It was a truly magnificent thing. Like a beacon of purity in an impure world, it stood for everything that each and every creature strove for. At least the creatures of Midgar anyway, these worthless animals who crawled over each other in attempts to get out of the ghettos they lived in. But this! This tower, which stood in the center of it all, was something else. It was the greatness that had been built on the backs of these people.
       Dravven slowly walked up to the large glass doors and pushed one open. Stepping inside he came upon a giant lobby. The room's ceiling rose at least ten stories and was furnished by numerous plush leather benches. Men and women sat on a few, uncomfortably waiting for someone or something. To his right was a showroom with small vehicles, trucks and motorbikes turning on platforms. To his left there was a small coffee kiosk. The young girl inside looked barely old enough to drive. Obviously she was the child of one of the people who worked in the building. Next to the stand there was a door plainly labeled with the word "STAIRS".
       He walked on and stood still in the center of the vast room. He could still hear the faint echo of his heels as the sound reverberated off the cool marble and steel walls. Ahead of him was some kind of security checkpoint where several armed men were stationed. One guard had noticed Dravven. He couldn't help but feel the tall man was out of place in with all the well dressed men and women. He slowly began to walk toward Dravven.
       "So, this is the Shinra Headquarters…" Dravven mused. "Let it burn."
       The guard was now only a few feet away.
       "…Ifirit."

*****

       "So, Gerhard's crystal is… inside you?"
       "I think so. I don't know how it happened or why."
       "Interesting…"
       Pause.
       "Hey… do you think it may have something to do with that stranger we saw in Gongaga?"
       "Honestly, the thought never occurred to me…"
       A phone rang. The receiver was picked up shortly thereafter.
       "Hello?…What did you say?"
       "What's going on?"
       "…Yes, yes… Have all non-military personnel evacuated immediately… Have you contacted Heidegger, yet?… Please do so. Thank you."
       "Who was that?"
       "The head of building security. There's an intruder."
       "So?"
       "This intruder is apparently an arsonist…"

*****

       It happened so fast. A blast of fire shot forth from Dravven's hands and went straight to the walls, quickly racing up to the very ceiling that had been admired only seconds before. The entire floor was on fire; everywhere, people ran wildly to escape the flames. Many were completely engulfed before they knew what happened. The guard who had been approaching him was shot back into the checkpoint. His face and chest no longer were. Instead there was just a surface of blistered burn and melted skin. Some people were lucky enough to escape into the streets as the giant glass doors exploded outward send glass and debris into the crowded streets.
       Dravven didn't stay to enjoy the show. He quickly walked towards the door on the left side of the lobby. The coffee kiosk was lucky. It was only on fire instead of completely incinerated. Dravven looked into it to see the girl cowering inside as flames licked all around. He reached in and pulled the girl out by the back of her shirt and set her down in front of him. He looked devilishly into her frightened eyes then made a sweeping gesture towards the front entrance of the building. Between them was a sea of flame and wreckage.
       "Good luck."
       With that he turned and began to ascend the stairwell. People were already rushing down to escape what they thought was a mere fire, only to run straight into the tall dark man. He watched as many of them rushed right by him. Apparently they were too panicked to question why he would be going up, while they were all going down. He laughed to himself and continued on. He effortlessly ascended the first forty flights of stairs; it was then that he came across a detachment of six men, all carrying large swords.
       "And who might you be?" he asked them, putting his hands behind his back.
       "SOLDIER Third Class bud. There is a fire in the building, please go down the stairs and evacuate the premises."
       "Oh I know about the fire. I started it." His grin was that of a Cheshire Cat. The guards just looked at him confusedly for a moment. Then slowly they raised their blades.
       "Mother Shiva, grant me your power."
       In a flash ice shot forth from Dravvens feet and stretched along stairs toward the six SOLDIERs. It quickly crept up their legs and only began to slow once it got to their knees.
       "What the hell is this?!" One man screamed.
       "Its ice, you twit. So far it has encased your legs, and now it is slowly going up your body. Now it's up past your waist."
       "You bastard, fight like a man!" yelled another.
       "I can't, because I am not like you… human. The ice is now to your chest."
       As it crept up to their shoulders Dravven walked close enough to touch them.
       "Now how good is that sword of yours, hmmm?"
       "Burn in hell," chattered a man as the ice slowly crept along his jaw.
       "Burning probably sounds like a really good idea to you right now, doesn't it?"
       The ice had completely encased them. With a light push Dravven sent one of the frozen men down the stairs, where he shattered into several pieces.

       He began going up and up. Finally he got to a floor that hummed with the sound of computers. The floor was empty of people, which made it easier for him to freely search for some type of database. Finally he found what he was looking for: a terminal that had the same thick stenciling as before. It read: "MATERIALS AND ARTIFACT REGISTRY." Sitting down he examined the commands and quickly went to work.

       Search-VULCAN

       RESULTS-1

       1-VULCAN:WEAPON:SPEAR CLASS
       INFO- FOUND DURING WUTAI/SHINRA WAR. NAMED DUE TO INSCRIPTION ON BLADE. NO FURTHER INFORMATION.

       LOCATION- RESEARCH FACILITY IN NIBELHEIM.

       The screen suddenly shuddered then flicked over to a man sitting in a large chair, smoking a cigar. The man took a long drag then leaned into the monitor.
       "I don't know who you are but I am not impressed. Starting fires, wreaking havok… you're just some worthless trash terrorist. Shinra has dealt with your kind before.
       "And who might you be?" Dravven asked.
       "I'm The President of Shinra Inc. I don't know what you came here for but realize this. I have a detachment of our finest military troops, SOLDIER First Class, descending to that very floor. Your life will be ending very soon." With that the screen turned off. The sound of many tramping feet came from the stairwell across the hall.
       "We shall see President Shinra, we shall see."

*****

       At around this time, Reeve entered the main security office and demanded to know the status on the intruder.
       "He's on the 64th Floor… in one of the Corporate Libraries. President Shinra's already patched through to him."
       Reeve looked at the video monitor, scratching his chin. He had a bad feeling about all of this. The spot on his chest where the crystal had vanished felt warm.
       Suddenly, Tseng's voice came through over an intercom connected to one of the computers.
       "I'm down here in the lobby… It looks pretty bad. Hardly any survivors."
       "Tseng!" Reeve replied, "Where are the other Turks?"
       "I've sent Reno and Rude up the West Stairwell to investigate an incident that was reported there."
       "We need one of you to come up to the Executive levels."
       "Of course, Reeve, but why? Has the intruder already gotten that far?"
       Reeve looked back up at the monitor. The room on the screen was empty.
       "He's just left the Corporate Library."
       Tseng's end of the line was silent for a moment. "Reeve, who's guarding the President?"

*****

       By the stairs that led up to the large office, a large explosion sounded. Broken bits of marble flooring rose high into the air, raining down before the large desk of the president. The large red haired man looked up in shock from his seat as a tall, darkly-dressed man strode in through the smoke.
       "That's the funny thing Mr. President," he said as he approached the desk. He flicked his arm and tossed a smoking helmet in front of the President.
       "Whatever class SOLDIER they be…FIRE KILLS EVERYTHING!!"
       The cigar dropped from President Shinra's mouth as Dravven effortlessly wrenched him from his seat and tossed him across the room. The president tried to get up, but he was grabbed by the back of his jacket and dragged toward the door leading to the helipad.
       At that moment Reeve came running up the damaged stairs just in time to see the two figures go through the door that led to the helipad. He cursed to himself and began to chase after them when he stopped. Here he was, going after this intruder, completely unarmed. If he was still a Turk, he'd at least have a handgun, but he had given up that way of life a long time ago.
       He quickly scanned the dusty room, looking for something-anything-he could use against this guy. The only thing he could find was a Mop, sitting in a bucket of brackish sudsy water. Shrugging to himself, he took the Mop from the bucket and hoped that both it and his small stock of Materia would work.
       Outside, Dravven dropped the President on the ground and began to kick him in the side, each time sending the large mans body tumbling towards the edge of the roof. After several of these they stood only a few feet away from the edge and the Presidents body was badly beaten. He had several broken ribs and could barely breathe. Dravven picked him up by his lapel and brought him close to his face.
       "Your time is over Shinra. Humans have fed off my people for long enough, but you feed off your own people. Make no mistake… Humanity is my enemy. Killing you is just a bonus."
       "Money!" Shinra gasped between breaths. "I can give you as much as you want!"
       "Money can't save you human. You can take all your money and ARGGGHH!!!"
       Dravven dropped the President and staggered to one side. He had felt a sharp blow to the side of his face as he let go of the man. Behind him, Reeve gripped the dripping Mop, his arms pulling back as he polished off his attack.
       Reeve drew the Mop before him, handling it like a vaulting pole. "Let him go," he said in a cold, intimidating tone; the type he hadn't used since he was a Turk. He quickly assessed the situation in his mind, and concluded that there was only one current goal: protect the President.
       The blow from the Mop had hit Dravven hard, but not hard enough. He spun around quickly, his arm grabbing hold of the long shaft of the Mop. Then with his other arm, he struck Reeve and sent him sprawling across the ground.
       Damn, he's strong, Reeve thought as he started to get up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dravven walk toward him, this time with the stolen Mop in his hands. Reeve cast a Fire 2 spell, but Dravven just laughed as the flames harmlessly rolled off of his body. Now at arm's length, the dark man swung the Mop at the executive.
       Reeve did the only thing he could think of doing- he jumped. As his feet left the ground, he felt a new swell of warmth in his chest. It felt like it was propelling him even higher into the sky. Reeve hovered for a moment above the platform and looked down. He was easily ten feet above the helipad. Reeve gasped, and suddenly fell back to the platform, landing on his feet.
       What… what was that?!
       Stunned, Dravven stared at the executive for a moment before picking up President Shinra again. Reeve gritted his teeth and dashed toward the dark man, but unfortunately, he didn't have enough time before Dravven flung the President off the side of the building, into the city streets below. Reeve stumbled to a halt directly in front of Dravven, who laughed, "Well, what are you going to do to me now that your precious President is a stain on the street below?"
       Reeve yelled in fury and lunged at Dravven, secretly hoping that his hand-to-hand combat skills had not gotten too rusty. He was able to avoid Dravven's attacks with the Mop, but he was breathing hard, and starting to wear down. Suddenly, he heard a voice come from the open doorway.
       "Reeve!"
       Reeve was caught off-guard as he heard Tseng's voice, giving Dravven just enough time to knock Reeve off the side of the building. Dravven turned around to face the Turk as he drew his pistol. Dropping the mop, he grinned wickedly and said, "Hope your friend had a nice trip," and dived off the edge where Reeve had just plummeted.
       "Father Typhoon… lend me your power…"
       The swirling winds picked up and bore Dravven away from the Shinra Tower's bright lights.

       Reeve slowly opened his eyes. He felt a strange sensation in his body as he stirred himself from the nightmare he had just experienced. Cautiously, he turned himself over and looked down. He was hovering about a foot off of the ground. Startled, he scrambled to his feet, but they still refused to settle on the pavement.
       "It's a strange spell, isn't it?"
       Reeve gasped upon hearing the familiar voice. He turned around and saw the red-cloaked man from Gerhard's grave behind him, his own feet firmly planted on the ground. The mysterious figure rolled up one of his sleeves, revealing the brown Materia slotted into his bone gauntlet. It was glowing.
       "I believe the Cetra used to call it Float… it was a very useful spell for lessening the effects of earthquakes and other geological anomalies."
       "The Cetra?"
       "You do know who the Cetra are, don't you? They're the ones you call the 'Ancients'." The cloaked man's hood bowed lower. "I see Spearstrength's shard has already entered you. Soon, it will begin."
       "How did you know that? And what will begin?"
       Reeve felt his feet slowly descend to earth. The spell was wearing off.
       "Who are you, and what do you know?" Reeve demanded, gripping the cloaked man by the shoulders. "You know what's happening to me, don't you? Why my Choco/Mog Materia turned orange and why Gerhard's shard is inside of me, and why I can jump ten feet in the air!"
       The cloaked man backed off, releasing himself from Reeve's grip. "All will be revealed in time. Now, I must be off. We shall meet again."
       "I can believe that," Reeve muttered as the man in the red cloak disappeared down the darkened streets. He turned and started walking back to the Shinra building. He mentioned the Cetra… Maybe that girl Aeris would know something…

---

Completed February 2003 | Copyright 2003, Dravven and Reeve.

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