Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or its characters and I am not affiliated with Square Enix. I only own my original characters. Any similarities between this fic and others are purely coincidental.
This is my first Final Fantasy fic to ever be published. If you don't like, don't read. My aim is to show a perspective that is different from others. Such is my writing style.
Now, I'm not sure if Hojo's meant to be dead. If anyone's reading this, please tell me. And I'll still fit him into the plot. Ah, the magic of fan fiction...
Chapter 8: Spiralling Conspiracy
Apart from Cloud, everyone else were gathered outside of the Science Department.
"Where's Cloud?" asked Yuffie.
"He's where we left him," replied Barret. "Sephiroth's back, and Cloud's fightin' him."
"What?" exclaimed Yuffie.
"Obviously can't take a hint," commented Vincent.
"Well anyway, Hojo and Daemon must be in the next room," Barret continued. "So we'll go in there, and be prepared for whatever comes our way."
"Alright, let's do this," said Tifa.
Barret opened the door and they entered quickly and efficiently, weapons ready. Hojo and Daemon were there, smiling as if they were expecting them.
"What a pleasant surprise," said Hojo. "I take it you've seen our latest creation."
"Creation?" questioned Cait Sith. "Try monstrosities!"
"What did you do?" Cid demanded.
"Why, we used Vincent's DNA which we've kept for years," said Hojo. "And we made copies. I had created Luke and placed him in an orphanage for Daemon to watch over, and see if his life experiences would make him any different to Vincent. Then we made more, hoping to replicate immortal beings."
"Well you failed," said Barret. "We killed every clone we came across."
"Then we'll keep trying," said Hojo.
"Stupid man," said Tifa. "They've killed all the army personnel in the building! Who's going to protect you?"
"The ones on the outside looking for you," replied Hojo. "SOLDIER must be trying to contain them... But they'll be overrun too. And so will you."
"You underestimate us," said Rena. "Besides, they've got weak spots on their backs."
"The ones who got out early," said Daemon. "Don't worry, many of them are complete and are roaming the building as we speak. Rufus Shinra should be pleased. We've created a super army. All the branches of Shinra will be obsolete! Then we'll be leading the company!"
"So that's your plan," said Barret.
Suddenly, the whole room was crawling with clones.
"Right on cue," said Hojo. "Have fun!"
Luke and Rena attempted to stop the scientists from escaping, but were blocked by a barrier of clones. The party were outnumbered. They began the long arduous battle to stay alive. They had to if they were going to reach the scientists again.
Magan landed her helicopter on the helipad of the building and jumped out and drew her broadsword, ready for a fight. She ran to the nearest door, hoping to find Rena soon. As soon as she came through the door, she was met by three clones.
"Out of the way!" she yelled as she raised her sword to attack. Dodging their gunshots, she impaled one in the chest with her sword. It didn't work the first time so she did it again, and pulled it out in time to deflect a bullet. She pulled a gun from her holster to shoot back at the same time. With a few gunshots from her, she defeated them and proceeded down the flight of stairs. She went past an area where Cloud and Sephiroth were fighting. She watched for a moment, before continuing on her way.
Cloud deflected Sephiroth's attacks and used Cross Slash against him. Sephiroth recoiled before using Octaslash on Cloud. Cloud fell backwards to the floor, and sprung back up again and charged towards his opponent. Their swords continued to clash, striving against each other.
Meanwhile, in the main lab, the others continued to fight off hordes of the clones. Vincent was doing fine. He knew himself better than anyone else and applied that to defeating his enemies. Tifa used her first limit break to bring down an opponent, and gained enough momentum to use her second limit break against the next one. Meanwhile, Rena was getting closer to her limit break, feeling feverish with each strike against her enemies. Cid and Rena exchanged nods before they used 'Jump' at the same time to finish off their enemies. Yuffie turned and bent her elbow slightly as she released her Shuriken into the air, and as it spun it slit the throats of four clones, killing them slowly, and then one of the Shuriken's points embedded itself in the skull of a fifth clone. Red XIII charged into a clone, smashing it through the window where the clone fell to his death. The beast's momentum was too strong for the clone to recover in midair. Rena gained some distance from her comrades, and spun her bladed rod from side to side, slicing her foes efficiently.
Meanwhile, Cloud was still miles away from defeating Sephiroth. Their fight had taken them to the top of the Shinra building, and Sephiroth showed no signs of tiring. Cloud began to feel fatigued, his body not being what it used to be, despite the mako in his veins. He had to survive this battle. He had so much left to accomplish. Sephiroth knocked Cloud's sword out of his hands, and it flung metres away, embedding itself in metal. Cloud fell backwards to the ground, and Sephiroth stepped closer, his sword pointed at Cloud's face, mere inches away.
"At last, it ends," said Sephiroth. As he prepared himself to strike, a gunshot sounded, and Sephiroth's sword hand was hit, forcing his blade in the other direction. Sephiroth grunted, holding his bleeding hand with his other hand, and turned to see Tseng with his gun aimed towards him. Tseng fired again, and Sephiroth evaded every bullet as Cloud got up and retrieved his sword. Sephiroth back-flipped, reaching his own sword, and deflected more bullets. He lunged at Tseng, attempting to slice him, and Tseng somersaulted over his head, firing behind him and hitting Sephiroth in the back. Sephiroth jerked forward, and Cloud drove his sword into his chest and held it there. Sephiroth choked on his blood, and slowly began to raise his sword, when a bullet pierced his skull from behind and exited through his forehead. Sephiroth slumped forward, dropping his sword. Cloud's head was just below his chin, his face sprayed with the blood of his foe. Sephiroth's form faded as the Lifestream took him once again. Cloud stood up straight, holding his sword by his side.
"And stay there," he said. He turned and faced Tseng. "Like old times, right?"
"Indeed," replied Tseng.
"Why did you help me?" asked Cloud.
"He was cheating," replied Tseng. "Where are the others?"
Cloud was silent. Even though Tseng had helped him, he wasn't sure if the Turk could be trusted. He was part of Shinra, after all.
"I don't know," he said. "Got separated from them when Sephiroth showed up."
"Right," Tseng nodded thoughtfully.
"What do you plan to do with me?" asked Cloud.
"That depends on you," said Tseng. "All the grunts on the inside are dead, but the rest outside might shoot you on sight. If you come with me, I can spare your life."
"I've done just fine without you up till now," said Cloud. "I can handle a few grunts."
"Like Zack?" questioned Tseng. Cloud reached across to him and grabbed Tseng by the front of his suit with one hand, poised to punch him in the face with the other. Tseng didn't flinch, but sighed instead. "Sorry, didn't realise it was such a sensitive subject." Cloud released him roughly.
"You may have helped me," he said. "But I won't be taken in so easily." With his sword on his back, he ran from Tseng, who chased after him hastily. Cloud called out over his shoulder, "You'll have to catch me first!"
Cloud managed to lose him after a few corners in the corridors and headed to the Science Department. When he got there, he found the floor littered with clone corpses, and fatigued comrades.
"What happened here?" he asked.
"We found Hojo and Daemon," said Barret. "But they let their minions out on us and got away. Dammit!"
"So we'll have to chase them," said Cloud. "While the Turks are chasing us..."
"Damn Turks," said Rena.
"We'd better get movin'," said Barret. "Nobody else is gonna stop those bastards."
"I wouldn't want anyone else to be given the pleasure," said Rena. They filed out of the room, ready to leave the building. As they walked along a corridor, Magan found a gap between Rena and the rest of the group and dropped down in front of her from an air vent, landing in front of her. Rena instantly got out her weapon, and the group whirled around to see what the commotion was all about.
"A Turk!" shouted Yuffie.
"I'm not here to fight," said Magan. "I have orders to bring you to Tseng."
"Yeah, Tseng tried to take me as well," said Cloud.
"Great, they're after all of us," said Tifa.
"What does Tseng want with us?" demanded Rena. "And why are you only after me?"
"I don't know what he wants," said Magan in exasperation. "I just know that you'll be safe. You know I couldn't give a rat's ass what happens to you, but orders are orders."
"Yo' can take yo' orders and shove them up your...," Barret began.
"Barret," Rena interrupted. "They can't catch us all if we're separated..."
"Right," said Barret. "AVALANCHE, spread yourselves out and I'll message you a rendezvous point when it's safe! Move out!"
Everyone scattered in random directions, except for Rena, who stayed right where she was, her eyes fixed on Magan's.
"I don't trust no Turk," said Rena coldly. "I still like you a little, you don't like me and that's fine. I'm only sticking around just to KICK YOUR ASS!" She stepped back, pointing her weapon at Magan, who drew her sword and settled herself into her fighting stance.
"If that's how it's gonna be," she said.
Rena's heightened emotions effected her focus, and she began to feel feverish again, but didn't let it show. Her small wings twitched noticeably, and the two women lunged at each other, their weapons making contact. Blocking was easy, since their fighting styles were similar, the only obvious difference were their weapons of choice. In the heat of the battle, Rena's body felt warmer than usual, her emotions at fever pitch. It made her strikes more savage, making her miss more, and sometimes hitting her opponent with extreme force, knocking her around. Magan fought back just as fiercely, managing to wound Rena on the side. As the fight continued, Magan noticed Rena's ears growing slightly longer and pointed at the ends, and black horns grew gradually longer until the ends were level with her shoulder blades. The layers of her hair become more noticeable as the strands stood up slightly, and her hair went from brown to blonde with white highlights. Her eyes glowed yellow, her wings expanded about eight times their original wingspan, and the black scarf around her head soon covered the upper part of her face, with holes formed for her eyes to see through, like a makeshift mask. Her nails became black claws, and her canine teeth got longer and sharper, resembling vampire teeth. Magan looked on her in awe, but her courage did not waver. She was seeing the reality of what had been done to Rena. What puzzled her next was Rena throwing down her weapon, and clutching her head screaming.
"Go on, kill her," whispered a deep male voice. "Show her how much you hate her..."
"SHUT UP!" yelled Rena. "JUST SHUT UP!"
In a blind rage, she punched a hole in the wall.
"You dare disobey your father?" questioned the voice.
"I WON'T LISTEN TO YOU!" she yelled again. She considered asking Magan to finish her off. She was clearly going crazy, since she was hearing voices. But when the younger woman edged closer, Rena grabbed her by the front of her suit and threw her against the wall. Magan pulled out her phone, which Rena swiftly kicked out of her hand. Magan got up and punched her in the jaw, only to be grabbed by the throat and thrown through a glass door. Magan picked herself up gingerly and began to fire quickly, getting Rena on the torso, her shoulder, basically all over, but she still wouldn't go down. She began to charge up an attack resembling Mega Flare, when she heard a sweet female voice.
"You don't really hate her... If you must use Aurora Flare, use it on the true enemy."
"Who are you?"
"Your mother... Aerith..."
Rena's attack waned, as did her energy. She turned back to her normal self. She had heard of Aerith, but she died long before Rena was born. So how did that work? She wondered if she was dying as she collapsed on the floor, blacking out. Magan approached her cautiously, her gun pointed downwards. After checking her life signs, Magan lifted Rena over her shoulder and carried her towards Tseng's office.
