Infected

[shinra_dog]

The wind blows wildly across the cold dead terrain. Despite the Mako reactors having been shut down, the land surrounding Midgar was still barren and lifeless. Atop a tall cliffside Cloud stood, gazing out towards the city. Though the Buster Sword no longer remained there as a landmark, Cloud could never forget this spot. Him and the others had fought so hard and done so much up until now, but Cloud still found solace in meeting with his old friend occasionally.

A shadow had been stalking him for some time now as there hasn't been many people in or out of Midgar. Seeing the man stop at a cliffside could not think of any more perfect place. The shadow spoke, but it's voice sounded as if it was everywhere and obviously male as it spoke, "You are brave to come this far out of the city in the wide open...alone."

Cloud's mind snapped back to the present as he heard the sound of an unknown voice around him. "Hm?.. Who's out there?" Cloud gripped the hilt of his fusion sword tightly at his side, not willing to take any chances.

The shadow rose up from the ground and began to form a figure. The three sets of wings spread out to their full length as they formed. The dark seraph slid his brown hair back out of his face and opened his blood red eyes to look at Cloud clearly with interest, "I haven't have fun with an actual human for some time now...other dark seraph's get boring every now and then." As he moved, the chains wrapped around his arms rattled.

Cloud's eyes scanned over the being. He noticed in particular the being's wings, but that was impossible.. The Jenova cells were eradicated a long time ago. On top of that it seemed to not have any idea who Cloud was. If that was the case it clearly had nothing to do with the Reunion. So what was this thing? What did it want? Wait, what was that thing it just mentioned? "Dark Seraph's?.." Cloud mutters questioningly to the monster.

The dark seraph arched an eyebrow at hearing his questioning, "Have you been absent off this planet the past year boy?" He smirked slightly as he sent a shadow across the ground towards Cloud. "No matter...you will soon find out." The shadow burst out of the ground as a spike. The creature's intent was to knock him off the cliff side.

Cloud had no time to dodge, thinking quickly he pulls his sword from the ground and intercepted the spike with it. The force still ends up pushing Cloud off the cliff; however, very likely to the being's surprise gravity didn't seem to have much of an effect on Cloud. He wasn't entirely sure what this thing was exactly, but its intentions were against him. "Tch, I imagine you're a bit hazy yourself if you don't know who I am.." Cloud used the spike to push himself into the air, then dove towards the monster, readying his sword for a frontal strike.

The creature chuckled and flapped it's wings to get up into the air. It swung it's arm sending out a chain towards Cloud. The chain seemed alive as it came forward and moved to try and wrap around the blade and the hand that held it, "I don't need to know 'who' you are exactly. Your human, that is all I care about. I don't need to know the names of my victims."

Cloud tried to readjust his arm to avoid the chains. While he managed to save his hand, the chain still ended up stuck around the blade, halting his attack. "Dammit.." Cloud muttered as he lands in front of the Seraph. Cloud takes this moment to look into the beast's eyes. They were filled with a murderous intent. Cloud's own eyes narrowed, "Don't underestimate me." The fusion swords unlatch and Cloud pulls at the hilt with his other hand. With that Cloud pulls one of the pieces of the sword off into a separate sword sliding it through the chains creating leeway for the main piece. This opportunity was too advantageous though. Cloud pulls the main piece back in an attempt to pull the Seraph forward as the extension piece's tip is pointed straight for it's stomach.

He held up his hand with the chain and pulled back as Cloud began to pull. He smirked and watched the human in awe, "You are apparently an experience fighter...that is good because I didn't want to get bored." He swung his free arm swinging the chain to try and wrap around his leg and pull forward.

Quickly adjusting to the new situation Cloud sticks the free piece of the Fusion Sword into the ground where the chain was aiming, the chain wrapping around its blade as opposed to his leg. Cloud then uses the grounded sword as a support to push his body swiftly in the air to aim a kick to the monster's head, no arms free to defend itself without releasing Cloud's weapons.

Uriko smirked watching him come towards. He didn't seem all that worried about being struck. He seemed more amazed. The chains snapped off at where they held the blades and the creature closed in his arms to swing inward to bring the chains in attempt to catch cloud in mid air. He spread out his arms commanding the chains to tighten up.

Cloud took notice of the surprisingly quick counter to his attack. Hitting the monster wouldn't outweigh being completely constricted by it. Cloud let's go of the sword piece planted in the ground, the centrifugal force cutting off, sending his body flying in a direction off the side. He manages to catch himself in a kneeling position as he slides across the ground a short distance. Those chains were going to be a pain, he had to find a way around them somehow.

The chains pulled back and returned to Uriko wrapping around his arms again, "Never seen anything like this I assume? Come on boy, you got me interested, lets see what else you got." He taunted him. He landed on the ground and folded his wings behind his back.

Cloud stands up slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on the Seraph. He reaches into his pocket to pull out a small case. When he flips it open, it reveals a hefty array of materia orbs. Cloud wastes no time grabbing the one he wants in particular and setting it into one of the materia slots on his blade. Cloud starts to charge forward again as he snaps the case shut and replaces it in his pocket. He attempts to perform another head-on assault, swinging his sword once he was in attack distance again.

Uriko decided to take the sword head on and lifted up it's arm. It used the chains as if it was a shield to block the sword attack, but he winced a bit with the pressure of the sword. One set of his wings lunged forward with the claws out on the top of it to slash at him.

The Fusion Swords made another clicking sound as Cloud unleashed another piece of his sword. He pulls the piece off to guard against the sharp talon so he could have a chance to make his move. With the main piece still pressed against the chain shield, the materia orb Cloud set began to glow brightly. Within the second the sound of electricity could be heard building up before a sudden jolt surged through the sword into the chains, conducting itself towards the Seraph's body.

Uriko had a quick thought go through his mind that this human is really clever. He felt the full force of the shock and his body flew back landing on the ground. He was a bit disoriented as he got up into a kneel position. He pressed his hand onto the ground and the chains became loose, "I am very impressed...not many humans get to hear that from me." He chuckled.

Cloud didn't let up his guard, maintaining the two pieces he was currently wielding in a ready position at his sides. "I'm not interested in your praise." Cloud finally spoke up again to the creature.

Uriko chuckled not getting up from where he stood, "That's too bad...you should be honored." His hand on the ground began to glow a bright red as he pressed into the ground. The chains began to glow as well as they dug into the ground below. The chains traveled under the ground until they were under Cloud before springing up.

Cloud is caught completely off guard as the chains appear around him. This was too dangerous, but there's was no time to think of anything clever to get out of this situation. Cloud makes an attempt to dodgeroll out of the center of the mayhem. This battle needed to end quickly, and there was only one move he had which could certainly do it. Cloud never thought this attack would need to be used against anyone but that man though.. Nevertheless the monster was left wide open while in this state. Now Cloud just needed to get close enough.

The chains pulled out of the ground and returned back to Uriko. Uriko immediately stood up and charged at Cloud. As soon as he got to striking range, he suddenly vanished in a dark mist.

Cloud had swung his sword forward in an attempt to make contact with the beast only to find himself cutting nothing but the stagnant air around him. There was no way that thing was just giving up and leaving, it was somewhere, but where? Not taking any chances this time, Cloud leaps in the air to avoid another sneak attack from underneath him.

The mist began to move and spread out in the air to cause confusion as Uriko began to form in the air a bit from afar above Cloud. He didn't wait till the mist fully finished as he swung his arm to sling a chain towards him in an attempt to grab hold of Cloud's waist. He closed his wings and began to dive towards the ground below.

There it was! The chance Cloud needed. He unlatches the cape he wears on his left side and allows it to be the bait for the chain to capture as Cloud makes his decent downwards. He begins to spin the Fusion Sword over his head as he makes his decent downwards, the sword itself and its separated appendages begin to glow a fiery blue aura around them. The battle rode on this move now.
 

Uriko released the cape, but continued his downward descent. He could sense Cloud was going to do something if he didn't do something quickly. He smirked as a thought came to mind. He was going to show Cloud why the dark seraph's are so feared. He turned himself around to face Cloud and held out his hand. The darkness began to shift below and suddenly burst up into the air in a rage. The the atmosphere began to turn dark as the darkness began to cover the ground and the area. The chains returned to the red glow, but this time on both hands. His wings opened up to slow his descent to the ground.

Cloud began to sense a sinister energy emanating from the Seraph. There was no way he could hold back now though, this might be the last shot he has. Cloud just had to move faster. As Cloud closed the distance he readied the Fusion Sword behind his back for an attack, but once he was face to face with the monster Cloud suddenly stopped moving, floating in place. The main piece of the Fusion Sword finally breaks off into its remaining pieces, and the two pieces Cloud had already released all fly off into a circular pattern surrounding the Seraph. Unarmed, Cloud begins to glow the same color as the swords themselves.. Everything was in place to perform the Omnislash Version 5.

Uriko looked quite interested in this attack he was seeing. He has never seen a human do such a thing, however, he never let them have the chance to get this far. Uriko squeezed his hand into a fist and multiple chains seperated away from him into the darkness. The chains came in all different directions coming inward in not just an attempt to capture Cloud, but to grab hold of the sword hilts as well. He shouted, "What are you going to do now?!" He couldn't wait for his reply. He found this all too much fun.

The monster's response to the attack was surprising to Cloud to say the least. He couldn't give up now though, the aura generated by the attack gave Cloud a boost of superhuman speed as he went flying out to grab a sword before the chains got to them. He would have to find a way to modify the attack on the fly or else he would only get an attack or two in. As he grabbed a sword he would fly in and slash at the beast with paralyzing force, giving Cloud enough time to pick up his next sword. As he left the swords behind Cloud left them in a different position each time to force the chains to readjust slightly.. 2, 3, 4, 5.. Each slash came in faster and faster; however, he could feel the attack was moving much more sluggishly than when he had used it on Sephiroth before. He didn't have to worry so much about his sword placement then.. 8, 9, 10. It was almost the final blow. 12, 13. Cloud reached for the last sword to perform the final most devastating blow. This was the most important. Just as Cloud went to tug on the sword to bring it in for the attack he felt himself tugged backwards with an exorbitant amount of force. "Agh!" Cloud grunted loudly not expecting that all the chains had focused in on this one last piece as well as wrapped themselves tightly around his hand and the hilt. The glowing blue aura around Cloud and the pieces slowly began to dissipate. Despite all his efforts, Cloud's attempt at the Omnislash had failed him.

Uriko was surprised to see Cloud actually struck him in mid air. Not once, but multiple times. He could feel multiple wounds dripping with dark nearly black colored blood. Once he felt Cloud stop, he shot his head up to shoot a death glare. He never expected him to get this many hits in, but he can't complain about that now as he head him. He turned around and just managed to land on his feet. He turned and grabbed hold of the chains and yanked it down to bring Cloud down to the ground. He used one chain to have a clear hold on the sword not going to let him have another swipe at him.

Swiftly the rest of the pieces of the Fusion Sword hurtled towards the ground, each of them making a loud slicing noise as they buried themselves into the dirt. Cloud didn't even have the energy to try and escape now, only gasping deeply for air. What was he going to do now? He couldn't force his way out of this prison with all his energy expended.

Uriko watched him for a moment before advancing towards him with a wide smirk, "What's the matter? Ran out of tricks up your sleeve?" He asked while he had the chains grab hold of his wrist to push on the pressure points to force his hand to open. The chains took the sword away from him as soon as he did. He wasn't going to have any chance of being shocked again. He found that a very unpleasant experience he would rather not go through again. He reached over to grab hold of his face with his claws, "You gave me a lot of trouble...but your human?" He couldn't believe it. The only time a human actually caused him this trouble was...He paused in his thoughts as he watched the blood slide off his arm landing on the chains and Cloud's clothes. He gave a smirk as a thought came to mind, "You gave me a hard time indeed...I think you would make a fine addition to the race." He released his face and used his claws to slash at Cloud's right arm.

"Gah!" Cloud jerks his head backwards in pain as his arm is cut. Blood starts to run smoothly out of the gaping wound. "What.. What the hell are you talking about?" Cloud manages to spit the words out.
 

Uriko grabbed hold of his arm watching the blood ooze out of his arm, "You will be...one of us. You will be very well capable of killing human beings. Well, not you of course, but your body will..." The creature took it's own blood in it's claws and fingers then grab hold of his wound.

Cloud's body locked up in the pain, "Rrg! Don't.. go around deciding things for me," he is still able to retort.

Uriko leaned forward to get in Cloud's face looking at him with wild almost insane eyes, "It isn't for 'you' to decide anymore I'm afraid. You have some time to remain human before a dark seraph will take your place. Your body will be used as a host for one of us...You will die, but not yet."

"Tch.. Why do I feel like I've heard something like this before," Cloud begins to recollect his past for a moment. "You sound just like him," he gathers his thoughts for a moment before continuing, "does this have anything to do with Sephiroth or Jenova?" Cloud had to ask, he needed to know what he was dealing with this time.
 

Uriko hearing 'Sephiroth' couldn't help, but laugh. His whole body suddenly shifted form into Sephiroth's form with the six wings spread out to their full length. His expression seemed to not fit on Sephiroth's face as it looked rather insane, "You mean him?? He is dead and long gone. He won't be a bother anymore." The form changed back and he continued, "No, we have nothing to do with Sephiroth or this...Jenova. We were created by a ShinRa scientist named Marcus...you have him to thank, but of course...he's dead too!" His wounds began to heal as the darkness rose to seal up the wounds.

Cloud's eyes threw a glare at it as it transformed into his greatest foe. "ShinRa.. What was ShinRa doing performing research like that?" Cloud's curiosity stirred even further. His hopes of possibly turning the tides on this situation sank a bit as he saw the Seraph heal its wounds.

Uriko commanded the chains to throw him onto the ground as he didn't see the need to hold onto him any longer. The chains spread out to gather up the swords off the ground and brought them over to Uriko, "Marcus...acted on his own to research this....He wanted the power to cleanse this planet from you humans. We are the final project."

Cloud's legs give out incredibly easily as he falls down onto one knee. "You bastard.. So you're going to destroy everyone at the request of some guy who is already dead?" Cloud lifts his head to make eye contact with the monster again as he speaks with it.

Uriko examined the multiple swords wondering how this technology worked as he answered, "No, I'm doing the opposite of his request, but we declined to stop him...he was...not fit to be our leader. That's typical for humans to have second thoughts. I killed him and it was very satisfying indeed." He gave up trying to figure it out and placed the swords into the ground.

Cloud finally manages to catch his breath. This was certainly no time for him to be sitting down, he's fought through much worse before. He slowly manages to stand upright again, clenching his fists. He was ready to fight, but it was clear he wouldn't be able to put up the same battle he did earlier.

Uriko watched him stand up onto his feet and was grinned, "Good, I see you haven't given up, but your strong will can only hold out for so long before it finally snaps." The chains grabbed hold of each sword and began to toss the swords back over to him. "You will die, just like the others did by the infection. Don't worry though...your body will be used for good use for this planet after your gone."

"I'm really getting sick of all your crap.." Cloud mutters as he pulls one of the pieces of his sword from the ground and takes a swing at the Seraph.

Uriko used it's wings to fly back just out of reach of the swing, "Oh...it's not so bad...You will start to understand soon enough I assure you."

Cloud's body began to tremble a bit, dropping the sword piece he had just swung, "S-shit.." Cloud's body collapses to the ground, unconscious from the whole ordeal.

Uriko watched the warrior fall to the ground and smirked, "When you next awaken...you will wish this was a nightmare.." He said before fading off into the shadows.