DISCLAIMER: I don't own Final Fantasy.
I got the idea for this from a story I wrote for school.
WARNING: Contains Angeal OOC, Cloud/Seph reference and mild Genesis and Hojo bashing.
This is for Tobi-Uchiha! =D
Enjoy!
Zack was on top of the world as he skipped down the hallways of Shinra merrily. So far, this week had been the best time of his life. He had finally been promoted to SOLDIER 1st class. 1st class!! He was the best of the best at Shinra now. The unstoppable Zackary Fair. Nah. The unstoppable Zack Fair. Yeah. That sounded cooler.
"Zaaack!" He heard a whiny voice call to him. He whirled around, irritated. "Zack Fair, wait!"
A scrawny 3rd class SOLDIER ran up to him, panting. "Zack, Mr. Lazard says you have to do the cleaning today. As punishment for posting those signs all over Shinra."
Dang. Zack had seen this coming. That's why he had been avoiding Lazard's office all day. It seemed that Lazard had found another way to track him down.
Can't Lazard take a joke? He thought as he recalled the prank he and Cloud had pulled off earlier in the week. After Zack had been promoted to 1st class, he and Cloud had printed hundreds of flyers stating "ZACK FAIR IS THE GREATEST" and posted them all over the walls of Shinra. They had even managed to sneak a few into Lazard's office. However, their harmless prank had not gone over well at Shinra and Cloud and Zack had been caught. Cloud, of course, had managed to talk his way out of getting in trouble since the prank had been Zack's idea. Zack hadn't been so lucky.
"Whaaat?" Zack groaned, throwing his arms down in disbelief. Then he got an idea. He didn't like lying, but…
"Actually, I just talked to Lazard a few minutes ago. He says he made a mistake and that you're supposed to do the cleaning duty for me. I have an important mission to leave for in a few minutes. Didn't Lazard tell you that?"
"Huh?" The 3rd class SOLDIER crossed his arms and frowned. "You're making that up."
Zack laughed. "Well then, I guess I'll go let Lazard know that you don't trust what he tells us 1st class SOLDIERS. What did you say your name was?"
"Uh…" the 3rd class stammered, "I-I'm sorry. I'll get started right away." He fidgeted nervously, breaking away from Zack's intimidating stare. "Please don't tell Mr. Lazard anything."
Zack patted the 3rd class roughly on the shoulder, grinning. "Sure thing, man. Don't worry about it."
The 3rd class scurried down the hallway as Zack chuckled to himself. 3rd class SOLDIERS were so easy to fool. He continued to skip down the hallway happily as several Shinra employees gawked at him in confusion.
Zack couldn't believe that Lazard had really been thinking of punishing him with cleaning duty. He was Zack Fair. And right now, he was experiencing an extreme case of a superiority complex. Why should a fine, upstanding 1st class SOLDIER like himself be subjected to such work like scrubbing toilets? That seemed like 3rd class work. He knew for a fact that Sephiroth didn't have to do such menial labor. He bet Sephiroth hadn't even scrubbed a toilet before in his life. So why should he?
Zack chuckled to himself as he tried to picture Sephiroth cleaning a toilet, grumbling and cursing as he scrubbed away.
"'Morninggg," Zack sang cheerfully as Angeal turned the corner. Angeal did a double take as he groggily looked up from his coffee mug.
"Zack?" Angeal called after him as Zack continued to skip down the hallway, gracefully weaving in and out of the various Shinra employees. "What the hell's gotten into you? I thought Lazard was making you scrub the bathrooms or something."
Darn, Zack thought. How does everyone know about that?
"I'll tell ya later," Zack answered, not bothering to glance back at Angeal. He didn't have the time to explain how he had weaseled his way out of his punishment.
"Whatever, man," Angeal answered. If it didn't affect him, then he didn't care.
Zack was a man on a mission. He wasn't just skipping around the hallways aimlessly. Well, kinda. But he knew Cloud had just gotten back from some assignment and he wanted to catch him before he left again.
As Zack turned the corner, he noticed Sephiroth casually walking towards him, intently studying a report. His face had that "bother me and DIE" expression. Zack grinned mischievously. Yesss.His day just kept getting better and better. There was nothing he enjoyed more than messing with Sephiroth when he was angry. Especially when he was angry.
"Heyyy Seph," Zack beamed at him, "What's up? Whatcha readin'?"
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at Zack coldly as he stopped dead in the hallway, crumpling the report in his hands. Mission accomplished. Sephiroth was pissed. Zack knew that he absolutely loathed being called Seph. Which is exactly why Zack continued to call him that.
Zack was unfazed by Sephiroth's menacing glare as he skipped over towards him, still beaming. He patted Sephiroth on the back roughly. His icy glare might have worked on Zack any other day, but not today.
"C'mon, man. You gotta lighten up." And with that, Zack took off down the hallway before Sephiroth had a chance to run after him.
Zack turned a corner quickly, dodging Tseng and Cissnei as he passed by them.
"Hi, Zack!" Cissnei called out to him, waving. "You look happy today."
Cissnei! Zack thought happily as he whirled around and waved back. Wow. This day couldn't get any better.
As Zack turned down the next hall, he was taken by surprised as he rammed into something around the corner. He fell backwards, throwing his arms out to break his fall. He saw an explosion of different colored flyers flutter through the air as they scattered all over the hallway.
What the hell? He thought as he got up to his feet. Then his eyes rested on Cloud, who was kneeling on the floor, scrambling to pick up the flyers.
"Hey, Cloud," Zack greeted him cheerfully as he handed a few papers back to him. "What's up with the flyers?"
"Zack!" Cloud exclaimed, staring up at his friend. "Oh. Um…Mr. Lazard wanted me to give these to Kunsel. I dunno where he is, though." Cloud stood up slowly as he continued to collect the flyers that were strewn all over the hallway.
"So you've just been wandering around looking for him?" Zack asked, laughing. Cloud pouted as he gathered the stack of flyers in his arms.
"C'mon. I'll help ya find him," Zack assured Cloud as they started to walk down the hallway.
"Thanks, Zack," Cloud smiled at him as he adjusted the flyers in his hands.
As they turned the corner, weaving in and out of the Shinra employees around them, Zack spotted the 3rd class SOLDIER who he had tricked earlier. He was storming down the hallway, an irritated look on his face as he carried a gross-looking bucket and a toilet brush. Zack prayed that the SOLDIER wouldn't see him among the crowd of people in the hall.
"So Zack, I-" Cloud began, and the 3rd class SOLDIER turned his head upon hearing the name.
"HEY!" The SOLDIER screamed, his face twisting with rage.
Shoot! Zack bolted past the angry SOLDIER, who attempted to lunge at him. Zack gracefully dodged his attack and flew around the corner, laughing hysterically. Cloud struggled to keep up with him, clutching the flyers closely to his chest.
Zack wasn't quite sure where he was running to. He could still hear the angry SOLDIER cursing at him from the next hallway over. Zack swiftly turned another corner and dashed up the staircase, knocking over a startled Shinra employee in the process. "Sorry!" Zack yelled down the stairs, not bothering to turn around. As he came to the top of the stairs, he leapt around a few more corners and then bolted down the hall. As he ran, he noticed that the hallway was eerily quiet. The only sound he could hear was the slapping of his footsteps on the tiled floor as he came to a slow halt. Operation Get Rid of Annoying 3rd class SOLDIER was a success.
"Zaack!" he heard Cloud cry as his footsteps echoed throughout the hall. "Where are we?"
Observing the hallway carefully, Zack realized that he had absolutely no idea where they were.
"We're…um…We're in the…," he stammered. "Hmm. I dunno." He shrugged at Cloud apologetically.
Zack began to make his way down the creepy hall. Glancing around, he realized that there were no other doors in the hallway anywhere.
"This place is…scary," Cloud said nervously, following Zack as they approached what appeared to be the end of the hallway. A single door stood at the end, the painted sign above it barely readable. A dim light shone overhead, and Zack could just make out the words across the door.
MATERIA LAB
"That's weird," Zack said as he scratched his head, "Why are there two materia labs? He turned around to face Cloud, and noticed that his face was now a sickly white as he stared at the door with wide eyes.
"Cloud? Cloud? Hellooo?" Zack waved his hand wildly in front of Cloud's pale face. "Cloud!"
Cloud came back to reality as he stared up at Zack, a worried expression on his face.
"I know where we are, Zack. I've heard stories about this place."
Zack crossed his arms and looked down at Zack disapprovingly. "Stories?" He asked, rolling his eyes. "Like what?"
Cloud gulped. "I heard they closed this lab down because of some materia-fusion accident," he explained, his eyes returning to the door. "They say it's haunted."
Zack burst out laughing. "C'mon, Cloud. Haunted? Where the heck did you hear that?"
"It's true!" Cloud protested as Zack continued to laugh. "My officers told me so."
"You've been had, Cloud. There are noooo such things as ghosts." Zack wiped a tear from his eye.
Cloud frowned and stared down at the floor, silent. Zack raised his eyebrows. "Don't tell me you actually believe that crap."
"It's haunted!" Cloud argued. "Go inside and see for yourself."
"Fine," Zack retorted, and marched over to the door. He pulled on the handle, but it would not open.
"Damn," Zack swore, "Locked." He turned to face Cloud, who seemed slightly relieved. "D'you know who might have a card key to this place?"
Cloud thought for a moment. "Mr. Hojo might."
Ugh. The last thing Zack wanted to do was ask that perv of a scientist for a card key to the old Materia Lab. He'd rather scrub the toilets in the bathrooms.
"What? You hate him?" Cloud asked as Zack scowled at the name.
It was more than hate. Zack loathed Hojo. That creepy old scumbag. Zack did everything humanly possible each day to avoid being near Hojo. He was just so…ugh.
Zack came up with a better idea. "You think Angeal would sneak us in?" Zack wondered aloud.
"Us?" Cloud repeated. "No way. You can go in by yourself."
Zack stared down at him in disbelief. "Whoa, whoa. Let me get this straight. Cloud Strife, future SOLDIER, is afraid of ghosts?" He teased cloud, ruffling his spiky blonde hair. Cloud squirmed and pulled away.
"Shut up!" Cloud yelled at him, pouting. "I'm going to find Kunsel myself then if you're gonna be like that." He whirled around on his heel and stormed down the hallway angrily, muttering to himself.
"Wait!" Zack called after him, breaking into a jog to catch up with his spiky haired little friend. "I'm sorry about that, Cloud." He grinned. "You're just too much fun to tease."
Cloud paused for a moment, they slowly raised his head. "Still gonna help me take these to Kunsel?"
"Yep," Zack answered, patting Cloud's shoulder roughly as they started down the staircase. "Only if you come to the Materia Lab with me."
Cloud was silent. "I'll wait outside if you go in there."
Zack cracked up, his loud laughter echoing down the hall. "Noo way. You're comin' in."
They turned down the next hallway, now back among the crowds of people in Shinra. Zack and Cloud kept their eyes out for Kunsel as they weaved around the crowd.
Zack still couldn't believe that Cloud was afraid of the old materia lab. He actually thought it was haunted. The more he thought about it, the more curious he became. As soon as they found Kunsel, he was going to get Angeal to sneak them into the lab.
Zack turned around to look at Cloud, and noticed that his face had turned a deep shade of red. His eyes were fixed on something down the hall.
"Cloud?" Zack asked. "What're you – ohhh."
Walking briskly towards the opposite side of the hallway was Sephiroth. He looked rather annoyed as Genesis followed closely next to him, spouting off his usual nonsense about LOVELESS.
"Heyy!" Zack ran over to Sephiroth, and Cloud's eyes widened. He wasn't sure if he should stay where he was or follow Zack over to where HE was standing.
"What do you want?" Sephiroth demanded, fixing his cold stare on Zack. It seemed he was still pissed from earlier. Genesis continued to ramble on about LOVELESS as Sephiroth and Zack tuned him out.
"D'you know anything about that old materia lab on the fifth floor?" Zack asked casually, drowning out Genesis's rambling. Genesis seemed too involved in his LOVELESS speech to notice.
"The only thing I know is that no one is permitted in the lab without special permission from the Director." Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"Nothin'," Zack asked innocently. Darn it. "My buddy Cloud here says he heard it's haunted." Zack gestured with his arm. Sephiroth turned his head to the side, puzzled.
Zack glanced back to where he thought Cloud was standing, and realized he was not there. "Huh?" he whirled around to find Cloud cowering behind him, his face still red. "Oh. There you are."
"Why where you hiding behind Zackary, Cadet?" Sephiroth inquired, and Cloud thought he was going to faint. He-he talked to me! The General talked to me! Woww…
"I-I-," Could stammered, and Sephiroth held his hand in front of Cloud's rosy face.
"One moment," Sephiroth interrupted, then turned to glare at Genesis who was, yes, still babbling endlessly about LOVELESS. "Genesis."
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
Zack suppressed his laughter as Genesis sulked off down the hallway, his head hanging low. Zack wished he had the authority to tell Genesis off like that.
Sephiroth turned his attention back to Cloud, who had begun to tremble.
"You were saying, Cadet?" Sephiroth's cool gaze held Cloud in a trace. He tried to get the words out, but he was too transfixed on Sephiroth's presence for his brain to function normally.
"I-um," he squeaked out, still locked in Sephiroth's gaze. Zack couldn't help but crack a grin. Cloud was so cute when he was embarrassed. It hadn't taken Zack too long to catch on to Could's secret crush. Cloud went into some kind of trance whenever he was within ten feet of Sephiroth.
Cloud managed to break away from Sephiroth's intoxicating stare as he caught Kunsel walking down the hall away from them.
"Cloud!" Zack exclaimed, grabbing his flustered friend's shoulders, "There's Kunsel! Go get him." He whirled Cloud around and gave him a push towards Kunsel to help start him on his way.
Zack watched as Cloud began stumbling towards Kunsel, still in shock from his encounter with Sephiroth. Zack spun around to face Sephiroth again. He knew he had done his little embarrassed friend a favor.
Sephiroth sighed. "I don't mean to be rude, Zackary, but I have a meeting to attend now." And with that, Sephiroth turned on his heel and made his way towards the other end of the hallway, his long silvery hair flowing behind him. Yeah. Still pissed.
Zack grinned. "'Bye, Seph!" He screamed down the hall, and many Shinra employees whirled around to see who had dared to call Sephiroth by his forbidden nickname. Sephiroth whirled around angrily, and Zack half-expected to see daggers flying from his menacing glare. Zack waved wildly and darted down the hall towards Cloud. Kunsel was now heading in the opposite direction, the stack of flyers now clutched in his hands.
"Sooo," Zack started, "Wanna go look for Angeal?"
Cloud stared up at Zack disapprovingly. "You heard the General. We're not allowed in." Cloud's face had cooled down to its normal shade.
"Oh, c'mon," Zack threw his arm around Cloud's shoulder, "Angeal can sneak us in no problem. Seph wouldn't know. I bet he was bluffing anyway. He's probably still mad at me from earlier."
Cloud didn't get a chance to ask Zack what he had done to anger his beloved General. Suddenly Zack's face lit up and he took off down the hallway, dodging several bulky SOLDIERs in the process.
"Angeal!" Zack screamed, flailing his arms. "Angeeaal!"
Angeal glanced up from a conversation he was having with Genesis to watch Zack and Cloud scrambling down the hall towards him.
"Angeeaaaal! Angeeeeaaal!" Zack hollered as he came to a halt in front of Angeal, grinning. Zack loved dragging Angeal's name out. It was fun, and it also annoyed the hell out of Angeal. A two in one deal.
"Angeeeeaaaaaaal-"
"Shut UP!" Angeal growled. "Dammit! What do you want?"
"I was wondering if-" Zack paused to glare at Genesis, who was watching them intently. "D'you mind?"
Genesis sighed and trudged off down the hallway.
"Anyway," Zack continued, his voice slightly more quiet, "I wanted to know if you could get us into the old materia lab up on the fifth floor."
Angeal raised his eyebrows. "What the hell for?"
"'Cause," Zack explained, "I'm trying to prove to Cloud that it's not haunted."
Angeal burst out laughing. "Ahaha! Haunted!" he cried. Zack and Cloud waited several moments before Angeal finally calmed down.
Suddenly Angeal face turned serious as he looked Zack straight in the eye. "Of course it's haunted."
What the heck was that about? Zack wondered. "No way." He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"It's true, man," Angeal protested. "I went up there with Kunsel a few years ago. He stole a card key from Lazard after he heard all these rumors about it. It's really creepy."
"What happened?" Cloud squeaked nervously.
"Well," Angeal began his story, "We were walking around the lab and checking everything out when these books and other stuff started flying around. It was scary, man. We ran like hell outta there. Kunsel was about ready to piss himself."
"Thanks for sharing."
"Shut up, Zack."
"You still got the card key?" Zack asked impatiently. Now he really wanted to see the old Materia Lab.
"Um…," Angeal dug his hands into his pockets, pulling out dozens of card keys. "Let me check."
"Geez, Angeal! How many card keys do you need?" Zack wondered aloud.
"Shh! Why are you so effin' loud, Zack?" Angeal growled, glaring at him. "I'm not even supposed to have all these. Keep it down or – oh, here it is." He held a worn-looking card key out to Zack and Cloud.
"Sweet!" Zack grabbed the card key from Angeal. Cloud opened his mouth to protest, but didn't say anything.
"Just be careful," Angeal warned. "I heard it gets like, f---ing nuts in there at night. Genesis said he heard someone moaning or something when he walked by one time."
"It'll be fine," Zack assured him, pocketing the card key. "Right, Cloud?" Cloud whimpered in reply.
"I dunno, Zack. Maybe we shouldn't." Cloud answered softly after a few moments. Zack rolled his eyes and sighed.
"I gotta go. Outta coffee," Angeal muttered, staring down at his empty mug in disappointment. "Watch yourself in the lab, man. There's some freaky stuff going on in there."
"Don't worry," Zack grinned. "See ya around."
"Later," Angeal replied as he headed for Lazard's office to mooch another cup of coffee off of him. Lazard always had good coffee. Damn good coffee.
"C'mon, Cloud. Let's go," Zack grabbed Cloud's wrist and hauled him off towards the lab before he could protest.
Several minutes later, they arrived in front of the materia lab. Zack dug the card key out of his pocket. He brushed a thin layer of dust from the door's scanner and swiped the card. The screen turned green after a moment and the scanner beeped a few times. A few seconds later the lock clicked open, and Zack let himself inside.
As Zack stepped into the lab, the lights clicked on slowly overhead, giving the room and eerie dim glow. Dust coated every inch of the room in a thin, dirty sheet. All the equipment in the lab looked outdated as it sat unused in various spots of the room. Cobwebs dangled from the light fixtures overhead, swaying lightly in the breeze of the air that flowed into the room.
"Whoa," Zack gasped as his eyes rested on a charred corner of the room. "That must have been where the accident happened."
"Can't we go now?" Cloud whined from the doorway. There was no way in hell he was going to step foot in that lab.
"Cloud, you gotta toughen up." Zack rolled his eyes. "Nothing's happened yet. Right?" Cloud didn't reply. "Oh, c'mon, Cloud."
"No way!" Cloud shook his head violently, his blonde spiky hair bouncing. "I wanna leave."
"Aww, you're no fun," Zack sulked in exaggeration. "It's not haunted, Cloud."
"But you heard Commander Hewley!" Cloud protested. "I don't like it here, Zack. I'm leaving." Cloud disappeared from the doorway and began to make his way back down the hall.
"You're such a wimp sometimes, Cloud," Zack called to him, immediately wishing he hadn't said his thoughts aloud.
Cloud whirled around angrily. "Oh yeah? Well – I bet you couldn't last a whole night in here."
Zack could sense a challenge. "I probably could." Now things were getting interesting.
"Fine then," Cloud retorted, "I dare you to stay in this materia lab for one whole night."
"Okay," Zack answered eagerly, "And what do I get when I win?"
"If you win." Cloud corrected him. "If you lose, then…you have to show everyone at Shinra that picture of you at the party last week."
Zack's eyes bulged. "You-you mean-"
"Yeah. That one." Cloud smirked. "And you have to explain what happened."
Zack gulped. This was getting serious. That embarrassing picture of him lay under lock and key back at Zack's place. He had drunk one too many cocktails at the last Shinra party and…things had gotten a little crazy. Let's just leave it at that.
"That's sort of intense, don't you think?" Zack asked, trying not to sound as if he were backing out of the challenge.
"I thought the lab wasn't haunted," Cloud reminded him, crossing his arms. "So what's the problem?"
Oh yeah. Zack suddenly felt confident again. Who was he kidding? There was nothing that Zack the Unstoppable couldn't do. Hence the self-appointed nickname. There was no way he could lose the bet. And that embarrassing party photo of him would never have to see the light of day again.
"Well," Zack began, sounding more like his over-confident self, "What happens if you lose?" Cloud's eyes widened. He hadn't thought about this part of the deal.
"Hmm…," Zack thought for a few moments. Then the perfect punishment came to his mind. Something so outrageous and embarrassing that Cloud would never make a bet against him again. He grinned mischievously, and Cloud knew he was in trouble.
"If I win," Zack threw his arm around Cloud, "Then you have to write Sephiroth a love note."
Cloud's face glowed red as his eyes widened. "What? But – I – I don't-"
"Cloud," Zack sighed, "I know all about your secret crush on Seph. You couldn't take your eyes away from him back there. If I hadn't sent you off to Kunsel, you would have started drooling."
"But – no!" Cloud stammered. "I can't write him a l-l-love note."
"Nope," Zack paid no attention to Cloud's protests. "If I have to show that photo to everyone, then you have to write a love note to Sephiroth. It's only fair."
Cloud pouted and pulled away from Zack's arm, his face still a deep red. "But – but – but – I don't want the General to find out that I – I -," he protested, but Zack cut his stammering off.
"And I don't want anyone seeing that picture. If I have to do something embarrassing like that, then so do you."
Cloud was silent. He couldn't believe the mess he had just gotten himself into. How could he have been so stupid as to make a bet with Zack? Now look what would happen. The last thing Cloud wanted was for the General to know about his secret crush. And to make things worse, he would have to write a love note to him…
"Well?" Zack crossed his arms. "Do we have a deal?"
Cloud thought for a moment. If he backed out, then Zack would never let it go. He had to stick to the bet. But what if he lost? Cloud knew he would die of embarrassment if Sephiroth were to find out about his feelings.
But what if Zack lost? That lab was haunted. Cloud was sure of it. There was no way that Zack would be able to win the bet.
"Let me get this straight," Cloud started, making sure he understood the bet. "You have to stay in the old materia lab for one whole night. If you cave in and leave, then you have to show that picture to everyone at Shinra."
"Right," Zack agreed, "But if I make it through the night, then you have to write Seph a love note."
Cloud gulped. "R-right."
"Well then," Zack held his hand out, "Do we have a deal?"
Cloud reached out his trembling hand. He paused for a moment, then firmly shook Zack's hand. "Deal."
"Awesome," Zack grinned. "I'll stay in there tonight. No problem."
This story got much longer than I thought it would so I figured I would split it up into 2 chapters. Thanks so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. The new chapter is up now!