Levy heard a voice ring out behind them, his gaze instinctively drawn toward the entrance, to catch sight of the woman who had been traveling with the others had decided to chase after them. Under better circumstances he would have introduced himself properly, as he hadn’t had the chance yet, but with Genesis lurking in the shadows taunting them he felt it wise to forego manners. When his former hero spoke out his thoughts were once more consumed by anger, and he lost control to his emotions. “You were the one who was cast away?!” Levy tried to gain control of his temper once more, but it was futile. “If you had just asked, any one of us would have gone to the ends of the earth to help you! You’ve got the nerve to say you were cast away when you’re no better, you arrogant hypocrite! ” Out of nowhere a concussive blast shook the entire facility, and the sound of metal groaning under the pressure of millions of gallons of water echoed throughout the laboratory. Even before the freezing water began to pour down upon him, soaking into his uniform, an icy chill ran down his spine. A furious cry from Genesis made it clear who had orchestrated this sudden turn of events, but there was no time to worry about that: if they didn’t hurry they would drown, and that would only be if they weren’t crushed beneath the weight of the water when the structure gave way completely. Cloud cried out that they had to start moving, to which Genesis vehemently roared they would not. Leveche couldn’t help but grin stupidly as he drew his left arm back, a linked pair of materia shining brilliantly before he thrust his arm forward. A surge of lightning of lightning tore through the air then, leaving a deafening boom of thunder in its wake. It flew past Cloud, then Snow, and finally Tsuna as it closed in upon its target—Genesis. Seemingly having rode the lightning Levy appeared in the wake of the blast, and brought his weapon overhead to follow up the magical blast with a devastating slam in sync with Tsuna’s own maddened thrust. “Hit him hard and fast, force your way through!” Leveche roared a rallying cry, hoping to inspire the others to attack in concert as well. They might not be able to beat Genesis, but they could at least break past him to escape a watery grave.
They all moved too quickly, bursting past in sequence one after another towards Genesis who had placed himself between they and the only exit. The maddening sounds roaring around him overwhelmed his senses, as did the sensation hot arcing electricity and water all around, it was a wonder no-one was caught in the crossfire. Cloud waited, watching, breaking down the swift movements with his eyes. He watched Genesis move like fluid, arching left, then calmly stepping back as both attackers reached him. Cloud knew that both attacks would find nothing but air, he only hoped that his wouldn't be the same.
plunging forward in a burst of speed Cloud hurtled himself forward, his boots splashing violently in the water that had collected along the passageway. He made not attempt to strike with his blade, simply lowering his shoulder as he parted between his allies who had whiffed nothing but air with their attacks. He could not see Genesis' eyes but he felt him as he crashed forward knocking their attacker back. As he made contact he felt his boots give way beneith him and whipped his arms out with instinct trying to catch something, anything as he fell. ” Just run! ” Were the words he mustered as he caught sight of the light from the only doorway breaking past Genesis for what would probably be a mere second but somehow knowing that they would not leave him, even if this was their only chance to escape.
When his blade hit nothing, CM-3 grew angrier, but the words of truth from Cloud rang through to the part that knew to regroup was necessary to win. Tsuna nodded through the frustrated and looked to see Snow. His hand gripped and fangs bared until he realized this guy worked alone and put his sword away. They would need probably need her power again Genesis, “Hello, Snow. I hope you found track fun.” Genesis' eye vould be felt as he ran right behind Cloud, but he kept alert to a change to his presence.
Leveche was hardly surprised that his attacks had completely missed their marks, but was disappointed by his inability to land a blow all the same. Out of nowhere Cloud came and crashed into Genesis, knocking the former hero aside in order to secure their escape route. Without a moment’s hesitation the other two burst through the open doorway, and into the hallway. Levy wasn’t so quick to leave though, instead reaching out to take hold of one of Cloud’s arms as he fell. With every ounce of strength he could muster Leveche pulled his friend toward the door, dragging the blonde along as he charged through the doorway. In the midst of all this he pulled a vial from his pocket with his free hand and threw it to the ground, just inside the room. As the vial shattered a strange dust was released into the air, which seemed to glitter like the night sky. Inside of the room several comets materialized before they crashed into the doorway, shaking the facility to its very foundations. Hopefully they would seal off the room, slowing the flooding and preventing Genesis from giving chase. Leveche lost his balance as the facility shook, crashing hard onto his side and bringing Cloud to the ground with him. ”You alright?” Levy asked as he rose to his feet, passing a glance toward the doorway while holding a hand out toward Cloud to help him to his feet—planning to start down the corridor the moment he knew Cloud was okay.
— OOC Talk: Leveche used (1) Stardust to cast Comet 2. I wrote the post as if Snow had escaped with us in case Clerith posts. I don't see any reason to let her die here.
Cloud felt the tug of his arm, pulling him free from Genesis and the darkness of the laboratory. Cloud's eyes met with Genesis' as time seemed to slow, there was a connection there between all of them, Cloud could not deny that. Deep down he knew that what Genesis said held some truth, a perverted distorted truth but a truth none the less. His ears detected the crack of the vial breaking and as if time rushed headlong to catch up everything ahead of him distorted in a wave of color and twisting metal. Tubing and braces caved from the meteor strikes nearly cleaving Cloud's legs as he was pulled free into the long corridor. Things were silent, albeit the consistent sounds of water streaming under pressure, though Cloud could swear he heard Genesis yell in frustration. ” Amazing. ” Cloud managed to muster words after a few moments, as he pulled himself to his feet. ” His power… we got lucky and we need to get out of here right now. ” He continued as the lights flickered around him and again the entire complex seemed to shift around them, a reverberation from the concussive shock that had hit the undersea reactor. In the back of Cloud's mind he envisioned Sephiroth, again seemingly trailing them, not even showing his face. He wondered what role they all played, though his knowledge had grown deeper there was still mystery abound. Splashing in the growing water at their feet Cloud walked past the others back the way they had come, picking up his pace to a jog as he shook the worries from his mind. ” Come on, we don't have much time. ” He said as he passed.
Not feeling his partners behind him, Tsuna looked back to see the sparkle of comets being release by Leveche. A good plan, just running probably wouldn't have stopped Genesis, but this could delay him enough. His Shiva materia seemed to grow cold on his die, but he was only able to use it once at a time. He hoped that those comets would be enough at least for now. “No need to tell me twice.” Tsuna hurried behind Cloud his mind feeling cloudy, most likely from the constant changing, though Tsuna was unaware of that.
“Yeah.” Levy agreed matter-of-factly as he stared into the wreckage left in the comet’s wake. It was difficult to believe that this would be enough to keep him at bay, let alone kill him, but he could only hope for the best in this situation. After Cloud started to walk away, Levy started after him, his feet kicking up water with every step. If they didn’t hurry Genesis would become the least of their worries. Wordlessly he unsheathed his Greatsword once more, bringing it to rest upon his right shoulder—if any unexpected visitor’s made their appearance he meant to deal with them quickly as possible.
Cloud moved swiftly back through the corridor, passing the body of the SOLDIER which Tsuna had put out of his misery minutes earlier, as he headed towards the elevator. A shockwave stopped him in he tracks, the twisted scratching sound of metal deforming and breaking clawed through the corridors. There was a sudden jerk in the structure, Cloud's arms shooting out to grasp the wall nearby to remain upright. He looked back at the others who had caught up, then looked past fearing that he might catch a glimpse of Genesis, relieved when he did not. His heart rate was high as he began to feel the sudden change in the floor's slop, as if the were sinking in. He looked at his feet, the water had risen above his boots and was growing quicker than he had thought. ” We have to get to that elevator! ”He was still frenzied for the emotional torment Genesis had laid on him, his moods jumping. ” This whole place is going to implode… ” He mumbled off as he started to trudge forward again, keeping a steady hand on the passageway wall as the slope continued to grow, the water behind him deeper that that ahead. Cloud wondered if Genesis would drown, but cast off the idea, if he was unable to get through the wreakage he would still find a way out. ” There! ” Cloud shouted as he passed another fallen SOLDIER, the elevator lobby now in view. The water had reached his thighs, he prayed that the lift would be working.
As yet another shockwave shook the facility to its very foundations the walls began to groan beneath the pressure. Levy couldn’t help but to cautiously look back the way they came, fearful that Genesis might tear through the wreckage and hunt them down, but there was only an empty passageway filling with water. Without any warning the entire structure suddenly jerked, causing him to slip and crash onto his knees. As he hit freezing water quickly soaked into his clothing, chilling him to his very core. Leveche rose to his feet quickly as he could, the chill of his clothing causing him no small amount of discomfort. Cursing under his breath he began to follow after the others once more, trying his best to ignore the chill of his uniform. “No need to remind us, Cloud.” Levy whispered with a near-silent chuckle as they approached the elevator—hopefully it was still working, given the dire situation they were in.
The rythmic noise of three people running out of sync caught Tsuna's attention. He never looked back satisfied that Genesis wasn't following, at least for now. From what he saw of Genesis, he doubted he would both timing his movement with one of ours and even then the distance would be caught by Tsuna unless Genesis made sure of that too. Stutter stepping when the building shuttered to keep his balance and kept running. Hearing a splash, Tsuna thought to look towards the noise, but trusted his allies to recover quickly. Reaching out to push the elevator button, Tsuna looked at his allies and back where they came to make sure his thoughts of Genesis were right, “Let's hope this lights up.”
As the reached the elevator lobby everything suddenly went black around them, the steady flicker of lights overhead raptured from them. The darkness enveloped them like a veil, only magnified by the rhythmic vibrates coursing through the structure as it steadily tilted lower and lower, the water level rising with each passing second. Cloud was consumed by the black, feeling the water reach past his waist. He had never felt so claustrophobic in his life, at least as much as he could remember of it. He reached with his hands as he moved forward, feeling the water ripple and sway around him as he took a few steps. He reached in the darkness, feeling lost at sea, until finally his palms touched the cool metal of the elevator doors. ” I found the doors! ”He yelled with passion, as if they were his last connection to life. Cloud fumbled with his fingers, feeling for the crack that parted the two doors. He moved swiftly finding them and doing his best to pry between them. ” I can't get any footing, one of you is going to have to help me. ” He called out, listening for the breathing of his allies amidst the chaos that surrounded them.
Levy trudged on despite the overwhelming chill, just a few paces behind his friends, until the lights cut out. In an instant everything was draped in darkness, and Levy came to a complete stop as he squinted—hoping to catch some hint of the elevator. When Cloud suddenly cried out that he had found the elevator Leveche moved toward the sound of his friend’s voice, fumbling through the darkness until finally he bumped into Cloud—or who he assumed to be Cloud, at least. Levy flashed an apologetic look, which in hindsight was rather stupid, as nobody would be able to see it either way. Levy moved opposite of Cloud and took hold of one of the doors, ready to pull them open when the chance came. ”On three, Cloud.”
The darkness enveloped Tsuna who no longer was shocked or noticed the difference in what his vision should be. While not being to see as far, he should be able to see outlines and details quite well and for a good distance. Now, it was just outlines as close range. Making his way to the doors, Tsuna pulled out a die and a flame shot up out of the top and held his hands well above the heads of Cloud and Levy who seemed to have trouble in the darkness and Tsuna turned his back and looked out. His night vision was reduced, but not greatly since the flame was behind him and looked for signs of Genesis.
Cloud felt the waters shifting around him as both Leveche and Tsuna moved in the darkness, causing the waist high waters splish-sploshed around him. He felt the doors begin to give and in an instant felt the water pushing from behind him to quickly fill the dry void beyond. The flood moved Cloud forward, though only a few feet before he slid into the elevator's far wall, the water quickly settling around him. ” There's no point in even trying to get this think moving, we're going to have to climb. ” Cloud called out into the blackness around him, knowing from feel that Leveche and Tsuna could not have gone far. ” Where are you two? ” He asked, trying to stay calm as the water lapped his lower mid-section. At this rate it would be over their heads in maybe a minute, how long until the entire structure shifted again, for the last time? Flailing in the darkness he felt for the others, ready to boost Leveche or Tsuna up so that they could start to make their way to the next level.
As the doors came open water spilled forth into the elevator in an instant, until it leveled off with the rest of the flooded corridors. They had no chance of using the elevator under these conditions, but they weren’t out of options just yet. “Not much choice really, and at least we’ll be out of this water—it’s freezing cold.” Leveche tried to sound confident, but he couldn’t help but chatter his teeth while he spoke. “Lift me up,” Levy said and Cloud—or maybe it was one of the others, he wasn’t quite sure—lifted him to the top of the elevator. Leveche blindly felt around the roof of the compartment for a moment until he found what he was searching for: an indent in the ceiling, and a latch to keep it shut. Not bothering to waste time fiddling with the latch in the darkness he mustered his strength and broke it—then easily pushed it open and climbed onto the roof of the elevator. A moment later he reached down and called out for someone to take his hand—once they did he pulled them up, and then repeated the process for the others. Once the group was atop the elevator he closed the hatch, he let out a sigh of relief before speaking. “Did anyone ever tell you lot that you seem to get into more dangerous situations than normal? I swear, my life was easier when I was in SOLDIER.” Leveche asked with a dry chuckle.
Looking back as the water run through the open elevator door, Tsuna smirked. Allies were worth it, he thought to himself. Grabbing his die, Tsuna pointed up a 2 and three fireballs appeared. One ran over Tsuna, drying his hands, yet moving fast enough to not burn. The other two did the same for his allies then all three rested on the shoulders of who they dryed to give some light, “If it is not so bad going forward, these should help.” He had not done this before due to not wanting to give their position to Genesis and these wouldn't provide enough light for in this big area.
Grabbing Leveche he smirked, “Never thought I'd let a SOLDIER help me.” He laughed, purely jokingly. “Should have been there from the start. I woke up in a burning building. Now that was delightful.” Tsuna dropped another arm down to help Cloud up, wanting to assist mainly to help. The fireballs made out just the top of their bodies and to their waist, but that was enough to know where they were. The darkness of the lower level was hard to penetrate, but here it was better allowing for a few feet to be seen around them.
Cloud strained in the darkness as he lunged his arm upwards, feeling Tsuna's hand grasp his own and tug him up. He felt his body leave the water, which was chest high just moments before and pushed himself across the tile floor of the next level upwards. A creaking groan bellowed though the underwater reactor as the entire structure shifted with a jarring burst once more, there was no time to catch his breath. ” Back through the corrido—! ”He had begun to speak before another jarring shift began, prolonged with the tearing sound of metal giving way. Cloud listened intently, the rhythmic sound of bulkheads bursting, water pushing it's way into the structure growing louder from the direction of the entrance. ” I… I think we're moving. ” He mumbled, just as small river of water hit his boots with a splash and started to run into the elevator shaft.
Leveche listened intently to the sound of metal being crushed beneath the ocean's pressure, only semi-aware of the other two as he did so. For a few moments he just took in the noise, focused upon the rhythmic sound of bulkheads bursting, and water flooding the structure. As they grew ever louder, from the direction of the entrance a chill from the icy water hit his legs as it began to run into the elevator shaft. “Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse.”
— OOC Talk: Sorry about the short post, need a post or two to get totally back into it.
Tsuna followed behind Cloud and Leveche shaking his head, “Why would anyone work here?” The lack of escape routes, or easy to get to escape routes made this a place a death trap, “I think I find my cage safer than this place.” The wander thoughts cause Tsuna's legs to do what they wished to do more than ever, escape from ShinRa, and they seemed to know where to go without being told and help Tsuna forget they were in a big can being squished by liquid, he'd probably never drink out of one again.
The sound of water filling the elevator shaft grew louder in pitch, like a glass of water that was nearly full. Cloud for the briefest moments wondered if Genesis had escaped the torrent, before quickly settling that he had. A light flickered in the distance, illuminated the corridor which would lead back to the octagonal room where before they had encountered the scientists. The flickering light refracted the stream of water as Cloud looked down at his feet to watch it stream past. To his left and right his eyes flickered past the fallen bodies of the ambushing SOLDIER, they had three choices upon which way to go. ” The water is coming from the entrance, if we go ba— ” He started to speak to the others when a high pitched scream bellowed though the passage to his right, a female scream. ” That scientist. ” He finished, cutting his previous statement short. A sense of responsibility rushed over Cloud, trumping his sense of self preservation. Cloud turned his head as the lights flickered once more, his eyes sweeping over the others. He knew that he did not even half to ask or explain himself and with focus he rushed down the corridor towards the scream.
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