The Terran Rangers/Final Fantasy VII by Heather Ray (summer beach reads txt) 📕

a couple hours to get to Cosmo Canyon."

Zack glanced once again at the leader walking ahead of them. He didn't understand why, but something exuded from him that was reminiscent of a deep inner power. Strangely, it reminded him of any one of the Terran Rangers, each endowed with vast magical power. Maybe we have more in common than I thought...

Zack continued to watch Cloud carefully, until Tifa turned around and locked eyes with him. Embarrassed, Zack turned away. Tifa's eyebrow rose slightly, and she turned back to Cloud.

"Cloud," she whispered loud enough for only him to hear, "what are we doing? We can't let ourselves get side-tracked."

"We're not," Cloud answered. "We're taking them to Bugenhagen, and that's where we're going anyway. What's the big deal."

Tifa frowned. "We don't know anything about them. How can we trust them? What if they're Shinra employees or something, to steal back the Huge Materia?"

Cloud shook his head. "They're not. They're pure."

"Huh?"

"Trust me on this, Tifa. There's something about them...Zack particularly. I saw it in his eyes."

Tifa's eyes widened. "Mako eyes?"

"No," Cloud said, "I don't think it's Mako energy that I detect in him. It's powerful, but its...purer

. Like a force of goodness. It actually reminds me a bit of Aeris. There's something innately good about them, and I can feel it. We should help them."

Tifa sighed, but accepted that explanation. They did seem harmless enough after all, and Yuffie seemed to grow attached to them immediately. She probably just wants to be around someone her age, Tifa decided. Oh well, I guess a few extra hands wouldn't be a bad thing.

Suddenly, Cloud stopped, and signaled his allies to pause as well. Tifa's eyes narrowed, and she immediately took a fighting position. Yuffie beamed with excitement, her Conformer at the ready. Billy and Zack glanced at the trio as they instantly moved side by side, leaving Billy and Zack in the back row. "Uh...guys?" Zack asked. "Why did we stop?"

In answer, the trees above ruffled with life. Zack swallowed, tightening his grip on his Winchester. Billy frowned, the Partisan balanced perfectly between his hands.

The attackers were swift, but not swift enough to gain an upper hand. This time, nearly twenty of the deadly Head Hunters Billy and Zack encountered earlier appeared, coming out from all directions, including from directly above them. Three fell towards the ground, but they were all disintegrated with one slash from Cloud's Ultima Weapon. He slashed the sword through the air, creating an arc of white light. That arc sailed through the air, colliding with the monsters and reducing them to flashes of magical light.

Two Head Hunters approached Yuffie, who stood the furthest to the right. Her smile widening, she flipped into the air, smacking one's head with her heel and plowing it into the ground. Instantly, she sliced off its tail with the razor sharp edge of the Conformer, prohibiting it from stabbing her. She then leaped off her opponent, and landed in the path of the other. Bending her knees slightly to achieve the perfect balance, Yuffie bend her elbow and threw the Conformer through the air. It sailed towards the monster, but it ducked right before the sharp metal sliced into its head. An eyebrow arched, but an ecstatic smile nonetheless, Yuffie raised her hand. The Conformer immediately responded, turning around to return to its master's hand. In doing so, its sliced through the Head Hunter from behind, destroying it.

Tifa's eyes locked with the pulsing eyes of a rather large Head Hunter, walking directly at her. Shaking her head at the audacity of the creature to attack her, she bounced lightly between her two legs in a boxing fashion. The monster immediately transformed into a wheel, and began spinning toward her. After taking quick glance behind her, to make sure no one was in harm's way, she side-stepped the monster. As it rolled past her, she delivered a mighty punch to its center. The force of her punch, immensely magnified by her glove, reverberated through the creature's body, piercing the exoskeleton where she made contact. Soon, the creature collapsed completely, unrolled, and vanished from reality. Her fighting senses kicking in, she dodged just in time to avoid another Head Hunter decapitating her. With her Premium Heart glove, Tifa managed to catch the swinging tail of her opponent, and lifted it into the air. The increased strength granted by the Premium Heart allowed her to slam the creature into the ground, depressing the ground where it hit, and causing the monster to vanish. Satisfied with her work, she steeled herself for her next opponent.

With another flick of the wrist, Billy managed to block another Head Hunter's deadly tail. He then swung it around to block the tail of another. The first one growled with anger, and lunged at Billy, fangs dripping with saliva. Almost instinctively, Billy jammed the sharp end of the Partisan down the creature's throat. Its eyes wide with surprise and pain, it vanished. The second Head Hunter, taking advantage of Billy's momentary distraction, sliced at him with its deadly claws. Billy shouted in pain as one of the sharp claws dug into his thigh, tearing through blue denim and tender flesh. Billy gritted his teeth, pushing past the pain, and spun his Partisan like a baton. The dull end struck the Head Hunter under the chin, knocking it onto its back. Without a moment's hesitation, Billy plunged the sharp end into the creature's underbelly, reducing it to a flash of magical red light.

Zack was extremely pleased with himself as he took aim and fired, destroying the second Head Hunter to come his way. He was also pleased with the Winchester. Each monster only took two shots, and he even found a style to make it more interesting. He shot once, spun the weapon on the trigger finger, and shot again. He only missed one shot so far.

However, one Head Hunter got much closer than Zack would have liked. With a soft yelp, Zack rolled out of the way as it swung its tail downward, plowing up the earth it touched. Zack quickly rolled onto his knees, and set off two more shots, decimating the creature before it had a chance to respond. He leaped to his feet, prepared to fire at the first flash of green that moved, but he was surprised to see that all the Head Hunters were gone.

Cloud stood tall, and spun his Ultima Weapon at its hilt. In order to do this, he had to hold the weapon as high as possible, so it didn't hit the ground. Yuffie leaped for joy, holding up her Conformer proudly. Tifa merely smiled slightly, and stretched her arms and back. Zack chuckled slightly as he stuck the Winchester into the holster Leon had provided him with. His victory laugh stopped short when he saw Billy sitting on the grass, pressing down on his thigh with both hands. Zack saw a circle of red extend from the spot, staining several inches of Billy's jeans.

"Billy!" he shouted, running to his friend's side. Billy smiled wanly at his friend, and shook his head in disappointment.

"You'd think after all those years as the Blue Ranger, I'd know how to fight without getting hurt."

"When you were the Blue Ranger, you had armor to protect you," Zack reminded his friend, "How bad is it?"

"No big deal," Billy answered, trying to rise to his feet while covering the wound with his left hand. He winced when he placed weight on his leg, and lost his balance. Zack quickly caught Billy's arm, preventing him from hitting the grass hard.

"Are you alright, Billy?" Tifa asked, walking towards them.

"Nothing some battle dressing won't fix," he answered.

"Let me see it," she said, tightening her gloved hand into a fist. It began to glow with a pale green light, with swirls of white energy appearing sporadically.

Billy removed his hand from his wound. Zack winced when he saw the gash, about four inches long, and bleeding profusely. It looked pretty deep, too.

"Man," Zack said quietly, "we gotta get you to a hospital!"

"Just relax," Tifa said, her fist straightening into a flat palm. She moved her hand towards Billy's thigh, the green energy increasing as she drew closer. She stopped about an inch away from his skin, and the green aura shone brighter in the direction of the wound. Before their eyes, the wound slowly closed up, and the scar vanished. Billy blinked his eyes, and glanced at his thigh in mute shock. His flesh was as good as new. The only evidence to his wound was the torn, bloodstained jeans he wore.

"Incredible," Billy whispered, rising to his feet. He tried out his leg. "Absolutely incredible."

"That's the power of materia," Yuffie said, crossing her arms. "Hmm. Maybe I shoulda gotten you guys some armor while we were at Mideel?"

"That's not a problem," Cloud said, joining the group. "We have plenty of extra armor on the Highwind, and we're almost out of the forest. Are you alright now, Billy?"

He nodded. "Never better."

Cloud nodded as well. "Then let's move out."

The group continued through the forest, until they finally reached the plains beyond them. Once they reached the plains, there was a huge vessel seated lazily on the grass. Zack and Billy stopped, and stared at the machine in amazement.

"What is that?" Billy inquired.

"That's the Highwind," Tifa answered. "It's an airship. With it, we can travel around the entire planet in only a few hours."

"Awesome," Zack commented, as the group climbed up the rope ladder to the deck. Once they stepped foot on the wood planks, they saw a tall, burly black man with fierce eyes and a mean-looking gun arm standing on the deck.

"What's going on, Barrett?" Cloud asked the sentry. "Where's everyone else?"

Barrett Wallace growled slightly in reply. "That lousy waste of space pilot went on a joyride with your damned pet, Cloud."

"Cid certainly picked a great time to goof off," Yuffie huffed.

"Your pet?" Zack asked Cloud.

"He means Chip," Cloud answered, "our Gold Chocobo."

"Chocobo?" Billy asked. Tifa, Yuffie, Barrett, and Cloud turned to him in amazement.

"Chocobos are large birds, about seven feet tall," Tifa explained. "They can't fly, but they can run rather quickly, with maximum speeds of about 120 kilometers per hour. Typically, chocobos can only run on land, but Gold Chocobos are a special breed, capable of running on any terrain; including mountains, marshes, quicksand, rivers, or even oceans."

"That's amazing!" Zack exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah," Barrett muttered, staring at Zack and Billy menacingly. "Now just who in the flippin' world are you, that don't know what a Chocobo is?"

"We're... not from around here," Billy answered, "I'm Billy, and this is Zack."

Barrett huffed at their introduction, and glanced at Cloud. "They're kinda puny," he muttered, "I say toss 'em back."

Zack frowned. "Don't talk about us like we're not here, or anything."

Barrett glowered at Zack with a look that sent chills up the Silver Ranger's spine. But he didn't back down. Finally, Barrett chuckled.

"Well, the kid's got guts," he said. "What're you doin' here anyway? Ya joining this little freak show?"

"We need to see Bugenhagen," Billy answered. "We're searching for materia."

Barrett laughed aloud at that, and turned to Yuffie. "Ya better watch your back. They're after your job!"

"We've struck a deal," Yuffie said, puffing up her chest proudly, "I think we'll get along just fine."

"Whatever," Barrett said,