Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy 7, Final fantasy 7 Advent Children, Final Fantasy 7 Dirge of Cerberus, Code Lyoko, Ben10, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, American Dragon Jake Long, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Resident Evil, Shadowrun RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, Starship Troopers RPG, Various D20 sources, any of the characters therein, or whatever else the reader may recognize as coming from a TV show, movie, comic book, book, or music video. I wish I did cause they're all gold mines. This story is going to be a huge crossover as well as a self insert fic. It's written for the enjoyment of others in mind and not for any personal profit. So please, don't sue me.
Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of torture, mutilation, intense violence, and sexuality. For safety's sake, this fic is rated M.
Author's note: Okay, this is gonna be a pretty long one. I started this the very day I finished my last chapter. Just had the urge to keep going. Okay, last chapter, cyborg Harry Potter. Well that's something you don't see every day, huh? Thought it would be cool. Apparently, I was right, judging by the responses I got. Thank you all for that by the way. In this chapter, I'm going to take a little while to flesh out Danny. Then, new toys!!! Okay, hold on to your shorts, let's get this sucker started.
Thunderstruck: Chapter Seven
Meridian-The Next Day
It was an absolutely beautiful morning. Harry was walking along the parapets of the palace and admiring the incredible suroundings he found himself in. He had never really appreciated a simple sunrise before. He had never had the chance to. He used to curse the mornings, at the Dursley's. Now, it was so refreshing. The cool morning air, birds singing, scent of flowers, gunfire, th-... wait, what?!?
Jerking his head towards the sound, Harry stopped walking. Who could be firing a gun here? This was a pre-industrial civilization. These people hadn't even started to develop post medieval technology yet. They used swords, spears, bows, and the like. Rushing towards the sound, he found himself running down several flights of stairs towards a nice little courtyard he had seen on his tour yesterday after the group had gone home. Today though, there were several additions.
On the far side of the yard, against the wall, were five targets that looked like they were made from the lids of some old crates with bulls-eyes painted on them. About thirty yards back from them stood one of the geurillas who had rescued Harry. What was his name? Harry had to think for a moment. Danny. Yes, that's what it was. Danny Mitchel. Next to Danny was a small, square table on which three handguns were neatly layed out with their clips removed. Next to them was a small plastic box about a foot long. A chair sat nearby. Several palace guards stood behind and to the left of Danny, watching, fascinated as he blew precisely placed holes in the targets. As Harry watched, Danny pulled the clip out of the gun he was holding, and put a fresh one in. After pulling back and releasing the slide mechanism, he stepped into firing position and once more started blasting his chosen target.
Harry stepped foward once Danny had finished and turned around to place the gun on the table.
"Hello there, Danny. How're you doing?" Harry called out in greeting.
Danny looked up and grinned when he saw Harry aproaching. "Hey Harry. Not bad man, not bad. How 'bout you? How's that new arm doin', hey?"
Harry looked at his new cyberarm and smiled. "No complaints. Well, other than the fact that I can't 'feel' with this hand any more. You know? Though, the ability to crush bricks almost makes up for it."
Danny just laughed at that. After a moment he looked at Harry, punched him lightly on the shoulder and said, "I bet man. Hell, I thought you would still be in bed. What're ya 'doin up so early?"
"I couldn't sleep any longer. I just feel so energized. I haven't felt this good in...well, forever I guess. Dr. Wakeman really did a great job on me."
Danny shook his head and gestured to one of the guards. "Hey, man. Could you get another chair for Harry, please?" Nodding, the guard rushed off. A minute later, he returned with the chair. After thanking the guard, Danny sat down, waving Harry into the chair brought for him.
"So, whats up man?" Danny asked.
"Not a whole lot. I've got a couple of questions for you, though. What are you doing here now? I thought Will had taken everyone home."
Danny looked at Harry for a long moment before sighing and reaching for the box on the table. Opening it, he revealed a small, well organized cleaning kit for his guns. He began to speak again as he stripped down the AMT Longslide Hardballer he had just fired. "Listen man, I haven't been home for just over three years."
Harry stared at him in shock. "What? Why? Isn't your family worried?"
"As near as I can tell, they think I'm dead. Which is fine by me 'cause as long as they believe that, then they're safe."
"Safe? From what? I think you should tell me the whole story, Danny." Harry replied as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.
"Yeah, guess so." Danny said, resigned. After gathering his thoughts for a few minutes, he began. "I used to a pretty normal twelve-year-old kid. You know, a bit geeky, into roleplaying games, scifi, anime. Stuff like that. I was bullied a little, usual hazing crap most kids get going through school. I had geeky friends like me. We got together on the weekends and played Dungeons and Dragons a lot. Family life was pretty good. My dad was a gunsmith and owned his own shop. Mom played guitar and raised a lot of dogs. Three sisters I could tolerate, mostly. Pretty normal shit, ya know?" He explained as he began to clean the gun.
"Then it happened. I was walking home from school one day. It was a Friday and I was looking foward to the weekly D&D game over at Michael's house. I was going through a little used parking lot that was a common shortcut for me going to and from school. All of a sudden, I hear screeching tires right behind me. After spinning around, I see this dark blue van come charging into the parking lot and pull to a stop pretty hard. The side door slid open and three guys jump out and start running right at me. Of course, I don't know these guys, so I turn around and start running like mad. Didn't do me any good. They caught me easily and knocked me out. Left my backpack behind and hightailed it outta' there.
When I came to, I was strapped to a table, clad only in my boxers. My arm was burning like hell. Turning my head to look at it, I saw I now had a tattoo there. Check it out." Danny took off his desert camo jacket and pulled up the left sleeve of his t-shirt. Tattooed on his left arm just below the shoulder, was a well known symbol. It was an octogon made up of eight alternating red and white sections. Below that was the Roman numeral XIII. "I recognized the Umbrella Corperation logo right off the bat. Who wouldn't? Couldn't figure out what they would want with me though. Looking around, I saw I wasn't alone. There were like, fifty of us in that room, all strapped down and just waking up. Boys and girls. Then these people in lab coats came in and started examining us all. Completely ignored any questions we asked. After that, the experiments started.
It turned out, they wanted to create the ultimate human weapon. A genetically superior soldier who would follow all order without question and without any morals to get in the way. A sort of variation of one of their earlier programs. For months, they did all sorts of crap to us. Not only genetic and biochemical alterations, but psychological abuse too. They wanted us to feel less than human, like nothing more than tools. Didn't work. Not on me at least. The more they did, the madder I got. They just couldn't control me. As time went on, there were less and less of us as some were 'disposed of' as useless. Others died in live fire combat training.
Pretty soon, I was the only one left. The only problem for them was that it was so difficult to get me to do what they wanted me to do. I was rebellious, violent. I attacked anyone that came near me. I was apparently about to be scrapped when a huge accident happened. It turns out, I was trapped in an giant underground lab right under Racoon City. One of their other experiments got screwed up. A virus got loose."
"The T-virus" Harry cut in. "I remember hearing about that. The Umbrella Corperation and the U.S. government were working together in secret bio-weapons research. After it was all exposed, the politicians involved were all arrested and more responsible ones took their places. And the Umbrella Company was broken up, shut down and it's leaders arrested."
"Most of them. After I managed to break out of the lab and escape the city before it got nuked, I was almost captured by White Umbrella. It's the super secret division of Umbrella. Unknown to even most of the corperate executives, it operated freely and independently under controll of the few execs' to escape arrest. I was pretty valuable to them even if I couldn't be totally controlled. They knew I had gotten loose, so they started to keep a watch on my family. I barely found out before I got home. If I hadn't turned back, they would probably be dead by now. Since then, I've been criss-crossing the U.S. trying to stay one step ahead of White Umbrella. With their resources, they've been able to stick pretty close to me untill now.
In fact, they were just closing in on me when Will and the rest of the Guardians found me. I was in this railroad yard about to hop a train to Nashville, of all places, when a pack of White Umbrella goons spotted me and started shooting. I hadn't slept or eaten for two days and I was low on ammo. The situation sucked. I ducked into a cargo car and hid behind some boxes and thought, ' Well, this is it. Game over '. As I'm saying this to myself, I hear a sort of boom behind me. Then this spinning disc of light appears and five girls pop out of it. Then, this really cute brunette looks at me, grins, and says in this really bad Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation 'Come with me if you want to live'. Next thing you know, here I am." Danny put the gun back together and set it down.
"Bugger! You've been through a lot, huh?" Harry exclaimed.
"Yeah. Maybe not as much as you, but a lot to most people. Since then, I've been staying here and enjoying the good food."
Harry sighed. "Okay. I didn't expect that. Ummm. Next question. Why do you have four handguns? I'd think that one would be enough."
"For a normal person with normal needs, like home defense, one would be enough. For me, well, my needs are a little more diverse. Take these Czeck CZ-75's." He holds up the two handguns. "These are my primary weapons. Easy to use, extremely high quality, very reliable, decent range, it's one of the most popular handguns in the world. They're good in most situations, but not all." Puts them down and picks up another. "AMT Longslide Hardballer. Longer barrel, about seven inches, for increased range and accuracy. When you really need to be sure of hitting something, you get a gun with better accuracy. Last gun is a Colt King Cobra. A cheaper version of the Colt Python. Lacking the carefull hand finish, it's less expensive making it suitable as a service weapon. Chambered for the 357. magnum round, it has stopping power, but not much range. If you want something to stay down the first time you hit it, this is the type of handgun you want."
"Wow," came Irma's voice off to the left. "You really know your stuff."
Harry and Danny turned and saw the Guardians, Caleb, and Queen Elyon walking into the courtyard. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed Danny twitch slightly when he saw Irma. Remembering Danny had refered to her as a "really cute brunette", Harry filed this observation away for later reference.
"Hi, girls." Harry called, smiling at Will. As she blushed and smiled back, he continued. "What's up?"
"We really need to talk." Will said. "There are a lot of things to go over. We need a new HQ before school starts again. And speaking of school, we need to find a way to fight this war without missing any school."
"New HQ? What have you been using up untill now?" Harry asked, confused.
Taranee spoke up. "Well, we've been here mostly. But it's too remote from Earth. We need to be somewhere we can all get back and forth to easily, and where we can get instant access to information. There's the factory, but we have no way of making sure the ministry can't trace us there. Otherwise, it has everything we need."
"Factory?" Harry paused for a moment. "Wait a minute. Maybe we can find a way to magically defend it. Why don't we go there and look around? See if we can't come up with a few ideas."
Nodding, the Guardians agreed. It seemed reasonable.
"Your Majesty, Caleb, Danny?" Harry said. "Would you like to come along?"
"Yes, I would." The young queen responded, smiling. "And please, it's just Elyon."
"Sure, why the Hell not?" Danny replied as he stood and holstered his weapons. Caleb just nodded.
As they all headed out of the courtyard, Will had to supress a small smile as she noticed Irma trying to walk as close to Danny as possible without being overly obvious. God help him when she decided to go in for the kill. Cornelia was of course, hanging on to Caleb's arm. Not that he looked to be having any problems with that. Will, herself walked right next to Harry. Both looking shy and wanting desperately to talk, but not daring to in front of the others. Minutes later, Will opened the portal, and they stepped through.
France: Abandoned Factory
Harry was amazed as he looked around. This place was so cool! They were standing in the cathedral like hall just below the main entrance to the factory. Sunlight was streaming down from the skylights along the ceiling, filling the room with revealing light. As Will led them on the grand tour, Harry found himself becoming more and more enthusiastic about using this place as a home base. The factory was a long, three story affair situated on a small island in the middle of the river that ran through the city. It had only one land entrance, the bridge. That could be easily secured against intrusion. An hour later, Will led them over to the elevator once the rest of the factory had been covered.
Down in the lab, Jeremy, and Aelita looked up from the consoles once they heard the elevator start. Moments later, the door opened to reveal Harry and the others who had just come from Meridian. Harry looked like the proverbial kid in the candy store. The grin on his face was absolutely virul in it's infectousness.
"WOAH!!! This is incredible! I've never seen anything like this."
"This is the control room for the super computer, Harry." Aelita spoke up. "From here, we can access just about any computer network in the world and hack in without anyone being the wiser."
"That settles it. This is our base of operations. It's just too good to be left unused. We just need to find a way to-"
Suddenly a small fireball erupted not five feet away from where Harry was standing. Everyone jumped away and Danny drew both of his CZ 75s. Harry was shocked to see Fawkes emerge from the flames. Wondering if Dumbledore was far behind, he was about to run for it when the phoenix leaned over and dropped something onto the floor. Hesitating, Harry took a small step towards the venerable bird.
"Carefull, Harry." Hay Lin whispered to him. As much as she admired the phoenix's beauty, this could be bad. "It might be a trap."
Pausing, Harry considered the situation. "I don't think so. I remember reading once that phoenix's were incapable of deceit or malice." Walking slowly over to Fawkes, he knelt to pick up the object. Holding it in front of his face, he could barely believe his good fortune.
"Great Merlin!" He exclaimed. "It's my Gringotts key! How did-. Wait a minute. Dumbledore had this? I guess he would after I got arrested. You got this away from him, didn't you?"
Fawkes simply shifted from foot to foot. If Harry didn't know any better, he'd say the damn bird was grinning at him. Harry looked at the key again.
"Hey, Sirius told me that my family was really wealthy" he said. "He never went into any details, but he hinted that my trust vault was just a drop in the bucket. This could be a huge opportunity. With that money, we could buy this place and not worry about being discovered as much. Maybe even renovate if there's enough."
"Hold on, Harry," Caleb interrupted. "How are you going to get it? The ministry has got to be on the lookout and you won't even get three feet into Diagon Ally without being cursed to death. And who's to say the goblins will let you have it, your record being what it is?"
"Well, the goblins, according to little I remember from my History of Magic class, have always been neutral in regards to conflicts that don't involve them. To them, business is business. Dark Lord or Minister of Magic. It doesn't matter. As for how to get it, I think maybe now is the time for Elyon to start her job as an ambassador. She didn't participate in the raid that freed me, so she doesn't match any physical descriptions of the attackers. I'll give her a letter from me to the bank manager and ask her to set up an appointment and a discreet way to enter Gringotts. That okay, Elyon?"
She nodded. "Yeah, that's more than fine. It's about time I started doing more for the team other than providing a safe haven."
"Thanks Elyon." Harry took a moment to gather his thoughts. Things were moving faster than he expected. "Okay, ummm. I'll start that letter now. Hey, Jeremy, you have any paper and pens around here?"
"Over in the first filing cabinet on the left", Jeremy said, pointing over to it. "Envelopes too, if you want them."
Running over, Harry pulled it open and grabbed what he needed. He then sat on one of the couches and hurredly composed the letter. After rereading it, he stuffed it and the key into the envelope he had grabbed and handed it over to Elyon.
"Make sure no one over hears you. Well, actually...Why don't you get those galleons from the carriage and take them with you. You can say your opening a new account in case anyone asks. If I'm not mistaken, security's going to be intense. So be carefull. Okay?"
"Okay" she answered. "Will, can you pop me back to Meridian for a little bit? I'm going to need an appropriate disguise."
"Yup" Will nodded. "After that, I'll get you do Diagon Alley, and wait for you across the street from the Leaky Cauldren."
With that, Will and Elyon rushed out of the room to summon the portal where there was no chance of it damaging any electronics. The others occupied themselves by teaching Harry how to use computers.
Diagon Alley
Elyon warily stepped into the alley. Hogwarts students were everywhere. School was going to start in a few days, so everyone was shopping for supplies. The atmosphere was tense. Almost no one was talking and those who were did so quietly. People were looking over their shoulders constantly as though the devil himself was stalking them. More than a few of them were looking at the wanted posters plastered at regular intervals on walls, windows and whatever else wasn't able to run away fast enough. Upon them were moving photos of Harry and drawn renditions of those who had rescued him. Some of them were fairly exagerated.
As she got closer to Gringotts, she noticed some unusual activity just outside of the bank. A line of people were waiting to get in. They had to pass through an auror manned checkpoint where they were questioned. Elyon got in the rear of the line and patiently waited her turn. After a fifteen minute wait, she got to the front where she was confronted by a scrawny, whiny looking man with thinning brown hair sitting at a small table, and glaring suspiciously at her.
"Name?" he demanded.
Raising an eyebrow in surprise at his lack of manners, she answered. "Elyon Brown."
"Hmmmmm. You don't sound British. Where are you from?"
"America, specifically Heatherfield California" she said.
"Why are you here in England now?" He asked.
"My mother wanted me to be educated in Europe somewhere. She said that's where all the best schools were."
The man now had a smug smile on his face when he heard this apparent confession that British schools were superior to what America had to offer. He nodded in a satisfied manner. "Your reason for being here today?" he said, more relaxed.
"I wish to open an account here." Elyon held up the bag of galleons and jingled it slightly. "I've been saving my money for several years now and feel it would be safer here than at home or school." She looked around for a moment. "By the way, what's going on here anyway? I've never seen security like this before."
The man leaned foward conspiratorially. "From what I understand, there is a possability that the killer Potter may have gotten his hands on his family's Gringotts key. The goblins refuse to try to capture him due to their misplaced sense of duty to the neutrality treaties. If he gets in there, he'll get his family's money and use it to raise an army to try to take over the Wizarding World. Since the goblins see no reason to prevent this, we have to. We may not be able to controll what goes on within Gringotts, but we can controll who enters. The Ministry is also trying to confiscate the contents of the Potter family vaults, but the goblins refuse to allow us to. Even Dumbledore himself is having little luck on that account. Well, at any rate it seems alright for you to enter. Have a nice day."
"To you as well" Elyon replied, her mind doing cartwheels. Maybe it was possible to gain the Goblin's alliance. Shaking these thoughts from her head for the time being, she stepped into the front entrance of the bank. Looking around the interior, she saw that things were as tense in here as outside. Armed goblin guards stood every ten paces, glaring at the humans as though daring them to do something stupid. The humans were likewise hostile, acting as if the goblins were going to start cheating, or outright rob them.
Looking aroung, Elyon spotted a teller down at the far end who looked to be getting ready to go on break. Stepping quickly up to him, she coughed lightly for his attention. He looked at her, and with a slightly annoyed sigh, sat down again.
Baring his teeth in an aggressive leer, he spoke up. "Can I help you?" Maybe if he scared this human off, he could get back to his lunch break.
Bowing her head defferentially, Elyon responded, speaking quietly. "I'm sorry to keep you here, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. I would like to open a personal account here please." She placed the bag of galleons on counter. "I also have this letter, to deliver to the bank manager. I am to wait for his reply." She handed the letter over to the teller.
After getting her information for the account, he picked up the letter. Glancing at her for permission, the goblin opened it and began to read. Seconds later, his eyebrows shot upward to become one with his hairline. He looked back at Elyon only to see a small, amused smile on her lips. A quick study of the key confirmed the letter's contents. Now shaking nervously, the teller turned to summon an assistant.
"Hardpick!" he hissed. "Please take this young woman to the manager. Top priority!"
Startled by this sudden request, the goblin in question glanced worriedly at Elyon before beckoning to her and leading her away. They went through a nearby door and traveled down several passages untill they came to a large, heavily decorated set of double doors. Knocking respectfully, Hardpick waited untill a voice summoned them from within. Hardpick opened the door and waved Elyon into the room. Stepping inside, she found herself in an opulant office. A large mahogany desk dominated the forefront of the room with three plush chairs sitting before it. Suits of goblin-sized armor stood silent vigil in the room's four corners. Huge paintings of ancient goblin-won battles took up most of the wall space. A rather plump goblin dressed in a fine suit of acromantula silk sat behind the desk, his hands folded before him.
"Hello" he said. "My name is Goldbar. I just recieved a message from the front desk about you, Miss Brown. You have in your possession a letter from Harry Potter?" Elyon nodded and handed it over.
To Whom It May Concern
Hello, I am Harry Potter. First I must assure you that neither I nor those under my command harbor any hostile intentions towards Gringotts or goblin-kind in any way, shape, or form. I have only just recieved my vault key in a very unexpected manner, and I was wondering if it would be possible to arrange a discreet way to enter the bank to recieve my inheritence. I have no wish to cause any inconvienance for you in regards to the Ministry of Magic. If there is no way to do so, please send word with Elyon and I will drop the matter untill I have had a chance to prove my innocence. With Best Wishes, Harry Potter.
"Well, isn't this unusual." Goldbar muttered to himself, smiling softly. "A human concerned with how goblins feel." He looked up at Elyon. "You know, he reminds me of his parents. They were equally hospitable to us. They even invited me to dinner once. It would seem that young Mr. Potter has unknowingly inherited some of his parent's best traits. Will you please inform him that it is in no way an inconvienance at all for us to bring him here? As a matter of fact-..." Goldbrick paused a moment to look around in his desk for something. Finding it, he handed the object to Elyon. It was a metal ring about seven inches in diameter. "This is a special type of portkey that we have developed. Once activated, everyone within a ten foot radius will be transported to a secure area within Gringotts whether or not they were actually touching the ring. Please ask him to come as soon as he likes. He may bring as many friends as he wishes. I look foward to speaking to him."
"Thank you" Elyon responded. "I will tell Harry as soon as I get back. Do you have any other messages to pass along to him?"
"No, not at this time. Thank you. If you will wait just a moment, I will see if your key is ready." Directing his voice to a small box-like object on his desk, he fired off a question in rapid Gobbledegook. He received an answer within a few seconds and nodded in satisfaction. A few commands later and he turned back to Elyon. "Your key is ready and will be here shortly. Is there anything else I may help you with?"
"If you would be so kind, could you please tell me where your people stand in regards to Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic? Are your people leaning towards either as potential allies?"
Goldbrick heaved a huge sigh. "The emissaries of the Dark Lord have approached us with an offer of alliance. Which we refused at once. Not only because of the treaties, but because we know he would massacre us all had we survived the war and won. It would also have been impossible to keep such a thing a secret. We would have lost business all over the world, not just here in the United Kingdom. As for the Ministry, we have no reason to trust them either. With the loss of rights over the centuries and the labeling as creatures rather than people, our dignity has been trampled on all too often for us to ally with them. Dumbledore has tried to convince us, but we have little reason to like him. Take the latest incident. He tried to gain access to all of Mr. Potter's assets. This would have been a severe breach of honor for us. Absolutely intollerable! We have a great deal of respect for Mr. Potter's parents and have been pleased by what we've seen of him. As such, our king has decided that, though we cannot ally with him openly, we will provide as much passive support as possible."
Elyon nodded, then frowned as a thought came to her. "Is there any possability that the Ministry may attack or try to take over management of this Gringotts branch if they don't get what they want?"
"Yes, there is. We are already making emergency evacuation and defense plans, as well as transfering much of our surface assets to other branches. If the situation becomes too bad, we will shut down this branch, return all money and property to their respective owners, and withdraw from England."
At this point, a knock on the door was heard. A moment later, another goblin poked his head in.
"Excuse me, but the key that was requested is ready." He said, stepping into the room. Walking over to Elyon, he held out a small wooden box. Smiling in thanks, she opened it to see her brand new Gringotts vault key. Engraved on the shaft was the number 7693. Now smiling broadly, Elyon turned back to Goldbrick.
"Thank you so much. I really appreciate your taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with me like this. I will relay your invitation to Harry."
"No trouble at all, Miss Brown." Goldbrick replied as he stood up and reached out to shake her hand. "Please, do come again. Well actually, you will be here with Mr. Potter when he comes, won't you?"
"Yes, among others. There are many of us who will jump at the chance to come here. Well, I'd better get going. Thank you again." She said as she stood. After giving a short bow that Goldbrick returned, she left the office.
The Factory-Thirty Minutes Later
"Hmmmmm." Harry was thinking about what Elyon had just told him. He was currently sitting on one of the couches in the controll room with Will sitting on his right. During the time Elyon and Will were away, the rest of the Lyoko crew had arrived, and were clustered around Harry along with the Guardians, Danny, and Caleb.
"It sounds alright, Harry" said Caleb. "Elyon got corroberating information from two different sources. Add to the fact that they're not too happy with each other and I think we can trust the goblins."
"Just to be on the safe side, though," Taranee interupted. "I think it best if all of us here go with you Harry."
Looking up, Harry saw the others nod in agreement. It was a wise precaution.
"Alright, get your weapons and lets go." He said, standing up.
"What? Now?" Cornelia asked, surprised.
"Yes. It's early in the afternoon. If we get it done fast enough, we should have you all home before your curfews." He said as he waved them off to get their weapons.
They rushed off to where they had put them. When they got back, Ulrich had his katana, Yumi was holding a steel ribbed battlefan, and Odd's bo staff was slung over his shoulder with Kiwi in his arms. Jeremy and Aelita were weaponless, though they carried their modified laptop computers in messenger bags slung over their shoulders. They all clustered around with Harry, Jeremy and Aelita in the center of the circle. After checking to see if they were all ready, Harry pulled out the portkey and activated it. Everyone felt a huge jerk in the naval as they were ripped from their present location and deposited into another. Immediately, they were dumped onto a hard, cold, stone floor. They had arrived in a rather cozy sitting room full of goblin sized furnature. An empty fireplace dominated one wall just below a large portrait of the current goblin king, Hand of Honor (translated from Gobbledegook).
"Owww" Odd groaned. He sat on the floor holding his head where it had hit the ground after he lost his balance. Kiwi had luckily escaped any injury. "Man! Is all magical transportation that rough, Harry?"
"Most of what I've used are." Harry replied from the tangle of bodies. "Portkeys, floo network, Knight Bus. The only magical way I like to travel is by broom."
"Hello, Mr Potter" came a voice off to the side. Looking up, Harry saw a very familiar goblin. "I'm surprised you came so quickly. We expected you to wait a day or so before accepting Manager Goldbrick's invitation."
"Griphook!" Harry exclaimed. "It's good to see you again. How are you?"
A look of severe shock plastered itself upon Griphook's face.
"I - am well Mr. Potter. I must say, I had no idea you would recognize me after five years. Wizards usually don't bother to learn the names of any goblins except for the most important ones. And most muggle borns are terribly frightened of us."
As they all stood up, a friendly smile spread across Harry's face. "How could I not remember you? You were the first magical being I had ever seen up close. When the teller called your name, my senses were already hyped up by so much strange stimulus that I memorized your name and face. At the time, you were very impressive to me."
Now looking absolutely flattered, Griphook felt lost for a moment untill he spotted Harry's left arm. "What in the world is that!?!"
"My new arm" Harry replied, smiling as he held it up. "Some new friends of mine found out how to make muggle technology function in magical areas, so they created this, as well as my new eyes."
"New eyes?" Looking closer, Griphook saw that Harry's green eyes were shot through with silver circuitry that gleamed in the room's dim light. "MY WORD!!!!! With muggle technology? How is this possible?"
"Please, Griphook, why don't you lead us to Goldbrick and everything will be explained there."
"Y-yes, of course." With that, Griphook led them from the room and down a series of twisting passages untill they reached a door that was familiar to Elyon. Knocking on the door, Griphook waited untill he heard an answering call from within. Then he opened the door and ushered them all in.
Manager Goldbrick looked up and smiled. "Welcome! It's a pleasure to finally be able to meet you, Mr. Potter." He stood up and reached out to shake Harry's hand. As he did so, his eyes noted Harry's other arm. He gasped and shot Harry a startled look.
"Yes-umm" Harry began. "There's a bit of a story behind that. If you have the time to hear a condensed version of it, I would be happy to tell you." At Goldbrick's nod, Harry sat down and, after introducing his friends, began as chairs were brought in for the others. After an hour filled with revelations (at least for Goldbrick and Griphook), the discussion wound down.
"This is incredible." Goldbrick muttered. Looking up at the others, he continued. "Other worlds, alien weapons, cybernetics, genetic engineering, psionics, new types of magic. It is almost too much to believe." Turning his gaze to Elyon. "If we had known of your status before, Your Majesty, we could have welcomed you properly."
"Forgive me, please." She responded. "I was in a hurry and I doubt you would have believed me at the time. Besides, I really am rather uncomfortable with such deference."
Nodding his head, Goldbrick continued. "I would like to know, however, what this 'unimaginable evil' really is. You never really explained it."
"Well," Harry started. "It has to do with an ancient creature called Jenova-"
"JENOVA!?!?!?!?" Goldbrick screeched, jumping to his feet. "SACRED ANCESTORS!!!!!!!!!"
Harry and the others leaped out of their seats in shock and surprise.
"Wait, you know about Jenova?" Harry asked.
"Know about it?" Goldbrick exclaimed. "We goblins have helped your ancestors guard against it's return for millenia. One of your ancestors told our's the whole tale and displayed the proof. How has it returned now?"
"Voldemort. He is the last descendant of one of Sepheroth's remnants. He's managed to get his hands on some clues that could lead him to recover several remaining pieces of Jenova."
Goldbrick was now very shaken as he collapsed back into his chair. "If he gets his hands on all of them..." He looked up at a pale Griphook. "Quickly, send the king a message telling him of this new information. As you do this, I will take Lord Potter and his friends down to his main vault to retrieve what they need."
"What we need?" Harry asked. "I thought all that was there was money."
Turning back to him, Goldbrick explained as Griphook rushed off. "Not in the least, Mr Potter. Your family has been collecting many things over the millenia. Spell books, weapons, magical artifacts of every description. Even many of the things your ancestors, Cloud and Tifa, and their friends used. Like their weapons."
At this, everyone's eyes went wide.
"Their weapons?" Will gasped out. She reached out to grab onto Harry's arm. "This could provide us with everything we need to take Voldemort down permanantly!"
"No kidding" Danny said. "We gotta go see it, man."
Nodding in agreement, Harry turned back to face Goldbrick. "If you would please have someone lead us to the vault, I would be gratefull."
"I will lead you down myself." He replied, getting out of his seat. "This is far too important for me to do otherwise."
"Thank you, Goldbrick. Let's go."
Taking the lead, Goldbrick led the group out of the office and down the hall to a strange set of double doors. After placing his hand on a lighted panel, he waited a few moments before he heard a ding come from it. The doors swooshed open to reveal-
"An elevator?" Cornelia said, one of her eyes twitching slightly. "Why do you have an elevator? I'd think you would use something more...magical."
"Well, this is the best we could come up with." Goldbrick responded. "It's efficient and easy to operate. It also goes far faster than muggle elevators without endangering the ocupants or causing undue discomfort. Today, we will be descending to the deepest vault system we have here at Gringotts. It contains the eldest and most important vaults in the entire bank. Merlin himself has a vault down there. Of course, no one has entered his vault in centuries."
Stepping inside, the group was surprised to find that they all fit comfortably inside with plenty of room to spare. As the doors closed, the floor display lit up and they began to descend. The numbers flashed so rapidly that they were impossible to read. The ride though, was surprisingly comfortable, only a subtle vibration was detectable. As they went further down, Goldbrick spoke again.
"I haven't been this far down since I last accompanied your parents to their secret vault, Mr Potter. The vast majority of the Potter family assets is located in the secret vault. A great deal, though, is actually kept on a far higher level. This was done to avoid undue suspicion. The contents of these vaults are too important to become general knowledge."
After a minute, the elevator stopped and they all disembarked. In front of them was a massive steel door. Goldbrick stepped up to it and knocked in a complicated, precisely timed sequence. A few seconds later, a strange red light swept up and down Goldbrick's body before fading away. With a immense creak of the hinges, the doors opened slowly. Several guards were standing before them pointing spears at the group. Goldbrick spoke again.
"Don't worry. They are now going to verify our intentions. Any hostility is immediately detected by means of an old device called a truth stone. Once in the hands of the person, it reveals their intent by turning the appropriate color. Blue for benign, and red for hostile."
The lead guard stepped foward and handed the stone first to Goldbrick. After it turn blue, he handed it to Harry. He then waited untill it turned blue and passed it on. This went on untill everyone had held it. Satisfied, the guards stepped back to let them pass. Down a bit further, was a series of mine carts similar to the ones used by the general Gringotts customers. These, however, were much larger. About six feet long and three feet wide they could hold six people easily. After piling into three of them, they rocketed down numerous passages. The wind stung their eyes and stole their breaths untill they finally arrived at their destination.
Standing proudly before them was a massive stone doorway etched with a relief of a winged Aerith Gainsborough, robed as one would expect of an angel. In her right hand, was a staff. In the left, a small, marble sized sphere. Materia, perhaps. The workmanship drew gasps from the group. On either side of the door, life-sized statues of Nanaki (Red XIII) stood proudly, challenging any who sought to enter. After a moment, the carving of Aerith spoke as the statues of Nanaki turned their heads to look at Harry.
"Who seeks to gain entrance into this place?" The voice was a perfect imitation of Aerith's.
Harry stepped foward. "I do."
"Your name?"
"Harry James Potter. Son of James Potter and Lily Evans Potter."
"And the others?" The carving asked. "Why do you bring guests?"
"They are my allies in this new war. One of Sepheroth's remnants left some descendants and now the last one, Voldemort, is looking for the remains of Jenova."
"So it has finally come to pass. You may all enter." With that, the carving went silent as the statues returned to their former positions. The door opened silently. Immediately, torches within the vault ignited. Harry stepped slowly into the vault. He felt as though he were entering a sacred place. Sacred to him at least. Within these walls were the secrets of his entire heritage. The others followed. They found themselves in a large cavern. Torches were planted in the walls every few yards and hanging chandeliers were suspended from a ceiling lost in the shadows. All the contents in this area of the vault were organized in sections. Gold bars were neatly stacked ten feet high in one specific section. Silver bars in another. Chests of jewels were situated nearby.
"Holy shit" Danny whispered from behind Harry.
"The majority of the raw wealth of the Potter clan is located right here." Goldbrick stated. "You are actually one of the richest people in the world. Your fortune values in the billions of galleons. This doesn't count the numerous properties you own world-wide, as well as the large number of businesses that you possess controling interest in. Now, farther along here, are the books, miscellaneous artifacts, weaponry, ect. At the very rear of the cavern, are the items that belonged to the members of Avalanche. Along with those are other items from that era. All perfectly preserved."
"Well, lets go." said Harry as he started towards the back of the vault. As they went further, they found it increasingly difficult to maintain their focus on their objective. The girls were entranced by a storage/display case containing some of the most beautifull jewelry they had ever seen (Harry took special note of what Will seemed to like the most). Jeremy and Aelita took a moment to poke through the books (containing many of the Potter Clan journals). Danny stopped in the weapon section to examine several antique firearms. Ulrich and Yumi handled a few swords. Odd discovered a few magic musical instruments. It was almost fifteen minutes before they reached the desired area.
"Great Kami." breathed Yumi. The others began to murmer excitedly. Before them, neatly arranged and carefully preserved, were the weapons and personal belongings of the original defeaters of Jenova. Tifa's gloves and boots, Yuffie's massive shuriken, even Barret's gun-arm was lovingly maintained. Harry's breath caught in his throat. At last! He would finally discover his roots. A glint of light caught his eye. Turning his head, he found himself staring at something he had longed to find. Cloud's swords. The ones he used in the last battle with Sepheroth. The others fell silent as they saw what Harry had spotted. He stepped towards the blades. They were kept in a small rack off to the right. Beneath each one, was a small label with the weapon's name. He ran his finger along each card as he read the names. The main sword was called Vigilante. The hollow-bladed one was named Vendetta. Next were the ones with the square-serrated edge, Merciless and Avenger. And last came the folding, switch-blade like swords Ascalon and Sidewinder. He stood entranced, a tear forming in his eye.
"What are you waiting for?" A voice whispered behind him. Turning, he found that Will had come up behind him and was just putting her hand on his shoulder. "They're yours now, Harry. Pick them up."
"Do I have that right?" Doubt filled his eyes. "Really? Have I earned it?"
"You know you have. I think Cloud would want you to." Behind her, the others nodded reasuringly.
Turning his gaze back to the blades, Harry took a deep breath and slowly grasped the hilt of Vigilante. Pulling it up and out of it's place in the rack, Harry marveled at it's feel. The weight was oddly comfortable in his hand. Pressing a slight bump on the hilt, he was pleasently surprised when the blade hissed open to it's full width. As the others backed off, he took a few experimental swings. Yes! This felt right! He could feel the power in the sword. It was as though the blade had waited all these centuries just for him. Patiently awaiting the one who would release it's strength against the enemies of all that was right in the world.
Holding it out in front of him, Harry looked to find the others smiling widely at his joy. It was then that something else caught his eye.
"Hey, what are those doing here?" He pointed.
They turned to see what he was looking at. Along one of the walls was arrayed a number of recognizable weapons that once belonged to the enemies Cloud and his friends had defeated. Shinra sidearms and automatic rifles. Shock batons the Turks once used. Even replicas of the weapons Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo used. A bit further along, were weapons labeled with the tags WRO, Deepground, and Tsviets.
"The Shinra crap I recognize." Danny said. "The other stuff I don't understand."
Caleb walked over to peer at them. "Hmmm. WRO, Deepground, and Tsviets. I don't think we've heard anything about them. None the less, it seems they were important enough for Harry's ancestors to keep." He turned to Goldbrick. "There were written accounts of all the events that Avalanche went through, yes?"
"Oh, yes." Goldbrick answered. "They should be in the library section. Carefully marked and in several different languages. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe these particular items were involved in an incident a year or so after the last battle against Sepheroth."
"Alright," Harry spoke up again. "That can come later. For now, I want all of you to look through what's here and pick out any weapons you would like to use."
"Are you sure, Harry?" Hay Lin asked. "These are really important to your family. No one else has used them in who knows how long."
"Yes." Harry's response was immediate. "I want you all to have the best equipment and weapons available. This stuff looks like it's still good even after all this time. We shouldn't waste it. We'll have to bring the others down here as soon as we can. They'll need new weapons too."
As the others separated to sift through the treasures, Harry turned back to the swords. Picking up Vendetta, he studied it for a few moments before figuring out how it fit onto Vigilante. After slipping it on and locking it into place, he reached for the next blade. He continued untill he had put the final piece into place. He hefted the resulting buster sword. Man! Even though it was all forged with some light weight alloy he didn't recognize, the whole thing had to weigh at least two hundred pounds. It was only because of his newly enhanced strength that he was able to handle it at all. Harry knew he would have to put a great deal of time into mastering it.
Soon, the others returned and gathered around him clutching their prizes. Ulrich was holding a pair of katana that had machine gun barrels running along the backs of the straight blades (Weiss' gunblades from Dirge of Cerberus). The hilts were slanted slightly to accomodate the triggers (think of Count Dooku's lightsaber from Star Wars Episode Two Attack of the Clones). Yumi held a strange, folding, double-bladed weapon that included a gun situated in the handle (Rosso's weapon from Dirge of Cerberus). Caleb had another of Cloud's older swords, the Crystal Sword. Odd held one of Cid's spears, the Venus Gospel. Aelita gingerly held one of Aerith's staffs, the Princess Guard. Jeremy had also chosen one of Cid's weapons, the Dragoon Lance. Danny came up with Vincent's signature weapon, Cerberus. Elyon chose another of Aerith's staffs, the Parasol.
The Guardians had also chosen weapons. Will had Tifa's Premium Heart gloves in her hands. Cornelia had another of Cid's spears, the Partisan. Taranee held one of the Turk shock batons. Hay Lin was playing with Yuffie's Magic Shuriken. And Irma, surprisingly, was twirling a pair of Velvet Nightmare guns that Yazoo and Loz had used.
"Harry!" Aelita exclaimed excitedly. "Jeremy and I found something you need to see right now!" She pointed back to where she and Jeremy had just come from.
"Um-Okay." Harry said, bewildered, as he put the sword down. Following the pair, the others soon found themselves in front of several large stacks of sealed chests. They were made of metal and painted white. Each were about one and a half feet high, three feet long, and two feet wide. The flat tops were held closed with clasps on three of the four sides. One of them was pulled out and unlocked. Lifting the lid, Harry stared shocked at the collection of small green marbles within. They glowed with an ancient power.
"Materia!" Harry hissed as he grabbed one and held it up to the light. Looking quickly at the front of the chest, he saw a label that said 'Materia: Lightning level two'. "Oh, man! This is fantastic! Even with the loss of my magic, I should still be able to use these." Harry took a few deep breaths to calm down. He had to think clearly. He couldnt afford to get over excited. He could miss something crucial if he did. "Alright. We'll keep these here for now. Later on, we'll move them to the factory when it's ready."
"Excuse me, a factory?" Goldbrick interrupted.
Harry took a few minutes to explain about the factory and the problems they were having with it.
"Perhaps I can help." Goldbrick rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Gringotts could help you purchase the property anonymously. We could also implement many of the same wards that we use here at the bank, as well as hire some excellent renovators. We'll just have to send a team down to have a look."
Harry had a sudden thought. "Hey, Jeremy, Aelita. Would the wards cause any damage to the supercomputer?"
Aelita shook her head. "No. That was one of the first things we thought about when we all first started to work together there."
Jeremy nodded. "That's right. We protected it from magic the same way we got Jenny and the other tech to function in magical environments."
"Okay." He turned back to the goblin. "Thank you, Goldbrick. That would be a huge help. I don't care what it's going to cost. I have far more money than I can ever spend anyway. Make that old factory into the best home/fortress you can." Harry tossed the materia lightly into the air and caught it tightly in his fist when it came down again. Things were really looking up now. Harry wasn't quite sure where this ride would take him, but he knew it would be a hell of a lot of fun getting there.
Author's Note: SHIT! I have never written anything this long before! Of course it took me nearly a whole month to do it. I really got lucky with the last two chapters when I didn't have much going on, but with this one, a whole load of work and family related problems came up all at once. Geez. Family. Can't live with 'em, can't eat 'em. I also had to lay down two hundred and sixty some odd dollars for new glasses since my old ones were more than eight years out of date. Really hard to focus on the screen with new glasses, lemme tell ya.
Okay. I went into a little bit of Danny's past with Umbrella. This will have a big impact on the story later on. Danny's tattoo is a variation of Red XIII's tattoo/scars in the game. I just thought it was appropriate since they were both experimented on. I'm still trying to plan this all out, but it's pretty hard. The guns Danny talked about early in this chapter are real guns. I'm trying to use as much realistic details as possible. That means a bit of research is needed. If I screw up on something though, don't hesitate to correct me so I can fix it. Now, his attraction to Irma. She's hot! Okay? If she were real I'd ask her out in a heartbeat. The combination of good looks and wry witty humor really makes me smile. And hey! She's a cop's kid so she doesn't have an aversion to firearms. What's not to like?
I will start pulling things from other Final Fantasy games as needed. So if you recognize something that did not come from Final Fantasy VII, I have not gotten mixed-up. This was intentional. I bought a copy of Dirge of Cerberus and got hooked. Part of why it took so long to get this chapter up.
Next topic. I received a rather rude review from someone just as I was putting the finishing touches on this chapter. The person was apparently complaining about the fourth chapter having little or nothing about Harry in it. If you will remember, I took that opportunity to introduce most of the protagonists in the story. Yes, I realise that this is supposed to be a Harry Potter fanfic, but really! I needed to start moving things along. That was the best way I could think of to do so. I know I am very unorganized. But this story originally came out of a daydream I was having one really slow day. In fact, that's how I do lot of my "writing". I would really appreciate it if you would all keep your criticism constructive. If you still don't like it, no one is forcing you to read it anyway. Okay?
Well, I guess that's just about it. Once again, I would like to thank those of you who were kind enough to review (and were nice about it). It's your encouragement that keeps me going. Untill next time, remember. Don't ignore your dreams or day-dreams. You never know when it would make a good story. As a matter of fact, I think that's how J.K.Rowling first came up with Harry Potter. And speaking of J.K.Rowling, I would like to take this moment to thank her for providing us with such a wonderfull world to dream of and play in. Untill next time.
