TO DEFINE EVIL
By Inarae
Disclaimer: Square Soft and lots of other people own Final Fantasy, not me.
I'm just temporarily enjoying the playground they outgrew and left behind. . . no sense in letting it go to waste!
This story is part of a semi-challenge between Euclara and I. Check out her version in "Bad Hair Day" and "Return to Sender" on fanfiction.net!!! They're hilarious! (And my b-day present!!) Haven't you ever wanted to see Seph so mentally messed up he thinks he's Cloud and styles his hair blond and spiky?
SPOILER WARNING: SPOILERS, SPOILERS, AND MORE SPOILERS. I basically recap the entire game over the course of the story, even though it takes place afterward.
TIMELINE: All my FFVII stories interconnect, although you can read them in any order. A time line would be: 'Entering the Turks', the game itself, 'To Define Evil', then 'Snow Queen'.
RATING: About PG-13 I imagine. Not much objectionable stuff here, just some fighting.
By the way, C&C welcome and appreciated. Please don't just say you hate it, but if you want to spend the time telling me what I should change, I'd be delighted! The more the merrier. Thanks for reading.
Inarae
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PROLOGUE.
[January 7, two years after the planet's rescue from Meteor.]
A low murmur filled the dark room just off the Shinra corporate headquarters, the tired, yearning sound of men and women trying to find pleasure or relaxation in alcohol and an old hangout, but somehow afraid that any noise or fun would tear apart the fragile bonds holding the city together. It had been two years since it all happened, but people were still terrified.
First the attacks on the huge energy plants that converted mako magic into electrical power; the saboteurs had claimed that the mako was what gave life to everyone on the planet, and that the plants were responsible for the huge drop in birth rate and agricultural productivity. Then President Shinra's retaliation that destroyed a sixth of the city. He didn't even get Avalanche, the saboteur group he had been aiming for. No government dared object; the Shinra Corporation ran the entire planet. But if it had just been that, people wouldn't still be in so much shock. Wars, conflict, and death had been a part of human existence for as long as mankind had existed after all.
No, the terror was from what no one understood, even after so long. All anyone knew was that Sephiroth, the Shinra army's most celebrated general, who had been declared dead ten years before, had apparently come back to life, gone insane, and slaughtered most of the Shinra leaders. All they knew was that somehow both Sephiroth and Avalanche became inhumanly strong, breaking into impenetratable fortresses, winning fights against impossible odds. Some people thought they must have been working together, but other the reports said they fought every time they met.
And then a huge meteor began approaching the planet. It was large enough to form a terrifying fiery ball in the sky for days, large enough that it would destroy all life upon impact. As if to reiterate the fact that mankind had no chance of survival, the monsters arrived next. Not the normal house sized dragons, the giant insects and the murderous machinery that had somehow acquired self-will. These monsters, WEAPONS, they were called, stood as tall as Shinra headquarters, seventy stories up. Everyone in Midgar had seen that comparison, knowing they were going to die as one of them attacked the city. It had taken a blast from the Sister Ray, a cannon a quarter mile long to stop it. Actually, there were some who said that even the cannon hadn't worked that well on its own; that President Shinra's son Rufus had to put mako crystal in the shells to make it effective. But there had been only one cannon, and no time to make more. No one knew exactly where the WEAPONS had come from; some said the planet had made them to protect itself from the mako plants. Rufus died in the attack though, and under the chaotic guidance of his underlings, the city disintegrated into chaos. There were riots and murders, people fleeing the city to the wilderness, people fleeing the towns to the city. Most locked themselves up in their houses and just waited to die.
Then it all stopped.
Some people claimed they saw a bright white light envelope the meteor as it changed direction and retreated. The WEAPONS never returned. The ex-director of urban development, Reeve, took over Shinra and began building refugee camps, arranging for food and medical supplies to be sent in from other cities. He also shut down the mako plants, sending the city into an energy crisis, but that was to be expected; everyone knew he worked for Avalanche.
Avalanche itself faded into the background, the members slipping out of the public eye. No one heard from Sephiroth again; President Reeve said he was dead, but no one felt like believing Shinra, since everyone suspected it had been their fault everything had happened. Their fault or Avalanche's. Either way, it meant Reeve wasn't to be trusted.
And the city tried to heal.
The drunk man tottered into the bar, grinning like a madman.
"I gat it!" He declared slurredly. "Free drinks for everyone!" He raised his glass in salute while the other patrons in the dark room just off the Shinra building snickered.
"So what'd you get, Warren?" Someone called out.
"Finally get yourself a girl?" Another voice asked.
The drunk looked even prouder as he turned to face the hecklers, straightening his beer stained lab jacket.
"Don't try to bring me down to your level, Matthew," he sneered, and then fell against the counter as he tried to puff out his chest. "I'm s'far above you, y'can't even touch me." He waved his arms in obscure elaboration. "I've d'c'vered an energy to replace Mako!"
Most of the listeners snorted and turned away, having heard similar statements thousands of times from Shinra scientists over the years. But many felt the flame of hope flicker weakly to life. Without the Mako generators, the cold of winter had brought suffering and death to many. Slowly the room fell silent as they shushed their neighbors.
Warren Nibro grinned and stuck out his chest like a turkey, this time holding onto a chair for balance.
"I've done it, and it's SIMPLE! Can't think why not dis'c'vered before. Right there before us. Could power an entire city or flatten it to rubble in a second," he mused, blinking as if he just realized that. It seemed to bother him for a second, but then he grinned and forgot about it. "Just a few grams needed to start and. . .Boom! A glass full could power the world!"
He roared the last with glee.
Everyone groaned and went back to their previous conversations. Nibro didn't notice. "It's not finished of course, but the math seems right. I ought to be able to start building by the end of the year. . ." He adjusted his glasses and grinned happily out at the world. A cold hand closed over his own, making him jump.
"What an elegant concept Professor. Let me buy you a drink in celebration. Why don't you tell me more."
Midgar Times, Nov. 23
A scientist named Warren Nibro was shot in front of his
home yesterday morning. Police have few clues at the
moment, but are tentatively blaming local gang activity,
possibly related to an attempted robbery.
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Yeah! Sephiroth will finally show up next chapter. Yes, this is a 'let's reincarnate Sephiroth because he's just too cool a character to leave dead' fic. My apologies to the cannon continuity.
Inarae
December 2000
ginabrae@aol.com
FYI
Reposted June 2003. I took this down after Sept. 11th as I wasn't interested in working on it anymore. However, it seemed silly to have a couple hundred pages sitting on my hard drive where no one but me could see it, so I put it back up, and decided to work on it some more. Over the past few years my writing has improved, and I'm less than impressed with this as is. However, I like the plot here, so I'm planning on finishing it, and then using it as an outline to rewrite in a style more like my newer works.