(Untitled)

[advent_yazoo]

The lab corridors, narrow, musty, and dank, twisted this way and that as Yazoo led the substantially smaller party on towards Jenova's ultimate hiding place. Sephiroth and the ShinRa troops had remained behind to secure the entrance that Loz had wrenched open singlehandedly, and so the rest of the party had trooped grimly onward into the labs

Comments

[clod_strife]

"Who designed these corridors?" Cloud whispers as he follows with the rest of the group.

Despite some bruising around a minor gash on the side of his head by a gamely-swung chunk of masonry in an attempt to cave his head in a few scratches on his left arm when the mob had attempted to pull him apart like a wishbone and had only made off with an entire jacket sleeve, and what felt like what might be a loose molar, he felt fresh enough to carry on. Possibly he was riding the crest of an adrenaline high, for which his body would be presenting a substantial bill later on.

He hopes everyone knows where they're going. His night vision's only good enough to not walk into the walls or other people.

[gongaga_boy]

"Probably the same kind of people who work in them," Zax whispers back.

Zax is in marginally better shape than Cloud. He has some mottled burns up one arm where he didn't quite manage to get out of the way of the spreading flames; he's applied enough magic to soothe the worst of it, and is stoically ignoring the rest. He's also got the beginnings of a black eye from a particularly inspired young man who managed to get in close and headbutt him, and a dark stain across his chest tells where someone else scored a cut with a jagged bit of scrap metal. It's been a while since he's had to fight against odds like this, and he's rarely had to try and keep his enemies alive.

He can see fine in the darkness, but the farther in they get, the more he suspects he could find his way even if he was blind. Jenova's presence grates at the edges of his mind, despite the static he's concentrating to hard on generating. He can only imagine how it is for the clones.

[leela1]

Closer to the clones, Leela walks not far from Loz. Still rubbing her stomach and wincing every time she feels up the side of her ribs, she's trying to ignore the scrapes, the scratches. And more than that she's trying to ignore the memories of the battlefield she just worked her way through. She wipes her face in the dark, wiping off the blood from the nose she could almost swear is broken, and another gentle reminder of one of her last encounters. Sniffing back the blood, she swallows, coughing quietly.

The clonebrats hair gleams in the dark, and there is no way, no way in hell she is gonna be lost and left in the dark here.

[midgar_bloom]

Compared to the others, Aerith got off remarkably lucky - but for a few handprints, singes, and torn clothes, she's sustained very little injury. Knowing when to hide behind something sturdy is a handy skill.

For the moment, she sticks close to Zax and says nothing. It's getting harder and harder to feel her healing as they approach, and Aerith is a bit unnerved.

[sky_crisis]

More laughter this time, high and echoing.

From her place in one of the few chairs left intact, Jenova tapped her fingers thoughtfully against her lower lip; to crush the rabble now, or let them have some vestige of false hope as they approached her...?

After a moment, she sat back, issuing a sharp command to her troops, those that still laid in wait, and smiled oh-so-slowly.

[midgar_bloom]

Aerith halts, the color draining from her face. It takes a moment for her to remember not to strain her senses, that the sick dark feeling is coming from someplace other than the physical, but once she remembers to redirect her focus the Planet's message comes through loud and clear.

"They're coming - Jenova's soldiers!"

[ex_pyrocumu]

"I can take 'em and play big shiny distraction. I'll catch up with you guys.. just try to leave some for me, will ya?" Cloud half-smiled, drawing Ultima Weapon. He'd been in worse fights, after all.

[gongaga_boy]

"Sure thing. We're counting on you, Cloud."

Turning to the rest of the party, he raises an encouraging fist. "All right, let's rush through! Everyone who's got some support magic, get it going now and cast it on the way. Gil to gysahl pickles that she's ready for us, but we can probably still unbalance her if we come in before she expects us to, and with all our defenses up."