Diamond in the Rough (FFVII Dirge of Cerberus)

Chapter IX

Vianca followed after Vincent, running through the wreckage deeper into the building. Their trip back to headquarters hadn't gone quite as smoothly as they'd hoped. They'd gotten pulled over and had to fight Deepground soldiers and mechs. Yuffie was left behind for the time being after hitting her head and losing consciousness when the vehicle skidded and crashed. But the other two kept advancing, fighting side by side back to headquarters.

They were met by monstrous roars and screams of people in battle. It took a lot of running, but they found the source of the chaos. There were a trio of WRO soldiers backing away and shooting at a large creature. It looked to be a behemoth-like beast with large horns and a muscular build. It swiped at one of the troops, knocking him flying into his comrades. Vincent had seen his share of oddities, so he wasn't too surprised. Vianca, on the other hand, looked on in horror.

"What the hell...?" the male muttered.

Vianca opened her mouth to speak. "Azul."

Another voice --- a younger one --- uttered his name at the same time. Vianca and Vincent turned to see Shalua and Shelke behind them. Before they could say a thing, Azul roared and started stomping toward them. Vincent was quick to begin firing at the monster, but his bullets did nothing to even slow him. Unsure of whether she should get caught up in the fight, Vianca backed away closer to Shelke, one of her former allies. It wasn't that she was afraid to fight, though Azul was one person that frightened her. She just didn't want to be seen as a foe to someone as strong as the Cerulean.

Shalua moved in to attack, and brought her robotic arm up to block an incoming attack. Azul's large claw slammed into her arm, sending her to the floor, gasping in pain. Vincent started heading toward her to help, but Azul knocked him away as well. Shelke watched impassively, and Vianca only frowned as Azul approached them. But they were stunned when he suddenly swiped at them, knocking them to the floor. Shelke was quick to get up and grab one of her materia, holding it out. It glowed, halting the beast before he could attack again, and even forced him back into human form.

"The extreme potency of this shield materia is comparable to that of your barrier field, Azul," Shelke told him.

Vianca rose to her feet as well, instinctively holding her hand out, prepared to make a shield if necessary. "And my crystals cannot be broken by your brute strength alone."

"Shelke, Vianca, why do you stand in my way?" the Cerulean asked simply.

"We had to protect ourselves," Vianca replied.

"You were trying to kill us," Shelke added, putting away her materia and freeing him of its power.

Azul nodded, but held a condescending look in his gold eyes. "Then now is the time."

He suddenly swung at them both, but they jumped back in time to avoid it, though they both gasped in shock, a bit fearful. "What are you...?" Vianca started to ask, but stopped herself.

"You're no longer required. Neither of you." The tall man peered down at them with a glare. He set his gaze on Shelke. "You're no different from the others. Your weak body is nothing without Mako. Your only skill is collecting data from inside a virtual reality." His focus shifted to the other girl. "And you, you're nearly as weak as her. If it weren't for your power, you'd be nothing. You never experienced the hellish training the rest of us did. It makes me sick to even think of you as members of the Tsviets! Weiss has ordered your termination."

"Weiss?!" both girls cried in unison, the shock of that one statement making them freeze up.

"Your mission was to identify and locate the keeper of the Protomateria, Shelke. That is why we uploaded the doctor's data into your neural network. But now we no longer need it. And we cannot let it fall into the hands of the WRO. And Vianca..." He stepped closer, towering over the Diamond. "Weiss had hope for you. But you let Aegis control you, and put her desires before his. You failed to obtain the Protomateria. You betrayed Deepground, and therefore, are a danger to Weiss's plan."