Final Fantasy VII
Rebirth
After a very long time, I've recovered from…well…not having a computer to write on! My old computer really took a crash, and it's been like that since August of '06. Finally, though, my mom saved enough money to buy another computer, and I'm back and (hopefully) better than ever. Some of you, if you're a fan of my (sadly) only complete fan fic, or maybe even my other incomplete ones, may be familiar with my work and how I do things.
I've authored several fics, but, as mentioned earlier, only one got finished. It was Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Looking back on that fic, although it did well, I sort of wish that I had done some things better. I wish that I had developed more personalities for the characters, or at least personalities that fit the ones on the video games. The hardest thing about writing is to do that, and it really doesn't help when you have almost a dozen characters to watch over (every protagonist from every RE 0-4, and Code Veronica was involved, not to mention the handful of bad guys). But if you want to check that out, feel free. I also authored a short-lived, but well-liked fic (in my mind, anyways) called Metal Gear Solid: Untold Mission. For not finishing that, I say sorry, but the inspiration simply left. I also had two Final Fantasy IX fics, but each took a nose dive and I didn't go any further on those after the first couple of chapters.
But enough about the past, time to look at the present and future. I started to write this fic because of reading Big Trouble in Little Wutai, and its prequel Schism, both authored by Mendge. They are great fics if you love Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 10, or even if you don't love those two games, the two stories are still awesome. You don't have to be a fan to appreciate a good work. But as I said, I wrote this because I was inspired by Mendge's fics, and inspired by the love I have for FF7, which is my very first game – ever. I'll spare you from the story but it goes like this, the PS1 was my dads, we shared it, and he had Crash Bandicoot. I had FF7.
Anyways, this story takes place, as mentioned in the summary, only days after Advent Children (the movie). Anything in Dirge of Cerberus (Vincent's action game) is irrelevant (while I'm not taking anything away from its storyline that would just further complicate everything, since I really didn't totally grasp its entirety to be truthful). I just want to tell you to please review, as that is how I know people like the story. I'll try to post a new chapter two times a week. Sunday, and Wednesday, but depending on school and my own personal life, the updates may only come once a week. I'll tell you now, that I really haven't mapped out the entire story (I'm not that kind of writer, I just flow with the ideas that come) but I do have a specific plot designed so as to keep the story on track.
The main thing that I want to tell you all is to share your criticisms. As mentioned before, character development is important to me since it's so essential to a story that I cannot stress it enough. If you're reading, and you think 'Cloud wouldn't do that', then tell me. I would love to get every character's personality down to perfection, down to how they walk and breathe (but I'm not going into too much detail on all the characters in this chapter, since it mainly focuses on Cloud and Tifa.) Also, I know that my writing is not nearly as good as, say, Mendge's (as he is an inspiration for my writing), so please share your criticisms on that, too. I love to write, and currently I'm working on creating my own novels which I hope to publish one day, so please tell me what I am doing right and wrong. Not in every review, but every now and then, tell me what you think. If I get a bit sloppy, let me know. Quality is important to you readers as much as to me.
Uh…oh yeah! I need to include a Disclaimer, so here it is! Final Fantasy VII, the characters, the story, the game, and pretty much everything related to it are owned by Square-Enix and not me. However, any original plot or characters included in this fic DO belong to me and no one else can use 'em 'cause I'm stingy. Haha. (Unless Square-Enix wants to pay me to use them, then that'll be fine too)
Alright enough with all the talking. On to the story. Enjoy!
Chapter I
The Seventh Heaven Bar was somewhat quiet today, probably because of the events that occurred just two days ago. Edge had been shown a 'good time' as Cid had joked just after the battle with the Bahamut creature, and indeed it had. Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj managed to wreak enough havoc to keep the citizens of Edge on, well, edge, for awhile. Other then that, though, everyone was just fine. The officials reported only two deaths and several injuries during the battles that ensued in Edge. All in all, though, the ex-Midgar citizens were willing to continue pushing forward.
The sound of glass clinking, and the two ceiling fans whirling, along with the chatter from the very few people inside, was all that could be heard. Barret was sitting at the bar, explaining in dramatic exaggerations the battle with the Bahamut creature to a pretty young woman. Cid was beside him, contradicting everything he said in a somewhat jokingly manner, smoking a cigarette all the while. Red XIII was outside on the doorstep, and maybe that was what was keeping people out, but the regulars knew better then to fear the red wolf. Vincent was sitting in a dark corner, silently watching the events inside the bar unfold with a blank expression on his sharp features. Yuffie was sitting amongst the only two people that weren't part of the AVALANCHE group, two men in their forties maybe, as Cait Sith entertained the men with a few jokes and less-then accurate fortune-telling.
From behind the bar, a rag and glass in hand, Tifa watched the people inside of her bar. Upstairs, Denzel and Marlene were playing. After drying the glass, Tifa set it under the bar and then approached Cid, Barret, and the young lady.
"…So I shot that bastard up." Barret was just getting done with showing off his mechanical arm. Although Shin-Ra was pretty much a sworn enemy of AVALANCHE, as a sort of peace amendment, the young President presented Barret with the highly mechanical appendage that would replace Barret's old gun-arm with a transformable machine gun/prosthetic forearm and hand. Rufus Shin-Ra had said something about the converting from an artificial hand to a weapon was all controlled by the muscles in Barret's upper arm. Truthfully, not even Barret understood how it worked.
"Bull – shit!" Cid countered, taking a long drag from his cigarette. "That ain't even how it happened. If I remember right, your gun jammed up, and we had to save your ass from that thing every time we took our eyes off of you. Look here, ma'am, I'm the real hero." Cid flexed his arm, his bicep, although well-shaped, was nothing compared to the tree-trunk arms and body that Barret possessed. "I took my spear and plunged right down into that things skull! Weakened it so my buddies could finish it off." Cid took another drag of his cigarette, blowing smoke rings as he continued. "Personally, I don't like to hog the limelight. Given the chance, that big fella on your right would hog the light in no time," Then he nudged her and whispered, "Not too hard for him to do anyways, is it?" Cid snorted and the girl giggled.
"Wanna' say something old man?" Barret growled.
"Yer not so young, neither, big guy." Cid retorted with a snicker.
Tifa laughed silently. The two of them argued a bit from time to time, as they had the biggest ego's in all of AVALANCHE, and couldn't help but butt heads sometimes. But deep down, she knew they respected each other and would gladly fight alongside or for one another, just like every other member of AVALANCHE. Tifa used to think that, in some way, AVALANCHE was a family. Not anymore. Now, Tifa knew that AVALACHE was a family. And even though AVALANCHE was filled with some quite strange characters, they were all good people in their own way.
"Bottom line is that I was the guy that weakened that sonuvabitch, and that's that." Barret declared.
"Pffft." Was Cid's response to Barret as he smashed his cigarette into the bar counter without really thinking.
"Hey!" Tifa exclaimed from behind Cid, both men and the woman surprised to see her there. Tifa put the cigarette in the ash tray and produced a rag from her back pocket which she wiped the counter with.
"Oops. Sorry, Tifa, I wasn't thinking." Cid said sincerely.
Barret took this as his cue to crack a joke. He nudged the girl and with a grin said, "He don't do much of that."
"I heard that." Cid murmured.
"Would you two stop nagging!" Tifa said with a chuckle.
A shadow appeared in the open doorway. The figure stepped forward, bootsteps heavy and loud through the quiet bar. A cluster of bristly blonde hair shone briefly under a light as he passed under it. The hilt of a sword that rested on his back glimmered too, and as did the mans earring and shoulder guard on his left shoulder, hanging buckles from his pants also shone in the light briefly, his whole form seeming to shine for a split second. Cloud Strife had arrived from delivering to the old man at the Chocobo Ranch.
After the incident involving Kadaj and his gang – and ultimately Sephiroth reincarnate – Cloud, miraculously did not skip a beat. The very next day he traveled to Kalm, albeit Kalm wasn't very far, to deliver a few goods, and left early this morning to reach the Chocobo Ranch by noon. Cloud seated himself at the bar, and was silent until Tifa approached him and greeted him with a smile.
"How's business?" Cloud asked, crossing and resting his arms on the bar.
Tifa shrugged and grabbed a glass from under the counter. "This is the fullest it's been all day." Tifa filled the glass with ice and water, and then handed it to Cloud who took it gratefully. "What about you? How'd it go?"
After drinking half of the glasses contents, Cloud started. "I ran into a few monsters," Then he made a gesture with his hand toward the First Tsurugi, "But it wasn't really a problem. Where's Denzel?"
"Upstairs with Marlene, they've been playing for awhile now."
Cloud downed the rest of the water, and when he rose out of his seat, he found all eyes on him. He gave nods to Barret and Cid, and waves to the rest. Red XIII had come into the bar; Yuffie and Cait Sith had stopped their antics. Cloud looked back to Tifa, who was the only one who didn't seem particularly interested in every move he made. "They're still worried about me…" Cloud murmured to himself, Tifa didn't catch it.
"Hey, ain't you the guy that killed that monster?" The girl that was sitting between Cid and Barret had been the one to speak. "Yeah! It was you!" Barret and Cid protested, but not in their interest.
Without a word, Cloud turned and walked behind the bar and ascended the stairs to the second floor. To the left was an open door that led into a small office. On the lone desk was a mess of papers, a telephone, and above all else, a picture of himself, Tifa, and Denzel. Turning to the right, there were stairs that Cloud ascended. At the very top was another open door, this one led to Denzel's room. The top step squeaked as Cloud passed over it, but Denzel and Marlene were too enveloped in their game of dice to notice. For several moments, Cloud stood in the doorway and watched as the two exchanged rolls, exchanged cheers, and exchanged small, joking comments.
Finally, as Denzel was about to roll the dice, he looked up. "Cloud!" Denzel jumped to his feet and ran into Cloud's arms. With strong arms, Cloud lifted Denzel off of the floor. Marlene was looking at Cloud was a happy face.
"Hello Marlene."
"Hi, Cloud!" Marlene responded, pushing herself to her feet and walking over to him.
Cloud put Denzel down and leaned against the door facing. "What are you playing?"
"A game that daddy taught us." Marlene explained. Cloud could only imagine what it was.
"Yeah? Show me."
Marlene and Denzel led Cloud over to where they were playing in the floor. Cloud took a seat on Denzel's bed and watched. They were playing a very simple game often used for gambling, very popular in the Slums of Midgar. The game consisted of two die, a pair for each player. The game was usually played with four people to make it more exciting and too up-the-ante. One player would roll both die, and the next would try to beat that roll. The two best rolls were two sixes – twelve – and two ones – Snake Eyes – which was a definite win for the roller. As mentioned before, this was a very simple game and it didn't take very much skill to play.
"See? See?" Marlene said excitedly. "I just won!"
Denzel picked up the dice and snorted, "Yeah, just that round." He rolled. A two and a three. Marlene rolled. A five and one. Marlene mocked Denzel, Denzel fake laughed and they continued playing.
"You know, this is a gambling game." Cloud said as he watched Marlene just barely win her third round in a row.
"Yeah, we know." Denzel said, irritated at his third loss.
Cloud laughed quietly. "Then what are you gambling on?"
"Nothing." Marlene said simply, rolling again. A frown came across her face when her streak was broken by her roll of two threes, as opposed to Denzel's roll of a six and two. "We don't want to lose our money."
"Yeah, we're both saving up our allowances so we can buy a materia."
Cloud's small shadow of a grin faded. "Materia? For what?"
"Just so we can have it." Marlene responded.
"We'll have to talk about that." Cloud replied. "It's not as simple as Barret makes it look." Cloud said to Marlene. Denzel stuck his tongue out at Marlene, but before he could comment, Cloud turned to him and said, "That means you, too."
"Ah! Cloud! Why?" Denzel complained, lying his dice down. "You and Tifa do it all the time!"
"But we're different." Cloud frowned. "Look, don't worry about it right now. How much gil do you each have?"
"Twenty." Marlene said. "We've been saving for awhile."
Cloud nodded. "Well you won't have to worry about material for awhile, so how about we have this talk later when you two get the money together?" There were no objections. "Alright, then, let's play. Do you have some extra dice?" Asked Cloud as he took a seat, forming a triangle between the three of them.
Denzel got up and retrieved two extra die from his dresser. When he came back to Cloud and Marlene, he was surprised to see that ten gil were now in front of Cloud, Marlene, and where Denzel had been sitting.
"We'll play for real, and after we're done, you two can split up the gil fifty-fifty." Cloud announced, taking his dice and rattling them in his hand.
Denzel and Marlene agreed excitedly and Cloud took the first roll.
Elena had fallen asleep long ago, her head resting against the door of Tseng's convertible, which was more of a company car then actually Tseng's. Rude was sitting up front, in familiar silence. As always, his shades were on, as were his gloves and his many piercings. Tseng was driving, also in silence as he watched where he was going, so as to not hit any of the boulders that were scattered along the Midgar Wastelands.
Impatient as hell, Reno let out a very loud, very exasperated and much exaggerated sigh that woke Elena from her sleep and made the ever-silent Rude grunt. Reno couldn't stand much to be cooped up in one area for long, and his fellow Turk's knew that all so well, even his boss who did not usually trail along with them knew that Reno was constantly on the move. The only exception to that was when Reno was at a bar, because there was nothing he enjoyed more than a good drink.
All four of them were off duty, but only he and Elena decided to go in 'civilian clothes'. While Rude and Tseng stayed in their unblemished suits, Reno was quite comfortable in a pair of loose fit jeans and a white button up with white undershirt. Elena also wore blue jeans, and a sleeveless black shirt.
"You two are really a pair of stiffs, you know that?"
Reno could see Tseng looking at him in his rear-view mirror. No emotion, however, was detectable in his boss's expression. "We are professional, Reno." He said it very flatly.
"And I'm not? How many people did I have to –" Reno stopped when Tseng narrowed his eyes. They didn't talk about their jobs while on leave. "Look, all I'm saying is that after wearing that damn suit twenty-four-seven, a pair of jeans and a button up sounds really good." What Reno didn't understand, was that Tseng and Rude's suits had become part of them, part of their personality. Elena's had too, as did Reno's, but they both shared the same mindset – it was vacation, and they might as well take full advantage of it.
Several moments, later, a black form was on the horizon.
"There it is," Reno observed. "Home sweet home." He said dryly.
The ruined form of what was left of the Shin-Ra building came into view. The large twenty-foot high gates that surrounded the entire perimeter were shattered, the once-bulletproof glass not able to withstand the heat from Meteor two years ago. The very few buildings that could be seen from this vantage point were also crumbling heavily, a reminder of the destruction that took place two years ago. In a sense, the destruction of Midgar, and the slow crumbling of Shin-Ra's power, all started on the very day that Cloud and his AVALANCHE buddies decided to attack the Mako Reactor. Reno forgot what number Reactor it was. Didn't really give a shit, actually.
Mako, though, was a thing of the past. Shin-Ra, too, almost disappeared, but after the crumbling of Midgar, Rufus found a way to reestablish a strong economic base for Shin-Ra to fall back on. Being the richest man in the world didn't make that a hard task. The Northern Crater had long been a sort of base for the Shin-Ra ever since Meteor. The tunnels, passages, and all else were now filled with people, airship docks, small structures, and the like. Slowly, the Northern Crater was being formed into one large building made of a combination of earth and metal. But until that project was done, Junon was decidedly the Shin-Ra HQ, although Rufus operated many things from his vacationing home on the outskirts of Edge in Healin.
As they passed Midgar, many things flashed through the heads of the Turks. Since the first meeting that they had with AVALANCHE, slowly, but surely, the two groups developed less of a grudge for the other. Any grudge, however that the Turks had against AVALANCHE was purely business, and any grudge that AVALANCHE had for the Turks were simply born from the hatred that AVALANCHE had for Shin-Ra. It never really was personal. The two years following the fall of Midgar, however, had brought around a new friendship. With Shin-Ra turning their programs around in favor of the planet, and establishing the World Regenesis Organization and funding the organization, AVALANCHE and the Turks found themselves working side-by-side during the construction of Edge. There really was no friction between the two groups anymore, and Reno, personally, preferred it that way. AVALANCHE was just a band of people that you shouldn't mess with, that was something he couldn't take away from them.
Reno put his head back, the wind manipulating his fiery red hair. From the corner of his eye, Reno could see Elena looking at him. "What?" He said, turning to look at her fully, he then saw that she was laughing.
"You're still wearing those goofy goggles."
Reno frowned. "And you're still…" Reno looked over her for something to say, and when he found nothing he finished by saying: "Rude still wears his glasses. And Tseng still wears his suit. My goggles are a part of me."
Surprisingly enough, Rude spoke. "Hypocrite."
"Huh?"
Tseng was laughing, catching onto Rude's comment faster than Reno had. "You just got done ridiculing us for what we wear."
Reno mocked Tseng after his words had sunk in. "I need a drink." Reno drawled after a moment. "How much longer?"
"A few." Tseng replied. Edge was located south of the Midgar ruins, right along the Midgarian Mountains. Their destination, though, was past Edge, in Healin on the western shore. Rufus wanted them to escort him to Edge for reasons he wouldn't reveal.
Reno turned to Elena. "Ellie, you're quieter than Rude. What's up?"
Elena looked at him, confused. "If you noticed, you're the only one talking."
Reno smirked. "Yeah, I'm the only one alive here."
First Tsurugi wasn't a light piece of steel. The blades that made it up equaled out to possibly more than his Buster Sword had weighed. Cloud leaned the blade against the wall as he walked into the office and walked past the desk that had the 'family' photo on it. Cloud kneeled down next to a safe at the far wall and put in the combination, 33-7-19, the safe door slid open smoothly. Inside were sacks of gil piled one atop the other, a total of around two dozen small bags. Cloud reached into his back pocket and produced another sack of gil, which he threw inside, the coins clanging as he did so. Cloud closed the door and stood up. When he turned around, Tifa was standing in the doorway. Cloud said nothing; he waited for Tifa to speak, as something was obviously on her mind.
"Is something wrong?" She finally queried.
Cloud shook his head. "No why?"
Tifa frowned. "You just walked away down there."
Cloud matched Tifa's expression and walked forward. "I'm not a hero. Never was." Cloud motioned with his hand as if to dismiss the thought. "I'm just like anyone else."
Tifa really had nothing to say to that, and instead she embraced him. Cloud really didn't know how to react. His arms were limp at his sides for several moments before he finally brought them up to return the embrace. It was more a pat on Tifa's back than anything.
"I'm going to go for a ride…" He announced quietly. "I'll be back before night."
Tifa had no choice but to agree. She wasn't his mother, after all. As Cloud exited the room, quick to remember to bring along First Tsurugi, Tifa reflected on the events of the last few days. When Sephiroth was defeated – for the second time, a feat no man or woman should ever have to go through even once – Cloud seemed to be a little bit different. Different, though, for Cloud, meant cheerful. He smiled a lot more after that, and in fact, the smile that he gave everyone from the pool of water in Aerith's church was the first real one in days. But the same night, during a dinner that Tifa and the rest of AVALANCHE planned as a sort of celebration, Cloud fell back into his normal ways. After a toast to him, Cloud fell silent, barely able to force a grin after that.
Then there was the incident several minutes ago, in which Cloud responded much the same to, except this time he simply walked away. It was like he despised getting any recognition for what he has done to help others, like he was scared of it for some reason. Often times, Tifa found herself worried about Cloud, but this was not one of those times. Cloud was just Cloud again, and she couldn't expect him to be anything else.
When she left the office, closing the door gently behind her, a voice from upstairs was calling her. "Tifa! Wanna' play Eagle with me and Marlene?" It was Denzel at the top of the steps, in his bedroom doorway.
Tifa cocked her head to the side. Eagle was an old gambling game that slummers – including herself and the initial members of AVALANCHE – would play in Midgar. How 'Eagle' came to be called 'Eagle' was beyond her, it just seemed like regular old dice to her. "Eagle? How'd you two learn to play that?"
"Marlene's dad taught us." Denzel responded nonchalantly.
Tifa grinned. "He did, huh?" Tifa put her hands on her hips and started up the steps. "Gambling isn't a good thing, Denzel, you know that right?"
"Yeah. Cloud and Barret both said to just play it in private, and not to get too addicted to it or something. How can you get addicted to dice, anyways?"
Tifa laughed, "You'll understand after playing a few more games." Tifa stopped and added with a frown: "Especially once you lose a couple hundred gil to it." She remembered a time when a man in the old Seventh Heaven bar challenged Barret to a game. Barret was losing badly, and continued to fish out more gil from his pockets until the man had won everything that Barret had. Barret, being his usually self, unsurprisingly upended the table and chased the man around the bar. To make a long story –which consisted of many curses, many thrown chairs, and even more upended tables – short, the man never came back to the bar.
Denzel didn't seem interested in what Tifa had to say, as his eyes seemed distant. When she was done, he motioned for Tifa to sit. "Come on, we'll all play. Cloud even gave us some gil we can play with."
Tifa sat and as Marlene separated the gil evenly, she asked jokingly, "Do I get to keep what I win?"
"No!" Both children protested. "Cloud said we can keep the gil!"
Tifa laughed at their response and raised her hands as if to say she surrendered. "Okay, okay. I was just asking."
"Now here's the rules…" Denzel started, obviously unaware that Tifa knew how to play it. Tifa listened intently, sort of surprised to hear Denzel repeat the rules the right way. When he was finished, he handed her a pair of die. "Here, Cloud used these ones. He won a lot, maybe they'll bring you luck, too."
Tifa gripped the die and shook them in a closed hand. Marlene took the privilege of rolling first - a six and four. Denzel went next, courtesy of Tifa. He rolled a three and a four. Tifa grinned and then released the dice. She rolled two ones.
"Hey! Nice, Snake Eyes!" Marlene exclaimed. "Daddy and Cloud couldn't even do that!"
Tifa's grin just widened and she just scooped up her winnings and with a shrug she said, "I've always been better than them."
'Choco' Billy was wondering if it were possible for him to retire before Bill, the much older, much more experienced, Chocobo breeder. Every time he let the birds out to give their legs a stretch, one or two of them seemed to always manage to get away, and so Billy would have to wander out into the plains to bring the bird back to the stables. Sometimes, the stupid Chocobo's would wander off into the marsh, often because of the worms that lived at the very edge of the marsh. But every now and then, a Chocobo would wander too deep into the marsh and a Midgar Zolom would shoot up from beneath the thick marsh and eat the bird whole. When this happened, it was oftentimes Billy's fault, even if it wasn't, and the cost of the bird would come out of his paycheck. It was just a good thing it was never a black Chocobo or Gold Chocobo, which would sometimes add up to around one million gil in some cases. One time, he and Choco Bill had the privilege of looking after a gold Chocobo that was owned by a very wealthy man. The bird itself ran at over one and a half million gil. That bird was seldom let out of the stables.
The marsh was coming into view, and with it, was the yellow-feathered rear end of the stubborn Chocobo that decided to run off. The bird was bent over, poking its beak down into the marsh, probably grabbing some worms from the muddy bottom. The Chocobo lifted its head up and turned around. Its beak was covered in mud, its yellow face blemished by the brown, sickly color.
Billy whistled, the bird did not react and this angered him. "Come here you stupid bird!" Billy hollered from fifty yards away. The bird turned back around and dipped its head back into the marsh. Billy whistled again, and when no reaction came, he made a squawking noise like a Chocobo and the bird shot upright. It turned around, squawked back and then sprinted into the water. Billy's eyes went wide and he yelled at the same time, breaking out into a run as the bird went deeper into the marsh. Legs pumping beneath him, Billy imagined the gil disappearing from his paycheck by the second to keep him motivated to run quicker.
By the time he reached the marsh, the Chocobo was sinking into the muddy waters. Billy cursed and kicked the muddy water before him. Earth and water flew, and his patience grew thin with these creatures. Unable to really think, Billy stared out into the marsh and at the tree trunks that lay on top of the water. There were several of them, no particular position to the large logs. In his anger, however, Billy failed to remember that there were no trees within miles of the marsh that could easily end up in the swamp.
It was several minutes later when his anger subsided and he realized this. He also realized that the Zolom had never come up to claim its prize. When he put two and two together, Billy realized that those tree trunks were actually the bodies of the serpent-like Zolom's. The appearance of tree trunks came from the rough scales and color of the Zolom's, the bodies of the creatures floated on the surface in some places, and dropped below in others, giving the mirage of separate pieces. When Billy realized that the entire population of Zolom's inside the two hundred yard-wide marsh was dead, his nerves were quite shaken.
Before Billy could turn and run, something rose from the water, something dark, something he did not recognize as man or beast. The thing was humanoid shaped, although it rippled frequently, giving the illusion that it had no permanent shape, as if it were capable of shape-shifting. The strange organism took a step forward, a horrible scream erupting from somewhere deep within the thing. It sounded like hundreds of cries instead of one. Billy started to turn and run, but found that his boots had sunken into the mud and he was stuck. He looked down and thrust his arms into the water, searching for the strings of his boots so that he could escape from his prison.
The water in front of him rippled.
Billy looked up and the form was before him, its horrible make-shift body was shifting rapidly. Inhumanly, its frame jerked from the left and right in one motion, convulsing rapidly. It had a somewhat humanoid shape. It reached out its almost human arm, a long black tendril that quivered and convulsed out of rhythm with its other appendages and body parts. A stream of black shot forward at Billy, the strange black covering his body. It was after that that he realized that the black tendril, that the entire creature, was made of millions of individual cells that came together to make one shape. And now they were invading his body.