"One."
Regret flipped her long hair over her shoulder carelessly, her eyes focused on the large metal doors in front of her.
"Two." Cloud mumbled from next to her, his body lurching forward noticeably.
"THREE." Barrett boomed, pushing himself from off of the ground and sprinting forward, his gun waving violently in the air.
One long, slender arm reached forward a wrapped it's dainty fingers around the collar of Barrett's vest, holding him back.
"This isn't right…" Tifa whispered sharply, her brown eyes narrowing at the group. She tightened her hold on Barrett, who was squirming under her iron grip.
"We shouldn't just run in, weapons ablaze." Barrett ripped himself from Tifa's hold and spun to face her, his face contorted with a mixture of emotions.
"An' why the hell not?" He raised his voice, crossing his arms roughly across his broad chest.
"SHH." Regret held a finger to her lips, her eyes glaring menacingly. She coughed to gain attention, and removed her finger from her mouth slowly.
"As much as I hate to say it, Tifa's right. ShinRa is loaded with heavy security and guards around every corner. By the time we make it to the elevator, security will have already activated the alarms and Aerith will be relocated. The best option would be to sneak in undetected." Cloud hummed in consideration, and then nodded his head in accord.
"Right. New Plan. We sneak in. There's bound to be another way in." Cloud pushed himself upright, and peered around, sword clenched tight in his hand.
"There's a basement pass. It's a bit of a climb to where we need to be but it's the only way in." Regret said, her voice low and hoarse.
"If it's the only way, we'll have to take it." Tifa said, standing.
"Like. I. Said. It's the only way in. Listen next time." Regret shot back, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"Right. Move out." Cloud said, swinging his sword over his shoulder for support. He ventured towards a small door off centre, and pushed it open, wasting no time at all. Regret trailed closely behind, her mind focused on the task at hand, which was retrieving Aerith, at any cost.
-
"I never…wanna…see…a…set of…stairs…again." Barrett panted through his words, puffing and wheezing, attempting to catch his breath.
"Sixty. Sixty…fucking…flights…of…stairs." He placed his hand on the wall behind him and let all of his weight lean against it, taking the pressure off of his feet.
"And I- where are we?" Barrett was momentarily distracted from his complaining by the large and cluttered room they had arrived in. He waltzed over to where Regret and Cloud were standing, with stiff forms and sullen faces.
"What's up?" Tifa inquired, raising her eyebrows curiously. Regret parted her lips slightly, her chest heaving with heavy rises with each breath she took. Cloud ran a hand through his hair and let out a shaky breath, his eyes downcast.
"Why? Why would they bring that thing here?" He questioned, to nobody in particular.
"What's there motive?" Regret continued on, turning her head away from a large metal seal.
"What are you two going on about?" Tifa said, tapping her foot.
"Take a look." Cloud said, thrusting a thumb in the direction of the seal. Tifa leaned up on her toes and places her hands on the cold metal, squinting to get a better view.
"W…what is that?" Tifa took in a sharp breath, her eyes widening at the sight.
"Jenova" Regret answered, her voice cracking at the end of her sentence.
"Jenova. Sephiroth m-" Tifa sentence was cut short by Cloud silencing her, with a quick, swift movement of his finger to her lips. Tifa's eyes averted to where Regret was staring with intensity, and raised an eyebrow. Meanwhile, Barrett was peering into the metal seal, his mouth slightly agape.
"YO, WHAT-" Regret smacked her hand over Barrett's mouth and pulled him behind three stacked boxes, where Cloud and Tifa were squatting inconspicuously.
"Who…is that?" Tifa whispered, her question directed at Cloud and Regret, whom knew the most about ShinRa and it's employees.
Cloud furrowed his eyebrows, his body shaking. "That's Professor Hojo." An unwelcome feeling of nausea overtook Regret's body, causing her to shake in unison with Cloud. "Professor Hojo…" She whispered, closing her eyes lightly.
"Experiments are his forte'." Tifa nodded in understanding, and watched intently.
Professor Hojo had his hands plastered on the glass confinement in front of him, his eyes delighted as he watched a red dog like creature and Aerith within.
"Two endangered species, to become one. I am a genius. That I am." Professor Hojo rambled aimlessly to himself, his eyes never leaving the two 'experiments'.
"We have to do something," Barrett said, waving his fist in impatience. "We gotta' save her." Regret wrapped her hand around the hilt of her sword, her fingers wrapping around the handle tightly.
"Go. NOW." Cloud said, raising his sword and cautiously making his way towards the control panel to open the glass confinement.
Regret nodded and rushed forward, sword raised in rage, with Barrett and Tifa following closely behind.
"HOJO!" She shouted, her voice reverberating off of the walls of ShinRa Headquarters. Professor Hojo tilted his head in the direction of the three.
"Now, don't you look familiar" He said, a chuckle evident in his deep voice. "My dear…" Hojo trailed off, turning his head back to Aerith. "Your not the only one who I have experimented on." His eyes danced with amusement, his mouth in the form of a smirk. Suddenly, the door to the glass confinement opened, and Cloud appeared from behind the control panel, his sword drawn.
"Your not the only one to have his plans foiled." He said, advancing on Hojo. A low growling could be heard, but the source was unknown, and so, Cloud chose to ignore it. "Cloud, MOVE!" Tifa yelled suddenly, her hands urgently ushering him away. In a flurry of red fur, the dog like creature pounced forward, sending Hojo flying backwards, his head coming into contact with the control panel behind him. Hojo flailed and wiggled wildly, and crawled out from beneath the creature, letting out large and wispy breaths.
"You won't escape from this so…easily." He managed to get out. Hojo launched himself up and made an attempt to flee, but Regret placed a foot on his lab coat, preventing him from moving.
"Hojo…" She whispered his name, her voice dripping with venom. "You…"
"REGRET!" Tifa called desperately. "We need help. NOW!" Regret rolled her eyes towards Tifa's directions, and immediately placed Hojo on her list of least concern. A large fiend was lashing out wildly, sending shoots of poisonous liquid towards everything that seemed to block it's path. Regret ran forward, her swords raised offensively. "Where did this come from?" She asked, giving the fiend a once over.
"The Specimen Elevator." The red dog like creature stepped forward, it's head nodding in the direction of where it was previously being imprisoned. Seemingly unfazed by the dog talking, Regret nodded nonchalantly and redirected her attention to the fiend, her atypical yellow eyes scanning for a weak spot. Tifa and Barrett appeared to be occupied with the fiends lower regions, which didn't seem to be affecting it a great deal while Cloud took a defensive stance in front of a frightened and fragile Aerith.
"You on our side dog?" Regret asked firmly, her attention not once leaving the antics of the fiend.
"It seems so." Regret held up her sword with little difficulty and let the blade point towards a small crevice in the fiend's neck.
"Attack there. It should go down. Fast." The dog nodded and launched its body forward, his headdress blades cutting across the tender flesh of the specimen's neck. Regret followed suit, her blades forming a solid X shape. She pulled her arms outwards and let the blades follow through, with accurate precision. The specimen's movements faltered, and it came crashing down, it's heavy carcass hitting the cold metal floor with an echoed thud. Tifa stretch her limbs out and Barrett punched the air victoriously, while Cloud sheathed his sword and Aerith breathed a sigh of relief. However, the battle was not over for Regret. She spun on her heel, her fingers tapping on the soft material covering her blade handles in anxiety.
"No…" She mumbled, her eyebrows furrowing with displeasure. Hojo had took the moment Regret had dedicated to kill the specimen to escape unharmed.
"Save revenge for another day." A voice spoke gently from behind her. "There are more important tasks at hand." Regret turned to face the dog and nodded, returning to her usual stoic demeanour.
"Your right. The name's Regret, by the way."
"My specimen name is Red XIII, but call me what you wish." Aerith slowly stepped forward and dropped to her knees, bowing her head in front of RED XIII politely.
"Thank you." She whispered sweetly, her soft voice barely above a whisper. She then threw her arms around RED XIII's neck and nuzzled her head into his mane cutely. Regret couldn't help but smile at her antics. Aerith could bring a smile to anyone's face. Barrett walked forward, his eyebrows raised in confusion.
"What are you?"
RED XIII tilted his head in an attempt to get a better view of Barrett.
"An informed question, but difficult to answer. I am what you see –"
"Let's go. We found her, great. Now let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps." Tifa cut in, raising her voice impatiently.
"Wait…" RED XIII placed his paw firmly on the ground and looked up at Regret with determined eyes.
"I was brought here with someone else. I'm…I'm not leaving here without her. Would it be too much of a burden for you to help me?" Almost immediately, before anyone could consider RED XIII'S request, Aerith had spoken.
"Yes. We'll help you. It's the least we could do in return for your previous assistance." Regret silently agreed with Aerith, and turned to Cloud and Barrett for approval.
"What harm could it do?" Barrett said, punching his right fist into his left. Cloud just nodded, and turned his attention to RED XIII.
"What's our itinerary?" Cloud inquired, raising a blonde eyebrow.
"Specimen Room number 3." RED XIII said, beginning to lead the way.
-
Regret carefully and cautiously pushed open the metal door to The Specimen Room Three. Leaving the door ajar to prevent making further noise, she squeezed in followed by RED XIII, Cloud, Barrett and Tifa. RED XIII bounded ahead, the charms of his headdress making soft bell like noises with each movement.
"Ivan?" RED XIII called out, his noise twitching in response to the scent of the air. A groan emitted from the corner of the room, which triggered the group's alertness. RED XIII ran over to where the noise originated from, and growled lowly.
"Red?" A hoarse voice asked, trembling slightly. Regret's ears picked up the traces of fear within the voice, and Regret instantly knew her condition was not a good one.
"Is there a light in here? I can't see anything." Tifa said, emphasising the anything. Regret, knowing her way around the place, flipped a switch and the room was immediately illuminated. Their eyes all hardened at the sight that lay before them. A pale girl hung from the wall, her wrists chained behind her. Her red hair was knotted and fell in messy tresses over her shoulders. Bruises had formed in various places on her fair skin, with specks of dried blood across her clothing. Her eyes were an odd shade of pale blue, and when she looked up, one could clearly see the weakness and tiredness in her eyes. Her mouth was open slightly as she stared at the strange people in front of her. "Who…are you people?" Her voice was sharp and threatening, yet terrified at the same time.
"We mean no harm. We're here to save you." Cloud piped up, his voice calm and comforting. An unlikely trait to be seen in Cloud. The girl let out a shaky breath and her eyes began to water, small sobs escaped her bruised lips.
"It hurts. It hurts Red…so much." She whispered, letting her eyes droop closed. Regret stepped forward and unsheathed her swords, holding them up angrily. She brought the swords down on the chains holding the frail girl up, and upon her release, her legs buckled and she fell forward. Regret's quick reflexes caught the small girl, dropping her swords in the process.
"She's weak." Regret informed the others. She placed her hands on the girls back comfortingly, and held her close like a child. RED XIII came closer and licked her cheek, cleaning it off.
"What's her name?" Regret asked RED XIII, who seemed occupied in caring for the lithe girl. "Ivan." He said simply, rubbing his furry head against her bruised skin delicately.
"What…what did they do to you?" Tifa asked, kneeling down next to them. Ivan opened her eyes slowly and took in a slow breath, her arms limply resting by her sides.
"They…stuck needles in me. There were too many to count. They told me they wanted to fuse RED XIII'S DNA with my own, to prevent the extinction of his race. Hojo…wants to play God… and he doesn't care about who gets hurt in the process."
Regret's grip unknowingly tightened at the mention of Hojo.
"Ah. You're hurting me…" Ivan cried out, weakly reaching out to RED XIII for help.
"Regret!" Cloud said sternly, breaking her out of her trance. Ivan quickly pulled her limp body out of Regret's arms and back away, coughing into her hand. Pulling her hand away from her mouth, she saw it stained red with an icky substance. Ivan widened her eyes and looked towards RED XIII who was staring back at Ivan with concern. Regret immediately felt guilt wash over her and cast her eyes downward, her mouth tightened into a straight line. Ivan noticed and waved her hand dismissively, forcing a smile. "Don't worry…" She coughed again. "It wasn't you. It's the effects of that chemical Hojo injected…Markie, was it? Makoo?"
"Mako" Cloud corrected, his fists clenched. "He injected that into you? That's…dangerous." Ivan just nodded and wiped her hand onto the rags that covered her body. "He said it would strengthen my body, so I wouldn't die on him. But…I feel weaker than ever." She leaned back slightly, letting her head lull backwards, her red mane of hair following suit.
"I'm so tired…" She drifted off, her eyes closing with impending unconsciousness. Suddenly Ivan fell back soundlessly, softly hitting RED XIII'S furry back.
"Ivan?" RED XIII whispered, fearful undertones breaking through his calm demeanour.
"She'll be okay. Cloud, can you carry her?" Regret asked, fixing her eyes on Cloud's strong physique. He nodded and effortlessly lifted her, her body dangling lifelessly in his muscular arms.
"YO, ShinRa fucks everyone over, ya know…" Barrett stated in annoyance, eyeing the poor girl.
"I hope she'll be okay…" Aerith said hesitantly.
"Me too." Tifa added. She then jutted her thumb out to the door behind her. "Let's get out of her." Cloud cleared his throat, gaining his comrades attention.
"If all seven of us go together, we'll be noticed. Let's break up into three groups."
Tifa and Barrett ventured towards the distant elevator opposite to the on Cloud, Ivan and RED XIII faced while Regret and Aerith took the elevator adjacent to Cloud.
"Be on guard." Regret warned, walking into the elevator with Aerith trailing closely behind.
Cloud took extra care while holding Ivan. She felt as if she could shatter at a single touch.
"How's she faring?" RED XIII asked, nudging her foot with his head.
"As well as one can get without treatment…" Cloud mumbled, shifting his weight uncomfortably.
"You alright?" Ivan asked, concern etched evidently in her voice.
Cloud merely nodded, sending a small, reassuring smile in her direction. She smiled back and closed her eyes, trying to regain her strength.
"Hold up…this ain't our floor."
With the doors beginning to separate, Cloud could make out a figure standing on the other side. He narrowed her eyes in suspicion and pulled Ivan closer in a protective manner.
"We have company." He informed RED XIII. He immediately tensed as the doors opened, to reveal two ShinRa employees, more specifically, Turk's. They waltzed into the elevator coolly, and one Turk pointed his arm upwards, indicating he wanted to go up. RED XIII'S tail hit the button and the elevator started with a jolt, and then began its ascent.
"Rude and Tseng…" RED XIII mumbled, eyeing the two cautiously.
"Must be a trap." Cloud whispered to Ivan, gently setting her on her feet but keeping a supporting arm around her shoulders. Tseng, the Turk with long black hair neatly tied back stepped forward, a smirk playing on his lips.
"It must have been a real thrill for you. Did you enjoy it?"
Cloud grunted in response and shook his head as Rude slapped handcuffs tightly around his wrists and grabbed RED XIII's mane.
Tseng scooped Ivan up into his arms and held her tightly, and with what little energy she had, she sunk into his embrace. RED XIII growled lowly as a small smirk grew on Tseng's face. His arms flew to her legs and Tseng lifted her so she was lying snug in his arms. "Don't worry…" Tseng said, the smirk evident in his voice. "I'll take care of you." The elevator doors opened and The Turks pulled Cloud, RED XIII and Ivan straight into President ShinRa's office.