Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot bunnies it took to come up with this half-assed idea for a fic.
(This takes place a couple months after Advent Children)
This is a yaoi! Don't like, then don't read!
Main pairing: CloudxReno, Reno, Cloud
Chapter 1: Breaking Down
Degrade: The complete and slow breaking down of the mind and body; to deteriorate.
That about sums it up. Reno let a sigh escape his lips. How the hell did this even happen in the first place, he wondered.
It had started a couple days ago. He had just gotten off of a mission and wanted to celebrate by drowning out those unwanted memories. Just because he was a shinra lapdog and did all of shinra's dirty work, does not mean that he had to like doing it. Getting rid of some of the ex-scientists just happened to be one of those jobs. There had been a recent set of attacks from experimental monsters created by said ex-scientists. So, Reno and Rude found themselves tracking down and permanently shutting down those mad scientists. The mission itself was a success, albeit a little bloody. Afterwards, Reno wanted nothing more than to down those memories in booze.
A little past three in the morning found him stumbling drunkenly down the streets of the Midgar slums. As he was "walking" he heard a small shuffling noise to his left, but he paid it no mind. Probably just a stray cat; the slums were full of them. Unfortunately, this lapse in judgment cost him dearly. The next moment he felt a sharp, searing pain in his head and then he succumbed to darkness.
A groan escaped his lips as he came 'round. Through bleary eyes, he tried to focus where he was. He was strapped down on a lab table. To his left many syringe needles and various utensils glistened on a table next to him. He tried to break from the binds, but to no avail. He heard chuckling and slowly turned to face the source.
There stood a man with long black hair, tied at the base of his neck in a pony tail. Glasses dawned his face, his cold eyes gleamed evilly at him. Finally a lab coat finished the "crazed scientist" look.
Reno gulped. He recognized that face anywhere. But it was impossible! Hojo was dead! He and the Turks let Avalanche kill the sick bastard!
"H-How?"
Hojo smirked. "You didn't honestly think that Hollander was the only one who could clone people did you? That pathetic excuse for a scientist wouldn't know the difference between ancient cells and animal cells!"
"So wha' does this hafta do wit' me, yo?" Reno had an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach that he didn't really want to know what Hojo planned to do with him.
"Why I thought Turks were smarter than SOLDIER" Hojo sighed. "I plan to do a little experiment with you. Now I know Turks are given a few mako-enhancements when they are inducted, though not as much mako-enhancements as SOLDIER. Therefore, I will need to give you more in order for you, my subject, to survive my theories."
He knew it. Though knowing that he was indeed going to be tested on did nothing to ease his inner turmoil. If anything, it made him struggle even harder against his restraints. All efforts proved futile, and he finally slumped down.
Watching this made Hojo laugh. It was a harsh sound in the still quiet room.
"Now my test subject, this will hurt, so just sit back and enjoy." The twisted smile returned to Hojo's face.
Reno glared at him with disgust.
He tried to lean as far away from the needles as he could.
Hojo tsked at his attempts and swiftly injected him with three syringes full of mako.
Reno screamed as he felt the mako burning through his veins. The pain intensified. A light sweat started to break on his forehead.
He felt his vision turning dark. He was going to pass out into blissful darkness. A sharp stabbing pain on his face snapped him back to focus. He stared up at Hojo hatefully.
"I can't have you falling asleep on me. You need to stay conscious while I perform my theories."
It was at that point that Reno steeled himself for more pain. He knew how to handle torture; Tseng made all the Turks resistant to torture by building up a tolerance for pain. This was to prevent any Turks, who were captured, from giving up information.
He wouldn't make another sound; he refused to give Hojo the satisfaction.
He lost track of time. It felt like years, but could only be hours or days. He was poked, prodded, and cut up by Hojo's sick fantasy. A few times Hojo would quit in order to eat or to rest for the night, in which Reno was able to allow himself a few precious hours of sleep.
Hojo would then commence his work.
Obviously Reno's lack of presence would alert the other Turks. Reno just hoped they'd arrive in time.
All the while Hojo would ramble about a "project G" and how it was inferior to his Sephiroth project. Although both projects failed, supposedly Hojo was trying to improve his project a bit. He was trying to create a better more perfect "Sephiroth" for lack of a better word. His attempts with Zack and Cloud had failed, as well as the three remnants. Hojo was positive he isolated the defect and he wanted to test it out on Reno.
Hojo wasn't finished with Cloud. He would get his perfect SOLDIER! His plan was to create to solution that isolated the defect and destroyed it in Cloud. He knew he wouldn't be able to capture Cloud, so this was the next best thing. He would inject the solution in Reno and also purposefully cause Reno to start to degrade. Cloud, the sole survivor of this project and the only one who hadn't degraded had the cure for Reno's degradation inside of him.
Hojo told Reno that he was degrading and that his only chance of canceling the degradation effect was to consummate with Cloud.
Reno also knowing that by saving his own life, he would be condemning the world to death. Bringing about another Sephiroth -a perfect Sephiroth- would ensure that.
However there was a slight chance that even if he and Cloud were to mate, that Hojo's solution would fail. The guy IS crazy afterall!
When Hojo was just finishing up his 4th day of work, Tseng, Rude and Elena had busted into the room. Their reactions were delayed a bit at seeing Hojo alive in front of them. Tseng was the first one to snap out of it and quickly fired at the already retreating form of Hojo. One shot and he was down, but Reno wasn't fooled. He knew that Hojo had just been a clone. The real slime-ball was hiding out safe and far away from this abandoned warehouse. Rude quickly untied his partner and picked him up. They did a quick survey of the room before leaving. Tseng would come back later to investigate what the scientist was doing.
Reno knew that as soon as he was bandaged up, he'd have a lot of explaining to do. For now though, he'd just let his family take him home, and with that last thought, he allowed himself to succumb to sleep.
A/N: well what d'ya think? Like it? Hate it? Please review! T.T pwease?