------------------------------------------------------
PART 6#:
------------------------------------------------------
When Cid and the others walked into the office, they were
confronted by a seriously preoccupied Reeve. The pilot threw himself
into a chair and muttered, "Any luck on finding Scarlet's little
hiding hole?"
Reeve stared out the window and said quietly, "Not yet. Scarlet
covered her tracks damn well. She didn't leave any obvious traces.
That only leaves the money."
"The what!?" Barret yelled.
Elena nodded sharply. "When all else fails, you trace the money.
Salaries, equipment costs, food, transportation. All these things
cost money. It has to come from somewhere and it has to go
somewhere."
Cid smirked. "I get it. Hit 'em with the accountants, huh?"
"That's the basic idea. I've narrowed it down to three or four
few likely prospects, but that's about it. Unfortunately, it takes
more time...."
Tifa jumped up and shouted, "But we don't HAVE time!" There was a
trace of barely controlled hysteria in her voice.
Before anyone else could comment, Reeve held up his hand and said
wearily, "I know that. It's all taking too much time. Believe me,
I'm open to any suggestions, hints, guesses you guys might have for
me. Just remember, we're probably only going to get one chance at
this."
"So what have you got?"
"There are four likely locations. The first is located in the
mountains just north of Junon. The second is on an island near what
used to be the Temple of the Ancients. The third is situated near the
Mythril Mines to the east. The last one is in the mountains just
north of Rocket Town."
"Can't you do some aerial reconnaissance?" said Barret.
Cid muttered, "No way. Don't forget that Hojo's got hordes of
those weird flying monsters. He'll see us long before we see him."
"Shit."
Reeve said, "I'm hoping to narrow it down to two locations. After
that... it's a coin toss." He glanced around at his friends.
"Listen. Why don't you guys change, heal up, and get some rest?
Standing around won't make the computers work any faster."
"But...." Tifa protested.
Barret gripped her shoulder. "Come on, girl. You know he's
right. You're not going to do Cloud any good if you pass out on your
feet. And you should see a doc about your legs. Just to be sure."
"Oh hell," she muttered. "All right."
Barret and Yuffie escorted Tifa out of the room, trailed by
Vincent and the Turks. Cid was about to follow them when Red gave him
a nudge, then jerked his head in Reeve's direction.
Cid nodded and walked back to Reeve's desk. "Okay, what's up?"
Reeve started in surprise. "Huh?"
Red said firmly, "Something's really bothering you."
The Shinra exec rubbed his hands over his face. "That obvious,
huh?"
Cid glanced down at Reeve's desk and saw a picture of a familiar
blond-haired young man on the outside of a fat folder. Curious, he
reached out to take a look inside, but Reeve quietly put his hand on
the folder cover, holding it closed. He quietly said to the pilot,
"Please don't. Or at least, not now."
Cid blinked twice, then said, "That's Cloud's personnel file,
right?"
"Yes." Reeve hesitated, then said, "Cid... Red... if you insist
on reading it, I won't try to stop you. But I think we should
concentrate on finding and rescuing Cloud first. We can deal with
what's in here later."
Red and Cid stared into their friend's eyes. Reeve didn't look
guilty. Instead, he looked anxious and just a bit sad. Red said
evenly, "ARE there things in that file that need to be 'dealt' with?"
"Yes, I think so." Reeve's answer was quiet and thoughtful. He
sighed heavily and added, "Do you guys remember the talk you had in
the basement of the Mansion about possible consequences of probing
Cloud's memories? Red, you said that it was hard to figure out the
best thing to do... allowing Cloud to face the intolerable truth or to
let him keep a comforting lie."
Cid muttered, "Yeah. And YOU said, 'You can say that again.' Aw
hell, Reeve. You're not telling me...." (Doesn't it ever stop for
this poor kid?) The pilot rubbed his neck and said, "Just how bad is
it, Reeve?"
"It's pretty damn bad... and ugly. And even worse, it's
disturbing because it leaves a lot more questions than answers. You
can't imagine how many times I've been tempted to just shred this
entire file and forget about it, but I couldn't quite bring myself to
do it. There's been too many lies and omissions already...."
"Shit." The pilot wondered what could be bothering Reeve so much.
Cid's gaze returned to the folder, then abruptly focused on the photo
of young Cloud on the folder cover.
(It's Cloud, no doubt about that. You can't mistake that hair.)
But then Cid noticed the expression in the young man's eyes and face.
A quick glance at Red told him that the beast was probably seeing the
same thing he did.
Red whispered in quiet dismay, "Such bitterness and anger."
Reeve's only response was a weary sigh.
Cid flicked the photo. "Has this been the thing bugging you the
last couple of days?"
"It's just the tip of the iceberg, Cid."
They all stared the apparently innocuous personnel folder, then
glanced at each other. Finally Red spoke for them all.
"Reeve, you probably should put that folder away and keep it out
of sight for now. We don't want Tifa or the others accidentally
seeing it and asking questions. As you said, we'll probably have to
deal with it at some point, but this is not the time. We have more
important things to worry about at the moment. Whoever he might have
been... whatever he might have done in the past... Cloud is our friend
NOW and he's in terrible danger."
-------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
PART 6#:
------------------------------------------------------
Cloud awoke in bone-searing agony, but that was an all too
familiar experience. He resisted opening his eyes, dreading the sight
of what he was going to see... the sickening green Mako glow... the
scientists in white....
(This past year... my friends... has it all been a dream...? If
it is, I don't want to wake up.... Please, I can't stand this any
more....)
// You can't spend the rest of your life.... //
// hiding in an imaginary world.... //
Somewhere, he gathered up the willpower to slowly open his eyes.
The first thing he was the curving clear wall of his cell.
(No... not again....) Then he glanced up to see a naked,
red-haired man watching him from a neighboring cell. In an barely
audible voice, Cloud whispered, "I never thought that I'd be so glad
to see you, Reno."
The Turk had a rather peculiar combination of discomfort,
nervousness, and sympathy on his face. "Uh... whatever."
"What's wrong? Oh hell, I've been babbling, haven't I?" Cloud
muttered in disgust. He shifted restlessly, seeking some relief, but
his movements only made the pain worse.
Reno said in a somber voice, "You know, I would NOT like to be you
for all the gil in the world, Cloud."
The young man's lips curled upward, but it really couldn't be
considered a smile.
"Sometimes *I* don't like being me, either."
------------------------------------------------------
PART 6#:
------------------------------------------------------
Reno was not the only ex-Shinra member to be have a really bad
time in recent days. Actually, Scarlet's luck started turning bad a
year ago -- just about the time that damned Cloud guy made his
presence known in Midgar -- and it had been going downhill ever since.
Getting pounded on by that slut Lockheart... nearly getting blown up
in Proud Clod due to Heidegger's incompetence... having a huge meteor
crashing down from the sky... all that was bad enough. But to lose
control of Shinra to REEVE, of all people! Well, that was adding
insult to injury.
But she always had contingency plans. This weapon research
facility had been one of her best-kept secrets. There was no trace of
it in Shinra records and it was financed by the most convoluted and
creative accounting she could manage. Contemplating her options after
Meteor and losing her bid to control Shinra, she'd decided that the
obvious thing to do would be to enter the weapon business herself.
There was always a market for effective ways of killing other people.
She had spent the following months getting her secret weapon
facility retooled to become a small, but efficient production plant.
In a few days, it would have been online and running. But just as
things looked like there were about to turn around for her, Hojo had
to show up and screw up everything.
Scarlet angrily paced back in forth in the small detention cell
which was part of the facility's security area. After Hojo's little
invasion, she had been thrown into the cell and apparently forgotten.
For over 24 hours, she'd had nothing to eat and if it hadn't been for
the small sink, she wouldn't have had anything to drink either.
She knew why she was still alive. Hojo wanted her around to
defuse any self-destruct devices she might have built into the
facility. He knew how paranoid she could be about her projects. Hojo
had no real intention of letting her starve to death. The lack of
food was just to make her cooperative.
Scarlet snickered softly to herself. Hojo was an idiot. Oh, the
crazed scientist had found a secure place to put her, a place with no
computers or tools. But the chauvinist pig had made a very bad
mistake. He assumed that she was just a weapon designer and computer
programmer. Wrong. Her interest was not purely intellectual. Not
only did she know how to construct all sorts of weapons, she knew how
to use them AND she didn't mind getting her hands dirty.
The fool had totally forgotten to have her searched.
No, the situation wasn't totally hopeless, but it couldn't be
considered good by any stretch of the imagination. She was still
stuck in a 10' by 10' cell and no place to go. The locked door wasn't
the problem -- she knew the codes and could get it open easily enough
-- it was the pack of hulking, drooling monsters prowling around
outside the cell that was the problem. Their grunting and stomping
was driving her crazy. As she paced, she wondered how the hell she
was going to get out of THIS mess with her precious hide intact.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of approaching feet which stopped
right outside her door. This could be her one and only chance. She
took a deep breath and got focused as the door to her cell slid open.
The monsters dragged her out of her cell, down the hallways, and
carted her up several flights of stairs. She noted that the elevators
did not appear to be working and stored that information away for
future reference. Scarlet and her escort eventually ended up in her
own office facing a softly giggling Hojo.
She thought irritably, (The asshole's managed to change himself
into some creepy tentacled green, bug-eyed monster and he STILL has
the same stringy, dirty black hair!)
Sniggering madly , he said, "I hope you haven't found your
accommodations too uncomfortable."
"What the hell do you want, Hojo?"
"I want the codes for the safety interlocks on your little Mako
reactor."
"What for!?"
"I need more power, of course."
Scarlet scowled angrily. "Then you're going to have to find
another source of power, Hojo! If you shut off the interlocks, the
inflow of Mako will be uncontrollable and the reactor will blow up in
your stupid face. Not that it bothers me, but since I happen to be
sitting on top of the damn thing...."
"That would be true... IF the Mako had no place to go. But we
won't be having that problem."
"Why not!?"
"You don't need to know, Scarlet. Just be cooperative and give me
the codes. My time is at a premium right now. I don't want to waste
time torturing you."
As Scarlet sighed, she counted the number of monsters in the room.
(Just a handful....) She gave Hojo a quick glance. (I hope that I'm
correct in assuming that Hojo's in direct mental control of these
creatures. Otherwise, I'm dead meat.)
Scarlet shrugged off the paws holding her back and stepped closer
to Hojo. She began to haul up her sparkly, heavily sequined evening
gown with one hand, exposing her long, rather attractive legs. As she
kicked off her high heels, she murmured in a husky tone, "Let's not be
too hasty with the threats, okay? Maybe we could come to a mutually
beneficial arrangement?" Edging a bit closer, she gave him a sultry
smile. "Come on. I can be immensely useful to you... in lots of
ways...."
Hojo made a shooing gesture with a tentacle and chuckled, "Please!
Credit me with some taste!"
"But I've got such a nice surprise for you... HERE!" With the
smoothness of many hours of practice, she grabbed the small but
extremely powerful handgun strapped to her thigh, whipped it up, and
emptied half the clip right into Hojo's face at point blank range.
He staggered back squealing wildly in shock and pain. As she had
hoped, his creatures also began flailing around without any real
purpose or direction. She dove through an opening between two howling
monsters, rolled to her feet, and took off down the hallway at full
speed on bare feet.
-------------------------
Reno was pacing as best he could in his small cell when a flash of
sequins caught his eye. A familiar-looking blond woman dressed in a
singularly tasteless evening gown dashed into the lab, slammed the
door closed, and started lavishing kisses on the gun clutched in her
hands.
"Oh baby, you saved my neck again! First, from Heidegger and now
Hojo!" She hugged the weapon to her amply endowed breasts.
"SCARLET!?"
"RENO!?" Scarlet's jaw dropped open as she saw a totally naked
Reno standing in a transparent cylinder.
With a sour grin, he said, "I knew you were fond of your weapons,
Scarlet, but don't you think you're getting a bit carried away?"
She shoved her hair away from her face and smirked. "Why Reno,
those suits you wear do absolutely nothing for you!" She licked her
lips as her eyes scanned the Turk from head to toe before settling on
a point just below his waist. "I never realized what an impressive...
physique... you have."
Reno suppressed the impulse to cover himself and snarled, "Will
you quit admiring my attributes and get me the hell out of this
fucking cell!?"
"Sorry, darling, but as much as I admire that cute ass of yours,
I'm more concerned with saving my own butt. I'm outta here!" With
those words, she turned to leave.
"Scarlet, you bitch! You can't just leave us here!"
"Sure I can! You just watch me! What do you mean 'us'?" She
glanced at the other cell. "Oh shit! It's that son of a bitch Cloud!
If you think I'm going to risk my neck to save his...." Suddenly a
calculating look crossed her face. "Hey...."
At that moment, there was sounds of a rapidly approaching horde.
Scarlet blanched, then bolted out the back door to the lab. Less than
a minute later, a mob of Hojo's monsters smashed down the lab door.
Reno blandly watched as they stampeded right back out in hot pursuit
of the former head of Shinra's Weapon Development Division.
Cloud lifted his head a bit and muttered, "Did I just see Scarlet
go by? Or was that just another hallucination?"
"Nope. She came and she went, the damn bitch."
-------------------------
Scarlet grabbed a post, used it to make a sharp right turn, hit a
nondescript panel in a particular pattern, jumped through the opening
as the panel abruptly slid aside, then slammed it shut behind her.
She took a brief second to catch her breath, then scurried down the
access tunnel on hands and knees. At occasional intervals, she opened
up hidden keypads and typed in codes, then hurried on her way.
Finally, she ended up in the backup security room. She tapped a
few final commands in the console, then collapsed into a chair,
gasping for air. As the security monitors sprang to life, she saw
Hojo still staggering around in her office. Scarlet scowled in
disappointment and resignation. Since the crazy scientist had managed
to survive getting blown to bits by Cloud and company, she hadn't
expected her gun to do any permanent harm... but one could always
hope. Even as she watched, the gaping wounds in Hojo's head were
slowly closing up.
As she flipped through the images from various security cameras
scattered throughout the facility, she frowned angrily. The damned
monsters were everywhere. All her escape routes to the outside were
cut off.
"Shit! I'll need an army to blast through all those
creatures...," then she smiled wickedly. "I may not have an army, but
I know a group of people that'll do just as well."
Scarlet reached inside a small cooler unit and pulled out a bottle
of wine. Uncorking it and taking a few chugs without the benefit of a
glass, she laughed and said, "Well, Cloud, you just might be my ticket
out of this hellhole, after all. Cheers!"
------------------------------------------------------
PART 6#:
------------------------------------------------------
It was just before dawn, but no one was asleep. While Elena,
Reeve, Red, and Cid went over their puny bits of data one more time,
the others struggled to find constructive ways to occupy their time.
Both Vincent and Barret headed off to the armory to check out their
weapons and gather more ammunition. Tifa paced. Strangely, it was
Yuffie who was managing -- just barely -- to keep Tifa from punching
holes in the walls in frustration.
Reeve dragged his hand through his hair. Nothing. No clues.
Hours of pouring over records trying to guess where Scarlet's secret
research facility might be, but they still couldn't narrow the field
any more. There were still four possible locations and no way to
eliminate even one of them.
(That's even assuming that Scarlet's facility is even one of the
four. AND assuming that Hojo didn't change his mind and go somewhere
else.)
Taking a break from repairing the Highwind II, Cid finally threw
up his hands. "Hell, at this point, we might as well pick our target
by closing our eyes and sticking a pin in the fucking map! At least
we'd be doing SOMETHING!"
The intercom abruptly buzzed. Everyone froze, waiting.
"Reeve here."
"Sir, we have an urgent video transmission for you!"
"What? From who? Never mind. Just put it through." The picture
of a tired, disheveled blond woman appeared on the monitor screen.
"Scarlet!?"
"I want to make a deal, Reeve."
"A deal!? What the hell are you up to!?"
"Listen, you're looking for your spiky haired buddy, right."
Reeve suddenly sat up straight. "Go on."
"I know where he is. And I know where Hojo's taken him."
"And what? What do you want for that information?" Reeve
silently typed out a command for a trace on the call.
"I want you guys to save my damn neck!"
"What!?" everyone chorused.
"Listen, I'm stuck here with hordes of Hojo's damn pets running
around. If they catch me, I'm history. I want someone to get me out
of here! In exchange, I'll help you rescue Cloud and Reno."
Elena yelled, "Reno's there too!?"
"So where the hell are they?" snapped Reeve.
"Uh uh. You do this MY way. Here's the deal. You rescue me
FIRST, then I'll help you find them."
"Why should we do that?"
"I know you're probably tracing this call this very minute. But
knowing the location really won't help you. This call is coming from
a remote transmitter. Besides, you need me if you want to locate your
friends. This entire factory is booby-trapped and I've just put this
place on maximum security alert. Now Hojo may not care how many of
his creatures die wandering around this place, but I'm sure YOU don't
want to run my little gauntlet."
Reeve glared at her.
In a more conciliatory voice, Scarlet said, "And I know this place
like the back of my hand. I can get you to Cloud and Reno by the
quickest and safest route."
"What guarantees do we have that you'll keep your end of the
bargain?"
"Don't be an idiot, Reeve! I know that you guys won't leave until
you rescue your buddies. So if I want to get out alive, I have to
make sure you guys stay alive too. How about it?"
Yuffie yelled, "We can't trust that sly, overpainted bitch!"
"Hey hey hey,...." Scarlet sputtered.
Reeve, exhausted and worried over Cloud, lost his usual cool and
yelled, "Stop that! You're starting to sound like that jackass
Palmer!"
There was a long silence.
"There's no reason to be THAT insulting." Scarlet actually
sounded like her feelings were hurt.
Elena muttered, "That WAS sorta hitting below the belt, you know."
Reeve said, "Cid. I think it's your call."
Yuffie jumped up and down, shouting, "It's a damned trap! She's
probably working with Hojo!"
Scarlet retorted, "Working with Hojo!? Listen, you barbaric
hellcat! How stupid do you think I am!? The freak's gone totally
around the bend! There's no making deals with a person like that!"
"You could be setting us up just to save your damn neck!"
"You think he gives a fuck about you? If you aren't one of his
experimental subjects and as long as you aren't interfering with his
so-called work, it's 'out of sight, out of mind'! That's the only
reason I've managed to stay alive this long! He's been too busy with
his new little projects to hunt me down seriously. And his creatures
are so stupid, they won't do a damn thing without Hojo's direct
commands."
"Come on, Scarlet! If you've managed to escape from him this
long, why can't you get away from the plant? You've obviously got
plenty of backup plans and escape routes. Why haven't you used them?"
said Cid in an decidedly suspicious tone of voice.
Scarlet snarled, "Because I got damn lucky the first time around.
Hojo knows squat about security so he didn't have his creatures search
me. But all bets are off now. I've got weapons but I'm just one
person and this close combat shit is NOT my strong point, okay? I
step outside my hiding hole and I'm going to get nailed, sooner or
later. That's where you guys come in."
Cid said, "Enough of this crap. We've got no choice." He looked
around at his friends. "I say we go for it. Scarlet, you've got a
deal. Now where the hell are you and how do we get there without
having to fight through all of Hojo's monsters? We know he's got a
bunch of aerial creatures...."
"You're damn right. You show up in the Highwind and you wouldn't
get within a mile of this place. You'll have to go underground.
There's a two mile tunnel that leads directly into the middle
subsurface levels of the factory. But the only way to reach the
entrance of that tunnel is to hike through a cave system that comes
out onto the surface about.... oh, twenty miles from the facility."
"Twenty miles!" Cid sputtered.
"Yes, twenty miles, you old goat. That should put you outside of
their ground patrols. It isn't too difficult but it's only passable
on foot. It should take you guys... oh, about 8 to 12 hours if you
keep moving. Now listen carefully. Every mile in the caves, you're
going to having to find the security checkpoints and type the right
codes in or something really nasty is going to happen to you. The
same thing in the tunnel and the plant itself but at shorter
intervals. PAY ATTENTION. If you screw up, not only are you liable
to get hurt but the noise is probably going blow any chance for
surprise. Got it? This plant is completely off the official records
so there are no blueprints."
Tifa muttered, "Paranoid bitch."
"I heard that, slut."
Cid took a deep breath. "Yeah. Just make sure you get the damn
codes right!"
Reeve said, "I'm recording. Go ahead, Scarlet."
She concisely rattled off security codes, locations of security
checkpoints, and the path to a secure meeting point. Scarlet finished
with, "I'll be waiting for you guys. From there, I'll show you the
way to the lab level where they've got your friends."
Cid said grimly. "We'll be there. But try to double-cross us and
I will personally nail your ass to the wall. Got it?"
"Yeah, yeah. You just make sure you do your part." Her eyes
shifted nervously, then her painted lips tightened. "There's a small,
but fully functional Mako reactor at this facility and Hojo's been
messing around with it. I don't need to tell you what THAT means.
There's also a lot of unfamiliar equipment being installed in the
labs. It's not mine so it's got to be Hojo's."
"Shit, Scarlet....!"
She took a deep breath and said, "Listen, Reeve. One last thing.
Not only is Hojo mucking around in my labs...."
"Yes?"
"He's got some huge project going on in the lowermost levels. His
creatures have been hauling in hundreds... and I mean hundreds... of
human bodies into that area. And nothing's coming out."
"Can't you see what's going on with your security cameras?"
"None of the cameras down there are working. Hojo's beasts must
have damaged them. I'm not sure whether that's deliberate or
accidental."
Tifa barged in with an urgent, "Have you seen Cloud!? Is he all
right?"
"He's alive. That's all I can say. He wasn't looking too hot
when I last saw him." A definite tone of malice entered Scarlet's
voice. "You better not take too long getting here. I've got a
feeling that Hojo's planning to have some serious fun with your friend
Cloud."
Tifa snarled, "You bitch! You think that's funny!?!?"
Scarlet's reply was just as angry. "Listen, I think he fucking
deserves to suffer, considering what trouble he's caused ME. The only
reason that I'm making a deal here is to save my own neck." She
paused, then glanced away from the camera, staring at something
off-screen.
"What the hell is he doing now?" she muttered. Scarlet's eyes
abruptly widened in shock. "Oh shit...."
"WHAT!?" everyone yelled.
"He... well, Hojo was in the lab talking to your buddy Cloud, then
he suddenly... well, he sort of... ah, cut Cloud open." She grimaced.
"Without the benefit of aesthetic, either."
Tifa screeched, "He did WHAT!?"
Scarlet started to look a touch queasy. "Oh sick.... He's
rummaging around Cloud's guts.... Ewwww! Wait, it looks like Hojo's
just pulled something out of his body." She squinted. "Damn these
cameras. Looks like some sort of small package."
"Fuck...," muttered Cid, his cigarette falling to the floor and
burning a hole in the carpet.
"How big is it!?" yelled Red.
"How big!?" Scarlet glanced back at them in astonishment. "What
sort of goddamn question is that? Oh, it's a cylinder about the size
of my hand. Why?"
"What color is it!?"
"Color!? C'mon! Hojo just ripped the damn thing out of someone's
guts! You think I can tell you what color it is!?"
"Oh fucking shit... if that's what I think it is...." Yuffie had
a white-knuckled grip on the desk.
"Reeve, answer me!" snapped Scarlet.
Cid whispered, "It was under our noses all this goddamn time. The
bitch Roissy must have known all along. Hell, she probably was the
one who hid the damn thing in Cloud in the first place!"
"And Roissy told her sister Montessi, who then killed her own
sister to keep the sample's location a secret," babbled Tifa.
"And that's why Montessi tried to kidnap Cloud!" finished Red.
"REEVE!!!" shrieked Scarlet. "What the hell's so special about
that damn package!?"
"That's a cell sample...."
"So WHAT!?"
"....of Sephiroth...."
There was a long pause as Scarlet absorbed this unpleasant bit of
information and put it together with the other things she'd seen.
"The equipment he's been setting up... the removal of the Mako
reactor safety interlocks...." Echoing Yuffie, she whispered, "Oh
fucking shit...." She then took a deep breath, then shrieked, "What
are you assholes waiting for! DO SOMETHING!!! GET ME THE HELL OUTTA
HERE!!!"
They all looked at each other, then stampeded for the Highwind.
-------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
PART 6#:
------------------------------------------------------
The door to the lab abruptly opened. Hojo, accompanied by several
of his creatures, walked or slithered into the room.
"Have you been having pleasant dreams?" Hojo murmured nastily as
he peered at Cloud, who lay still and barely conscious at the bottom
of his cell.
"Hojo, you're such a bastard," snapped Reno.
The scientist shrugged, then waved at his minions. They roughly
hauled Cloud of his cell, then held him up in front of Hojo.
Cloud stared at the raw looking patches on Hojo's face and head.
The young man chuckled weakly and said, "It looks like you ran into
something painful. I'm SO glad."
Hojo's tentacles twitched angrily. "Just a minor inconvenience
called Scarlet." The scientist stared at Cloud with particular
intensity.
"What the hell are you up to, Hojo?" but Cloud received no reply.
Suddenly, he heard a sharp, piercing whining in his skull as
everything he saw acquired a blood-red tinge. The blinding stab of
pain that accompanied the sound was very different from the purely
physical agony in the rest of his body. It was also unpleasantly
familiar. If it hadn't been for the monsters gripping his arms, he
would have collapsed to the floor.
Cloud gritted his teeth and snarled, "Give it up, Hojo!
Hojo leaned back, breathing heavily. "Interesting. It's much
harder to control a human than I thought it would be." With a shrug,
the scientist said, "It was worth a try. But don't worry. You might
have slipped your leash temporarily, but Sephiroth will soon bring you
back to heel."
The young man gasped, then said, "I'm not going to be Sephiroth's
puppet and I'm sure as hell not I'm going to be YOURS! Now get the
fuck out of my head!"
Hojo was not impressed. "Do you really think you could ever
really resist Sephiroth's influence? Every cell in your body is
linked to Sephiroth. Don't forget, you didn't merely undergo the
standard SOLDIER process, but rather the much more intensive
treatments used to create Sephiroth Clones." Hojo leaned forward, his
voice dripping with malice. "You were designed to be as close to
Sephiroth as I could possibly manage. It's true that the process is
not substantially different from the one used to create SOLDIERs, but
it's more.... More of everything... more drugs... more Mako... more
Jenova cells."
Cloud went very quiet for a few minutes, then he started to
snicker softly. It wasn't loud, but the eerie edge to Cloud's
laughter made Reno seriously wonder if he was in the presence of not
just one lunatic, but rather TWO.
"Practically all of THEM are dead... Stephan, Roissy, Montessi....
That means there's only three people from THAT time left... no,
sorry, make that three and two halves... oops, if two halves equal
one, then I guess that makes it four...." Cloud shrugged carelessly.
"Anyway, you and Sephiroth are two of them. I'll get rid of all of
you, one way or another. You'll see. Just watch me."
Hojo tipped his head slightly. "Now this is even more
interesting... another shift. Hmmm. Unfortunately, I don't have time
to study the matter further. I've come for the sample."
Cloud growled in hatred as the monsters each grabbed an arm or
leg, then held him spread-eagle. Hojo smirked, then lashed out with a
razor-tipped tentacle, driving it deep into Cloud's abdomen.
He screamed once, then choked as blood flooded his mouth. All he
could manage was a strangled gurgle as Hojo poked and prodded. The
pain from the initial stab was bad enough, but nothing compared to the
feeling of Hojo's tentacle twisting and slithering around in his guts.
Cloud was suddenly barraged with flashes of agonizing memories...
memories of even more intimate violations of mind, body, and soul....
(No... NO... NO!!! GET OUT OF ME! STOP IT STOPITSTOPIT...!!!)
Between the shock, the blood loss, the pain, and mental trauma,
Cloud finally passed out.
-------------------------
Reno could do nothing but glare furiously at Hojo. The scientist
abruptly froze, then with a triumphant cry, pulled something from
Cloud's belly with a loud slurping noise. Reno couldn't see what the
object was, but Hojo cradled the hand-sized item in his tentacles like
it was a cherished baby.
Hojo positively caressed the blood-covered object and cuddled it
against his cheek with a tender, loving care that made Reno absolutely
nauseous. The scientist then did a grotesque jig of triumph around
the lab, chortling wildly.
"Hahahaha! It's really there! Intact! Yes! All my hopes... all
my dreams! YES!!! Oh beautiful specimen! I can FEEL it! You're the
real thing, all right! Yes, yes. It WILL work! All parts of JENOVA
are interconnected so the transfer of genetic and cellular data...."
Reno thought Cloud was dead. But as Hojo continued to babble, a
faint movement told the Turk that the young man was still alive.
However, how long he'd remain alive with his injuries was an open
question.
The scientist spared the unconscious, heavily bleeding Cloud a
brief glance, then plucked an emergency medical kit off the wall.
Reno watched with narrowed eyes as Hojo sloppily bandaged the deep
wound in Cloud' side, then ordered his guard creatures to toss the
young man back into his cell.
"What the hell are you up to, Hojo?" snapped the Turk.
The scientist giggled madly. "I want him around to see my moment
of triumph."
"Triumph? What the hell...?"
"Yes! Triumph! When Sephiroth again walks this miserable
Planet!" Hojo held up the cylinder in his tentacles and slyly asked
the Turk, "Do you know what this is? This is your doom. My son will
soon be back to complete his destiny... to become a god!"
"Son!?" Then Hojo's previous words finally clicked. "You mean
Sephiroth was your SON!? And you're planning to bring him back?"
"Oh yes! You should be honored. You will be among the first to
see his glorious return!"
With those words, Hojo swept out of the lab, cackling madly.
"Sephiroth? Oh shit!" Reno sank down to the floor of his cell
and shook his head in rueful disbelief. "Great. Just fucking great."
-------------------------
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PART 6#:
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As the Highwind II headed off at top speed to the rocky region
north of Rocket Town, Cid kicked one of the ship's bridge consoles and
muttered, "I can't believe that I didn't think of it!"
Yuffie muttered, "Gee, I wonder how Cloud's gonna feel when he
realizes that he's been carting around a chunk of Sephiroth all this
time."
"Oh, be quiet!" snapped Tifa. "Cid, can't we go any faster!"
"I'm red-lining it right now! Remember, I still haven't had the
chance to overhaul the engines after that big fight last evening!"
Red shook his head ruefully. "Actually, when you think about it,
it makes a weird sort of sense. A hiding place that no one would
think of."
"But how could Hojo have possibly missed a wound like that?"
Red glanced uncomfortably at Tifa, then slowly shook his head.
"Just another minor incision on an experimental subject... perhaps one
among many."
"How would you...?" Her voice abruptly trailed off. Tifa
whispered, "Sorry, Red. I forgot all about what happened to you."
The beast shrugged the matter away. "That's in the past. It's not
important. Anyway, why would Hojo notice? He probably had many other
projects to oversee. Remember, it was Dr. Stephan, Roissy's lover and
accomplice, who actually performed much of the experimentation on
Cloud. Besides, Roissy was apparently using Cloud just as a temporary
hiding place, except...."
Cid muttered, "Except Zack and Cloud screwed things big-time up by
escaping."
"Exactly."
Tifa stopped wringing her hands and said, "But what about Cloud!?
We don't even know if he's still alive!"
Cait Sith said quietly, "I'm pretty sure he is."
"How do you know that?"
"Scarlet says that Hojo sort of patched Cloud up before dumping
back into his cell. She also managed to get some of the intercoms
working so we could get some audio. It's hard to understand, but I'm
pretty sure that Hojo wants Cloud alive....."
"That's a relief!" Tifa said with a weak smile which rapidly faded
when she saw the little robot cat slowly shaking its head. "Isn't
it?" she asked desperately.
"I wish I could be so optimistic, Tifa, but... just before Scarlet
and I lost the audio, we heard Hojo say -- and I quote exactly --
'When Sephiroth returns, I'm sure he won't have any problems
restringing his puppet.'"
Tifa frantically shook her head. "No... he can't do that! He
CAN'T! Cloud broke Sephiroth's control over his mind when we were in
the Lifestream!"
Yuffie quickly patted Tifa's shoulder. "No way! Hojo's just
being a vicious bastard." She glared at the others.
Cid managed to keep a poker face and said, "Yeah. I'm sure the
bastard's just trying to jerk Cloud around. And we're not going to
give him OR Sephiroth the chance to screw around with Cloud." He
glanced at the Turks. "Or with Reno. Right, guys?"
Everyone nodded vigorously, fierce determination on all their
faces.
-------------------------
(end of Part 6)
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In part 7,
- Guess who FINALLY shows up! ^_^
--------------------------------------------
madamhydra@aol.com /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:E
http://www.geocities.com/~madamhydra