crisis Core-5

" What happened?" Sephiroth asked Exodus.

The two men were sitting in the Shinra cafeteria, eating lunch together, an occurrence that hadn't happened in a long time. 

" Got chewed out, again." Exodus muttered. He took a bite from his sandwich and then looked down at his plate. " Angeal wouldn't talk to me, Sephiroth. I don't know what to do anymore. I miss the days when our biggest concern was going to fight in another country. At least then, things were simple. We wake up, fight, come back. But now, I don't know who I'm supposed to be fighting."

Sephiroth stared at his plate quietly. He hadn't even taken a bite.

" Hey, I bought you that food for a reason. You need to eat, brother. You've barely eaten anything in weeks, you're getting thin." Exodus told the man, but Sephiroth remained still. Thinking. " I'll tell you what, if you don't eat, I'm gonna come across this table and smack you upside your head."

Sephiroth looked up at Exodus and scoffed. " Heh!"

" I mean it. I'm sad they're gone too, but you starving yourself isn't going to help us fix things." 

" And how... Do we fix things?" Sephiroth asked.

This time it was Exodus' turn to remain quiet. He sat there, thinking to himself quietly. Trying to muster the courage to say what had been on his mind for some time. " You know... We could just... Leave?" Exodus muttered.

" Hm?"

" You, me. We could even take Kunsel and Zack with us. That way, we wouldn't have to fight either of them."

Sephiroth hummed.

" I mean think about it, brother. What reason do we have to stay here? What purpose? The only thing we've ever asked of them is to reveal to us who our parents were, but they keep telling us they don't know. And then on top of that, all they do is use us when they need something done. The only reason, the only reason, I stick around as it is, is because of you. You and to be fair, the people. The citizens. But that's it. The other SOLDIERS, they can take care of themselves. And it's not like they can stop us."

" I... I've considered it." Sephiroth told Exodus. " But there's also-"

*ALARM! ALARM! ALARM!

The Shinra Buildings alarms went off again.

" What? Another attack?! It's only been a day!" Exodus yelled.

" Brother, the windows!" Sephiroth yelled.

" Right! EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Exodus yelled out.

The civilians in the cafeteria immediately dropped to the ground, and a moment later multiple explosions rocked the building, including an explosion in the cafeteria.

And then a moment later, Genesis copies began flooding into the room.

Exodus grabbed his gun and started firing on the clones as they breeched the cafeteria windows. Sephiroth jumped over the table and summoned his sword from its Materia and jumped towards the windows, cutting down the clones that made it past Exodus' initial barrage of bullets.

" Sephiroth, there's more above us!" 

" I know! Let's go." Sephiroth yelled.

" Right. SOLDIERs, stay here and protect the civilians. Bunker down and don't let anything into this, room." Exodus told the few men and women who were actual fighters. He and Sephiroth both exploded into the stairwell and started racing up the stairs.

As they were running, Sephiroth reached into his coat.

" What are you doing?" Exodus asked.

" Making a call." Sephiroth told the man. He dialed a number and went quiet for a moment and a second later someone answered. " Zack, come back to Shinra, we're under attack." Sephiroth told the man. He then hung up and continued running.

" Ya know, I forgot about that kid." Exodus muttered. " Hang on. Hear that?" Exodus stopped on floor 33. " There's fighting. You keep going up, I'll sweep the floors on my way up." Exodus told the man.

" Right." Sephiroth continued climbing the tower, while Exodus entered the 33rd floor. It didn't take him long to discover the source of the screaming. One of the explosions had trapped members of the HR department in a field of debris. " Hang tight. I'm coming!" Exodus yelled.

" Exodus, help us!" One of the ladies yelled out. She was trapped underneath a steel beam, behind a wall of fire. 

Exodus slammed his fist on the fire suppression switch, which started up the sprinklers, dosing the fires. 

Exodus approached the trapped survivors, and started tossing the steel beams to the side, clearing a path for the workers to get out. " Alright, everyone, out. Let's go!" Exodus helped the woman on the ground up and handed her over to one of the other office workers. 

Just as the last of the employees were emptying out, more copies came rushing in. " Hurry up! Move!" Exodus shouted. He grabbed one of the beams and swung it around like a baseball bat, swatting the clones to the side with great force. " These things are popping up, like ants. I gotta keep moving." Exodus muttered. He saw the workers to safety and then shut down the floor, before moving on to the next. 

Steadily, Exodus worked his way up each and every single floor, until finally he arrived on the s7th floor, where Sephiroth currently was.

" Sephiroth." 

" You took your time."

" There's a lot of these things." Exodus told the man.

" I noticed."

" You're moving slow. I told you to eat."

" Quiet."

Sephiroth and Exodus quickly went back-to-back as more copies came running towards them. With a wave of his hand, Sephiroth struck down one of the copies with a thunder spell. And Exodus did the same.

" This is insane." Exodus muttered.

And just as things already seemed to be going badly, Angeal and Zack suddenly flew in through the 67th floor windows.

" What the?"

" Sephiroth! Exodus!" Zack shouted.

" Hm, you're late." Sephiroth muttered.

" Sorry." Zack muttered/

" Good to see you're still alive kid." Exodus told Zack. He then turned to Angeal. " So, you came back after all." He said with a smirk.

Angeal scoffed. " Shut up." Angeal told the man. He then turned his attention to Sephiroth. " Sephiroth, you look thin."

" Hm." Sephiroth scoffed.

" I keep telling him that. But he won't listen."

" Never did."

" Let's stay focused." Sephiroth told the two men.

" Right. Angeal, what the hell's going on?" Exodus asked.

" I believe Hollander has ordered Genesis to eliminate Hojo." Angeal told the man. 

" Hojo?" Exodus muttered.

" You mean-"

" Yes, the director of Shinra's science department. Hollander believes Hojo robbed him of his rightful position." Angeal explained.

" Dude, fuck Hojo, that guy's the worst." Exodus stated. " Let Genesis kill him." 

" I agree." Sephiroth stated bluntly. He then turned and walked away. There were pressing matters to deal with. 

Angeal looked to Exodus and Exodus shrugged his shoulders. " Same old Sephiroth." Angeal muttered. " Fine, you take the lower levels. I'll go outside."

" I checked the lower levels already. Unless more have shown up, the floors should be clear." Exodus told the man.

" More will be coming."

" Then, I guess we better stop them." Exodus smiled and said to the man.

" Fine." Angeal spoke. He then turned to face Zack. " Zack, go up. I'll leave Hojo to you."

" Right." Zack replied.

" Oh, Zack. I gotta warn ya, be careful with Hojo. I mean it, that guy isn't all there. If he offers you anything, don't take it." Exodus told the man.

Zack nodded his head and then took off upstairs.

" Alright, the kid's gone. So, what's up?" Exodus asked.

" I'm trying to protect my honor. Nothing more, nothing less. It just so happens; I get to fight alongside my friends." Angeal answered.

" Alright." Exodus spoke. He looked at Angeal's buster sword and smiled. " look at you finally using that big boy. Can't wait to see it in action."

On that note, more copies of Genesis started pouring into the building. 

" Let's go, Angeal!" 

" Right!"

" Giyaaah!" Exodus drew his blade with a passion he hadn't felt for quite some time. Thrusting it right into the body of one of the clones. 

Angeal followed him up, flying right over his head and swing his buster sword to cut right through another copy. 

These copies were inferior to the real thing in every way, and yet still it must be a constant reminder to normal SOLDIERs that they were indeed strong. 

Angeal and Exodus, however, were both far from normal. 

Exodus spun off his heel and twirled around Angeal. His sword began emitting flames and a burst of fire set out an explosion that blew up a portion of the hallway.

" Damn, Sam. A little much don't you think." Angeal waved his hand over his mouth as he coughed from the smoke that Sam's blast left behind.

" Sorry, Angeal." Exodus told the man. 

" Regardless, it looks like we have our work cut out for us." Angeal spoke.

" Yeah. That's true." Exodus and Angeal looked as more and more of Genesis' copies began rushing them. " Think you can keep up?" Exodus asked.

" Hm. Can you?" Angeal asked.

Exodus looked at Angeal with a raised eyebrow and laughed. Revving his sword. Exodus and Angeal both rushed into the crowd of copies together. 

It was fleeting moment, but to Exodus it felt just like the good old days. 

.............

" Alright, this is all of them." Exodus muttered as he pulled his sword from the ground. " What now?" He asked Angeal.

" Now, we find Hojo." Angeal told the man.

" Seriously, Angeal, why are you trying to protect Hojo? He won't cure the degradation. He's the last person to do it. The crazy bastard doesn't even really work for Shinra, he just uses them for research funds. What do you have to gain from helping him?"

" My honor... Says it's the right thing to do, Sam." Angeal told the man.

" Damn, you and your honor, Angeal. Fine, let's go save the lunatic." Exodus chirped. 

Angeal nodded and together the two men started making their way up stairs.

And thankfully they did. As they arrived just as Genesis had.

" Genesis! That's enough!" Angeal called out as he and Exodus arrived in Hojo's lab.

" Genesis."

Genesis turned towards the two men, as did Hojo.

" Ah, what do we have here?" Hojo asked.

" My friend, the fates are cruel. There are no dreams. No honor remains. The arrow has left... The bow of the goddess." Genesis spoke.

" Ah, Hollanders full cast of freaks." Hojo stated.

" Loveless. Act 4" Genesis explained.

" Where the two friends duel each other." Hojo stated. " An ancient epic. I read it thinking it would help my research. But it was drivel."

" How does the duel end?" Angeal asked the man.

" Unknown. The final act is missing, and yet to be discovered." Hojo told the man.

" There are various theories." Genesis explained as he walked past Hojo to his tank of Mako. His hand then ignited and blew up the storage container right in front of them. " The mysterious gift of the goddess. What is the meaning behind it? For us, at least?" Genesis wondered.

Genesis took flight once more and flew to the top of the Shinra building.

" Hey, hold it, Genesis!" Zack yelled. He ran to chase the man but was quickly picked up by Angeal. " ANGEAL! WAIT!" Exodus yelled. " Damn it. Now I gotta walk." Exodus complained.

" What a treat it is to see you again, my dear boy." Hojo said to Exodus.

Exodus turned around and pointed his gun in Hojo's face. " If you don't want to go to an early grave you won't call me that again. I am many things, but I ain't your boy. Don't forget that." Exodus ran past Hojo, and out of the science lab. The only way to the top of the building was the stairwell. 

The very last floor was floor 70, the president's office.

Exodus exploded into President Shinra's office startling the man.

" Exodus what are you-"

" Shut up, I'll deal with you later!" Exodus yelled in a hurry. He rushed past the president's desk and opened the door to the heliopad. 

Outside the sound of swords clashing against one another filled the air, as Genesis and Angeal battled it out. Meanwhile there was an orb around the heliopad. 

" Damn, a summon. Zack must have gotten stuck inside." Exodus muttered. Exodus looked to the fight above and grit his teeth. They were too high up for him to be able to help out effectively. At that point, he'd only be in the way. " Which means, I get to help you out." Exodus spoke. He placed his hand on the orb and forced his way into the summons own pocket. 

There, he spotted the summon that Zack was fighting.

Bahamut Fury.

A giant golden mechanical dragon, of great power.

" ZACK!"

" Exodus!" 

Exodus jumped into the air and slashed Bahamut fury across its massive chest.

Exodus landed next to Zack and sighed. " Damn. I was hoping to kill it with one strike." He said. " This summon is strong. Think you can back me up and help me bring this thing down?"

" Right, I got your back."

" You worked with Sephiroth before, right?"

" Yeah. He taught me a few tricks."

" Did he teach you the octaslash?"

" I might have picked up on it. Why?"

" We're gonna take this thing out with one powerful combo. You and me, got it. We're gonna do Octaslash together." Exodus told the young man.

" Alright, got it. I'll follow your lead."

" Good! Let's go Zack!" Exodus raised his sword up straight, and Zack did the same, mimicking Exodus' posture. 

Exodus then made his move, rushing Bahamut fury first, by himself. Exodus swung his sword eight different times, each strike faster and more powerful than the last, focusing the main point of his attacks on Bahamut's near indestructible head, penetrating the dense metal.

Zack followed closely behind Exodus, and repeated his movements, albeit much slower. 

However, the attacks seemed to have an effect on Bahamut Fury as the giant dragon reeled backwards from the pain.

" Zack, Together!" Exodus grabbed Zack by his arm and flung him above Bahamut's head. 

Zack soared high into the air and raised his sword over his head. He then began falling back down towards Bahamut. At the same time Exodus rushed Bahamut from the front.

Together the two men cut Bahamut across the neck. The combined force of the blades on both sides, along with Zack's fast falling momentum, allowed the two men to slip up under Bahamut's armor and behead the beast. Zack landed on his and Exodus landed on his knees right beside him.

Bahamut began to disappear back into the Materia and its pocket dimension began to crumble away.

Exodus stood up and smiled at Zack. " Well done, Zack. Not bad."

" Thanks, Exodus." Zack muttered.

" Kid, just call me Sam. Exodus is a name I use for the public. I think we're past that point now." Exodus told the young man.

" Alright, Sam."

Zack and Exodus stepped out of the pocket dimension, and when they looked up, Angeal and Genesis were both gone.

" What happened?" Exodus wondered.

" Where did everybody go?"

Exodus exhaled a deep breath of frustration and patted Zack on his shoulder." Come on, Zack. Let's go back inside. People need us." Exodus told the boy.

" Yeah..." Zack muttered sadly. He hung his head and started walking down the Heliopad. 

Exodus, however, took his time returning. He stared up at the sky. " You've left me again, old friends." 

...........